River Elegy
River Elegy (
Synopsis
The film asserts that the
Controversy
River Elegy has caused immense controversy in mainland China due to its negative portrayal of
Gifford said that the film did not openly criticize the Chinese Communist Party. Instead, it contained "not-so-subtle" attacks on Chinese imperial traditions that therefore would also criticize the contemporary political system. Conservatives in mainland China attacked the film.[4]
After the events of Tiananmen Square Protests, some staff members of River Elegy were arrested and others fled Mainland China. Two of the main writers who escaped to the United States became
Reactions and debates
River Elegy (Heshang) aroused immediate debates and great controversy among intellectual circles, the Party's top leadership, and even the overseas Chinese community after its first broadcast in June 1988.
Official attention
Political controversy about Heshang arose and attracted attention from the Party's top leadership when a university president phoned Hu Qili, a pro-reform officer who was a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo and the Central Secretariat, and warned him that the series might stir up student unrest.[9] Hu immediately contacted the minister of Radio, Film, and Television, requesting that he re-evaluate the series. Meanwhile, Zhao Ziyang, Yang Shangkun, Deng Pufang (Deng Xiaoping's son) and some other Politburo members privately screened Heshang. While Zhao and Deng had supportive attitudes toward the film, a few members of the Politburo were offended by Heshang's harsh criticism of Chinese traditions and the Party's policies since 1978, as well as its attack on Leninist theories. Confused by the divided opinions expressed from the top leadership, CCTV held internal meetings to discuss whether it should terminate broadcasting Heshang, but it did not reach a decision until the series was completely broadcast.[10]
August 1988 revised version
Heshang was so popular that many audiences requested a repeat of the show after its first run. Given that the documentary had aroused much tension among the Party's top leaders, the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television ordered CCTV to revise the original version of the film before it could be broadcast again. In the repeat version, politically sensitive contents were either removed or toned down. The deleted contents included the film's supportive attitude toward the 1986 student demonstrations and its call for the government to establish dialogue with Chinese citizens; criticism against government corruption, inflation and the CCP's ignorance of the mentally and economically impoverished situation of Chinese intellectuals; as well as criticism against the CCP's policies and its mismanagement that caused such "man-made disasters" as the 1987 great forest fires in Daxing'anling, and the 1988 Shanghai hepatitis epidemic.[11] The revised Heshang was aired in August 1988 and triggered even greater debates. At the Third Plenum of the 13th Central Committee, Wang Zhen, the then vice president, fiercely attacked Heshang by giving a long speech to criticize its "counter-revolutionary" contents. Wang insisted the film not only posed "vicious vilification" toward Chinese people, but it was also "anti-Party and anti-socialism." Wang also criticized the "blue sea civilization" that was promoted in the film as "bandit civilization and bandit logic."[12] While some party leaders supported Wang's view, Zhao Ziyang, backed up by Yang Shangkun, argued that artistic work like Heshang conveyed cultural rather than political implications, so it should not be discussed at a political meeting. The debates between the two sides continued after the conference, until Zhao Ziyang was forced to issue two principles in dealing with the Heshang controversy. The principles urged the Party to allow the public debates without taking an official stand on the documentary, and stressed that any Party leaders' personal opinions toward the documentary did not represent the viewpoint of the Party as a whole.[13]
Intellectual debates
The debates about Heshang were also carried on among intellectuals. Two major liberal newspapers, the Science and Technology Daily of Beijing and the
Debates in Taiwan and Hong Kong
In Taiwan and Hong Kong, newspapers and TV program reported the "Heshang fever" debates in P.R.China. People who held positive opinions toward Heshang shared the same standpoints with the ones in mainland China, whereas others criticized the film's "arbitrary" attack on Chinese traditional culture and Confucianism. Some Taiwanese believed that the documentary was wrong to blame China's backwardness on Confucianism. They argued that the Communist regime and its policies, rather than Confucianism, hindered the development of the nation's modernization. For instance, critics said that Taiwan had achieved rapid development by successfully combining Confucianism with western democratic ideas.[18]
After June 4, 1989
After the CCP's crackdown on the
References
- ^ Goldman, Merle (2002). "A New Relationship between the Intellectuals and the State in the Post-Mao Period". In Merle Goldman; Leo Ou-fan Lee (eds.). An Intellectual History of Modern China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 514.
- S2CID 220801020. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- JSTOR 20079221. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7475-8892-4.
- ^ Mitter, Rana (9 December 2021). "BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The May Fourth Movement". BBC. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ISBN 0-313-31511-6. p.217.
- ^ Jong, De Alice. "The Demise of the Dragon: Backgrounds to the Chinese Film River Elegy." China Information 4.28 (1989): 28-43. Sage Premier Database. p.31
- ^ Jong, De Alice. "The Demise of the Dragon: Backgrounds to the Chinese Film River Elegy." China Information 4.28 (1989): 28-43. Sage Premier Database. p.34.
- ^ Lau, Tuenyu and Yuet-keung Lo. "Heshang (River Elegy) A Television Orchestration of a New Ideology in China." Asian Journal of Communication 1.2 (1991): 73-102. InformaWorld-Taylor and Francis Database. p.79
- ISBN 962-201-762-2. p.223.
- ^ Jong, De Alice. "The Demise of the Dragon: Backgrounds to the Chinese Film River Elegy." China Information 4.28 (1989): 28-43. Sage Premier Database. pp.37-9.
- ISBN 978-1-58648-122-3. p258.
- ISBN 962-201-762-2. pp.224-5.
- ISBN 962-201-762-2. pp.223-4
- ^ Jong, De Alice. "The Demise of the Dragon: Backgrounds to the Chinese Film River Elegy." China Information 4.28 (1989): 28-43. Sage Premier Database. p.33.
- ^ Jong, De Alice. "The Demise of the Dragon: Backgrounds to the Chinese Film River Elegy." China Information 4.28 (1989): 28-43. Sage Premier Database. p.35.
- ^ Jong, De Alice. "The Demise of the Dragon: Backgrounds to the Chinese Film River Elegy." China Information 4.28 (1989): 28-43. Sage Premier Database. pp.36-7.
- ^ Jong, De Alice. "The Demise of the Dragon: Backgrounds to the Chinese Film River Elegy." China Information 4.28 (1989): 28-43. Sage Premier Database. pp.37-8.
- ^ Nicholas D. Krstof. (1989, October 2). "China Calls TV Tale Subversive: The Government Showed the series twice last year but is now condemning it." New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2007). (Document ID: 115483906).
Further reading
- ISBN 0-939657-54-6