1. Introduction
In recent years, some “phenomenal” cultural programs have emerged one after another. For example, CCTV’s “Chinese Han Yu Writing Conference”, “Chinese Poetry Conference”, “The Reader”, Henan TV’s “Chinese Character Hero”, Heilongjiang TV’s “Seeing Characters”… In addition, there are also “Chinese Good Story”, “Love is Chinese”, “Chinese Good Poetry”, “Tang Song Feng Yun Hui”, “Chinese Hundred Family Names”, “Poetry Book China” and other programs have emerged one after another, constantly promoting the hot flip of cultural programs, so that people should be subjected to the powerful power of culture directly to the heart. Under the trend of homogenization of cultural programs, CCTV launched “China in the Canon” in 2021, which is a cultural innovation program with the presentation method of “cultural program + drama + film and television”, telling the audience the touching story of the compilation, guardianship and circulation of the canonical books by means of dialogue between contemporary reader Sabine and ancient book writer (or book protector) through ancient and modern times. The story of the process of compiling, guarding and passing down the books is a touching one. Each book deserves to be read, guarded and passed on to future generations. The program is innovative in form and content, and has a deeper meaning in its cultural value, which has injected a strong impetus to the cultural revival of the Chinese nation. The study of this program can provide the necessary reference value for the development of cultural programs.
2. Innovative Form, Theater + Film Creation
2.1. Immersive Experience through the Past and Present
In the middle of February 2021, CCTV relaunched the cultural classic program “China in the Canon”, the first issue of which tells a story in the book “Shang Shu”, “the ancestor of political books, the source of history books”, the purpose of reading the book “Shang Shu” is to “know the sages The purpose of reading the book of “Shang Shu” is to “know the basis of governance, know the rise and fall of dynasties, and know the importance of personal cultivation.” The most important thing about the program is the theater + film creation method, the program set up three large stage and canal connected to the use of multi-angle, so that people can immerse themselves in the theater environment, through the ancient and modern, so that readers and ancient book publishers direct dialogue, the story of the book told to the audience, is really the text of the book to speak alive. This is a new concept of creation, giving the audience a general experience of immersion.
If it were not for him, there would not be the “Shang Shu” that we later saw. This person is called Fusheng, and some people say this about him: “If there is no Fusheng in Han, the “Shang Shu” will not be transmitted; if it is transmitted without Fusheng, its meaning will not be known.” The opening of the program is “Shang Shu”, which is also the most impressive to me. It is said to have been compiled by Confucius and is called “the ancestor of political books and the source of history books”, which shows how high the world thinks of it. The book protector of “Shang Shu” is Dr. Fusheng of Qin, the First Emperor, who issued a book burning order, strictly prohibiting private book collection. As a result, most of the world’s history “books” were destroyed. From “Shang Shu” national collection, to Xiang Yu and Xianyang, a fire destroyed these book collections. The one in Fusheng’s home is the only one surviving. Fusheng, fleeing with his wife and children, carried with him a carriage of “books” back to his home in Shandong. Since there was war everywhere, they were attacked by soldiers on the way. Seeing the unfolding situation, his son risked his life to protect the book, and so did his wife. Fusheng returned to Shandong with the book, which his wife and son had guarded with their lives. When the war was over and the Han Dynasty was settled, Fusheng went back to take out the book and found that most of the books had been destroyed in the humid environment, and only twenty-eight of them were intact. The phrase “How can I not sacrifice my life to protect the Book” was a tear-jerker. In his later years, Fusheng lectured on the Book in Shandong. Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty had the intention of edict Fusheng into the capital to lecture on the book, but, at that time, Fusheng was already ninety years old and could not afford to travel, so Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty sent Chao to Shandong to learn the book, and then Chao wrong brought back the “book” into the cabinet.
2.2. Repeated Chanting of Audio-Visual Shock
Fusheng along with Sabine to see the circulation of “The Book” in modern times, Fusheng felt a lot of emotions, doubly gratified. The contrast between the ancient book collection and the present-day library at the end is shocking to the extreme. More gorgeous words are not enough to describe the touching images with warmth. The program also included excerpts of important content from The Book for performance, stirring up interest and reverence for history, with a strong cast that perfectly recreates history. Through the millennium, ancient and modern dialogue, several times weeping under the background music. It let the classics shine into reality; it awakened the audience’s family sentiment; it stimulated the audience’s interest in looking through the canon. Already wordless, those who will not learn like history are doomed to repeat it. Thanks to China in the canon, the audience understands history better and is more interested in reading it.
The ancient Chinese texts on such a basis are what the program team focused on. The final brings to the audience is the addition of a segment in the program that brings the text from the original text to the scene for repeated chanting. The actors have to have a deeper understanding of the work and the author, and they have to fully grasp the emotions when reciting the text, with the right voice, the right timing, a soft tone, and the momentum also coming up, to complete the ritualized discourse performance, so that the audience can also join in to increase the desire for interaction. At the same time, when reciting ancient texts, in addition, there is actually majestic music to accompany them, to maximize the picture generation to do the best, so that the audience into the history of the creation of the ancients to feel the power behind the words brought to people.
2.3. Combination of Old and New Technology Traditions
The existence of these cultural programs is very necessary. As China’s influence increases, it will inevitably collide with the mainstream culture, and more such programs can help us to have more courage to resist the denigrating attacks of other mainstream cultures, to be able to better achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, to better realize its value orientation and the meaning of the program both fully combined, in order to carry forward the excellent cultural traditions of the nation, so that we can better understand the ancient books. It is not easy to understand China from the ancient books, to understand the difficulties of the ancients in order to guard our books, to carry forward the culture of Chinese characters, to combine drama with film and television, to mobilize a wide range of audiences, and to truly combine new technology with tradition. Bringing these texts to the audience in the form of recitation, the canonical texts are transmitted through the communication channels by way of behind the scenes to the front of the stage, and the combination of sound and picture.
3. Content Delivery, Chanting Reproduction of the Original Text
3.1. Successful Implantation of Traditional Culture
In the first part, the authors look at China in the Canon from the perspective of primary texts, pointing out that primary texts are the original forms of cultural content selected and reproduced in variety shows. Based on a review of the cultural content of existing variety shows, the author concludes that there are three types of primary texts: textual readings, art forms and their classical works, and pan-cultural knowledge, such as general knowledge content in various fields, such as science and technology, food, history, and ethnic customs (Zhan, 2016) . China in the Canon” is a fusion of traditional texts and audiovisual media, allowing the subtle texts to be reproduced in the process of fusion of the two fields.
The reason why the classics are classics is not the origin of the book, but the content of the real book, but the content of the book, the program one is not to speak, but to constantly deify Lao Tzu, deification of traditional Chinese culture, so that people have a sense of worship, so there will be blind followers so that those who are not willing to use their brains more do not use their brains, follow the people they worship. People are very fragile, with no bottom in their hearts, and no sense of security, there is a person to worship, and the human psyche will be solid, many people are taking advantage of this point of ordinary people, and there are a large number of followers. The effect of the program is to achieve this, to give people psychological comfort, to give people confidence, but unfortunately, this confidence is given by others, they do not inspire themselves, and the result can only be blind obedience.
3.2. Tracing the Spirit of China to Its Roots
The program “Shangshu”: the ancient history book is deemed the ancestor of political books, and the source of information for subsequent history books. Fusheng transmits the scriptures. Thousands of years of civilization inheritance, the written record is not only history, but also the inheritance of the soul of the nation. The “Heavenly Creations”: the precious grains but the cheap gold and jade! This book has nothing to do with the advancement of merit and fame. One of the reasons for the decline of modern China is also the lack of attention to practical science and basic science. The handshake between Song Xingxing and Yuan Longping spanning three hundred years brought instant tears to people’s eyes. The Book of History: the book is also known as the Book of Tai Shi Gong. Its focus is “To inquire into the times of heaven and man, to understand the changes of the past and present, and to become a family of words.” From the very first history books during the times of the Yellow Emperor down to the unification of the Great Han Dynasty, and to later history books, it is evident that there is a lineage of inheritance. Chinese civilization has never been interrupted. The descendants of Yanhuang, a thousand years, 10,000 years unchanged. As a descendant of Yanhuang, you cannot read history, cannot be ignorant of history. With copper as a guide, you can correct your clothes; with people as a guide, you can understand the gains and losses; with history as a guide, you can know the rise and fall. China has always been at the poker table, but the opponents have been changing. So “we are not rising, we are reviving, we just want to return to our original position.” The Compendium of Materia Medica: “The body is like a boat against the current, the heart is as firm as iron, hoping that the father will become the will of the children, not afraid of difficulties until death”.
It not only makes the canonical books “live” in the library, but also “live” in the hearts of young people. Through the stage play and the superb performance of the actors, the “cold” historical characters become “alive” and travel to the modern era, such as Qu Yuan waving to the three Chinese astronauts, Nie Haisheng, Liu Booming and Tang Hongbo, he could not contain his excitement: “The road is long. I will go up and down and seek. I saw the most romantic poem! I wrote the poem on bamboo slips, and they wrote it in the universe!” With its unique penetrating power of thought and infectious power of art, “China in the Classics” points directly to the hearts of the audience, deepening their understanding of traditional Chinese culture, making them want to trace their roots, to trace the Chinese wisdom, Chinese spirit and Chinese values contained in the ancient books, and to let their minds go on a long journey to reap growth in the thoughtful travel.
3.3. Potential Text Meaning Designation
Latent text, which was first proposed by the Belgian playwright Maeterlinck in his book “The Second Dialogue”, can be translated as “latent thought, consciousness and emotion hidden in the meaningless dialogue” (Liu, 2018) . But later, from the perspective of cognitive semiotics, the Russian scholar Golyakova proposed that “latent textual information is the dominant factor in the semantic structure of a literary work, the hidden meaning of the work, the specific linguistic organization of the author’s conceptual system that influences the reader.” What gets people’s attention and interest is the extreme characters, the creation of “extreme characters”. The ultimate character is the “role model,” the “superhero,” the “class act” portrayed by the program, which arouses the viewer’s admiration for the character and thus allows people to discuss the story behind him. Bringing his special story to light, China in the Canon is about bringing out the story of the main character behind each book, thus evoking the audience’s empathy.
Beyond the characters, TV variety shows can also express the cultural connotation in the audiovisual language, harmonizing the values with the ultimate characters to show the audience, which is based on the audience’s empathy, thus making them identify with the story and thus bringing action. It can be interpreted as: guiding the public through advanced, positive behaviors, thus creating a celebrity effect and allowing the majority of young viewers to set a good example and give them the right value orientation. There are also some shortcomings in the program, mainly its stage format, length and popularity, dealing with some marginal aspects of the performance on the show basically respects the facts, and many scholars have taken this into account. I believe that the director and professionals also saw the flaws in this point. But they are between the professional and effect to make a choice, its value results and guidance does have great significance, from this point alone should respect the choice and meaning of its program, so that the audience in appreciation of a better realization of the program’s effect, so that the program better serve the community and play its value meaning, its potential meaning is to allow people to establish the correct value guidance (Today’s Headlines, 2018) .
4. Summary
The canon, the inexhaustible source of living water of Chinese culture, is a model that always gives spiritual nourishment to Chinese children and reminds us to constantly engage in spiritual regurgitation (Shen, 2021) . It presents the canonical texts to the audience in the form of drama + film, and many viewers will be moved by it after watching it, so the audience can be attracted by the program and feel proud of the traditional Chinese culture during the watching process, and bring this pride to their bones, which is also one of the program strategies of “China in the canonical texts” and provides a feasible reference value for the development strategies of subsequent cultural programs, thus studying it is necessary and meaningful to study the program.