Variety Programs for Magnolia Awards | 5,000-Year Cultural Heritage Runs Deep in Mind

In recent years, cultural variety programs created around traditional Chinese culture that spans the vast land of China and flourishes across five thousand years have won instant popularity on the screen time and again. And developing and attracting young fans, they also occupy a unique position among the entries for the Magnolia Awards of this year's Shanghai TV Festival (STVF) - NATIONAL TREASURES - EXHIBITION SEASON recreates the amazing legends of 81 national treasures; MIAO MO ZHONG GUO XIN explores the spirit and charm of calligraphy strokes; CULTURAL LANDMARKS IN THE SOUTH unveils the past and present of towns with profound cultural background along the south of the Yangtze River; DANCES IN THOUSANDS OF YEARS records the evolution of Chinese folk dance over time; the CHINESE FESTIVALS SERIES restores the bustling scenes of traditional Chinese festivals in the past; THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHINESE OPERAS depicts the glamour of traditional Chinese operas... Deeply rooted in history and culture, these various programs, as the incarnation of the river of "Chinese civilization" that rushes on forever and ever on the screen, nourish the soul of every audience while paving the way for the industry’s development.

NATIONAL TREASURES - EXHIBITION SEASON

NATIONAL TREASURES - EXHIBITION SEASON, continuing the original creative aspiration of "bringing national treasures in life", draws inspiration from the legendary stories of 81 national treasures in the first three seasons, and invites literary and art workers from all walks of life to make bold cross-art attempts to present cultural relics through diverse expression forms, such as dance dramas, musical dramas, songs, instrument performance, in order to present an unprecedented cultural feast of national treasures to the audience, and interpret the historical connotation and spirit of the times behind the national treasures from the perspective of today's people. And the program adopts the "AI+VR naked eye 3D" shooting technology to break through the traditional presentation form restricted by stage space and make possible a brand-new immersive visual experience.

MIAO MO ZHONG GUO XIN

MIAO MO ZHONG GUO XIN invites several famous calligraphers, cultural masters and traditional culture lovers to serve as "Calligraphy Protectors", "Calligraphy Interpreters" and "Calligraphy Explorers" respectively, to tell about the long history of Chinese calligraphy art and culture from different dimensions such as calligraphy appreciation, historical stories and inheritance today. At the same time, it also explores the traditional culture and humanistic spirit behind calligraphy in strokes around the five major calligraphy styles of seal, clerical, cursive, running and regular scripts. The program revitalizes the static calligraphy art in an innovative form of expression, such as reproducing the charm of gold-stone inspired seal script with the song EAST WIND BREAKS, and bringing out the subtlety of the Chinese calligraphy rules contained in character Yong (永) for the regular script through shadow play. In the interactive links, such as lectures by calligraphy masters, and in-person practices, the audience can feel the power of the "inner world at the brush tip" between the strokes.

CULTURAL LANDMARKS IN THE SOUTH

As the first domestic classic reading program, CULTURAL LANDMARKS IN THE SOUTH invites a number of famous performers and scholars to visit the five Jiangnan cultural landmarks, namely Shaoxing, Suzhou, Shanghai, Xuancheng and Hangzhou, to discuss topics such as literary classics, life aesthetics, and cultural inheritance. The program, bringing together the "group reading" of modern drama and traditional Chinese chanting and having performers play the roles of cultural figures, revisits the old haunts of literati, where the cultural big names and the literati in the long river of history encounter and have a dialogue across time and space, to tap the connotation of literature, pay tribute to the cultural sages, and enrich the experience of life.

DANCES IN THOUSANDS OF YEARS  

DANCES IN THOUSANDS OF YEARS tells a romantic and legendary story with the innovative mode of "variety program + drama series": It is said that in the divine book RECORD OF TWELVE DANCE SCHOOLS, there are the most beautiful dances in the history, and five "Dance Recommenders", travelling through thousands of years of history, are here to find them. The program reproduces the pinnacle of Han Dynasty dance, Dance on Pan or Drum, as well as various dance forms such as sword dance, fan dance and water dance with national and historical characteristics. In addition, the program also incorporates various cultural elements such as costume etiquette, instrumental poetry, and astronomical calendar, bringing the audience a very immersive dance feast and a cultural and artistic journey.

CHINESE FESTIVALS SERIES

The CHINESE FESTIVALS SERIES retraces the history of China by combining scene reproduction and time travel to present again the bustling scenes of traditional Chinese festivals such as the Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Qixi Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ninth Festival. Among them, phenomenal works such as BANQUET IN THE TANG DYNASTY PALACE, PRAY and LONGMEN BUDDHAS have sparked heated discussions on social platforms, pushing forward the boundaries for the discussions on cultural self-confidence and cultural innovation. In addition to folk elements such as singing and dancing, opera, and food, the Series also skillfully showcases current popular cultures, such as two-dimensional, ancient-style costumes, which are highly sought after by young audiences. From ancient times to the present, festival customs have constantly been evolving, but their emotional core has remained unchanged, which is also the insight that the Series tries to reveal to the audience.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHINESE OPERAS

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHINESE OPERAS, as an immersive opera culture experience program, features both outdoor garden reality show and live opera performance show to decode the close relationship between the opera field and literary masterpieces for the audience in a simple way. The program, filmed in full in the Summer Palace, breaks through the traditional way of presenting opera stages, and developed around the idea of one scene for one stage, and one song for one story, it unfolds in an eye-pleasing way more than ten famous scenes in the Summer Palace, such as the Tower of Fragrant Buddha, Heralding Spring Pavilion, Marble Boat, Yuzao Hall, Suzhou Street and Dehe Garden. Fully displaying Chinese culture, Chinese aesthetics and Chinese spirit in opera, the program is a splendid live creation and performance show with both traditional and innovative grace and explores ways of presenting opera.

The above excellent variety programs not only lead the audience to appreciate the greatness of traditional Chinese culture such as poetry, calligraphy, dance, and opera, in a pleasing, novel and lively way, but also bring traditional culture to life on the screen with the bold innovation of technical means, presenting the profound yet lively "artistic exhibits" one after another. We believe that with the wisdom and efforts of the majority of TV workers, more "cultural treasures" in the long river of history will enter the public's field of vision to make the charm of Chinese civilization that lasts for five thousand years at fingertip through the artistic creations on TV.

Which works can stand out and win the favor of this year's Magnolia Awards? Stay tuned to find the answer!