Society

A Japanese glance into the Forbidden City

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-02 14:58

BEIJING/TOKYO - The Sino-Japanese co-produced TV drama, "The Pleiades", a tale about the one of the darkest chapter in Chinese feudal history, has hit the screen of the two countries. It is hoped that this will help build communication between the two Asian neighbors, who are sometimes rivals.

Set in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the 28-episode serial explores the power struggle in the Chinese Imperial Court between Emperor Guangxu and his mother, the Empress Dowager Cixi through the eyes of two brothers Chun'er and Wenxiu.

Chun'er was the favorite eunuch of Cixi, the de facto ruler for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908. Wenxiu was a court official and a trusted aide of the Emperor Guangxu. Guangxu tried to adopt Western models of government. Cixi was strongly against his reformist views, regarding them as a political conspiracy to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Because of the political differences of their masters, Chun'er and Wenxiu became estranged. But when the Empress placed the Emperor under house arrest, and decided to execute reform-minded people, including Wenxiu, Chun'er pled with the Empress to spare his brother's life.

Based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author Jiro Asada, "The Pleiades" is the first China-made TV drama ever imported by NHK.

Directed by Chinese director Ma Jun, the play was first shown on Japan's public television network, NHK. It ran every Saturday night from January 2. It was shown on China's Beijing TV on March 14.

Both showings received excellent ratings. The broadcast pulled in a 1 percent share in Japan, much higher than the usual 0.3 percent. NHK received more than 200 calls and thousands of emails from audiences since "The Pleiades" was broadcast. Over one third of these ask for a re-broadcast of the play. While in China, the average audience rate is recorded around 4 percent.

The Japanese were mesmerized by the magnificent view of the Chinese royal palace, and the delicacy of the court life. The Chinese were drawn to the play's humane approach to the heroine Cixi, who has long been blamed for defying the nation's interests in her pursuit of power.

The play's original planner is Li Zhen, a Chinese-born Japanese. "Originally, the play was broadcast in Chinese with Japanese subtitles. When the play is dubbed in Japanese," says Li, "we expect more Japanese viewers for the rebroadcast."

"The Pleiades," or "Seven Sisters" are a group of stars in the Taurus constellation. To the naked eye, they are the most visible star cluster in the sky.

In eyes of the writer Asada, the stars have fallen upon the world and become real people, who are doomed to have a unique and glorious life, yet can never change their destinies.

Asada's book was a sensation in Japan, ranking on the country's best seller list for 10 years.

Liu Dehong, general manger of the Beijing Hualu Baina Film & TV Company, and the producer on the Chinese side, notes, "It was a challenge for us to make a 'China in a Japanese eyes' acceptable to Chinese domestic audiences because the Chinese are so familiar with the history the book depicts."

"Even I am reluctant to look back on the history of that time. It's too heavy and too depressing," says Liu. NHK director Takeyuki Hirayama, also a general producer of the play,worried that Chinese anti-Japanese resentment over Japan's invasion in that era would make the co-production a target for attack.

The two sides found the possibilities for "The Pleiades", when they agreed that the project should primarily discover the humanity of the characters -- from royal family members and ambitious reformers to plain beggars. That is essence of the play they believed would be universally appreciated.

Wang Jun insists the play is a fictional legend rather than a documentary fully in line with the historical facts. However, it is never a stark rebuttal of the historical conventions either.

"We try to explore the human part of history, which is seldom staged in Chinese screen," says Wang Jun. "A bad guy is bad for a reason. Let's first treat him as a human being."

Yuko Tanaka was selected to play Cixi. The 55-year-old actress became a household name in China after the Japanese-made autobiographical TV series "Oshin" was released in China in the 1989s. In the series, Tanaka played Oshin, who started as a maid and went on to create the empire of Yaohan, Japan's most successful department store.

Tanaka was originally reluctant to play the part of Cixi. One reason, she said, was that the Chinese empress has been repeatedly portrayed in China.

But after reading the novel, she changed her mind. "Cixi was a most powerful ruler, and a woman. She had to have lots of inner suffering and contradictions. To act such a complicated part is like grasping a handful of sand. Chinese audiences are familiar with what remains in the hand. I'd like to show them the parts that slip through the fingers."

Apparently, Chinese audiences are quite happy with Tanaka. "She looks like the Cixi seen in historical pictures," says Zhu Yifang, a retired Beijing teacher. "

And she presents us a new Cixi, in a natural and convincing manner, rather than the stereotype Cixi, who is forbidding, cruel and vain."

Wang Jun greatly appreciates Tanaka's professionalism. "She is a born actress. We had worried how could she and her Chinese counterparts match up with each other's lines because she cannot speak Chinese. But within a couple of days, we didn't need a translator to help her say her lines on time. She can sense that it's her turn to speak."

The Chinese producers believe "The Pleiades" sets a future production mode for Chinese film & television industry. It opens a door to understanding between the two nations. "

A made-in-China TV play could not be shown in Japan 20 years ago. Thankfully, we, both the Chinese and Japanese sides, are not so close-minded as the Cixi in the play who refuses change," says Liu Dehong.

For Tanaka, her acting experience in China has enhanced her understanding of the country and its people. "The word China appears everyday in Japan's TV and magazines. Now it has a special meaning for me. I have been connected with this country, which is a happy thing for me," she says.