news

Interface News Reporter | Hu Yujing

Interface News Editor | Zhang Youfa

In September 2022, "Tang Dynasty Strange Stories" was broadcast. Starting with the Chang'an black tea case, Jinwu Guard General Lu Lingfeng and Di Gong's disciple Su Wuming led the audience into the strange stories behind the eight strange cases in the Tang Dynasty. A combination of Tang legends and suspense detective stories, "Tang Dynasty Strange Stories" became the dark horse of the costume drama that year.

On August 4 this year, the sequel to the Tang Dynasty series, The Journey to the West, was released on iQIYI with a peak popularity of 10,205 and a Douban score of 8.1 points.8.4points, becoming the first hit drama of iQiyi's summer season.

Before the filming of "Strange Stories of the Tang Dynasty: Journey to the West" began, the "series curse" - it was difficult for the second part to surpass the first, which deeply troubled director Bo Shan. He finally decided not to compare it horizontally with others, but only compare it with the first part, and only seek to surpass the previous work in details.

In his opinion, Tang Gui is a mirror of the Tang Dynasty. In this season, there are eight cases. The five-member detective team was demoted from Chang'an and went west to take up their posts. Along the way, they solved the case of the demon, the death of the coroner, and stayed at the Mojia Inn in the snow... The final story ended with the case of the donor in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. The main type of suspense detective case is integrated with elements such as highway and strange stories. The group portrait unit narrative shows the customs and mysterious and strange people under the temple of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Screenwriter Wei Fenghua is the soul of the "Tang Gui" series. The earliest starting point of the story was his reading notes on "Tang Legend". The series was not truly launched until he and director Guo Jingyu discussed the two core characters, Lu Lingfeng and Su Wuming, who can reach the court and go deep into the market, one civil and one military, one dynamic and one static.

When writing the Tang Gui series, Wei Fenghua referred to many documents and Tang Dynasty novels, such as Tang Dynasty Transportation Map, Youyang Miscellaneous Records, Records of Natural History, Records of Unique Things, and Records of Strange Things. In his opinion, among all the suspense dramas, the elements of "Tang suspense" and "Tang Zhiguai" are the core competitiveness of the Tang Gui series.

The key evidence in the first season, "Human Face Flower", is taken from the Tang Dynasty novel collection "Youyang Miscellaneous", which was written by Duan Chengshi. The original description of it is only a few dozen words, but in the play, it appears as evidence in the case. The unit name and murals of the second season, "Demon Conqueror", are both taken from Dunhuang murals, and the plot also usesBefore the Buddha attained enlightenment, he faced challenges from the demon king Mara, three demon daughters, and their armies, but was able to overcome them and attain enlightenment.

In the case of "Death of Coroner", the ancestral treasure of the deceased Dugu Yang is the "Dugu Xin Polyhedron Jet Seal Set" hidden in the Shaanxi History Museum. Dugu Yang died for his belief in coroner. The "Divorce Letter" he left for Chun Tiao moved the audience with the sentence "Dugu is gray and his wife is green", and the source of the letter is the Dunhuang manuscripts from the Tang Dynasty.

In his opinion, there are three floors in the creation of costume dramas, and the "Tang Gui" series is the "second floor aesthetics": the first floor is traditional costume dramas and historical dramas, and the third floor is the soaring fairy tales and fantasy dramas. "Tang Gui" is between the two, between reality and fantasy, like a kite, pulled by a thread of history and traditional culture.

In recent years, the Tang Dynasty has become a treasure trove of material for creators of suspense and fantasy films and TV series due to its strong economy and open diplomacy. Previously, there were "Legend of the Demon Cat" and "The Longest Day in Chang'an", and in the past two years, there have been "The Journey of the Dali Temple Shaoqing", "Detective Dee's Cases in the Tang Dynasty", and the "Tang Gui" series.

In Wei Fenghua's view, the spirit of the prosperous Tang Dynasty can be summarized as poetry and sword, driven by two tracks: literature and martial arts. The halo of Tang Dynasty novels has been overshadowed by Tang poetry. There is still a lot of room for exploration of Tang strange stories and Tang legends, and "Tang Gui" has only accomplished a drop in the bucket.

Yesterday, the concept poster of the third part of the Tang Dynasty Ghost Story series, Tang Dynasty Ghost Story: Chang'an, was released, confirming the long-term development of the Tang Dynasty Ghost Story series. The first part went south, the second part went west, and the third part will return to Chang'an. The vitality of the Tang Dynasty Ghost Story series is still continuing.

The following is a conversation between Jiemian Entertainment and other media outlets and "A Chinese Odyssey: Journey to the West" director Bai Shan and screenwriter Wei Fenghua. The content has been slightly edited and abridged.

"Suspense EditionJourney to the West

Q: When did you start writing the script for "Tang Gui's Journey to the West"? Why did you choose "Journey to the West" as the storyline?

Wei Fenghua:The script began to be written while the first season was still in post-production, in early summer 2022.Because the first season went south geographically, I thought that as a series, the second season could go west.

The western part of the Tang Dynasty was very mysterious, with elements of the Western Regions. In the play, from Chang'an to Dunhuang, there are various cultural landmarks and strange customs, which are very suitable for suspense detective and adventure genres. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty is different from the previous Han Dynasty or the later Song and Ming Dynasties. The characteristics of the entire dynasty are more magnificent and more soaring. The story of "Tang Gui" would be quite inconsistent if it were set in the Han Dynasty or the Song and Ming Dynasties; but it is very suitable to be set in the Tang Dynasty, because the Tang Dynasty was a grand and open dynasty. Many foreign civilizations came in and blended with the Chinese civilization, making this era more fantastic and becoming the most suitable "hotbed" for the birth of strange stories.

Q: Filming "Tang Gui" was a turning point in your career. What sparked your interest in this subject?

Cypress:The most important factor was the desire for a change. Having filmed too many legendary films before, as a director I wanted to try new themes. It just so happened that Mr. Wei had written the script at that time, and the script itself gave the creator a lot of space to present it in an extremely imaginative way.

Our main creators had never dabbled in a subject like "Tang Gui" before. During the one month before the first film started, we were just groping in the dark. I told the team to be bolder, because if we weren't bold enough, the market might not recognize us. Also, in a subject like "Tang Gui", it would be inappropriate to recycle the style. So the makeup of Yin Shilang and Shiyi Niang in the first film were all very memorable.

Wei Fenghua:In 2017, I andMy MasterWhen director Guo Jingyu was filming the legendary anti-Japanese war drama Brave Heart 2, I had just written the original work of The Strange Tales of the Tang Dynasty, which was actually a note on the interpretation of the legends and tales of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, I had never thought that it could be made into a drama, because there was no protagonist throughout the whole story, and it was just a series of small stories. Then director Guo said he had a way, and he discussed with me, and after setting up two protagonists who could reach the court and go deep into the people, the story came naturally.

Q: What historical documents and texts were referenced for this season?

Wei FenghuaThe route of "Going West" is based on Yan Gengwang'sgentlemenThis was determined by "A Study of Transportation Maps in the Tang Dynasty", and was also referenced from "Youyang Miscellaneous Records", "Bowuzhi", "Duyizhi", "Wenqilu", etc.

In "The Story of a Man", a man mistakenly enters a manor, is turned into a slave by the owner, and is thrown into a large wine cellar. This section is short, but I think it can form the basis of the case.

"Mo's Shop in the Snow"There is a character named Jiang Wei in the movie who is disguised as a hermit.It is a period between entering the world and leaving the world in the Tang Dynasty.Role, there is floatingYi is close to the style of becoming an immortal, but he is not a monk, so he uses magic and some elements from "The Scholar of Yangxian".Six Dynasties, it is also a kind of tribute.

Frankly speaking, before writing the Tang Gui series, I had read very few detective novels. Because my literary tradition started with postmodernism, postmodern novels do not focus on stories, and there were few genre literatures in the books I read before, so I encountered great difficulties when I first started writing scripts. Later, I made up for it. However, I like some American dramas, including the works of the Coen brothers, such as "Fargo", "Breaking Bad" and "The Wire", which also had a certain influence on me.

Because Tang Gui is not a pure orthodox mystery. Orthodox mystery is a niche theme. It may be welcomed by drama fans in this circle, but the audience is still narrow. We don't want to make it particularly niche. We want to make it a popular drama that men, women, old and young like to watch. In essence, it is a legendary drama. If it is a pure orthodox mystery drama, I don't think it will have as wide an audience as it is now.

Q: Overall, what upgrades have been made to the second season compared to the first season?

Wei Fenghua:There are more monsters in the second season. My initial goal was to make itSuspense version"Journey to the West", so maybe I subconsciously added more flying content, but from my current perception, there seem to be a few too many monsters, and it would be better if the monster in "Mojia Store" could be removed.

There are also more female characters in the second season. In fact, there are many beautiful female characters in Legend of the Tang Dynasty, such as Hong Funu, the assassin Nie Yinniang, etc. We didn’t show too many in the first season.Women'sImage, I also want to improve this part this season.

Breaking the Series Curse

Q: There is a two-year gap between the second and first seasons. From the broadcast effect point of view, it involves a lot of filming, the scenes are also very complex, and there are many big scenes. From the post-production point of view, how were they completed within a limited time?

Cypress:It took only four months from the completion of the first season to the start of the second season. Our team was very efficient. We didn't set up a team in Beijing to prepare for the second season and select actors. We went directly to Hengdian and started filming half a month later. Of course, other departments were preparing step by step, but because we were the original team, as long as the script was out, everyone had a tacit understanding in the creation.

We were all under a lot of pressure before the second season started, because the curse of a series is hard to break, but if the creators are under too much pressure, they can't make good things, which becomes the last straw that breaks the camel's back. We don't want to make a horizontal comparison, we only compare with the first season, don't lower the standard, be bold as possible, as long as we follow the standards of the first season, and put quality first, and make every detail better than the first season.

Our art team also put in a lot of effort, because I think it is too difficult to shoot a western style in Hengdian. We tore down the streets in the south and made it in a western style, and laid mud on the concrete floor to create the feeling of yellow sand. We put in a lot of effort in these aspects.

Q: After “Journey to the West” begins, what changes have occurred in the relationships among the characters in the detective team?

Wei Fenghua:It is difficult to write about the relationships between characters. For example, Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Inspector Morse, etc., have all entered the "temple", and their growth and changes in internal relationships are relatively small. When we watch Sherlock Holmes's cases, we will pay more attention to the case itself, rather than the growth and relationship between Holmes and Watson. However, domestic dramas cannot follow the logic of British and American dramas, and still need subtle changes in the relationships between characters.

aboutThe internal conflicts of the detective team are more about conflicts of ideas in the second season, while the first season is mainly about conflicts of personality. Lu Lingfeng is from the four-surname aristocratic family, while Su Wuming is from the lower class. For example, in the unit "Yun Ding Zui", they passed through the wine country on the Silk Road and held different views on lifting the night ban. Lu Lingfeng believed that the night ban was an iron rule of the court and lifting it would increase public security cases, but Su Wuming believed thatThe local area has not banned nighttime activities for a long time., which can promote trade, because he started out as a low-level official and is more familiar with the lives of ordinary people.In the end, the case was solved and Lu Lingfeng even supported lifting the curfew.From this perspective, we consider the relationship between charactersThe change and growth of the industry has taken a step further.

Q: As a TV series, is there any creative experience you can share about "Tang Gui"?

Wei Fenghua:From a writing and technical point of view,To complete the first draft of a long play, I think the most important thing is to pay attention to structure.

If a screenwriter wants to finish a story, the most important thing is to use the changes in the relationship between characters to drive the story forward. In specific writing, sometimes the story cannot be pushed forward, perhaps because of too much pursuit of perfection in a certain link. This path is wrong. Because the most important thing is to write the first draft first. After having a basic structure, make adjustments. Moreover, the characters are also included in the structure. It can be said that the structure is the characters.

The Tang Dynasty is a mirror

Q: "Tang Gui" contains both real historical figures and fictional imaginations. How does the screenwriter balance the two?

Wei Fenghua:I have said before that Tang Gui is a "second-floor aesthetic". Costume dramas have three floors. The first floor is a traditional costume drama, and the third floor is a fictional drama.ofAs a fairy tale drama, Tang Gui is somewhere in between.It is based on real history and social humanities, and on this basis, it generates suspense, detective and adventure stories with oriental fantasy and Chinese style fantasy. It is actually like a kite. No matter how high the kite flies, the string is still tied to history and traditional culture.

Q: "Tang Gui" is set in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. What will be the subsequent development direction of this story?

Wei Fenghua:The trend is definitely upward.As long as the audience likes it, we will do our best to satisfy them. In fact, each work has its own characteristics. The characteristics of "Tanggui Universe" are to showThe two sides of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, just likeThe words Su Wuming said on the tower,The splendid Tang Dynasty was like a mirror: one side was full of peace and prosperity, while the other side was filled with eerie shadows.We brought the two together to showcase China's traditional history and culture while also making it somewhat entertaining.

Q: How much room for adaptation is there for Legends of Tang Dynasty and Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty?

Wei Fenghua:We have only excavated a tiny part of it. When we talk about the Tang Dynasty, we think it is a dynasty of poetry. The brilliance of Tang legends and Tang tales may be overshadowed by Tang poetry, which is too profound and is also an important part of Chinese classical literature. We are now "fishing" it out again, and we also hope to pass on the excellent traditional culture.

Q: How do you summarize the spirit of the prosperous Tang Dynasty?

Wei Fenghua:Poetry and Sword,OrPoetry and the sword are the spirit of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. Our great literary tradition began in the era of the Book of Songs and Qu Yuan, and until the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the greatest poetry and the greatest poets were born.But at this time, our nation also has a martial spirit，The horizontal sword is the symbol of the martial spirit of the Tang Dynasty.The best representative. For any nation to develop, both civil and military are indispensable, like Su Wuming and Lu Lingfeng, one civil and one military, forming a closed loop.

Q: As a costume suspense series, what are the core elements of "Tang Gui" that are closer to the present?

Wei Fenghua:Let me give you an example. The "Divorce Letter" written by Dugu Yang to Chun Tiao at the end of "The Death of a Coroner" is based on the Dunhuang manuscripts, which really existed in the Tang Dynasty. It is called "Divorce Letter", but it is actually a love letter. Nowadays, many young people always say that being alone is good and we don't need love or anything, but I think love is great in any era and has the power to transcend ancient and modern times. Once you meet that person, you must cherish him or her.