"Letters from Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait": Historical Witness of Blood Thicker Than Water
2024-08-08
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Author: Hu Zhifeng (Vice Chairman of the China Television Artists Association, Professor of Beijing Normal University, Special Commentator of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles)
The creators of the six-episode documentary "Letters from Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait" have traveled to many places over the past few years, interviewing people from all walks of life on both sides of the Taiwan Strait over the past hundred years. From the unique perspective of family letters, they have written the historical story of the blood ties between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
"Family Letters from Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait" records family letters between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and has done in-depth excavation and recording of the correspondence between relatives separated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait for hundreds of years, especially in the past hundred years, like cultural relics archaeology. Thanks to the hard work of the main creative team, we learned about the legend of Mr. Zhang Shixiang from Jinjiang, Fujian in the Qing Dynasty who risked his life to reach Taiwan, and has given birth to more than ten generations of descendants. Members of the Zhang family on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been exchanging letters for hundreds of years; we saw that Lu Xun's friend Xu Shoushang was obsessed with the dissemination of Lu Xun's thoughts, and personally set up the Taiwan Provincial Compilation and Translation Institute to work hard for the restoration and inheritance of Chinese culture in Taiwan; we also saw the sad situation of Xie Yahe leaving a silver dollar to his wife Lin Xiuchun when he was drafted into the army, and Lin Xiuchun kept the silver dollar and waited for decades; we were glad for the old man Wang Deyao who would rather be alone in Taiwan with nothing but the handwritten poetry collection "Green Window and Idle Grass" left to him by his first wife Liu Guxiang, and waited for 36 years for his lovers to finally meet again... This is the real history, the convincing true story, and the testimony of the blood ties that are thicker than water and cannot be severed between compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
"Family Letters from Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait" uses family letters as a carrier, but it does not fall into stereotyped textual research. Instead, it integrates historical facts into deep and rich emotional expression through the excavation and presentation of emotions, thus giving the family letters abundant appeal with the power of emotions. Under the high pressure of the Japanese rulers, historian Lian Heng risked his life to teach people history in Dadaocheng, Taipei, conveying his belief in the inheritance of Chinese culture as a Chinese and expressing a patriot's most ardent loyalty to the motherland. This strong patriotic passion infected the surrounding people. After several generations, this patriotism is still strong. After translating the classical Chinese books of great-grandfather Lian Heng into vernacular Chinese, the great-granddaughter Lian Huixin reported in tears in front of the great-grandfather's tomb. The scene was tearful. Wang Deyao and Liu Guxiang fell in love since they were young and left a collection of poems "Green Window Idle Grass". When letters can be transferred after many years of separation, there is endless longing and endless attachment. After not seeing her lover for decades, even if her hair has turned white, she is still as passionate as a teenager. When presenting the phone call that the two will meet after decades, Liu Guxiang uses her familiar accent to say "Wang Zongzhi, you bastard" to her lover, a special "greeting" between the two, and then cries non-stop. How can this scene not make people cry?
"Letters from Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait" has made careful layout and arrangement in terms of narrative. The content of the six episodes spans hundreds of years and dozens of generations. To coordinate these seemingly scattered and diverse family letter stories together, the main creative team has made great efforts. First, the stories of characters that can form a corresponding relationship are "stitched" together. The "southward" journey of Xu Shoushang and Tai Jingnong from the mainland to Taiwan and the "northward journey" of Liang Yonglu and Liang Yuexin from Taiwan to the mainland are compiled into one episode, forming a relationship of moving in opposite directions; Liu Guolong, who stayed in the mainland, finally found the whereabouts of his father Liu Guoqing decades later, rushed to Taiwan to sweep his father's grave, and sent the ashes of the deceased veterans back to their hometown in the mainland with Gao Binghan, also forming a relationship of moving in opposite directions; the emotional story of Wang Deyao and Liu Guxiang also formed a meaningful corresponding relationship through Wang Deyao's choice of residence in Taiwan, which is highly similar to the landscape of his hometown in Xishui, Hubei. Secondly, similar content is classified and combined to form a common force. For example, the second episode focuses on the Lian Heng family, and also integrates the stories of fellow Taiwanese who love their country, such as Zhang Wojun, Jiang Weishui, and Lin Haiyin, so that the film's patriotism is more fully expressed. Finally, the whole film is structured in an artistic way to create a unified aesthetic style. The film collects artistic content that is consistent with the time when the content in the film took place, such as "Rainy Night Flowers" and "Cold Clothes Song", as the "framework" for the opening, transition, and ending, and each important story content is interpreted with two-dimensional animation. These contents ensure the integrity and unity of the structure and style of the whole film, and enhance the audio-visual impact of the documentary.
The release of the documentary "Letters from Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait" provides important visual material support for the blood-thicker-than-water relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The discovery and presentation of these letters will surely add a new chapter to the history of the deep-rooted cross-strait relations. At the same time, the film's moving stories, rich emotional expression, and sophisticated artistic structure have also accumulated new experience for us to create such documentaries.
Guangming Daily (August 7, 2024, 15th edition)
Source: Guangming Daily
