An inspiring journey

The year 1942 marked a milestone for China's literary and artistic creators. In May of that year, Mao Zedong, then-leader of the Communist Party of China, delivered influential talks at the Yan'an Conference on Literature and Art, pointing out that all such works should serve the people.

Yan'an in Shaanxi province was the cradle of the CPC-led revolution.

In the more than eight decades that followed, generations of Chinese artists and writers have delved into the lives of people of all stripes－from factory workers to farmers and role models dedicated to their duties－creating many highly acclaimed works.

On Monday, Cong Yan'an Chu Fa (Embarking on a Journey From Yan'an)－a five-episode TV program to mark the 80th anniversary of Mao's 1942 talks－was broadcast on China Central Television's channel 3.

Over the course of the five episodes, a total of 16 renowned troupes, colleges and theaters gather to deliver 26 performances inspired by classical revolutionary works, from the Yellow River Cantata to the opera The White-Haired Girl, as well as the movie The Eternal Wave, and bringing to life the woodcut prints of artist Gu Yuan.

Around 10 veteran artists, mostly in their 90s, and young stars, mainly born in the 1990s, have teamed up for the show to serve as "storytellers", revisiting the historic moments or recalling lesser-known stories behind these works.

Among them, the 94-year-old Tian Hua, one of the most well-known actresses in the early years of New China, shares her memories of Chinese artists in the turbulent 1940s and her acting debut in The White-Haired Girl, a 1951 cinematic remake of the 1945 opera, with Liu Haoran, a young star known for his role in the Detective Chinatown franchise.

In the early 1940s, Tian－born into an impoverished family in Hebei province－joined an art troupe of the Eighth Route Army's Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region, resulting in an unforgettable period of her life where she simultaneously served as a performer, fighter and farmer.

Around that time, the CPC forces faced a severe shortage of food and supplies amid the "scorched-earth policy" of the Japanese invaders and the Kuomintang's siege. In response to Mao's call for all the Chinese people in anti-Japanese revolutionary bases to join a self-reliance production campaign, Tian, alongside two fellow troupe members, were assigned to plant zucchini, with each of them harvesting 50 kilograms of the crop. The vegetables, however, tasted bitter due to the trio's lack of agricultural knowledge.

"Although at that time we were battling hardships and a shortage of supplies, all of us were determined to believe that a New China would rise, and Chinese people would lead a better life," says Tian.

Talking about the optimistic and striving spirit of Yan'an, also exemplified by the Eighth Route Army's 359th Brigade reclamation in Nanniwan, a previously barren wasteland on the outskirts of Yan'an, Tian recalls that it has become a precious memory that has inspired her artistic creations over the decades since.

The brigade's achievements－which saw a 100-fold increase in cultivated areas and a nearly 200-fold rise in grain output from 1940 to 1944－was recorded in the documentary Shengchan Yu Zhandou Jiehe Qilai (Engaging in Production While Fighting), also known as Nanniwan, produced by the Yan'an Film Troupe, the first movie production arm established by the CPC.

Tian was impressed by the documentary's photographer, the late Wu Yinxian (1900-94), who later worked as the head of Northeast Film Studio, the first movie production base in New China. The studio produced a lot of influential movies, including The White-Haired Girl, in which Tian made her big screen debut playing Xi'er, a farmer's daughter who struggles with a miserable life.

"Wu had a passion for cinematography since a young age. Once, when he was 19, he built a tiny 'dark room' under his dormitory's bed to develop rolls of film when he was studying in a Shanghai art college," recalls Tian.

Recalling that Wu, as a dedicated filmmaker, always pursued perfection, Tian says he spent a lot of time researching her facial characteristics to find the best camera angles while shooting Dr Norman Bethune, which was released in 1977. Tian plays a supporting character, a Chinese doctor, in the movie.

Aside from Tian, Meng Yu, a 100-year-old soloist from the China Oriental Performing Arts Group, also features in the program. During her talks with the young actor Wu Lei in the show, Meng recalls that she was selected to join a 500-person chorus to perform the Yellow River Cantata in Yan'an in 1939.

"It was my first performance in Yan'an, which redefined my understanding about music," says Meng, recalling that she had the precious experience of meeting Xian Xinghai, the composer of the Yellow River Cantata, who personally guided and instructed them during rehearsals.

"Xian told us to find feelings and emotions that we could put into our singing. As a young college student, I started to realize the greatness of music for the first time," Meng says. She recalls how Xian demonstrated and taught them to sing a patriotic lyric, which calls on all the workers of the world to fight oppression.

As well as talking about the early years, in which Yan'an shone light on domestic art and literary creativity, the program also reflects the inheritance and development of the Yan'an spirit, exemplified by the 2021 ballet Shan He (Rivers and Mountains), which commemorates Wuhan's battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, and the blockbuster My People, My Country, an anthology to reflect China's development over the past seven decades.

With the spirit of the 1942 Yan'an talks still cherished today, most celebrities on the show say they will continue to guide their creativity. Actor Liu Peiqi, known for leading a bunch of role model-themed TV series such as Gu Wenchang, says: "The 1942 talks are like a beacon, lighting the path for many literary and artistic creators. It still leads us to continue the journey, which started eight decades ago."