Even before Chinese novelist Mo Yan received the Nobel Prize in Literature last year, his story Red Sorghum Clan was known to many around the world, thanks to the acclaimed 1987 film adaptation, Red Sorghum.
Now, after more than 25 years, the story will come to TV with a new version in the hands of TV drama director Zheng Xiaolong. Set to launch in late 2014, it will star actress Zhou Xun and actor Zhu Yawen.
The director Zheng is not all that familiar to many Chinese. Yet, over the decades, his works, such as Stories of an Editorial Board (1991), A Native of Beijing in New York (1993) and Golden Marriage (2007), has left lasting impressions and secured many Golden Eagle Awards.
One of Zheng's latest efforts, costume drama The Back Palace: Legend of Zhen Huan (2011), was no less popular than The Tudors in the West.
Media insiders call him the "General Patton of Chinese TV dramas" for the demanding, uncompromising approach to authenticity he takes in each of his projects.
Seeing potential
Red Sorghum Clan is one of Mo's early novels and tells the story of a rural family in China's Shandong Province from the early 1920s to 1970s. It was a time of great upheaval in China, and the fate of the family is closely linked to history.
Starring Gong Li and Jiang Wen, the film Red Sorghum received the Golden Bear Award at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival in 1988.
Attracted to the story and believing it could make for a good TV drama, Zheng still didn't have an easy task ahead of him.
"There is a lot of pressure. Sometimes I didn't sleep for days," Zheng said in a group press interview Thursday night.
Not wanting to just make a longer version of the film, Zheng explained "a number of plots [and characters] are added to the TV version … but none of these plots are insignificant."
"[It is a work] that presents the strong will of humanity," Zheng said.
In touch with society
Since 1984, when he became the deputy director of the Beijing Television Art Center (predecessor of the Beijing Television Art Center Company), Zheng has carried out nearly 20 TV dramas. Closely focused on hot topics of the day, his ahead-of-the-curve projects also serve as snapshots of Chinese culture over the past three decades.
A Native of Beijing in New York, for example, came at a time when there was great furor in China about going abroad. Shot on-location in the US and revealing the hardship Chinese can experience there, the TV drama may have added to the cooling of the craze.
Also, when the divorce rate among the young in China was rising, Golden Marriage, about how an average couple endures hardship but stays together, helped bring the public's attention to the issue of marriage. It was said that the TV drama contributed to a drop in the divorce rate.
Legend of Zhen Huan, Zheng's first costume drama, set a new standard for TV dramas of the same genre at a time when such projects were criticized for being absurd.
"People have asked me the same question," Zheng said, answering to how he has so deftly tapped into the cultural zeitgeist. "But I did not make these for a larger purpose. I don't know how to do so, either. In fact, when I bought [the copyright for] Legend of Zhen Huan, costume dramas were at a downturn and the authorities had set restrictions for this genre."
Criticized by People's Daily for conveying cynicism with Legend of Zhen Huan recently, Zheng refuted this assessment, saying it was a misunderstanding of his work.
"It is a love tragedy caused by the feudal society, and [therefore] it is a criticism of such a system," Zheng said.
Demanding director
Growing up in an army compound, Zheng's early dream was to be a soldier like the famed WWII US General George Patton.
In Feng Xiaogang's biography Wo Ba Qingchun Xiangei Ni ("Give you my youth time"), the famous film director describes Zheng as a person who is "able to wield both the pen and the sword."
"[He] believes in himself as the Erlang Shen (a Chinese warrior god) and regrets living in a peaceful time, which does not give him the chance to show his ability on a war field," Feng writes.
After years and years working behind the scenes, Zheng finally decided to step out from behind the curtain.
"I have been deputy director of the Beijing Television Art Center for 10 years and director for 16 years," Zheng told the Global Times. "Now at an old age, [I want] to do something for myself."
Zheng said he likes to work on different genres and topics, which enables him to discover new variations of the human experience.
Gentle and casual as he usually is, those who are close with Zheng know he is a person with high demands for detail.
In the Legend of Zhen Huan, to make the scenes more historically accurate, from the furniture to an incense burner to the hair accessories, Zheng demanded absolute loyalty to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) setting.
The story contained an on-ice dance scene, which was mentioned in only a few lines, but Zheng had the staff spend days and hundreds of thousands of yuan researching what Qing Dynasty people would have worn to such an occasion.
"Once, another shooting crew came and was astonished with our sets. They wanted to borrow ours, but later found the sets were too delicate to match their previous scenes," a member in Zheng's crew, who asked for anonymity, told the Global Times.
Values create global appeal
Though details matter a lot to Zheng, the meaning conveyed through the work is more important.
Addressing the popularity of American TV shows in China, Zheng said, "What [the young Chinese] appreciate in US TV dramas, in the first place, is the human values in them. The good acting and quality of the show rank second."
Therefore, he believes, whether a Chinese drama series can be accepted by international audiences relies on its humanity.
"If [the show conveys] only the values of the director or the values of China, it is hard for those on the outside to relate," Zheng said.