The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 803 The Influence of Tokyo University!!!

With the expansion of its Asian entertainment empire, Asia Pacific Film & Television Group is extending its reach further into the global market.

In 1995, ATV Group acquired a 55% stake in Hollywood giant MGM Grand for a staggering $38 billion, a move that shocked the entire international entertainment industry.

At the acquisition ceremony, Zou Wenhuan said with great enthusiasm, "This is not the end, but a new starting point for the integration of Eastern and Western cultures."

At the same time, Shao Yifu also watched the press conference on television.

In his TVB office, he gazed at the 1958 Shaw Brothers film company family photo on the wall, his heart filled with emotion.

The lights of Victoria Harbour outside the window are still dazzling, but most of the people in the photo have passed away.

He gently stroked the photo frame when he suddenly received a notification from his secretary: TVB will be holding its 30th anniversary gala.

On the night of the gala, Shao Yifu made a rare appearance on the red carpet.

When asked by a reporter about his views on the Asia-Pacific Film & Television Group's dominance in Asia, the octogenarian smiled calmly and said, "The business world is like a stage; some people take the stage while others take their leave. The important thing is that we were once brilliant." This statement was interpreted by the media as an elegant farewell to past glories.

In the late 1990s, the digital technology revolution swept the globe.

Asia Pacific Film Group was the first to invest in 3D film technology, and they collaborated with James Cameron in Hollywood to develop a new generation of camera systems.

TVB, under the insistence of Shao Yifu, has maintained the traditional TV drama production model, a stubbornness that is regarded as "old-fashioned" by the younger generation.

On New Year's Day 2000, Zou Wenhuan held a millennium celebration at Tokyo Tower and announced the establishment of the "Asia-Pacific Digital Entertainment Alliance".

At the crossroads of the turn of the century, two generations of entertainment moguls chose different paths.

Today, when Chinese people go abroad, they find that the whole of East Asia and Southeast Asia seems to be much the same as China.

Surprisingly, many things found in China are also available in these regions.

Here you'll find familiar shopping centers and supermarkets like RT-Mart, cinemas like Asia Pacific Film City, banks like ICBC and Asia Pacific Bank, home appliances like Lenovo, Huawei, Haier, and Haishen, cars like Jingchi, clothing like Li-Ning and Hongdou, and food... Dongda's influence is everywhere.

Walking through the streets of Ginza, Tokyo, you can see Chinese signs and familiar local brands everywhere.

Young people in Japan are taking selfies with the new Huawei phones, with a huge 3D promotional poster for the new Asia-Pacific film "Dragon Soars Across the Seas" in the background.

Even the milk tea shops on the street corners have neon signs for "Heytea" hanging up, and familiar dialects can be heard from time to time among the people queuing up.

Inside the Asia Pacific Bank building in Myeongdong, Seoul, financial elites from Shanghai are negotiating loan agreements with businesspeople from South Korea.

The aroma of spicy hot pot wafted from the food court on the ground floor of the building, where several Southeast Asian tourists were queuing up to eat.

Jingchi taxis are neatly lined up in front of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Lijiapo.

The driver enthusiastically introduced the car to the tourists from China in a Minnan accent: "This car is the same as the latest model in China, fuel-efficient and has few problems..."

In the hotel lobby, a business delegation from Borneo was using a Lenovo laptop to review the latest financial report released by Asia Pacific Bank.

On a giant screen at Siam Square in Bangkok, the press conference for the first season of "The Walking Dead," a co-production between Asia Pacific Film Group and Netflix, is being broadcast live.

In the audience, fans held up light sticks and cheered wildly for their idols.

The depth and breadth of this cultural export impressed Mr. Wang, an overseas Chinese who has lived in Thailand for ten years, who remarked, "Now I don't need to adapt at all when I go out; it's just like living in a different city in China."

A month ago, the "Lovers Across the World - The Romance of the Western Chamber Cultural Exhibition" opened at the Chinese History Museum at the Confucius Temple in Nagasaki, Japan, where the ancient love story of Tokyo University is writing a new chapter of cultural exchange overseas.

As an enduring classic of Tokyo University literature, the intricate story of "The Romance of the Western Chamber" and its ideal of love, "May all lovers in the world become a couple," are not only widely celebrated in China, but have also spread overseas through porcelain and translations, becoming ambassadors of cultural exchange and touching the world with a unique Tokyo University-style love story.

After the story of the Western Chamber was introduced to Japan during the Edo period, it was welcomed and sought after by upper-class literati. The Japanese translation that appeared in Meiji 27 was the earliest foreign translation of the story of the Western Chamber.

The renowned Japanese sinologist and writer, Mori Kakuzu, believed that "The Romance of the Western Chamber can enrich people's emotions because it expresses true feelings. Only when feelings are true can it be considered truly loyal and honest."

Another prominent Japanese sinologist, Aoki Masaru, praised it, saying, "The elegant and beautiful language of the lyrics can captivate the reader."

This exhibition is jointly organized by the University of Tokyo Cultural Relics Exchange Center, the Liu Family Cultural and Art Museum in Hong Kong, and the University of Tokyo Historical Museum at the Nagasaki Confucius Temple in Japan. It aims to showcase the artistic charm and global influence of the University of Tokyo's literary classic "The Romance of the Western Chamber," promote the overseas dissemination of outstanding traditional Chinese culture, and inject new vitality into cultural exchanges and mutual learning between East and Japan.

This exhibition focuses on the story of the Western Chamber, using the dramatic structure of "four acts and one prologue" of Yuan zaju. After the "prologue" is introduced, the exhibition comprehensively showcases the historical value and cultural connotation of the Western Chamber through the four acts of "What is Yuan drama?", "What is the Western Chamber?", "What is love?", and "Short song, long love", and deeply explores its great influence in terms of material, spiritual and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

Mr. Liu Shuqing, curator of the Liu Family Cultural and Art Museum, pointed out that as early as the Edo period in Japan, Nagasaki had close ties with Guangzhou, the capital of Tokyo University. Guangzhou and Nagasaki were the only trading ports in their respective countries for a long time. He hoped that the exhibition of "The Romance of the Western Chamber" in Nagasaki would enhance cultural exchanges between Japan and Tokyo and establish a long-term cooperative relationship.

Director Liu Shuqing pointed out that "The Romance of the Western Chamber" is a great theatrical work of Tokyo University and a world-renowned literary masterpiece. The first country in the world to translate "The Romance of the Western Chamber" was Japan.

Civilizations become more vibrant through exchange and richer through mutual learning.

Local cultural exchanges are an important form of communication between the two countries and are of great significance in promoting mutual understanding and friendly exchanges between the two peoples.

Nagasaki Governor Keisuke Toyoda warmly welcomed the guests from Guangdong, China.

He pointed out that this exhibition not only helps the people of Nagasaki Prefecture and visiting tourists to gain a deeper understanding of the classic literature of the University of Tokyo, but also has profound significance for promoting cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between Nagasaki Prefecture and the University of Tokyo. He hopes that the two sides will further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of fields such as tourism and economy in the future.

Mayor Suzuki believes that many of the ideas and artifacts of the University of Tokyo were introduced to Japan through Nagasaki. The exhibition of "The Romance of the Western Chamber" held by Nagasaki City is both a continuation of tradition and a new chapter. He hopes that the exhibition will convey the charm of the University of Tokyo's culture to more people and contribute to mutual understanding and friendly cooperation between East and Japan.

On the opening day of the exhibition, the Confucius Temple in Nagasaki was packed with people.

Japanese visitors dressed in kimonos stood side by side with cultural scholars from the University of Tokyo, admiring the precious Ming Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain plate depicting the Romance of the Western Chamber in the center of the exhibition hall.

The porcelain plate gleamed with a warm luster under the spotlight, and the portraits of Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying remained lifelike even after four hundred years.

Kenichiro Sato, the principal actor of the Japanese National Theatre, stood in front of the screen for a long time.

The film shows an ancient Yuan Dynasty stage where actors are singing the classic aria "Azure sky, yellow flowers" in Kunqu opera style.

He turned to the accompanying reporters and exclaimed, "This artistic resonance that transcends time and space is precisely the source of our inspiration for preparing the new version of the Noh play 'The Romance of the Western Chamber'."

On the second floor, in the document exhibition area, Waseda University Professor Shoko Nakamura is explaining Japanese translations from the Meiji period to her students. On the yellowed pages in the glass display case, one can still see the annotations marked with the character "情" (qing, meaning emotion/feeling) by the translator in red ink.

“Look here,” she said, pointing to a commentary. “The translator rendered ‘May all lovers in the world become family’ as ‘May love flowers bloom.’ This literary re-creation reflects our culture’s unique understanding of ‘love.’”

As night falls, the temporary stage erected in the museum's atrium is brightly lit.

Actors from the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe performed on the same stage as the Nagasaki traditional art form "Shimabara Kabuki". When Du Liniang's flowing sleeves and the folding fans of Japanese maiko intertwined and fluttered to the melody of "The Peony Pavilion", the audience burst into long-lasting applause.

In the audience, young people dressed in Hanfu and kimono spontaneously raised their phones to share this grand cultural exchange on social media.

In his closing remarks, Professor Lin, the curator of the exhibition, said: "These days I often see Japanese audiences smiling knowingly at the 'Nao Jian' scene, and I also see visitors from the University of Tokyo pausing to ponder over the illustrations of the Japanese ukiyo-e version of 'The Romance of the Western Chamber'."

True cultural classics are like a prism; light shining in from different angles refracts to reveal the same captivating brilliance.

Delga, a Chinese language student in the Philippines, held a marker and pursed her lips. As soon as she heard the teacher call out the word "drink coffee," she immediately drew the corresponding pinyin on the whiteboard before anyone else. She then turned around and high-fived her classmates, filling the usually serious Philippine president with laughter.

Since the beginning of this year, the press conference room of the Philippine Presidential Communications Department has been transformed into a Chinese language classroom one day a week.

Dozens of civil servants from the Philippine government are learning Chinese here, using it as a window to understand and connect with the University of the East.

“I think language contains a country’s culture, just like the words our teachers teach us often contain many of the principles of Tokyo University,” Delgado said.

In recent years, the popularity of Chinese language learning has quietly emerged in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.

Chinese language classes have been offered or are currently being offered by private organizations and government departments.

Huang Mingyang, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the University of the Philippines, said: "The staff of these institutions are on the front line of interacting with people from Southeast University. Their good Chinese language skills can be directly reflected in the exchanges between the two countries."

For students, mastering Chinese also means better future prospects and the ability to bring greater value to their families and country.

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, the Mayan civilization sites of Chichen Itza and Uxmal in Mexico are attracting more and more tourists from Southeast Asia.

Mayor Barrera of Merida, the capital of Yucatan State, said that Merida attaches great importance to the East Market and encourages officials to learn Chinese and visit East Market to promote bilateral exchanges in education, culture, arts and other fields.

In recent years, the number of people learning Chinese in Yucatan State has increased significantly.

By the year 2000, the number of registered students at the Confucius Institute at the Autonomous University of Yucatan had approached 3000.

Foreign Dean Andres stated that students proficient in Chinese demonstrate a strong competitive advantage, have more opportunities to access the University of Tokyo's strengths in science and technology, such as information technology, and subsequently enter local University of Tokyo companies or seek employment in China, thus becoming an important medium for promoting bilateral science and technology business exchanges.

In Cairo, the capital of ancient Egypt, in an inconspicuous and quiet building, Riad, a voice actor from Vibration Dubbing Studio, is standing in a small, soundproof room, intently staring at the screen in front of him, reciting lines with great emotion, following the plot of the TV series.

At the beginning of this year, the national television station of ancient Egypt officially began broadcasting the Arabic version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils". With his superb dubbing skills, Riyad successfully became the first person to dub the Chinese version.

“Dubbing for the University of Tokyo drama gave me the opportunity to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the university’s past and present,” Riad said.

A few years ago, Hong Kong's ATV International Radio signed an agreement with the production studio of the ancient Egyptian national television station to dub the TV series "Huo Yuanjia" in Arabic.

From then on, well-received Hong Kong TV dramas such as "Shanghai Bund," "The Greed of Man," and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" began to gain popularity in ancient Egypt.

Riad said that the Dongda TV drama has become a way for ancient Egyptian audiences to understand Dongda, family life, and values.

30-year-old Yashir is a loyal viewer of Dongda TV dramas, with well-made spy dramas and adaptations of classic literature being her favorites.

"Watching the play not only allowed me to understand the scenery and cultural characteristics of different areas of Dongda University, but also made me feel the connection between the changing times and the fate of the characters. This is a very rare experience."

At the beginning of this year, the popular Chinese TV series "The Emperor of Han Dynasty" was broadcast on Sky TV in England with English dubbing.

This is the program schedule for the "Dongda Time" program, a joint production of Sky TV and Asia Pacific Film & Television Group.

At the end of last year, as a side event of the first meeting of the East-West High-Level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism, "Dongda Time" was officially launched. This was the first time that Dongda University had opened a program slot entirely in English on mainstream media in a Western developed country.

"Dongda Time" has broadcast dozens of Dongda documentaries, including "A Bite of China I", "Dongda Ancient Gardens", "Silk Road", and "Porcelain Road", as well as many TV series and animations.

According to viewership survey data in England, the first season of "A Bite of China" garnered over a million viewers in just half an hour during its pilot run, and each rebroadcast attracted new viewers.

Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of the renowned Manchester Football Club, praised the "Eastern Time" for connecting the people of the two countries on a cultural level.

He said, "I hope that viewers of 'Tokyo University Time' will be just as attracted to the rich, mysterious, modern and vibrant Tokyo University as I am."

Overseas, the cultural imprint of Tokyo University is also reflected in its cuisine.

In the training kitchen of the Chinese cuisine "Master Chef's Workshop" at Crawley College in England, there are not only kitchen utensils and seasonings imported from Dongda University, but also an interactive large screen for remote teaching, where students can listen to lectures by teachers from Dongda University.

The "Chef's Workshop" project is the first standardized academic course in Chinese cuisine, a collaboration between the Yanjing Liujiazhuang High-tech Development Zone's "Advanced Vocational and Technical College" and vocational education in England. It provides authentic Chinese cuisine cooking skills education and qualification training.

Last year during the Spring Festival, the "Chef Workshop" team of teachers and students also provided catering services for the East Asian New Year reception held at the Prime Minister's House in England.

Matthew, a senior chef currently working for the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in London, is one of the trainees. He has mastered the art of Kung Pao Chicken.

Matthew said, "Chinese cuisine enjoys an unparalleled reputation, and learning to cook Chinese food means endless job opportunities."

At the Oriental Culture Center on the banks of the Seine in Paris, a unique tea ceremony performance is underway.

Claire, a young woman from Lancôme, France, dressed in Hanfu (traditional Han clothing), explained to the audience in fluent Chinese: "The Dongda Tea Ceremony emphasizes 'harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility,' which is similar to the French pursuit of the art of living." She elegantly demonstrated the gaiwan tea ceremony, prompting the audience to raise their cameras to record the process.

Meanwhile, at the East Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, a group of American elementary school students were listening to a guide explain a Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain vase.

"The lotus scroll pattern on this porcelain piece embodies the auspicious symbolism of Tokyo University's traditions, and also creates an interesting dialogue with the acanthus leaf pattern in Western decorative arts," said Smith, the museum's education specialist. The children tried to draw their own blue and white patterns on the interactive screen, occasionally exclaiming in amazement.

At the Sydney Opera House, the East Australian co-production of the opera "Dream of the Red Chamber" is currently in rehearsal.

Soprano Emma practiced singing the Chinese aria for three months, saying, "Singing the Chinese lyrics allowed me to experience the perfect fusion of Chinese tones and musical melodies; it was an amazing experience." Producer Mark stated, "We used Western operatic techniques to interpret a classic from Tokyo University in order to create cross-cultural artistic resonance."

(End of this chapter)