Chinese television dramas (Chinese: 中国电视连续剧; pinyin: Zhōngguó diànshì liánxùjù), sometimes colloquially known as C-dramas or C-dorama, are television dramas originating from China or the Greater China region. China produces more television dramas than any other country.[1] The most popular genre of dramas in China is fantasy romance, with 47 of the 50 most watched dramas in the country in 2016 being in this genre.[2] Chinese television dramas are popular and regularly broadcast throughout Asia; particularly in Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Cambodia.[3][4][5][6][7]

History

The first Mainland China-produced television series, One Piece of Cake (Chinese: 一口菜饼子), was aired in 1958, after the launch of China's first television station, Beijing TV Station (later rebranded as China Central Television, or CCTV).[8][9]

Since the 1990s, historical serials have been the dominant genre on prime-time television. The trend peaked in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with many palace (also known as "Qing") dramas shown on television.[10]

In the 2014, the Chinese government announced a new requirement for a publication license for imported foreign films and TV series.[11] Streaming television took off in China as technology giants Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba invested more in their own Chinese productions under their respective streaming business units iQiyi, Tencent Video and Youku.[12][13] Traditional terrestrial broadcasters also started partnering with streamers to deal with declining TV viewership.[13]

Characteristics

Popular Chinese television dramas, such as Ashes of Love, Story of Yanxi Palace, Nirvana in Fire, The Journey of Flower, Eternal Love, The Princess Weiyoung, Just One Smile Is Very Alluring, The Legend of Zhen Huan, Scarlet Heart, The Mystic Nine, The Untamed and more often garner billions of views among China's most popular video websites, iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video. Some dramas were remade in other languages, or were spun off into a sequel.

Many series end each episode in a cliffhanger. The channel CCTV-8 airs TV series around the clock. Series are divided into several rough categories: historical (subdivided into historical fiction, nationalist-rallying, historical re-enactment and wuxia, police and politics, comedy, and the more modern family conflict drama genre. Episodes usually begin with opening theme music over credits and end with further theme music and more credits.

The series of episodes runs on together to depict a series of events that happen one after another in relevance to the main plot of the drama. Like a novel, the drama contains characters, conflict, plot, climax, and resolution that intrigue the audience's interest. The large number of episodes allows the plot to be carried in much more detail than in a short movie. A particular aspect of life such as high school, college, or work life of a person, or a specific job is shown with much greater details that allows the audience to acknowledge that particular area in detail. This gives the audience a better understanding of the characters and their perspectives as well as the entirety of the storyline.

Long-form Chinese television series vary in quality, although since the mid to late 2010s, observers have noted a sharp increase in production values and script quality in some series.[14] Also, a number of Chinese television series used music from Hollywood movies as incidental music.

Dramas are generated with a specific genre like romance, comedy, horror, family drama, sports, or a mixture of these in the form of ancient, historical, Republican era or modern to highlight the theme and suits the audience's interest. Chinese-language dramas are often classified by where they were produced, such as mainland dramas, Taiwanese dramas, Hong Kong dramas, and Singaporean dramas. Each differs in the style of filming and editing format. Most consist of romance, family and friends with the combination of pop cultural themes.

Since the 2010s, main melody or tribute dramas (Chinese: 献礼剧) have become common, with more series commissioned by CCTV for major milestones of the Communist Party of China. Popular thrillers such as the 2017 hit series In the Name of the People, and the 2023 series The Knockout, focus on the heroic story of the protagonists fighting against corruption under the CCP's auspices.[15] These shows have more sophisticated as the industry adopts more nuanced plots and higher production standards.[16]

Censorship

Dramas have also been the targets of censorship, with series such as Story of Yanxi Palace and Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace being cancelled by the Chinese government for not promoting socialist values.[17]

Creatives are often required to adhere to explicit directives from the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), in order to pass the government review process. In many cases, they have do so by "adopting a positive ending where the good triumphs over evils and making the protagonist a morally good person".[18]

In 2022, the NRTA called for an end to the wildly-popular dangai television genre, which consisted of television adaptations of gay-themed online novels; male actors were also discouraged from looking "effeminate".[19][20]

Dubbing

Chinese dramas are often dubbed, by professional voice actors. It usually takes one month to do the dubbing for 30 to 40 episodes, in post-production. Popular voice actors may dub several series a year, often resulting in drama fans recognizing their voices.[21] There are several reasons why actors would be dubbed in Chinese television dramas. First of all, dramas should be aired using putonghua, the standard Mandarin dialect, and many actors may have an accent, according to which region they come from. To standardize the pronunciation throughout the production, voice actors trained in standard Mandarin are employed in post-production. Filming conditions may also result in poor audio quality and noises, which requires work in post-production. Voice acting is also sometimes used to improve an actor's otherwise poor performance. Censorship may also require changing some lines in post-production.[22]

There are actors who are usually not dubbed, including Hu Ge, Wang Kai, Jin Dong, Jiang Xin and Deng Chao.[23][24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ CNTV (June 12, 2015). "Chinese TV Producers Look to Foreign Markets". english.entgroup.cn. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ China Daily (April 14, 2017). "Spy Stories Get New Lease of Life on the Small Screen". english.entgroup.cn. EntGroup Inc. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  3. ↑ "On Cambodian TV, a Buffet of Foreign Options but Little Local Fare". 2015-09-12.
  4. ↑ "The Current Situation of Sri lanka TV Media and the Challenges Ahead - 24th JAMCO Online International Symposium". Jamco.or.jp. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  5. ↑ "Chinese Dramas Reach Thailand | China-Thailand – China Report ASEAN". Chinareportasean.com. 2017-04-13. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  6. ↑ "Chinese TV dramas and movies thrill Vietnamese - Culture". Chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  7. ↑ "After Jackie Chan and Jet Li, are we ready for the F4 boys?". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  8. ↑ Dai, Tao Jiang (2018-06-12). "纪念中国电视剧诞生60周年：平凡中的不平凡". The Paper. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  9. ↑ Zhang, Bin. "TV Series in China". China Federation of Literary and Arts Circles.
  10. ↑ Zhu, Ying (2005). ""Yongzheng Dynasty" and Chinese Primetime Television Drama". Cinema Journal. 44 (4): 3–17. doi:10.1353/cj.2005.0038. JSTOR 3661122.
  11. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (2014-09-05). "China Watchdog Will Require Streaming Licenses For Foreign TV Shows; Are Quotas Next?". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  12. ↑ Shackleton, Liz (2019-10-18). "The challenges faced by China's streaming giants in their efforts to grow subscriptions". Screen. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  13. 1 2 Wu, Changchang (2023-03-01). "How Streaming Went Mainstream in China". Sixth Tone. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  14. ↑ "Chinese productions attract global fanbase". SHINE. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  15. ↑ Tone, Sixth (July 14, 2022). "Can China's 'Positive Dramas' Take a Joke?". #SixthTone. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  16. ↑ "Chinese TV series shines light on Xi Jinping's anti-corruption crusade". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  17. ↑ Illmer, Andreas (2019-02-08). "Why China turned against a blockbuster drama". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  18. ↑ Tone, Sixth (January 26, 2022). "Viewers Complain Over Hit Chinese Thriller's 'Positive' Ending". #SixthTone. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  19. ↑ Romano, Aja (2022-10-17). "Xi Jinping vs fandom". Vox. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  20. ↑ "'Boys' love' dramas that took China by storm come into Beijing's crosshairs". South China Morning Post. 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  21. ↑ "Over the top". China Daily. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  22. ↑ "Q&A With Voice Artist on Why Dubbing Will Never Die". Sixth Tone. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  23. ↑ "演戏不用配音的四位男星，胡歌和靳东榜上有名，你最喜欢谁？" (in Chinese). Sina. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  24. ↑ "拍戏从不用配音的5位演员，王凯蒋欣上榜，配音员：幸亏人不多！" (in Chinese). Sina. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
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