The cast and creators of Cheng Yu Ying Xiong celebrate the upcoming show at a party in Beijing November 1. Photo: Courtesy of Henan TV
This summer, a program called The Hero of Hanzi tested players' mastery of hanzi, or Chinese characters, and led to a nationwide call to keep the traditions of Chinese culture alive.
This push for preservation still hasn't cooled off, and a new companion program to The Hero of Hanzi aims to test another aspect of Chinese language - idioms.
Produced by Henan TV, Cheng Yu Ying Xiong (meaning "hero of idioms") threw a launch party on November 1 in Beijing and will hit the airwaves November 21.
Channeling history
Each idiom has an allusion behind it and carries with it Chinese philosophy and worldviews that have been thoroughly tempered through the ages.
The TV competition will boil all this down to a "you draw, I guess" format with teams of two.
The three featured experts bring knowledge and enthusiasm to the program. A professor of history at Fudan University, Qian Wenzhong analyzes the origins and stories behind the idioms. Taiwanese cartoonist and winner of Taiwan's Golden Comic Award Tsai Chih-chung provides guidance to contestants on how to present Chinese traditional culture and wisdom through drawings. And well-known TV host Cui Yongyuan digs out the stories behind contestants.
As Cui joked about their roles on the show: "To learn idioms, please go to Qian Wenzhong. To learn drawing, go to Tsai Chih-chung. If you want to learn everything, then come to me."
Chinese idioms aren't easy to master. It takes more than glancing at the characters to glean the meaning of one. To fully grasp an idiom, one has to understand the story behind it. That makes it even harder to draw out.
Tsai often explains profound Chinese culture and philosophy through his cartoons. He has illustrated ancient texts such as Zhuangzi and Shiji.
This is 65-year-old Tsai's first time on a panel for a Chinese mainland TV competition, and he offered this advice to contestants battling the clock on stage: "The most important thing is to grasp the meaning. Not the whole story."
Raising awareness
"When programs are done like this, culture can be spread through an entertaining way," Qian said.
Qian mentioned that the impact of The Hero of Hanzi was one of the reasons that he wanted to join the cast of Cheng Yu Ying Xiong. The show caused people to reconsider the state of written Chinese in the era of texting and typing.
In his opinion, idioms face a similar situation. Although still used on a daily basis, the origins and stories behind the idioms have been neglected. But judging by the success of the companion program, Qian thinks audiences have the desire to rekindle these old stories and expressions. He has high hopes that the program can drive home the importance of idioms.
The widely-discussed CCTV host Cui in and of himself is a highlight of the program. Rumors of this famous host leaving CCTV have circulated among the public for quite a while. But there was never an official answer.
During the new show's kick-off party, this sensitive question came up yet again. Cui responded by joking, "I also heard it from the Internet."
Although it's still not clear whether he will leave CCTV, what is certain is his place on Cheng Yu Ying Xiong as an idioms teacher and also another spot on a new reading program, which will also be broadcast on Henan TV.
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