Preface

The subject of the Yellow River is a broad and major topic that involves, spatially, an area that stretches 10,000 li from West to East, temporally a span of four thousand years, and in human terms, hundreds of millions of people on both sides of the [Taiwan] Straits. The Yellow River is deeply and intricately related to its development, as well as with East Asian civilization and even the whole of world civilization. We feel that to bring the Yellow River to the television screen is different from doing the same with some other subject matter, such as the Yangtze River or the Liao River. In terms of the importance and richness of the subject matter, the Yangtze River and the Silk Road are not even comparable. If once again we were to portray the Yellow River merely according to the old lines of thought, or the conventional methods and forms and styles, we would probably be able to express its landscape, its appearance, in the usual way, but not plumb its tremendous implications and its ponderous weight in cultural terms. Furthermore, since we are presenting the Yellow River now, under the influence of a general trend of reform and opening up the country and society, we are naturally obliged to bestow upon this subject a clear, vivid, and strong characteristic peculiar to these times, and make something of the Yellow River in the context of the broader topic of reform, so that the broadcasting of this television film may become a chance to do an overall reconsideration of our nation's history, civilization, and destiny. Only then would the project and its product be commensurate with the weight of the Yellow River, and in harmony with the demands of the times.

Archaeology · China · Civilization · Conceptualization · Context (archaeology) · Media studies · Political science · Sociology · Subject (documents) · Subject matter · Yangtze river · Computer Science · History · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law