The Seeds of the Spring Festival Gala

Rumble, rumble! In June, the *Justice Bao* crew finished filming and boarded a train back to Beijing. Sitting in her seat, Yang Jie looked through a stack of costume sketches, full of praise. "Jianqun, you've got remarkable talent and solid technical skill. Is this really your first time doing costume design?" "It really is, Director!" "If I'd known sooner, I would've asked you to design for me too, instead of letting that brat Chen Qi snatch you away." Yang Jie had deep classical aesthetics and loved Li Jianqun's sketches. Handing them back reluctantly, she smiled. "No wonder you borrowed the *Draft History of Qing* from me. Nowadays, actors generally lack cultural literacy, and training classes only teach superficial basics. People like you are truly rare." "You flatter me, Director. I only looked up the sections on costumes and folk customs," Li Jianqun said hurriedly. "How could I possibly comprehend a work of millions of words?" It was customary for a new dynasty to compile the history of the preceding one. This *Draft History of Qing* had been approved for compilation during the Republican era by Yuan Shikai. In the end, they hired a bunch of Qing loyalists and remnant officials to write it, so one could well imagine its contents. At the time, scholars laid out nineteen reasons petitioning the government to ban its publication, citing things like: "Counterrevolutionary, contempt for revolutionary martyrs, praise for Qing loyalists, encouragement of imperial restoration, anti-Han sentiment, concealment of Qing atrocities, and so on!" In short, the *Draft History of Qing* was never officially ratified as the *History of Qing*, leaving China with the standard Twenty-Four Dynastic Histories, without adding a twenty-fifth. Later, in 2002, the country began compiling the *History of Qing* anew. Word was it had long been completed at thirty-two million words, but it was still undergoing review and had yet to be officially approved... At this moment, Li Jianqun carefully put away her design sketches. This was the latest batch; an earlier portion had already been delivered to Chen Qi, and the costumes for *Tai Chi 2* were already finished. At present, the most challenging task was the design for the Red Lantern's Two-Faced Bodhisattva. Chen Qi's requirement had been: "An eerie, bewitching beauty—holy yet seductive!" Li Jianqun was stumped. It was far too abstract, and she had zero inspiration. Yang Jie asked again, "Jianqun, do you have a role in *Tai Chi 2*?" "Supposedly a small role, but mainly costume design." "Oh. Then what do you plan to do after wrapping up? You've already graduated, and you keep putting off reporting to the work unit assigned by your school. Do you want to stay in Beijing?" "I..." Li Jianqun let out a sigh. "I love acting, and I love design. I'm hoping I can do both. To be honest, I don't really know what to do either. My contract with *Tai Chi 2* is only for one movie. If I can stay, that would be ideal." "I can ask around for you to see if the station needs any art designers. It'd be fine if you stayed with us too," Yang Jie said with a warm smile, an older woman of talent looking out for a younger one. "That would be wonderful! Thank you so much!" Li Jianqun brightened, but then sighed inwardly again. While filming on location, she had corresponded frequently with her boyfriend. He was complying with his school assignment to go to the Lanzhou Military Region, and he had already issued an ultimatum: either she went with him, or they called it quits! Speaking of this boyfriend, they were classmates, and she thought he was a decent person. Previously, she had thought about being assigned to the same unit and just getting married. That was typical for most people in this era: there wasn't much passionate, die-for-you romance; people just drifted into marriage. They called it free-choice courtship, but how much freedom was there really? Most were introduced by third parties. If the other person seemed all right and both families agreed, they tied the knot. Someone like Liu Xiaoqing, who deliberately hooked up with a man to get married just so she could transfer to Beijing, was truly one of the clear-headed ones in this world—at least she knew what she wanted... Rumble, rumble! Carrying Li Jianqun's worries and Yang Jie's anticipation for *Justice Bao*, the train pulled into Beijing. Li Jianqun headed off to Beijing Film Studio, while Yang Jie returned to CCTV. Outside Fuxingmen stood a Soviet-style Broadcasting Building erected in the 1950s, covering four hectares. The broadcasting administration, CCTV, and China National Radio were all housed within. Later, CCTV moved to the Color Television Center, and then to the famous "Big Underpants" headquarters. That building left the public with two lasting impressions: one was the fire, and the other was Ms. Zhang and Director Lyu's liaison in the high-rise hotel across the street... "Well, Director Yang, you're back from shooting Justice Bao?" "You're really dedicated to your work—not even stopping by home, heading straight to the office!" "There are only two people in my household, and we're both right here. Why would I go home? If you've got nothing better to do, go play somewhere else!" Yang Jie took no nonsense from anyone; she was ready to snap at anyone, even the station director. Walking down the long corridor to deposit the footage from *Justice Bao*, she nearly bumped into someone heading her way. Looking closely, she asked in surprise, "Xiao Jiang, what are you doing here?" "Oh, hello, Director Yang!" Thirty-one-year-old Jiang Kun hurried to greet her. With his slanting eyebrows, drooping eyes, and trademark slightly effeminate voice, he said, "I came with my master to discuss putting together an evening gala." "A gala? Haven't we already done several of those?" "This time is different. Remember the joint get-together we did with Guangdong TV early this year? It was a massive success and received rave reviews. My master was deeply inspired. After thinking it over for a long time, he felt we ought to stage an extraordinary gala. "Instead of prerecording, we'd broadcast live on New Year's Eve, focusing mainly on entertainment programs interspersed with singing and dancing. We'd have hosts to crack jokes and liven up the atmosphere, using television as a medium to reach millions of households. Doesn't that sound great?" Oho! Yang Jie's interest was piqued. She decided to go have a look with him, arriving at an office where Ma Ji was in discussion with leadership. She stepped in to say hello and listened for a while. Just as Jiang Kun had said, Ma Ji wanted to plan a large-scale Spring Festival Gala. Ma Ji was already immensely famous with high social status, and Jiang Kun, having been brought into the industry by him, was also making a name for himself. "Your idea is very novel, but it's also overly bold. Personally, I'm supportive, but the details require internal deliberation." "Then do you think we can implement it next year?" "Hard to say for sure. Let us study it first, and we'll let you know when there's news." "Alright, alright..." Ma Ji shook his head and departed with Jiang Kun. Having listened in, Yang Jie left as well. Neither of them realized that this idea would spawn a household staple across the nation, eventually etching itself into the country's cultural DNA. A Spring Festival Gala had been held in 1979, followed by 1980, 1981, and 1982. Prerecorded in a tea-party format, they were rather stiff. Why was the 1983 gala considered the inaugural year? Because it brought together all the features Ma Ji had proposed: broadcast live on New Year's Eve, dramatically increased entertainment value, packed with music, dance, cross-talk, and skits, hosts livening up the room, strong audience interaction, and a substantial base of television sets in homes. Ma Ji made it into the core creative team because he was the very person who first proposed it. Naturally, his ascent brought along his disciple Jiang Kun, catapulting Jiang Kun into immense popularity as well. Right now, in 1981, the concept for the Spring Festival Gala had only just sprouted. It would be fleshed out the following year, and would make its grand debut the year after that. *** Meanwhile, on the other front. Li Lianjie had already joined the crew, and the paperwork was being processed step by step. Because he was on secondment, he was not considered a formal employee, but everyone treated him like one, giving him the same daily two-yuan stipend. Chen Qi had always been generous. He wouldn't shortchange Ji Chunhua, and naturally he wouldn't shortchange Li Lianjie either. It was just that the company was newly founded and expenses were everywhere, so for now, he had to keep spending in check. Having come from a later era, he believed more than anyone that material interests moved hearts. Even with Sister Gong Xue, he still had to promote her; relationships maintained purely on sentiment were never solid. The company currently had one general manager, one administrative staff member, one accountant, one regular employee in Ji Chunhua, and one seconded worker in Li Lianjie. Chen Qi also wanted to recruit Xiong Xinxin, Sun Jiankui, and the others to assemble a full trio of henchmen leaders. A whole bunch of rough-looking misfits. Their status on the martial arts team was not particularly high, unlike Li Lianjie's special situation. Chen Qi hadn't bothered negotiating for them yet; they could just film step by step until they retired from competition, and then join the company. Yu Hai and Yu Chenghui were coaches, free of such constraints, so inviting them directly for filming was completely fine. And of course, there was Li Jianqun, whom he also needed to recruit—a lone red flower among all the ugly mugs.