On June 8, the opening ceremony for filming the TV documentary Yan Fuand the symposium onFuzhou Cultural Enhancement were held on the Qishan Campus, Fujian Normal University (FNU). Liang Jianyong, member of the Standing Committee and minister of the PublicityDepartment of Fujian Provincial Committee, attended the ceremony and delivered a speech. Zhou Kuanfen, vice director of the General Office of Fujian Provincial Committee, Cai Zhansheng, member of the Standing Committee and minister of the PublicityDepartment ofFuzhou Municipal Committee, Hu Yongxin, vice director of Fujian Provincial Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, Li Xin, vice president of Fujian Academy of Social Sciences, Zheng Yong, vice chairman of Fuzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference, Li Jiping, vice chairman of Quanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference, Yao Zhiping, secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection of Putian University, Ma Zhaonan, executive vice-president of Fujian Research Association of Yanhuang Culture, entrepreneur representatives, FNU leaders Wang Changping and Pan Yuteng, former leaders of FNU Li Jianping and Wang Zhenglu, scholars such as Wang Gangfeng and Yan Yizhen, and some FNU teachers and students, attended the ceremony, presided over by Pan Yuteng.
In his speech, Wang Changping pointed out that FNU is deeply related with Yan Fu. Chen Baochen, the founder of FNU, was Yan Fu’s most trusted friend. Yan Shuxia, the third son of Yan Fu, was director of the school board of Fukien Christian University, one of the predecessors of FNU. Yan Shuxia’s descendants, like Yan Zhuoyun and Yan Tingyun,keep close contact with FNU. “Filming the documentaryisan important means of expression to inherit and carry forward Yan Fu’s thoughts. FNU will give full play to its comprehensive advantages in discipline, talent and scientific research to fully support and cooperate with the filming”, Wang said.
Liang Jianyong said in his speech that as the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up approaches, it is of great significance to film Yan Fu. He emphasized that we should follow the principles of creative transformation and innovative development to try to make the documentary into a masterpiece, which is thoughtful, artistic and well-made. We should also strive to deepen the connotations of Yan Fu’s thoughts, find out the fine traditional cultural qualities and according to the requirements of developing socialist advanced culture, give new connotations and expressions to the thoughts in line with the development trend of the times and the requirements of contemporary culture. Besides, we should focus on innovative artistic expression, applying modern scientific and technological means and artistic expression methods to integrate the ideological, artistic, and ornamental aspects of the work. Finally, we should spare no efforts to expand the coverageand influence of Yan Fu, adhering to all-round and multi-perspective publicity and promotion at home and abroad, online and offline.
At the ceremony, Li Jianping, former President of FNU and also planner of Yan Fu, Cai Zhansheng, minister of the Publicity Department of Fuzhou Municipal Committee, and Wang Gangfeng, chief copywriter of Yan Fuand professor of College of Marxism, FNU, delivered a speech respectively. After the ceremony, the chiefcrew members of Yan Fu answered the reporters’ questions, and experts and scholarsparticipated in the symposium on Fuzhou Cultural Enhancement.
The TV documentaryYan Fu, jointly produced by FNU, the PublicityDepartment ofFuzhou Municipal Committee, and Dongyu Film & TV Production Co. Ltd, Fujian, China, will show Yan Fu’s life, focusing on his mental journey of seeking truth from the western countries, his devotion to participating in the changes of modern Chinese society and to educating and inspiring his fellow countrymen and his contributions.
Yan Fu, from Fujian Province,is a well-known enlightenment thinker, translator and educator in the modern history of China. He is hailed as a master of enlightening the masses. Yan Fu translated lots of western masterpieces, such as Evolution and Ethics and other Essays and The Wealth of Nations, and played an important role in transforming traditional Chinese academic methods and constructing new disciplinary systems of modern China. Hestrongly preached the evolutionary viewpoints of “natural selection and survival of the fittest” and thus inspired the progressive Chinese to devote themselves to saving the nation out of aggression and promoted the progress of Chinese society. In 2015, the book Yan Fu’s Complete Works, which took FNU ten years to edit, was first published in Fuzhou. The book consists of eleven volumes with over 6.3 million Chinese characters,comprehensively and systematically reflectingYan Fu’s main thoughts and life experiences. The publication of the book has contributed much to the inheritance and development of Yan Fu’s thoughts.
(Translated by Wang Sijie, Reviewed by Xie Xiujuan)