Accessible documentary explores China before China

Eight-parter examines origins of Chinese culture and politics and contribution to modern country, tracing roots back to the Paleolithic period, Fang Aiqing reports.

Time flows according to its own rhythm. But over the course of tens of thousands of years, the numerous individuals who lived within it, each for a period as short as a shooting star flashing across the night sky, have knit the vicissitudes of life, partings and reunions, sorrow and joy, into the magnum opus of history.

This is also true in China, where the emperors and nobles, heroes and heroines whose names and deeds have been recorded in written documents and oral legends passed down through the ages, as well as the ordinary people whose lives have left traces only on the cultural relics they left behind, have fascinated generations of archaeologists, their nature and cultural genes key to understanding why and how China has become the country it is today.

This is the idea conveyed by the eight-episode documentary, China Before China, which tells the story of the origins and early development of Chinese civilization, and contemporary attempts to portray ancient societies based on archaeological findings.

The series, a joint effort between a video production team and hundreds of archaeologists from across the country, is currently airing each week on Shanghai-based Dragon TV, as well as on streaming platforms BesTV, iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku and Bilibili.

"What we want to explore are the characteristics of Chinese civilization and its spirit that have been transmitted through our blood, and from which we can trace the cultural genes that make us the Chinese people," says Jin Ruiguo, director of the news center of the National Cultural Heritage Administration and chief supervisor of the documentary.

"They reflect the origins of Chinese civilization and are the roots of confidence in our culture," he adds.