The Story of Happy Farming is a rural-themed TV series written and directed by Niu Jianrong and starring Lin Yongjian, Wang Yajun and others. It won the first prize of the 27th China TV Drama "Flying Apsaras Award" for long-form TV series. The play takes the central government's exemption of agricultural tax in 2006 as the starting point, and ordinary farmers who work in cities and return to their hometowns to farm as the main line. It shows the thoughts, joys, sorrows, anger and happiness of farmers in the new era, and shows the vivid practice of the vast number of farmers in building a new socialist countryside under the leadership of the Party.

The TV series "The Story of Xi Gengtian" is currently being broadcast on the "Revisiting Classics" channel. We have now reorganized and edited the review article published in the 12th issue of "China Television" magazine in 2007. Let us follow the expert perspective of Professor Wang Weiguo of Communication University of China to analyze the series' reshaping of the image of farmers in the new era, feel the harmonious unity of the work's ideology and artistry, and interpret the series' exploration and pursuit of the documentary aesthetics of TV dramas.

Show the new look of rural areas and create a new image of farmers

Shanxi Province has produced outstanding works that focus on reality and are close to the times, such as "New Star", "The Sun Rises Here" and "Ge Manager". In recent years, Shanxi Province's TV drama creation has continued to adhere to the path of realism and promote national spirit and patriotism.

The Story of Xigengtian shows the beautiful scene of farmers actively building a new socialist countryside and working hard to achieve a well-off life after the central government exempted agricultural taxes in 2006, reflecting another reform in China's rural areas after the household contract responsibility system. In the play, Xigengtian, who loves the land, immediately returned to the village to sign a land contract after the state exempted agricultural taxes, and led his children to work together to build their homeland, showing the farmers' special feelings for the land and reshaping the typical image of new farmers.

First, we see the profound changes in the farmers' mental outlook in the process of building a new socialist countryside. For example, Xigengtian uses the law as a weapon to protect the rights and dignity of farmers, and firmly supports his daughter's choice of marriage. Secondly, Xigengtian uses truth, goodness and beauty to resolve the falsehood, evil and ugliness in social life one by one, showing the beauty of farmers' humanity, which is an indispensable spiritual force in the construction of a new countryside. Thirdly, Xigengtian begins to take control of his own destiny, from contracting land to engaging in green and characteristic agriculture, from organizing economic cooperatives to taking the road of agricultural industrialization, reflecting the new pursuits, new ideas, new realms and innovative spirit of contemporary farmers.

Criticizing old ideas and promoting new ideas

The TV series "The Story of Xi Gengtian" stands at the height of historical development, and with a realistic spirit, exposes and criticizes the erroneous ideas and values that hinder the construction of a new socialist countryside, and promotes the scientific outlook on development.

The play does not avoid the contradictions and conflicts in the construction of new countryside, such as rural hollowing out, left-behind children, elderly care, feudal superstition, marriage interference, small peasant economy consciousness and other issues, but vividly expresses these contradictions through aesthetic means, emphasizing that farmers need to constantly overcome old concepts, old habits, and old ideas in order to adapt to new economic methods and lifestyles. Ultimately, it makes people realize that the scientific outlook on development must be used to arm farmers' minds in order to achieve harmonious development among people, between people and nature, and between people and society.

The unity of ideology and artistry

Artistic works should pursue the unity of ideology and artistry. The TV series "The Story of Xi Gengtian" conveyed profound thoughts through unique artistic techniques, thus moving the audience.

The drama has a unique narrative perspective. The work makes extensive use of the motion perspective of "following" and "following" to shoot, combining the viewpoints of the audience and the camera, thus bringing the audience into the "scene" of Xigengtian's living space and generating emotional resonance. This change in viewpoint and the movement of perspective give the TV series a sense of fluidity and rhythm.

In addition, the play makes extensive use of Xi Gengtian's first-person perspective of "inner monologue", revealing the characters' psychological activities and thoughts and emotions, corresponding to their external behaviors, thus showing the characters' personality traits in three dimensions, which has become an important artistic feature of the play.

The pursuit and exploration of documentary aesthetics in TV dramas

The artistic truth of TV dramas is the aesthetic goal pursued by TV artists, because truth can best impress the audience's aesthetic nerves. "The Story of Xigengtian" has made a valuable exploration of the ontological truth of TV dramas:

First, the authenticity of the performance. Actor Lin Yongjian achieved the natural, simple and lifelike performance, which conforms to the aesthetic characteristics of the TV series. Second, the authenticity of the relationship between the characters. The husband-wife relationship between Xi Gengtian and Xiulan, the relationship of "hiding" and "finding" with Ma Cuilian, the relationship of "punishing" and "resisting" with Jiuxian, etc., are all shown in a plain, vivid and credible way. Third, the authenticity of the characterization. From costumes, makeup to performances, Xi Gengtian and other characters are integrated with the crowd actors, which truly reflects the life of farmers. Fourth, the authenticity of time and space. By restoring the different spatial scenes throughout the year, the play shows the profound changes that have taken place in rural areas and farmers after the exemption of agricultural taxes, allowing the audience to "smell" the fresh, rich and real breath of life.

The TV series "The Story of Xi Gengtian" pursues documentary aesthetics with the aim of truly depicting the transformation of the spiritual outlook of Chinese farmers in the historical process of building a new socialist countryside. While building the material world, they are also building their own spiritual world.

(The author of this article is Wang Weiguo, professor and doctoral supervisor at Communication University of China. The original article was published in the 12th issue of China Television magazine in 2007)