Pulse of "Old Chinese Medicine"｜Talk with Chen Baoguo

How to accurately portray Chinese medicine was the hardest part of the filming process for The Old Chinese Doctor.

A stormy night, a bowl of traditional Chinese medicine served from the kitchen to the patient, a scream and the sound of the bowl being broken ...... The opening scene of "The Old Chinese Medicine Man" is an extra-long shot of 2 minutes and 35 seconds, which is information-intensive and one-shot, and at the same time, brings the audience into the atmosphere of the era of the Republic of China. Set in Shanghai between 1927 and 1946, and through seven medical cases, The Old Chinese Doctor tells the story of Weng Quanhai, the heir to the Menghe School of Medicine in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, who broke into the Shanghai Bund and dedicated his life to the preservation and transmission of Chinese medicine culture.

The drama, written by Gao Mantang and Li Zhou, and featuring a strong cast including Chen Baoguo, Feng Yuanzheng and Xu Qing, landed in the prime time slot of the CCTV-1 comprehensive channel on February 21st. Director Mao Weining told Variety that "Old Chinese Medicine" is about Chinese medicine, but also about the Chinese people under the magnificent history, and he hopes to fill the market vacancy of this kind of subject matter through this drama.

The story of Chinese medicine in the context of the survival of the industry

Mao Weining introduced the era of "Old Chinese Medicine" - 1927-1946, which is the stage when Chinese medicine is facing the test of life and death. On the one hand, the Republican government wanted to abolish Chinese medicine; on the other hand, the intensification of Japanese aggression also greatly affected the development of Chinese medicine in China. Therefore, one of the major features of The Old Chinese Medicine Man is to positively represent the development of Chinese medicine in the 1920s - 1940s, the most difficult period.

In order to create a good script, Gao Mantang and Li Zhou went to Changzhou three times, interviewed the representative doctors of the Menghe School of Medicine over the past 300 years, and collected a lot of information on Chinese medicine, and based on the accumulation of a large amount of material, shaped the artistic image of the old Chinese doctor Weng Quanhai. At the same time, the plot of the drama about Chinese medicine, lines, prescriptions and equipment, etc., by a specialized team of Chinese medicine consultants one by one to correct, and strive to maximize the restoration of Chinese medicine, the original face of this science. "The medicine consultant of this drama brought a few graduate students to correct all the medicine medical cases for us sentence by sentence and article by article. Without the guidance of the Chinese medicine team, it is impossible for "The Old Chinese Medicine Doctor" to reach today's degree of completion. But 'Old Chinese Medicine' is a story, not a documentary or textbook on Chinese medicine, we can only say that we are down-to-earth to make all the medical cases and knowledge of Chinese medicine in 'Old Chinese Medicine' clear, and have no shame on our conscience, but there is a possibility that we may hang on to one thing and miss one thing." Gao Mantang said at the opening conference of the drama.

How to accurately represent Chinese medicine is the difficult part of the filming process of "Old Chinese Medicine". Mao Weining laughed that the crew could really open a traditional Chinese medicine store, and the actors could also work in the TCM center. The crew has prepared hundreds of Chinese medicinal herbs involved in the drama, and the characters in the drama read what herbs, pull open the drawer and you can grab them. The actors also did a lot of preparatory work in the early stage, including understanding the knowledge of Chinese medicine, field to Menghe experience life. "Chinese medicine is a matter of health, we want to do even if the audience according to the prescription in our play to grab the medicine will not be a problem, whether it can cure the disease is another story, because each prescription, each treatment program is different from person to person." Mao Weining said.

Characterization

While showing the heart-wrenching seven medical cases, "Old Chinese Medicine" also portrays a group of pharmaceutical industry characters.

Chen Baoguo as Weng Quanhai is the heir to the Menghe school of medicine, he pots, saving lives, and his hands show the benevolence of doctors; Feng Yuanzheng as Zhao Mintang had been studying medicine in the ocean, the play, he knows both Chinese and Western medicine, high-minded, good at speculation and trickery, but in the end for the sake of the national righteousness of the death of the people; Xu Qing as Baoxiu, from a family of traditional Chinese medicine, the blue color of the heart, perseverance and independence, for the love of the people, and for the righteousness of the people to risk their lives. The bell doctor (i.e., a walking doctor, in ancient times, when practicing medicine, the doctor was carrying a medicine chest, hand-cranked bells), played by Chen Yuemo, is smart and intelligent, but is full of the habits of the jungle.......

In the play, Zhao Mintang is a very contradictory person. He comes from a family of Chinese medicine practitioners, but was sent abroad by his father to study Western medicine. When he returns from his studies, he opens a Western medicine clinic in Shanghai, which fails, and then switches to Chinese medicine. He is flexible and cynical, but always maintains the benevolence of a healer. Feng Yuanzheng revealed that he designed a lot of details for this character that were not in the script, and the character's final destiny was changed to a death-defying ending after he and Gao Mantang discussed it.

"I happen to be at this age, and this role can be said to have come at the right time, or I've been preparing to meet such a role." In an interview with Variety, Chen Baoguo said this. In order to prepare for the role of Weng Quan Hai, Chen Baoguo lost 13 pounds to make his appearance more suitable for the image of a healer with an immortal style. During the four months and 120 days of filming, Chen Baoguo did not take a single vacation or arrive late. "For four months I was two points and one line, from the hotel room to the shooting site, and then back to the hotel room at night, just such a simple life track, I let myself settle down, calm down, so as to be closer to this doctor I play."

Conversation with Chen Baoguo: Weng Quanhai may bring me to another level of acting

Variety Newspaper:

Chen Baoguo: It's basically the habit of experiencing life and picking up the breeze, which is essential, and it's also the approach that I think has worked so well for so many years. The actor is not immortal, it is not possible out of thin air from the body of another character, and then in your months of time to live his decades. If you don't experience life, you can't find the seed of a character, the model of an image, where does the character come from, and where does it go?

When I was young I could go and experience life for 2-3 months for a role. At that time, the conditions were not good, I took the train and went to the place with the people with food, living and labor, and finally took back a few tapes recorded on a tape recorder like a slate. On the train back, I knew the character had taken hold. Nowadays, although the pace of life has accelerated, I think the truth of actor's creation is actually still the same. There are a lot of techniques for film and television performances, and you can go to the key, but if you want to come up with a character, you still have to experience life, and this road is summarized by how many generations.

How did you experience life in this movie?