Opinion | What a historical smash hit tells us about China’s strategic focus
Swords into Ploughshares can tell us a lot about Beijing’s approach to the crisis in Iran, cross-strait relations and this year’s ‘two sessions’
As the world watches in horror at death raining from the skies in the Middle East, millions of Chinese are glued to the television watching a turbulent drama that unfolded in their own country, albeit some eleven centuries ago.
Swords into Ploughshares, a historical TV drama set during the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, has emerged as an unexpected smash hit coming into China’s festive season.
Yet it is more than just a television phenomenon. In some ways, it sheds light on the public perception of today’s China and the world, as well as Beijing’s strategy on Taiwan, its stand-offish attitude towards global chaos and the focus of the coming “two sessions”.
The success of Swords into Ploughshares is therefore a surprise. Since its release, it has hit a five-year high in state broadcaster viewership for series premieres and garnered hundreds of millions of views on China’s streaming platforms.
Not only has the series become a trending search term, it has also got the stamp of approval from official media, with the People’s Daily praising its (relatively) accurate, poetic and epic narrative of history.
With a production cost of 350 million yuan, it is truly a blockbuster epic. Each episode is a visual feast and grounded in solid research. Around 40,000 people took part in the production, which has about 230 named characters. Of the 8,000 costumes featured, most were made using traditional techniques and plant-based dyes to ensure the colour and texture stay faithful to that period. The attention to detail is amazing.
But the series is more than beautiful cinematography. Its success is rooted in two important psychological aspects: a genuine revival of pride and confidence in China’s traditional culture, and a sense of relief that, as the world descends into bedlam, China remains a bedrock of stability and strength.
Chinese seldom talk about history without some reference to the present. This is apparent in Swords to Ploughshares. Instead of centring on Zhao Kuangyin – the future founding emperor of the Song who eventually reunified China – the story largely focuses on Qian Hongchu, a vassal king of the southern Wuyue kingdom.
Qian, who came to power rather unexpectedly, ruled over a rich kingdom of three million people – larger than some European kingdoms at the time. Instead of harbouring an ambition to bid for the ultimate hegemony, Qian tried his best to protect his people from the ravages of war and political chaos.
When Zhao was finally ready to bring the decades of bitter division to an end and reunify China, Qian chose to peacefully give in to avoid unnecessary violence and death. His decision ensured Wuyue – today’s Zhejiang province – stayed unscathed and remained the most prosperous region in the ancient world. Zhao kept Qian as an influential player in his court. Qian, whose descendants include Qian Xuesen, the “father of Chinese aerospace”, was one of the few rulers in his time with a good ending.
The show contrasts him with Shi Jingtang and his son Shi Chonggui – leaders of the Later Jin in the north. Shi, in a desperate attempt to hold on to power, ceded strategically important strongholds to Khitan nomad kings and humiliatingly made himself the adopted son of the Khitan ruler, who was younger than him.
The submission did not save his empire, which the Khitan eventually overran, and his son was defeated. The director arranged a highly symbolic but fictional scene of Shi Chonggui prostrate in front of the invading Khitan forces and put through the ritual of being tethered to a goat.
Qian, who would be deemed a failure in the Western tradition, is remembered as a kind and wise ruler in Chinese history. Ultimately, the central theme of the epic is the concept of taiping, which is imperfectly translated as “peace” in English.
The drama’s treatment of war also drives home the message. For all its blockbuster production values and despite its setting in one of China’s bloodiest periods, the 48-episode series features very few scenes of actual battles or violence, in sharp contrast to epics like Game of Thrones or Rome. The story instead focuses on politics and people.
In Chinese history, the highest achievement for a ruler was not territorial conquest or military victory, but the ability to protect the people from war and chaos, ensuring peace and unification. The ultimate acclaim an emperor could hope to attain is for his reign to be remembered as taiping shengshi (a golden age of peace and prosperity).
As Chinese revellers thronged streets and parks to celebrate the Lantern Festival this week, shock waves from the deadly bombings of Iran by Israel and the United States continue to reverberate around the world. Mingling in the crowds in Beijing, I often heard people talking about how “it is fortunate to live in today’s China”.
China is full of challenges of its own, but as Chinese look around the world, few would fail to appreciate the stability, security and peace they have enjoyed. The Chinese leadership is acutely aware of that. President Xi Jinping has stressed that China needs to prepare for “unprecedented global challenges” – a message that is likely to be repeated at this year’s two sessions.
Beijing understands that as long as it keeps its strategic patience and focus, with both swords and ploughshares in hand, time is on China’s side.