ABSTRACT
During the anti-corruption-led crime drama craze, another revisionist historical
epic,Marching towards the Republicmade an impact in 2003, reigniting debates about China’s political reform. Aired on CCTV, the serial depicts China at the
turn of the twentieth century with the Manchu Empire crumbling amidst
domestic uprisings and attacks by foreign powers. The show challenged the
official verdict on key historical figures in the late Qing Dynasty and early
Republican eras, offered radical reinterpretations of that period’s struggle with
China’s political direction, and provoked discussion of political overhaul in
contemporary China. Similar to the rehabilitation of Yongzheng inYongzheng,
Republic recast previously stigmatized historical figures, provided an alternative version of history, and thus exemplified historical drama as political
discourse. Meanwhile, The Great Emperor Hanwu, another CCTV drama,
focused on the newly revived discourse of Confucian ‘‘sage’’ leadership, with
a narrative set in an era when Confucianism was state ideology. Using these
dramas as examples, this chapter examines historical and contemporary
notions about constitutional democracy reform, leadership qualities, and
more generally, historical drama as nationalistic cultural discourse.
