{"id":151377,"date":"2013-02-13T12:42:20","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T20:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=151377"},"modified":"2013-02-13T14:57:40","modified_gmt":"2013-02-13T22:57:40","slug":"dying-for-a-living-anti-japan-war-actors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2013\/02\/dying-for-a-living-anti-japan-war-actors\/","title":{"rendered":"Dying for a Living: Anti-Japan War Actors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Succumbing to a kung fu master: it’s all in a day’s work.<\/p><\/div>\n

SARFT<\/a> demand has forced \u201cAnti-Japanese War\u201d film and television productions to saturate the market. Programming on the Sino-Japanese War, part of the Pacific theater of World War II, makes for great patriotic entertainment. While studios try new twists, like World War II kung fu<\/a>, it\u2019s a struggle to keep this material fresh.<\/p>\n

In a February 4 story, the Qiangjiang Evening News reports on the business of war at Hengdian World Studios<\/a>, China\u2019s answer to Hollywood.<\/p>\n

Shi Zhongpeng, a 26-year-old Heng piao<\/em> [Hengdian World Studios commuter], has suddenly become an Internet star by \u201cdying\u201d eight times in one day while playing the role of Japanese soldier in different productions.<\/p>\n

Shi Zhongpeng\u2019s fame rose from widespread online reports on the \u201cHengdian Anti-Japanese Revolutionary Base.\u201d In 2012, Hengdian Studios received 150 production teams, 48 of which made films of TV shows about the Anti-Japanese War. That amounts to about 30% of all productions. Even Hengdian Studios Entertainment Channel couldn\u2019t help poking fun of the trend on Weibo, writing, \u201cToday, there will be another 300 devils executed.\u201d And the statistics are even more convincing. The Hengdian Studios Actors Guild employed 300,000 extras (including special extras) in 2012, and 60% of them had played \u201cdevils.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shi Zhongpeng is a case in point.<\/p>\n

Shi says he has been in Hengdian for four years, and most often, he has played a Japanese soldier. In 2012, he participated in over 30 Anti-Japanese War productions and played a Japanese soldier over 200 times. On his most productive day, he \u201cdied\u201d eight times. As an experienced \u201cdevil,\u201d Shi summarizes what he\u2019s learned in one sentence: \u201cThe more horrible you look, the better.\u201d The casting teams specifically select people who are less attractive and somewhat vicious-looking to play \u201cdevils.\u201d So during interviews, Shi hunches his back, squints his eyes, and presents a fierce, wretched look to boost his chances of being chosen for the part. His biggest wish is to play an Eighth Route soldier [from the Communist army] someday.<\/p>\n

Besides the extras, full-time actors are also in on the action. Known as the \u201cnumber one Heng piao<\/em>,\u201d Lin Jiangguo, from Xianju, Zhejiang Province, had roles in Jianghu Er\u2019nu<\/em>, I Want to be an Eighth Route Soldier<\/em>, and Martyrs<\/em> last year, all anti-Japanese productions. He has always played the awe-inspiring, righteous lead role or lead supporting role. Though \u201cbeating the devils\u201d is indulgently satisfying, he feels exhausted after the three productions. But he still has to defeat more \u201cdevils\u201d in 2013.<\/p>\n

In the beginning of the New Year, Anti-Japanese War productions are still on the rise. According to the managing company of Hengdian Studios, nine out of 19 current productions are related to the Anti-Japanese War. To accommodate the high demand, Hengdian Studios is planning to build more Republican-era [1912-1949] sets. For example, a port city district will be added on Guangzhou Street; in the Revolutionary Expo City, another Republican city will be built.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more about China\u2019s anti-Japanese culture<\/a> from CDT.<\/p>\n

Via AmazeNews<\/a>. Translation by Junebug.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SARFT demand has forced \u201cAnti-Japanese War\u201d film and television productions to saturate the market. Programming on the Sino-Japanese War, part of the Pacific theater of World War II, makes for great patriotic entertainment. While studios try new twists, like World War II kung fu, it\u2019s a struggle to keep this material fresh. In a February […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":991,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[99,116,20,14744,100,5,4202],"tags":[5918,3832,119,5971,2686],"class_list":["post-151377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cdt-highlights","category-world","category-culture","category-level-2-article","category-politics","category-society","category-translation","tag-anti-japan","tag-hengdian","tag-tv","tag-world-war-ii","tag-zhejiang","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nDying for a Living: Anti-Japan War Actors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2013\/02\/dying-for-a-living-anti-japan-war-actors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dying for a Living: Anti-Japan War Actors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SARFT demand has forced \u201cAnti-Japanese War\u201d film and television productions to saturate the market. Programming on the Sino-Japanese War, part of the Pacific theater of World War II, makes for great patriotic entertainment. While studios try new twists, like World War II kung fu, it\u2019s a struggle to keep this material fresh. 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