TV drama recounts porcelain merchant legend

2009-12-17 09:07 BJT

 

To round out the year 2009, the drama channel of CCTV is going to air the series "Great Porcelain Merchant". The show stars Xia Yu and Annie Yee, and is based on a legendary episode in the development of China's great ceramic tradition.

The story of "Great Porcelain Merchant" is set in the tumultuous times around the fall of the Qing Dynasty in the early 20th century. Focusing on the career of Tao Changnan, it paints a picture of the early industrialization of China's porcelain industry.

In the show, Xia Yu plays the lead role, the overseas-educated heir of an influential merchant house in Jingdezhen, China's porcelain capital. The family business is imposed on him following his father's untimely death, and the young man embarks on an ambitious journey to revamp production modes. With exceptional initiative and enterprise, he successfully stands up to tough competitors and becomes a responsible, patriotic industrialist.

Singer and actress, Annie Yee plays the female lead. Her inspired performance helped bring out the central theme.

For a complete representation of the period, the show was shot in Jingdezhen, where porcelain making goes back more than a thousand years. And while relating the story, "Great Porcelain Merchant" also presents the cultural spirit embodied in Chinese porcelain.

Editor: Liu Fang | Source: CCTV.com