Retrofitting characters in military dramas was pioneered as early as 2005. An example is Li Yunlong, lead role in that year’s hit Drawing Swords. The man is a synthesis of the fearless warrior, autocratic commander and loyal friend. What’s more, his roots as a farmer give his character cunning and practicality. “He is just like any person you’d meet on the street, someone with many small defects,” comments You Fei.

    Another telling example is Zhang Lingfu in the Red Sun, chief commander of the No.74 Division of the Kuomintang Army. In the past directors tended to show Zhang as a classic baddie who serves as a foil to the heroic lead, but not this time. Zhang is played by Li Youbin, an actor who used to play good guys. “The story as I see it is more about the contest between two men than the fight between two armies. In my understanding Zhang Lingfu cannot be seen in black and white. He fought valiantly for his country during the wars against feudal warlords and Japanese invaders. As an actor, I keep telling myself I should perform this role in an objective way and be true to the history as much as possible,” says Li Youbin during an interview.

    Recreating History

    Reactions to Chinese Bands of Brothers flooded the Internet soon after its release.

    “The drama is the first of this kind in China’s TV history and has epoch-making significance. A Kuomintang officer can now be a lead character.”

    “The play is very good. In spite of the many fictional elements, it recalls to me a past which still moves everyone. I believe more people will come to understand the Kuomintang’s dedication and sacrifice in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.”

    The TV drama Chinese Bands of Brothers tells the story of how a Communist army and a Kuomintang army transformed themselves from enemies to allies under adverse conditions. They fought side-by-side like brothers against the Japanese invaders, and in the end all of them died together on the battlefield. During China’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945), which is part of the international anti-fascism war, the Kuomintang forces, equipped with better weapons, confronted the Japanese on the major front in the early period of the war, and suffered grim losses. The Communist-led forces, with poor weapons and meagre supplies, weakened the enemy through guerrilla warfare in the flank. Although no one can deny the Kuomintang’s role in the war against Japanese invaders, it was seldom given much of a profile in TV dramas and films from China’s mainland.

    “Chinese Bands of Brothers is the first drama on the alliance between the CPC and the Kuomintang in the war against the Japanese invaders,” comments Feng Lei, a play reviewer. It throws light on the flexible and intelligent attack strategy of the Communist-led guerrilla forces, and what’s more, vividly highlights the discipline and prowess of the Kuomintang army. During the battle they behaved like children in the same family, sometimes competing with each other, sometimes defending each other. “Emphasis on their brotherhood passes on a new message: that the soldiers of both armies are Chinese. Probably this kind of change in emphasis comes from the intensified communication and cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan,” says Feng Lei.

    My Chief and My Regiment features the same kind of praise for the Kuomintang Army and has garnered lots of attention from the Taiwan media. The historical context is the Kuomintang expedition assisting the people of Myanmar to ward off Japanese invaders in 1942. A total of 400,000 Chinese soldiers were sent for the mission that took three years and three months, and nearly half died. The drama is centered on this single company wandering the China-Myanmar border in isolation from their regiment. Those soldiers had no appetite for fighting, and just fought to survive from day to day. But at this crucial point in the war, their chief Long Wenzhang roused the group’s battle spirit and united them to mount a fierce challenge to the enemy. The squad not only saved a British army pinned down by Japanese troops, but also restored China’s only lifeline to international suppliers, which Japan was trying to cut off. They led the expulsion of Japanese troops from the southwest border of China, then delivered a heavy assault on Japanese troops in north Myanmar and west Yunnan Province, creating conditions for the Allies to recover Myanmar. Unlike previous dramas with an anti-Japanese theme, which mostly fall into the stereotype of united and tough Chinese versus weak and vile Japanese, My Chief and My Regiment shows the agony of the Chinese defeat under the powerful offensive and tight defense strategies of the Japanese army.

    To some Chinese a drama such as this is totally unacceptable, but many viewers show their support for these fresh interpretations. Representative of these fans is Zhu Xueqin, a professor of history in Shanghai University who has never missed a single episode. He admitted that in the past he would never have thought military dramas attractive because he believed the stories were too far off historical truth, the reality of war, and the fullness of human nature. My Chief and My Regiment with its departure from former styles and patterns changed his mind.