Qianjiang Evening News·Hourly News Tu Chenxin has a trailer and nine posters. The "Three-Body TV Series" account has received more than 40,000 retweets, comments, and reposts using just two Weibo posts. Fans of "Three-Body" use classic Lines and classic scenes pay homage to each

Qianjiang Evening News · Hourly News Tu Chenxin

One trailer and nine posters, the " Three-Body TV Series" account received more than 40,000 retweets, comments, and reposted words in just two Weibo posts, "The Three-Body Problem" Fans paid tribute to each other with classic lines and classic scenes. The keyword that appears most frequently is "expectation."

Zhejiang’s “Three-Body Fans” have an exclusive expectation: How will the scene in the original book that makes the earth two-dimensional be displayed in the TV series? This inspiration came from Hangzhou - before the draft of "The Three-Body Problem" was completed, at a gathering of science fiction writers in Hangzhou, someone suggested that the writers use their imaginations to talk about the most poetic way of destruction. "It's so beautiful there, it should be included in the painting." Liu Cixin 's answer spoiled the shocking ending of Earth.

In today's world science fiction circle, Liu Cixin's status is almost equal to that of his idol Arthur C. . "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Meet Rama", "Song of the Distant Earth", "The Three-Body Problem" can be seen everywhere. The shining point of science fiction classics such as "The Cold Equation" has become another "Attack on Titan" standing on the shoulders of giants.

"The Three-Body Problem won the highest award for science fiction literature in the United States. It cannot be interpreted solely from the work itself. Behind it is the embodiment of China's comprehensive national strength, giving Chinese culture more 'voice' in the world." Liu Cixin said, Only a country with prosperous national strength and national rejuvenation, and only a high-spirited society and era, can cultivate fertile creative soil for excellent science fiction literature.

So, what kind of science fiction philosophy can we understand in contemporary China? What’s so difficult about its filmmaking? Why do Chinese people have such high expectations for it? In fact, the answer lies in the dozens of interviews Liu Cixin and I have conducted over more than ten years.

Stills from the TV series "The Three-Body Problem"

It describes the "third kind of contact" between earthlings and alien civilizations, and is one of the themes in the world of science fiction. However, for a long time, in the mainstream social values ​​​​of China, this has easily fallen into a naive and "secondary" situation, and has been regarded as "pediatrics". There is a video with millions of clicks on the

B website. In a conversation with Xu Zhiyuan, Professor Wu Guosheng of Tsinghua University was very puzzled by the popularity of "The Three-Body Problem". How can science fiction have such a high status? He believes that science fiction is a poor category among all literary genres. Aliens are equivalent to "ghosts" in traditional society and cannot be confirmed or falsified.

Wu Guosheng actually represents many people who are obviously not adaptable to the introduction of "The Three-Body Problem" and the science fiction subculture it represents into social life.

As Xu Zhiyuan expected, Wu Guosheng's speech was "reviled to death" on the Internet. This incident in turn proves how powerful the social energy of "The Three-Body Problem" is when it completely "breaks out of the circle" and enters the mainstream, forming a subculture.

In early 2011, as soon as "Three-Body Problem: The Immortality of Death" was released, celebrities in the cultural circles such as Mo Yan , Liang Wendao , Luo Yijun , Guo Jingming , etc., showed their status as "magnets (fans of Liu Cixin)". A more powerful driving force to get out of the circle comes from the Internet circle. Big bosses such as Lei Jun, Jack Ma, Zhou Hongyi regard "Three Body" as the "Bible".

To a large extent, the Dark Forest Theory has become the code of conduct for the Internet industry. Many executives put "Three-Body" on their desks to guide the development of their companies. For them, the Internet is like a vast dark forest, and those small companies are like invisible distant civilizations. After the "technological explosion", they suddenly developed into nemesis that can "dimensionally reduce the attack" on them...

"The Three Body" TV series stills

Originally in How can “fringe” science fiction enter the mainstream? When he came to Hangzhou to participate in the first " West Lake Genre Literature Biennial Award " award ceremony in 2013, Liu accepted my exclusive interview and believed that the deeper reasons must be found in the transformation period of Chinese society. "Traditionally, Chinese people pay attention to Real interpersonal relationships, no interest in distant time and space, and we have to do our best to survive. "

In the past 20 years, China's industrialization, modernization, and urbanization have accelerated, and our lives have become much richer than before."So, many of us have begun to think about some philosophical propositions that we have not thought about before and are far away from our current life - where do we come from? Where do we go? What is the ins and outs of the universe?" These are precisely the areas that science fiction focuses on. .

In short, "We have gradually become a nation with dreams." And "The Three-Body Problem" is like a fuse or catalyst, allowing the public's expectations for science fiction that have gathered over the years to find an outlet to vent. burst out together. From the popular " to " popular subculture, film and television is the only way to go. The audience and influence of film and television are several orders of magnitude higher than that of genre novels. From the publication of the English, Japanese and Korean versions of "The Three-Body Problem" to film and television animation products, the Chinese people have always been thinking about it.

I remember that when "The Three-Body Problem" was about to be made into a movie in 2013, Liu told reporters: "If we don't make it now, I'm afraid we will never make it!" Because, "Who knows how long "The Three-Body Problem" will remain popular?"

Looking at it today, 9 years later, Liu had so little confidence in himself and in science fiction that he packaged and sold the copyright to Zhangfanfan at a very low price early, allowing the latter to make a fortune. Big ones are cheap.

Three years ago, " The Wandering Earth " was an earth-shattering film adapted from a short story by Liu that was far less influential than "The Three-Body Problem" by a non-front-line team. It topped the Chinese movie box office history list with a box office of 4.655 billion yuan. Second, it now occupies the fifth position on the list, directly making 2019 the "first year of Chinese hard-core science fiction movies." Any cultural industry capital knows that the super IP "Three-body" contains unimaginable potential.

"The Wandering Earth" was an unexpected success, but the original work of "The Wandering Earth" was only a short story, and the movie only used the background of the novel, and only filmed the incident of passing by Jupiter in the original work. If the original book "The Wandering Earth" is regarded as a building, the movie is like a painting on one wall of the house. What about "Three-Body"? That's a city! The countless ideas it contains are more than enough to make 100 movies.

Stills from the TV series "The Three-Body Problem"

In the science fiction film and television industry, one of the more discussed issues in recent years is whether and how Chinese science fiction can have "Chineseness". Many people add some Chinese elements such as dialects and Chinese cuisine, and some find inspiration from mythology and history.

As an interstellar epic involving a large amount of fictitious future space and time, the nature of the science fiction novel "The Three-Body Problem" destined that it cannot, like most traditional epics, describe national scenery, customs and habits, show national life, and tell a story about national heroes. The history of struggle and so on to obtain a unique national background.

Interestingly, "The Three-Body Problem", a work that does not seem to be particularly pursuing Chineseness, just reflects some deep and fundamental ways of thinking and value orientations of the Chinese people, and these are more derived from the Chinese nation in modern times. historical memory.

"In the past, when Chinese culture went abroad, it mainly relied on introducing my country's ancient history and pastoral scenery. "The Three-Body Problem" demonstrated to the West for the first time the new generation of Chinese people's yearning for the future and the universe." Liu Cixin said.

is fundamentally different from the works of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, which were optimistic in tone. Liu's works are rarely optimistic. "The Three-Body Problem" gets rid of the long-standing narcissistic tendency in science fiction works, and stands calmly outside the earth and human beings. With a brand-new ecological vision, it puts all living beings in the universe on an equal battlefield, and everyone has to fight for it. Desperate to survive, there are no plug-ins to use, and there is no halo of the protagonist.

Da Liu’s thoughts are not so much pessimistic as they are a sense of urgency rooted in the national spirit—to remain prejudgmental and highly vigilant about the dangers that unknown things may cause, and to look forward and prepare for the risks and challenges that will arise. Precaution, consider the worst possibility in everything, what to do to save yourself when the worst happens, avoid the occurrence of disaster to the greatest extent, or reduce its impact.

can be summarized with a word familiar to Chinese people today, that is - bottom line thinking.

believes that every Chinese who has received a complete education in modern history will resonate with Liu's strong sense of urgency and bottom-line thinking.The spiritual core of "Three-Body" is largely shaped by the modern history of the Chinese nation.

For fans of the Three-Body Problem in Zhejiang, now that the film and television version of "The Three-Body Problem" has been "shot with all four arrows", we just need to wait quietly. After all, all this is part of the plan.

This article is an original work of Qianjiang Evening News. Without permission, any use of the copyright of the work, such as reprinting, copying, excerpting, adapting and disseminating on the Internet, is prohibited. Otherwise, this newspaper will pursue the legal liability of the infringer through judicial channels.