Brief introduction of China Radio Drama Research Association
On January 20th, 1933, the earliest recorded radio drama in China was published in Radio China magazine, with the title "Horrible Memories", which was written by Su Zugui. The drama was produced by Shanghai Radio Asia-America Company, and broadcast in the activities organized by Asia-America Broadcasting Company to raise funds to support the soldiers at the front line of the anti-Japanese war, which played a certain role in inspiring the anti-Japanese enthusiasm and fighting spirit of the broad masses of Shanghai people.
On February 7, 1950, in order to commemorate the "February 27" railway strike, china national radio produced a radio drama "10,000 pieces of plywood", which reflected the railway workers’ efforts to repair railways and support national construction. This was the first radio drama broadcast after the founding of New China. Later, there appeared the radio drama Pan Xiuzhi, which reflected the opposition to arranged marriage and advocated women’s liberation, and the radio drama Zoya-Jin Yuji, Picture Story and Night in Harbin, which were broadcast during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
From 1949 to 1954, the Radio Troupe of Shanghai People’s Broadcasting Station performed radio dramas such as Thanks to Stalin, Zou Yumei, and Three Thousand Li Jiang Shan.
In 1952, China introduced the tape recording technology from abroad, which made a turning point in the recording mode of radio drama, and the expression form of radio drama had greater insight, gradually matured in art and formed an independent art form.
In 1954, the Central Broadcasting Troupe was established, and recorded radio dramas such as "The Flying Swallow in Wan Li" and "The Blue Tapestry" were recorded and distributed in various radio stations.
After 1955, radio drama was on the rise, and a number of influential plays appeared successively. The more distinctive features are: the radio drama "Riverside at Dawn" recorded by recording the scene on the spot sounds more hierarchical and more real; There is also The Emperor’s New Clothes, which is adapted from Andersen’s fairy tales. The drama uses indoor and outdoor recording techniques, which has a strong three-dimensional sense and high artistic quality. It has a great response after being broadcast on CCTV’s News Network. This is the first time that a radio drama has met the audience on CCTV’s News Network.
From 1960 to 1963, there appeared some radio dramas with strong thoughts and high artistry, such as Hometown, which opposed the discrimination of African-Americans, and the radio dramas Unfinished Tung Skirt, In the Riptide, Du Shiniang, Hongyan, Two Paintings, etc. The radio drama Hongxia in the Valley was also sent abroad to participate in competitions.
On October 1, 1978, China Central Radio produced and broadcast the first original radio drama "Two Springs Reflecting the Moon" after the Cultural Revolution. After the broadcast, the reaction was very strong, and Bayi Film Studio adapted it into a film of the same name. After the Cultural Revolution, the creation of radio dramas, which was interrupted for 10 years, began to show a vibrant and prosperous scene, and a large number of outstanding plays such as Window, Scar, Dead Light on Coral Island, Necklace, and Marshal Peng’s Hometown Trip appeared one after another. The radio dramas Nangong Lingxia created by CCTV, When Clouds Are Cloudy and Why Melons Are So Sweet by Hunan Radio, and Princess Ringing by Jilin Radio were widely praised by the audience. In particular, the radio drama "Li Zicheng Rushing to Shimen Village" adapted from some chapters of Yao Xueyin’s novel "Li Zicheng" was introduced abroad as a cultural exchange project, which is the first time that China’s radio drama has spread to foreign audiences.
In 1980, Beijing Broadcasting Institute began to teach the course of "Literary Editing", in which part of the content was the theory of scriptwriting of radio dramas, and then it was decided to set up a special radio drama class, and radio drama teaching began to enter the university campus. As a professional media college, Beijing Broadcasting Institute has also begun to study the history of radio drama.
On November 15, 1980, the first national radio drama exchange meeting was held in Chengdu, and the meeting passed the establishment of the China Radio Drama Research Association. 93 representatives from 41 units, including the central, provincial, municipal and autonomous regional people’s broadcasting stations, some provincial and municipal people’s broadcasting stations and Beijing Broadcasting Institute (predecessor of China Communication University), attended the meeting. At the meeting, people in the industry discussed the newly produced radio dramas provided by the ceded territory radio station, and decided that China Drama Publishing House would publish the first Selected Radio Plays in China, collecting outstanding plays broadcast on radio stations since the founding of the People’s Republic of China and new works in recent years. Cao Yu, chairman of the Dramatists Association and a famous dramatist, wrote a preface about the artistic characteristics of the Selected Radio Plays. After the establishment of the research association, a series of fruitful national exchanges and awards activities have been carried out. Radio drama has been paid more and more attention by local radio leaders and supported by Chinese Dramatists Association, and a good situation of creative prosperity has emerged.
On New Year’s Day in 1981, Guangdong Radio broadcasted the first stereo radio drama "The Story of Fisherman and Golden Fish" adapted from Pushkin’s fairy tale poems. After that, Heilongjiang Radio, Shanghai Radio, China Central Radio, Sichuan Radio and Wuhan Radio also recorded stereo radio dramas, which made the radio dramas enter a new stage.
In December, 1981, the radio drama exchange meeting held a preliminary evaluation meeting of national excellent radio dramas in Changsha. At the meeting, 51 radio dramas recommended by 49 radio stations were listened to intensively, and 30 outstanding plays were selected after the comments of the representatives of each station.
In 1981, more than 370 radio dramas were produced nationwide.
In 1982, more than 600 radio dramas were produced nationwide.
In 1983, more than 500 radio dramas were produced nationwide.
In April 1983, a special award for children’s radio dramas was set up, and a national children’s radio drama selection conference was held in Beijing. From 83 radio dramas, 22 works were selected, including The Story of Mushroom, A Letter to be Sent, Fat, Little Guy, Big Guy and Tall Girl, Bailey Football Team and Weird Shoemaker.
In July 1983, a national conference on radio drama music was held in Xiamen. At the meeting, representatives of China Central Radio, Shanghai Radio, Heilongjiang Radio, Jilin Radio, Tianjin Radio and Fujian Radio made special speeches on the status and role of music in radio dramas, the collection, classification, sorting, storage and application of music materials.
In 1984, China Radio Drama Research Association decided to hold large-scale radio drama awards nationwide, and successively held the "Dangui Cup" radio drama grand prix, the national children’s radio drama "Golden Monkey Award", the national audio sketch awards, the "Xifeng Cup" national series exhibition and awards, and the "Magnolia Cup" mini radio drama grand prix.
In 1986, CCTV broadcast a series of radio report drama "Ordinary People", which has three outstanding characteristics: first, it absorbs bad news reporting structure; Second, there is no clear space environment; The third is to unify the task of recording and shaping. It is a bold attempt in the history of China radio drama.
In June 1987, China Central Radio and Heilongjiang Radio participated in the 10th "West Berlin Future Award" radio program grand prix, and the stereo radio drama "Subtract Ten Years" based on Zhan Rong’s novel of the same name (directed by Wang Zhifu) selected by China Central Radio won the radio drama grand prize. This is the first time that China has won the highest award in the world awards. It marks that the artistic level of China’s radio drama has entered the advanced ranks of the world level. The judges’ comments on Subtracting Ten Years Old are: "This is a wonderful and lovely satire with novel ideas and originality" and "It makes us see the changes of people in China and China after the opening up".
In 1988, the first national seminar on the creation of radio dramas was held.
In 1990, China Radio Drama officially entered the scope of national awards, and the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television entrusted the China Radio and Television Society to host the awards. So far, awards have been held successively, such as Shu Xiu Cup, Shi Song Cup and Black Dragon Cup, and a number of awards have appeared, such as Red Olive by CCTV, Blacksmith, Shoemaker Feng and Their Women by Heilongjiang Radio, Beyond Life by Shanghai Radio, Old Bachelor and Pretty Widow by Henan Radio and Difficult Worries on Earth by Harbin Radio.
On March 2-9, 1990, the China Radio Drama Research Association held the first national symposium on the theory of stereo radio drama in Wuxi. The conference set up questions about the script creation, directing art and production experience of stereo radio drama brought about by the new technology of stereo compromise.
On August 10th, 1990, Shanghai People’s Broadcasting Station launched a large-scale series of radio drama "Interpol 803", which created a new situation in Shanghai’s radio drama. The drama quickly formed a listening craze in Shanghai, and it is no exaggeration to describe it as a "household name". The radio drama "Interpol 803" was broadcast in a large scale and lasted for a long time, which was the highest in China. Many radio stations in the country played it one after another, which set off an enduring listening fever.
On October 5-14, 1993, at the 30th AFC Conference held in Auckland, New Zealand, the children’s radio drama Tomb in Danger produced by China Central Radio won the AFC Broadcasting Children’s Program Award, which was the first time that China participated in the AFC competition. The high-level radio drama production technology shown in the play was highly appreciated by the judges.
In 1993, China also produced a number of large-scale radio series adapted from classical literature, such as 108 episodes of Romance of the Three Kingdoms produced by Sichuan Radio, Dream of Red Mansions produced by China Central Radio and 67 episodes of Water Margin produced by Heilongjiang Radio.
On February 6th, 1996, Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China issued Document No.1, which included radio drama in the "Five-One Project" of spiritual civilization construction, which greatly promoted the social status and influence of radio drama and the construction of socialist spiritual civilization, and also caused the party and government departments in various provinces and cities to attach great importance to and strongly support radio drama, a unique artistic variety of literary broadcasting.
2005 was a bumper year in the history of China’s radio dramas. According to the statistics of China Radio Drama Research Association, this year, about 2,180 radio dramas (including news reports from all over the country) were produced nationwide, and the production situation showed that the central, provincial, municipal and county media went hand in hand, thus reaching a new peak in history.
On September 13th, 2006, the general offices of the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued the Outline of National Cultural Development Plan during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, which clearly pointed out that it was necessary to "implement cultural quality projects" and "launch a number of films, TV dramas and radio dramas with important influence", and once again included radio dramas in the "Five One Projects" of spiritual civilization (radio dramas were cancelled from participating in the "Five One Projects" in early 2005). The "Outline" established the "name" for the radio drama and improved the "identity".
At the beginning of 2008, the leaders of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television made the instruction that "radio dramas should learn from TV dramas and take the road of market", which put forward requirements for radio dramas to March into the market.
On October 5th, 2009, the 46th General Assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union was held in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The radio drama Heart Destiny selected by china national radio won the best radio drama award of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.
After entering the 21st century, the emergence of the Internet, the prosperity of the media market, and the addition of mass entertainment elements have given radio dramas more room for development.
Link: Cao Yu’s witty remarks
The famous playwright Cao Yu said affectionately when talking about radio dramas:
"The life of radio drama lies in its unique personality. The artists of radio dramas left the audience with a vast world, which enabled the audience to participate in the creation. The audience is the creator of the radio drama. Close your eyes and listen, all the characters, the endless changes of life, with magical language and sound, you don’t feel like spreading the wings of imagination and soaring in the mysterious world. "
"I like to enjoy this art alone in a quiet night. It does have a special charm, which can touch people’s emotional depths, make people fly, and make our world turn into a myriad of vivid faces with closed eyes and listening. "
Radio drama is a goddess of charm, like poetry and dreams, which makes people enjoy all the wonderful things in the sound world.