Accessible documentary explores China before China
热播纪录片，探寻“何以中国”！
Time flows according to its own rhythm. But over the course of tens of thousands of years, the numerous individuals who lived within it, each for a period as short as a shooting star flashing across the night sky, have knit the vicissitudes of life, partings and reunions, sorrow and joy, into the magnum opus of history.
时间的流逝只遵循自己的节奏。但在数万年的时间里，历史长河中的无数人，虽然只存在于如流星划过夜空那短暂的一瞬，都编织着人生的沧桑、离别、团聚、悲喜，载入史册。
This is also true in China, where the emperors and nobles, heroes and heroines whose names and deeds have been recorded in written documents and oral legends passed down through the ages, as well as the ordinary people whose lives have left traces only on the cultural relics they left behind, have fascinated generations of archaeologists.
中国也是如此。帝王贵族、巾帼须眉的名字和事迹被记载在文献和口述的传说中，再加上寻常百姓生活中所留下的文化遗迹，千古流传，让一代又一代的考古学家为之着迷。
This is the idea conveyed by the eight-episode documentary, China Before China, which tells the story of the origins and early development of Chinese civilization, and contemporary attempts to portray ancient societies based on archaeological findings.
这正是纪录片《何以中国》所传达的理念，这部八集纪录片讲述了中华文明的起源和早期发展，并且试图以考古发现为基础，描绘古代社会图景。
The series, a joint effort between a video production team and hundreds of archaeologists from across the country, is currently airing each week on Shanghai-based Dragon TV, as well as on streaming platforms BesTV, iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku and Bilibili.
该纪录片是由一支摄制团队和来自全国各地的数百名考古学家共同制作，目前每周在上海东方卫视以及百视TV、爱奇艺、腾讯视频、优酷和哔哩哔哩等流媒体平台播出。
"What we want to explore are the characteristics of Chinese civilization and its spirit that have been transmitted through our blood, and from which we can trace the cultural genes that make us the Chinese people," says Jin Ruiguo, director of the news center of the National Cultural Heritage Administration and chief supervisor of the documentary.
《何以中国》总监制、国家文物局政策法规司司长金瑞国说，“我们想要探寻的是浸入血脉的中华文明特质和中华民族精神，从中找到我们之所以为‘中国人’的文化基因。”
Chief director Gan Chao says their aim was to depict the more specific social landscapes of our ancestors, but with a human touch that makes people on different rungs of the social ladder visible.
总导演干超表示，他们的目的是要更具象地描绘我们祖先时期的社会景观，以人的角度叙事，让处于不同社会阶层的一个个鲜活的人都能被看到。
Apart from their well-organized and beautifully written narration, the series digs deep into the information contained in archaeological sites and cultural relics, on the basis of which they used digital technology to bring ancient architecture and cities back to life, and invited actors to re-create scenes of daily life and production, as well as feasts, ritual ceremonies and other scenarios.
除了条理清晰、文笔优美的旁白外，纪录片还深入挖掘考古遗址和文物中蕴藏的信息，在此基础上利用数字技术复活古建筑和城市。通过邀请演员重新演绎还原当时的日常生活、生产场景，以及宴会、祭祀仪式等等。
The costumes and ornaments the characters wear, the tools, utensils and sacrificial offerings they use, as well as the ritual procedures they experience, are the fruit of rigorous, multidisciplinary research. All of this provides the audiences with a direct, visual idea of the long past.
演员的着装、配饰，包括使用的工具、器皿和祭品，以及他们经历的仪式程序，都是严谨的、多学科研究成果。一切都为观众提供了对遥远过去的直接视觉体验。
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