"Fall of Ming" is a Chinese history-themed movie that has recently won over China's entertainment critics. The movie portrays the end of the Ming Dynasty when Emperor Chongzhen ends in failure in his efforts to save the dynasty from rebellion and an epidemic, even with the help of capable generals and doctors. Commentators say the film alludes to the Chinese communist regime's going down a dead end, and warns the regime that pestilence can be cured, but hearts are hard to reconcile. "Fall of Ming" is a movie directed by Wang Jing based on a screenplay by Xie Xiaodong. It takes viewers back to 1642, when the Ming Dynasty was troubled with rebels and a rampant epidemic. Emperor Chongzhen released General Sun Chuanting from death row and had him lead Ming troops on crusade against peasant rebel leader Li Zicheng. "Fall of Ming" premiered in China on Oct. 25. It quickly became a hit on movie websites and a DVD version was soon available in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The film's plot and characters illustrate a historical theme resembling contemporary Chinese society, making many viewers think of China today under the Communist Party. It has thus had a strong resonance with viewers. Some critics wondered: How did this film with so many metaphors alluding to the end of the CCP's regime get past the review committee in China? Others commented: It is a clever film combining both historical reality and artistic creation. Therefore, it is impeccable to the reviewers. Some even called it an act of God that the film passed review by the CCP's propaganda department. Shi Jingdi, commentator: "In fact, the period prior to the end of any dynasty in history share similar situations, such as widespread corrupt officials, draconian repression, prevalence of poverty and diseases, and so forth. The movie is more a history lesson than a simple metaphor." The movie showed that as Sun Chuanting was on the crusade, the army lacked funds and then was hit by an epidemic which spread within the barracks and wiped out nearly all villagers. When the doctor Wu Youke rushed to the barracks to inform doctor Zhao Tiling how the disease was transmitted, he found Zhao had already been killed for failing to find a cure. When Wu instead informed the commander to warn everyone about the epidemic, the commander was enraged, "This will bring chaos to the troops if revealed". Deaths quickly enveloped the barracks because the doctor Zhao Tiling blocked the information about the disease. Many Chinese netizens recalled when the CCP also blocked news of the SARS outbreak in China in 2003. The film also described the fact that when the treasury was low and the land tax was scarce, Sun Chuanting intended to check the registrar records to retrieve money and food stored by local governors. However, the registrar was caught on fire, and the officials』 balance books were burned without a trace. Netizens compared that to the fire that broke out at a Chinese grain storage center and a cotton reserve when the CCP's inspection teams were doing local investigations. Shi Jingdi: "The relationship between a regime and the populace is like how 'water can both carry and capsize a boat'. Like the tyrannical Qin and the CCP, officials have all repressed and exploited the people at the end of each dynasty. The CCP is going towards its end is also its own choice." Hong Kong-based Apple Daily reports that there is a great resemblance in the social issues as well. The ever intensified social conflicts and mass protests have taken place on a large scale, murder and injustice reach every corner of China today. While the Ming Dynasty carried out brutal suppressions through the security and inspection institutes of the East and West Factories, the Communist regime employs the public security and armed forces to maintain stability, with the same inhuman measures. Former arts columnist for Hong Kong's United Daily News Zhang Cheng-Jue says that today's Chinese society under the CCP is worse than that at the end of the Ming Dynasty. He explains that people had private ownership during the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Cheng-Jue, columnist: "Today's mainland Chinese don't have private ownership. Farmers do not own land. Houses belong to the state. The state can expropriate the land and homes at will. That's the reason why there are so many petitioners nowadays." Zhang Cheng-Jue says over the decades of CCP rule, manmade famine, massacre, the Cultural Revolution, etc, have lead to the deaths of 80 million Chinese people. The economy was ruined, the traditional culture destroyed, and innocent people such as the July 4th student movement, the Falun Gong, and petitioners are persecuted and killed. The regime has lost the support of the people. The fall of the Ming dynasty is a warning to the CCP: Pestilence can be cured, but hearts are hard to reconcile. Interview & Edit/LiYun Post-Production/ChenJianming

• published: 11 Dec 2013
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