Following "The World" and "Flowers", another Mao Dun Literature Award-winning novel "Going North" has been brought to the screen. However, the 38-episode "Going North" tells no longer the original idea and story. It is a literary transformation called "adapted" and is actually the original creation of the new contemporary epic of the Grand Canal from the original.

　　The main and secondary are valuable visions

　　"Going North" won the Mao Dun Literature Award. In addition to the solid foundation of literary personality that Xu Zechen has laid down, the simple and unique historical perspective and the clever structure of the modern and contemporary time and space have enabled it to stand out in the novels of the same title in recent years.

　　The "going north" in the original work refers to the 1901 Italian Little Polo's journey to China. He came to find his younger brother Ma Defu who went north from the mouth of the Baihe River with the Eight-Nation Alliance as an invader, while Xie Pingyao, Shao Changlai, Zhou Yiyan, Sun Cheng and other Chinese people of his generation, accompanied Little Polo to witness the changes of the times on this increasingly abandoned waterway.

　　Xu Zechen took 1901 as a section and crossed the vicissitudes of the Grand Canal. It was built by the war and became a witness to the destruction of the country under the iron hoof of foreign invaders two thousand years later. The mortal songs of China and Italy on the canal waves over the past 34 years are the most colorful music of Xu Zechen's "Going North". From the perspective of Marco Polo's descendants, entering into the great turmoil of the Millennium Canal in the early 20th century is a good film and television story that is more easily accepted by overseas audiences. Especially Madefu, the Italian who fled the war, became a Chinese son-in-law on the banks of the Tongzhou Canal. In order to avenge his wife Ruyu's death, he broke into the Japanese military camp alone and died with him. This is the valuable vision of the novel "Going North" and also a part that is of great value for film and television adaptation.

　　Xu Zechen's original work also has a set of contemporary time and space, set in Beijing, Huai'an and Jining in 2014. It uses two major events: shooting canal documentaries and collecting collections of the Canal B&B Museum, to structure the stories of Xie, Shao, Zhou Sanjia and Ma Defu under the background of the Grand Canal's application for World Heritage. This contemporary space-time actually serves the narrative subject of modern space-time in the 34 years, and there are not many independent drama events that can be adapted with characters' emotions and destiny. Among them, there is a certain emotional concentration, which is the reconciliation between the Xie brothers who have developed a diaphragm due to studying, but it seems to be a little free from the main trunk. Taking the successful application of World Heritage in contemporary time and space as the end of the book, re-examining the canal cultural landscape and spiritual inheritance from a contemporary perspective is the structural ingenuity of novel writing, but it is not a new perspective required for film and television adaptation.

　　Give up modern stories and create a youthful epic

　　The screenwriter of the series "Going North" Zhao Dongling and director Yao Xiaofeng, facing the image transformation made by Xu Zechen's original work, almost gave up the modern time and space part, namely the legend of the fate of the people along the canal from the perspective of the Italian brothers, Polo and Madefu. Instead, they regard this main trunk in the original work as the historical vision of the contemporary story, and conduct a closed-loop background narrative at the beginning and end of the whole play. Ma Siyi and Xie Wanghe in the play are no longer characters in the original work, but are based on the surnames and names in the original work. This original creation that put aside the core of the original narrative and rebooting is bold.

　　Starting from the literary map of the history of the Grand Canal constructed by Xu Zechen, the series "Going North" creates the new characters "Six Sons of Flower Street" on the banks of the Grand Canal - Xie Wanghe, Xia Fenghua, Shao Xingchi, Zhou Haikuo, Ma Siyi, and Chen Rui, focusing on their childhood, youth and youth, and writing their youthful growth epic of their youthful growth from Jiangsu to Beijing and then returning to their hometown to start a business.

　　The series also radiates the fate of three generations of canal people, with both plain drawings and sketches of group images. Grandma Ma played by Sarina is generous in character. This character carries the history of the marriage between civilians in China and Italy in the original work, and is also the embodiment of the broad mind of the Canal people. When she decided to adopt the son born to her daughter-in-law after remarrying, she expressed her statement as follows: "Make a good relationship and leave a personal favor to Siyi. After I leave (death), Siyi's mother will be better for Siyi." Although reality may not be as good as Grandma Ma wishes, her traditional Chinese virtue of warmth and kindness influenced the descendants of Huajie and became the moral standard of the parents of the "Six Sons of Huajie" and was deeply rooted in the hearts of Wanghe, Haikuo, Xingchi and Huazi who were drifting in Beijing. Just like Grandma Ma's generous treatment to her daughter-in-law, Zhou Yipu, played by Wang Xueqi, also expressed his blessing to her daughter-in-law when she walked out of Flower Street to the north. Holding on to his hometown but respecting others' choices, Grandma Ma and Zhou Monpu became the spiritual beacons of the people of Huajie Street in Canal.

　　The creation of the second generation of Huajie such as Xie Tiancheng and Zhou Yanlin is mainly completed through changes such as the impact of road transportation on canal freight. The depression of canal freight transportation has had a direct impact on Xie Tiancheng and Xia Maotian families, so they decided to "follow the times, go ashore first, wait until revitalization, and then return to the river." Under the influence of his wife Haihong taking the lead in leaving Huajie and becoming a big freight transport driver, Xie Tiancheng also stepped out of his comfort zone and faced a new life. Zhou Yanlin refused to go north and became representatives of the two generations who stood by the canal with the young Chen Rui. It is precisely the persistence of their group of people that the prosperity of the canal and flower street after the successful application for World Heritage can usher in the return of those who have left.

　　In the second half of the play, the director recalled the past through his design after suffering from Alzheimer's disease on Monday, and then sketched the youthful years of Zhou Yanlin and other group portraits of the second generation of Huajie Street, which clozes the character creation and fully presents the social scene of the canal before the reform and opening up. Their stories form a symphony and reflection of the main and secondary tunes of the youthful growth of the "Six Sons of Huajie Street" born in the 1990s. People on the canal bank always seek breakthroughs in the process of the times.

　　Face the collision of values ​​and portray the growth of the post-90s generation

　　"Going North" selects actors such as Ou Hao and Bai Lu to play the role of "Flower Street Six Sons", and connects the cultural scenes of the Centennial Canal in the style of a youth idol drama. At the same time, the photography, art, music, etc. of the whole drama also exudes a beautiful, clear, light and timeless style.

　　Under the appearance of youth drama, the drama has two significant innovations independent of the original work. First, the entrepreneurial experience of the four people who moved to Beijing, Huazi, Wanghe, Haikuo and Xingchi, was placed in the express delivery industry. The moral system inherited from their hometowns was confronted and impacted by the market capital value system. Express delivery and takeaway have become industries that our country has a high dependence on in social life. The pain of starting and development has been reflected in films such as "Another Hopeful Day" and "Retrograde Life". Wanghe is a successful practitioner of the industry. He accepted and integrated into it. Xingchi, Haikuo and Huazi insisted on it and faced the real questioning and even questioning. So the three of them returned to Huajie Town with their dreams and created wealth in the way they identified themselves.

　　Another innovation is that it delicately portrays the attitude of the post-90s generation towards their parents' marriage and love. Growing up in a single-parent family with divorced parents is a hidden pain in the youth of some born in the 1990s. In "Going North", Zhou Haikuo has two wonderful scenes about his parents' divorce. One is Haikuo expressing his blessing to his mother's departure, "Even if he divorces, you are my mother. Fly, mom, fly to the highest place!" The other scene is that Haikuo is already an adult and talks with his mother after breaking up with his girlfriend. At this time, he expressed a more mature understanding of his parents' marriage and his love. The highlights of these two ethical narratives show the strength of the post-90s generation to heal their soul scars, which is the most true and touching.

　　The starring actors of "Going North" Ou Hao, Bai Lu, Zhai Zilu, and Li Yuchun's singing are all star cultural symbols starting from Hunan Satellite TV. They used "Going North" produced by Jiangsu to land on CCTV's first set. The uniqueness of their cultural structure is a rare communication sample in recent years. When Huazi's pursuit of Li Yuchun's singing became the youthful past in the play, their youth they fought for had become history, and the sorrows and joys of their parents had become poems. (Yang Jinsong)

[Editor in charge: Tang Wei]