Documentary series garners popularity online

An epic to take a look back at the country's ancient history, the documentary series China's third season has reached an audience of 186 million and has been watched 7.66 billion times online, according to the producers.

Consisting of a total of 12 episodes, the third season starts from the myth about Pangu, unfolds to the legendary rulers like Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), and culminates in the Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-256 BC).

According to its producers, the documentary has been reported in five languages in 54 countries and regions for more than 2,000 times overseas.

The documentary series, with the first season aired in 2020 and the second released in 2022, took director Li Dongkun and his creative team a total of six years to prepare and produce, revealed Zhang Huali, chairman of Hunan Radio, Film and Television Group Co Ltd, during a recent symposium held in Beijing.

He said the third season possibly marks a new starting point for the documentary series, which may plan to produce a fourth season.

The third season has opened up the copyright for derivative works worldwide, resulting in a lot of short video creators using footage from the documentary to reedit popular videos online, with a few of the most popular videos each garnering over 10 million views.

Sha Wutian, a professor at the School of History and Civilization of Shaanxi Normal University, said that from a historic perspective, the documentary could be regarded as a visual version of the comprehensive history of China. He commented that it holds significance in serving as a guiding light for the younger generation to understand the history of China.