Society demands apology over film's historical errors

An academic society has urged the producers of a popular movie to apologize for factual errors in the film to avoid misleading viewers and hurting the feelings of people from where the historical events took place.

The Luoyang Society of Sui and Tang Studies, based in Luoyang, Henan province, said in a statement via social media that the animated movie Chang An, which depicts historical and political events and famous poets during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), has several key areas that "severely vary from historical events".

According to the society, the first meeting of Li Bai and Du Fu, two renowned poets in China's history, took place in the year 744 in Luoyang, not in Chang'an, or present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi province, which the movie says. Du also grew up in Luoyang, not in Chang'an as the movie claims.

The movie has a scene called "Three Greats within a Day", which depicts the meeting of a painter, a swordsman and a calligrapher who each give their own exceptional performance. However, the society said that the incident actually took place at a temple in Luoyang, not in Chang'an.

The movie, which premiered on July 8, had earned 1.7 billion yuan ($235 million) at the box office as of Thursday, according to movie statistics website Maoyan. The film has been especially popular with teenagers, and many of them like to recite verses from the poetry-filled movie.

Although it's unreasonable to change the movie, the producers can still acknowledge their mistakes publicly and apologize to viewers to ease online vitriol, the society said.

According to the society, due to these "factual errors", netizens from Luoyang and Xi'an have engaged in an online war of words, which the producers have turned a blind eye to. The society said it has hired a legal firm to send a lawyer's letter to the director and the production company, urging them to correct the mistakes and apologize.

The society studies the history of the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907). At that time, Chang'an was the capital of the Tang Dynasty, while Luoyang was the "eastern capital". Both metropolises were highly prosperous and believed to be among the largest cities in the world at the time.

Xie Junwei, director of the movie, acknowledged that Li Bai and Du Fu's first meeting did take place in Luoyang, according to a report by media outlet Shanghai Observer. But he added that the movie only described a part of their lives, and they were not presented in full.

Hu Zhongxing, a retired professor from Fudan University's Department of Chinese Language and Literature, told Shanghai Observer that Li and Du's meeting was a major historical and cultural event, and changing the location of the event is "not proper". He suggested using one or two lines to maintain the overall plot while telling the audience where the meeting actually took place.

A screenwriter surnamed Zhang told Shanghai Observer that the Chang'an depicted in the movie should be viewed as a more abstract reference instead of an accurate historical citation.

"For historical scholars, such a detail should not be changed, but for movie creators, they think that it can be moderately altered," she said.