6
China's New Star

Reform on prime-time television

Until River Elegy appeared on CCTV in late 1988, no television program produced in China had ever created a reaction among viewers to match the response given to the political drama, New Star (Xin Xing, pronounced 'sheen sheen'), a 12-part series that was telecast on the national network a few months prior to our arrival there in 1986. We had no knowledge of this program beforehand, but its importance became apparent to us very early during the interviewing. By the time we had talked with half a dozen families in Shanghai, our first research site, the name of the program had been mentioned spontaneously so often that we knew we had to explore the significance of the controversial show in detail. We added two simple questions to our list of open-ended inquiries that were asked of all families: 'Did you watch the drama series New Star? What did you think of it?'

From these questions families often launched into lengthy and sometimes very emotional descriptions of not only the program, but the sensitive political questions that are raised in the show — the viability of the government-backed reform movement and, specifically, a questioning of the morality and competence of the country's middle-level bureaucrats —the managers, officials, cadre — known in Chinese as the ganbu. Family members spoke freely about these matters, an openness that was enhanced by the fact that we had inquired about a television program and had not asked for their opinions about political matters directly. While Chinese citizens in the cities spoke critically without fear of reprisal in 1986, I believe that their remarks about the politics of the workplace, for instance, were far more freely forthcoming when placed in the context of the subject matter and storylines of a hugely-popular television program. This was a fortunate methodological circumstance that revealed in detail some of China's most pressing political and social issues — themes that were embodied passionately in the program itself.

By presenting New Star on the national network, Chinese television achieved a rare degree of relevance. The program was aired during a period of great public support for Deng Xiaoping. New Star will be remembered as a positive symbol of the Deng era, especially the decade of such great optimism following the Cultural Revolution culminating in the late 1980s when, by means of television, virtually all urban homes, and many in the countryside as well, had simultaneous access to the same story — a development that was without precedent in the country. New Star is a piece of electronic literature that touched nearly everyone.

New Star is a story about China's modernization but it does not focus mainly on technological or economic reform. The program is a blunt criticism of the heavy bureaucratism that plagues China and the horrible social consequences that it brings. At one level, New Star is an introspective attack on the current management dilemma in China, an exposé of the widespread incompetence and abuse perpetrated by many ganbu that has discouraged millions of young Chinese workers who are intimidated by their bosses in a system that rarely allows for the willful changing of jobs. At the same time, New Star symbolizes the 'new feeling' in China, in the words of one of our narrators, the spirit and consensus of a people who demand meaningful change.

The drama of New Star turns on the fictional encounters of a young communist political and economic reformer - Li Xiangnan (pronounced 'Lee Shan-nan'). Li's heroism stems from his courage to implement effective reform in the face of stiff resistance from China's conservative old guard. Li is a warrior against the muddled Chinese bureaucracy, its history of inefficiency, corruption, and reputation for placing profound constraints on the development of human potential. The program was popular mainly because the story resonates so well with the conditions and frustrations that workers and peasants routinely experience in their own lives. The production format also fitted the story. New Star was a political soap opera, replete with intricate interpersonal relations, a love triangle, family intertwinings, and traumas and tragedies of unbelievable proportions. The constant use of close-up and extreme close-up shots of the actors and actresses created an intense intimacy that enhanced the show's significance and impact. The contemporary reformation in China is a kind of soap opera in real life. Television's treatment of the story within the formulaic conventions of the melodrama was appropriate and compelling.

New Star is a story about two fundamental and contradictory issues —the potential progress that is promised by reform and the negative influence of a steadfast bureaucracy that stands in the way of change, personified by the old ganbu. It's an honest and straightforward critique of the Chinese system that was written by a Chinese man, appeared on the Chinese TV network (and on many regional outlets), was viewed, at least in part, by nearly everyone in the country who has access to a TV set, and stimulated an enthusiastic reaction by viewers. A major achievement of New Star is that its very appearance on the nation's television system gave credence to public complaints about the incompetence and corruption of many ganbu, while it cast an image of the possibility of a radical new style of party leadership.

The success of the program also helps reveal how television, the great storyteller of our time, can radiate its influence throughout a society. I shall tell the story of New Star from several perspectives — the producer, the originating broadcast station, the network, researchers, and most important, the audience members. The analysis includes many verbatim descriptions and opinions that were expressed by viewers.

The Chinese Reformation: Can it Really Happen?

The economic improvements that took place in China in the early 1980s are widely recognized by the people. Since then, of course, the economic picture has dimmed, but even in the mid 1980s the people were demanding more than economic reform. From their own experience, however, they know that an immense and corrupt government bureaucracy works against their great hopes for a radical restructuring of the system and for more personal freedom:

Within the rhetoric of reform, the government has admitted the problem of China's unmanageable management system, the human penalties it imposes on peasants and workers, and the need for revision of management procedures at the work unit level. Deng himself outlined the problem as early as 1980:

These formidable problems have been heightened by China's lack of a legitimate legal system, the uncertainty that surrounds processes of political succession, the equivocations of national agencies of information and socialization, and, especially, contradictions that exist between officially prescribed ideology and what happens in the real world. Nowhere are these contradictions felt more strongly than in the workplace.

Ganbu in service of the status quo and the Guanxi problem

The positive impact of China's concrete achievements III the early 1980s and, ultimately, the viability of the communist system are confounded and diluted by the day-to-day experiences of the vast majority of urban workers. They made it clear to us that improvements promised by reformers in Beijing have not filtered into the workplace. I want to illustrate substantively the depth of this problem by recounting actual conditions of work that were described in detail by our narrators.

A key feature of the problem is the practice of guanxi (pronounced 'gwan shee,' meaning the reciprocal giving of favors) and the formation of guanxi wang, interpersonal networks that are based on this practice. Guanxi originates in the Chinese tradition of interdependence and sharing and is consistent with the Chinese habit of family members and friends 'taking care of each other.' It derives from the Chinese concept of bao, or 'social investments,' where the giving of a favor carries an unspoken, but firmly understood expectation that the giver will receive something of equal weight in return (Gold, 1985). Guanxi is an informally institutionalized 'I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine' way of doing business that, while officially discouraged, is widely practiced. One builds guanxi. A person has good guanxi with somebody else. Guanxi is pragmatic relationship capital. Economic scarcity and a system that provides limited opportunities for individuals to advance through legitimate, official channels breeds dependence on informal, personal connections - guanxi wang. Furthermore, the potential for benefitting from guanxi is not evenly distributed within the population. People who supervise official functions (for example those who assign housing, promote workers, permit marriages, or admit students to universities) are in positions to require favors in return. Although their salaries may be low, cadre in these positions can live relatively well by demanding personal favors and goods (food and alcohol, for instance) in trade for material resources or administrative actions that are under their control. Guanxi wang reinforces and expands bureaucratism while it promotes corruption at every level of government in China:

Ganbu politics

The guanxi problem is but part of the delicate nature of interpersonal relationships in work settings in China. Workers are at the mercy of their ganbu — the middle-level managers of China's factories, farms, offices, and agencies. Many workers consider their ganbu to be members of a privileged class. This is not a recent development. Cadre and worker statuses were very different during the Maoist era too, despite the egalitarian rhetoric of the time (Dietrich, 1986: 278).

There are many problems inherent in the worker—ganbu relationship, beginning with the fact that many managers are not respected much by their workers. The difficulty begins with a questioning of the qualifications and competencies of the ganbu:

The negative stereotype of China's middle-level managers is that they are inefficient, lacking in ideological vision, poorly educated, old, abusive, corrupt, jealous of young workers, vindictive, protective of their private interests (in traditional China and even now it is considered a disgrace to flaunt one's private interests), and often gained their positions through political favoritism — hardly the right type of leader in the era of reform. They reward the 'yes' man and woman and punish troublemakers — people who disagree with them. Workers' rights are few and there is no effective system for fair redress of grievances in any case. As a result, many workers fear their bosses and develop strategies for coping and not standing out:

The way so many Chinese people describe the atmosphere at work reminds me of military life. Low and middle-ranking officers rise to their institutionalized level of incompetence where, in a system of highly-structured statuses and a constant threat of punishment, they unleash their authority in a way that rewards mindless compliance and discriminates against progress. In many Chinese work units, as in the military, the supreme value is conformity.

Another problem frequently reported concerns the higher education and specialized training of ambitious and bright workers. Many ganbu don't want these workers to study abroad, for instance, because the studentworkers often have high unofficial status when they return to China, an automatic credibility that makes some ganbu jealous. There is a Chinese expression, 'to keep someone short,' meaning that people in power are often jealous of 'taller' people (meaning smarter, better educated, or more clever) and will find ways to limit the taller ones' potential. This is one reason why so many Chinese who have studied overseas have not returned to China. Lucien Pye describes this problem and recounts an interesting story:

Obviously I have painted a very bad picture of China's middle-level bureaucrats. But the themes outlined so far were repeated over and over by Chinese family members. Of course, some favorable reports were given by workers about their bosses. Several people spoke proudly of the accomplishments of their work units, the talents of the ganbu there, and the hope that this offers Chinese society. Typically, however, favorable accounts were given about young or well-educated ganbu. Many new management positions in China require high or specialized education.

Eradicating or, more realistically, reducing the ganbu problem cannot help but be an extremely slow process, regardless of high-level intentions and instructions. Many cadre consider the reformation to be a personal threat. They fear a loss of power and possibly the loss of their jobs. Most ganbu believe that they deserve to keep their positions. They won those jobs often through sheer loyalty to the system. They are hard-nosed 'old boys' (most are men) who cannot be moved out easily. Regardless of how they got their jobs (political maneuvering during the Cultural Revolution is an often-mentioned and hated reason), it seems impossible to deconstruct the structure in which they are embedded, regardless of ideological pronouncements. The party, then, is stuck with the image of the incompetent ganbu. Some people say that ultimately the best hope for reform is to simply wait for better-qualified men and women of the next generation to take over these positions. Others are unwilling to wait.

The Reformation will be Televized

The world's largest television audience watched a fictionalized version of the reformation unfold in their homes when New Star was telecast in China. The appearance and appeal of the young reformer — Li Xiangnan — and the bold critique of the bureaucracy and bureaucrats was most timely. Li became television's version of the vigorous leader who is expected to guide China on its way to meaningful reform. The setting for the story, rural China, was appropriate since early economic reform was directed toward revamping the concept of collective labor in the countryside in hopes of minimizing bureaucratic sluggishness and increasing agricultural production. Just as the Cultural Revolution had legitimized and strengthened the bureaucratic structure that paralyzes the country today, New Star is a feature sui generis of a new Cultural Revolution, a struggle to overcome some of China's most deeply-entrenched and debilitating social and political practices.

Development of the television series

Ironically in a system that is based so fundamentally on planning, the most important television series to have ever been produced in China found its way onto the air via an irregular and controversial path. New Star was not intended originally to be a television series and it was broadcast on the national network almost by accident.

The story on which the television series was based was written by Kuo Yunlu, a factory worker who had lived in Shanxi Province, an arid expanse of land located in the northeast part of the country. The author is a member of the 'lost generation' of Chinese men and women whose most formative years were interrupted by the Cultural Revolution. Kuo was dispatched to the countryside in 1968 before he was 20 years old. That awful experience, combined with his extreme interest in the structure of leadership in China and his contact with persons in power who were sympathetic to his viewpoint, inspired him to begin writing a story about the carrying out of reform in China. The result was a novel, New Star.¹

Kuo's unpublished novel first appeared in 1984 as a series of articles in a literary magazine (Contemporary) and was also produced as a radio drama, but neither the articles nor the broadcasts received much attention from the public. In late 1984, however, a new television station operating in Shanxi Province began to transmit programs for the first time. Operating out of an old building with little equipment and only 1,000 watts of radiating power, the station transmits from the city of Taiyuan, located in the middle of the province, about 200 miles southwest of Beijing. Program mers at Taiyuan Television (TYTV) had little experience developing locally-originated programs, but New Star seemed to be an excellent candidate because the author is from that area and the story had already been written. The station's only previous attempt to air an original drama Uin Ein Wan, a story about the life of a miner) was criticized as 'too plain' and had not attracted much of an audience. Fully aware of the sensitive nature of the story in New Star, the managers of TYTV decided to produce an uncompromising TV docudrama miniseries based on the novel. Although it can be argued in retrospect that the basic version of reform that is presented in the program is one which is advocated by the Communist Party itself, the political consequences of producing such a scathing critique of the system were certainly risky for officials at the Taiyuan Television station. Their decision to produce and air this program — the first ever about reform and by far the most critical television show to have ever been made in China - was a courageous act.

There was not much money or equipment available to produce the 12 hour-long episodes. In the end, the program was produced for about 250,000 yuan — the equivalent of roughly $800,000 US, about half of what it would have cost to make just one feature-length film in China at the time. Still, the series came in under budget by 50,000 yuan. Originally the production company had only one box of stage property and a single camera that was borrowed from the Taiyuan Iron and Steel Company. Station personnel and the producer of the program — Ching Darli — admit that the challenge they faced in producing New Star was a sobering one at the beginning. The station was a start-up operation and financial resources were slim. But excitement and a positive spirit surrounded the production of New Star from the very beginning.

High-ranking government authorities in Taiyuan agreed with the strong, activist perspective on reform that is portrayed in the story. They enthusiastically endorsed the series and raised more than 300,000 yuan in support of the production and promised more money if needed. Volunteers were everywhere. The province police department donated uniformed guards and a doctor to work on the shooting location. When 'extras' were needed on the set, the uniformed workers changed into farmworkers' clothes and became part of the production. In order to keep costs down, virtually everyone associated with the program, including the producer, director, stage manager, even the stage hands, also had roles in the story. Hundreds of local villagers and farmers also volunteered to assist in the production and were dumbfounded when the production company tried to pay them for their services. To the very end, the extras refused to accept money for their parts in the production.

New Star was directed by Li Xin, a little-known director from the talent pool of the Beijing Film Production Company. He made the decisions about who would be given the major roles and he carefully selected actors and actresses who were not particularly well known but who were caught up in the spirit of the project — both the ideological nuances of the story and the idea of helping to establish a new television station. When the production contract for New Star was first negotiated, two other companies (Chang Cheng Film Production Company and the Chinese TV Drama Production Center) also came to Shanxi Province to compete for the right to produce the show. But officials from TYTV settled on the small production unit whose leaders had so aggressively pursued the project and refused to be intimidated by the presence of the larger production companies during the negotiations.

The 12 episodes of New Star were produced in 102 days, averaging less than 9 days shooting time per installment, a remarkable achievement given the variety of locations and number of actors involved. The series was first broadcast on the local province station, TYTV, beginning on the first anniversary of the new station. Audience response far surpassed expectations, attracting the attention of the entire city. Based on its overwhelm ing success at TYTV, New Star was bicycled to dozens of other stations in China where it also became very popular.

Ching Darli and the others from the production team would not be satisfied, however, until New Star had a national audience. They wanted the show to be distributed throughout China on CCTV and tried to convince the broadcasting officials in Beijing to put it on the air. There was no serious question at CCTV about the ability of the program to attract a viewership large enough to justify presentation on the national network. However, concern was expressed about the sensitive political content of the drama. Despite the potential difficulties, CCTV broadcast the series in winter and early spring 1986.

The decision-making process that led to airing New Star on the network remains something of a mystery. As the story has been told to me, the series was received and supported by a ranking network official who was only filling the position temporarily. A question remains even today as to whether or not top officials at the network ever previewed and approved the program. Still, at least one meeting was held about New Star after which approval to air the show was granted. Precedence was extremely important. The series had already been presented on many city and province stations throughout China. Had the program not been aired by other stations, or had it been aired only by TYTV and rejected by other province stations, it is unlikely that the network would have touched it. The fact that few high-quality drama series are produced in China also helped New Star find a network slot. Television is a medium with a voracious appetite and producing original programs is extremely expensive. It is an attractive propositIOn, therefore, for the network to broadcast programs that have already been produced,

Circumstances surrounding the way New Star was produced further enhanced its chances for being aired on CCTV, Content of the original novel and the shooting of the series in Shanxi Province were never under serious scrutiny by censors, There was little chance for interference or termination of the project during the making of the show, New Star arrived at CCTV as a finished product, Compared to film, which can be evaluated in one sitting by government officials, a 12-part television series is far more cumbersome to review, Some Chinese scholars have speculated that had New Star been a film instead of a television series, it would not have passed the censors or would have been greatly toned down, Despite all the mysteries and complications, a decision was reached to put New Star on the air at CCTV during peak viewing time in the evenings, New Star appeared on the network during the dead of winter when family members are inside their homes at night — watching television,

The national exposure thrilled people in Taiyuan, According to one account published in China, when the familiar theme song from the show pierced the airwaves and the TYTV logo appeared on the CCTV channel in Taiyuan, the local television contingent excitedly ran outside their offices and ignited a firecracker to celebrate its appearance on the network (Wu, 1986).

Additional meetings about New Star were held at the network offices in Beijing after the first two episodes were broadcast, The program had created a national controversy soon after the first episodes appeared, While feedback from audiences throughout the country was overwhelmingly positive, high-ranking government officials were divided in their view of the appropriateness of the program, Some were adamantly opposed to it, Clearly, however, a decision to pull the program off the air would have damaged the credibility of the government which was heralding reform at the time, New Star had become at once an extremely popular show, a topic of conversation throughout the country, and a public relations problem for a government that was trying to display a more open and self-critical attitude, A new decision was reached to allow the series to continue, One family member with whom we spoke said that, in fact, one of New Star's best effects was to influence China's government leaders who he reasoned correctly were as likely as anyone else to be watching.

New Star — A Story of the Chinese Reformation

The television series has many characteristics of Chinese literature. The story is complex and slow developing, full of double meanings and innuendos. In the following paragraphs, I will outline the basic storyline, episode by episode, in order to reveal its major themes and to provide

interpretations of the cultural and political subtleties that are woven into the program.²

The drama hinges most basically on an ideological conflict between the two main characters — Li Xiangnan and Gu Rong — and the intricate relationship between their families. This meshing of political circumstances and social histories, embedded and embroiled in the controversies that surround China's reformation, is part of what made New Star so popular. It is exactly this atmosphere of personal interdependencies and politics that so many Chinese people complain about. Several subplots and stories — not just political struggles, but family traumas and love affairs too —emerged throughout the series. But the heart of the story, and the theme that was discussed by audiences everywhere in China, is the conflict between the handsome young political reformer, Li, and the guardian of the status quo, the old ganbu, Gu.

I will now describe in greatly abbreviated form what happens in each episode. The main characters, story developments, and the most important underlying implications will be introduced along the way. The two main characters, Li and Gu, will be referred to by their family names only. Others who have the same family name, Gu Shaoli and Gu Heng, for instance, will be called by their generational/personal names (e.g. 'Shaoli' and 'Heng'). The program does not move along chronologically. Rather, simultaneously developing subplots are presented, in soap opera fashion, and my accounting reflects this fragmentation. In order to comprehend the complexity and depth of the problems explored in New Star, it is extremely important to read this summary carefully.

Episode 1

Li arrives by train in a village said to be the capital of fictionalized Gulin County, part of a poor, dry farming area that bears a strong resemblance to Shanxi Province, home of the author. Li is a young Communist Party member from Beijing. He has been sent to Gulin County to become Party Secretary there. He is met by the Party Vice Secretary, Gu, a much older man, who will become Li's antagonist throughout the series. According to the bureaucratic structure, Li is Gu's boss. But Gu's older brother, Heng, is Party Secretary of the province in which Gulin County is located. To make things more interesting, Li's father, Haitao, has an even higher administrative post in Beijing. Beyond this, the old men all know each other from the days of the communist revolution.

Li and Gu must work together in Gulin and there is much work to be done as the county has a very poor reputation for productivity. Upon Li's arrival, Gu advises him about protocol in accomplishing their work: 'Don't talk too much ... don't criticize past work ... proceed slowly, listen, and follow me. You may have trouble if you go too fast.' Gu further advises that no changes should be made immediately, that 'research' should be conducted first. Li politely disagrees: 'No, we can do both at the same time.' Gu confides to a friend, 'Li cannot be controlled by anyone.' We begin to see big differences in their personalities and leadership styles. Li is the straight-talking intellectual who is concerned with fairness. Gu is the manipulative veteran bureaucrat — the classic stereotype of the incompetent ganbu.

In their first concrete struggle, Li orders analysis of a problem revealed by a woman who claims she has been discriminated against in her work by her ganbu. Li wants to know how many cases like this exist. To Gu's great embarrassment, his own son is implicated in the problem as a smuggler of antiques, as is the son of one of Gu's fellow cadre, Feng. A continuing theme throughout the program is that Gu is somehow involved in many corrupt activities in the county. There is a constant blurring between bureaucratic privilege and illegal activity for Gu. He appears to be motivated by personal interest while Li is the people's advocate.

A town meeting is held where Li is introduced and is obliquely criticized by Gu for his aggressive style. Li then addresses the crowd: 'The work here is not done efficiently. You don't serve the people. The Communist Party says "Take care of the heart and soul of the people." We must support the people.'

Lin, Li's former girlfriend from their teenage days during the Cultural Revolution, arrives in Gulin. So does the attractive Xiaoli, who is Gu's niece. Lin is portrayed as soft, while Xiaoli is tougher — aggressive and ambitious. Lin is a journalist. Xiaoli, who is ten years younger, also wants to be a writer. Xiaoli meets Li and immediately begins arguing with him, testing him. An intriguing tension between the two develops. There are some things to explain. Li is not married. At his age, apparently in his early thirties, this is unusual in China. If someone is not married he must have some problem. A bad temper or incorrigible personality? Too personally ambitious? Why isn't Li married?

Episode 2

Li appoints a new director of policy research to replace an old ganbu who would not do the work the way Li wanted it done. Li then walks among the villagers to get the general feeling of the situation. He meets Xiaoli on the street. During their conversation, Xiaoli asks Li if he likes the clothes she is wearing and he tells her that they may be too modern, not appropriate for the farm country. A romance, however understated, seems to be blooming.

Li meets a poor woman who has come to tell him a story of the tragedy of her husband's death. She pleads for financial and medical help and says that she has walked 25 miles from her home to the county government headquarters more than 50 times in her previous efforts to get help from Gu but received no attention. She claims that she had been unable to prove to Gu her need for help. Li comforts her, assuring her that she need not prove anything, saying that all those trips by foot are proof enough. This is a critical incident in the story because it reflects Li's personal caring and his ability to cut through the bureaucracy and to act immediately. This leadership style contrasts with the old style personified by Gu, and suggests the potential of reform. Word circulates quickly among the people in Gulin that Li is a true friend of the common people. He is becoming a cultural hero. Xiaoli watches Li from a distance, obviously becoming more and more interested in him.

Another mass meeting is held. By now the people are aware of Li's work and some of them have developed high expectations for the future. But Gu has been an official in the county for more than 30 years. They fear his power. Gu addresses them: 'Raise your hand if you are a Communist Party member!' Many hands are raised. Gu then indirectly criticizes Li (who is also present) by claiming that experience, not youth, is what China needs. He reminds the group of the failure of the Great Leap Forward of 1958, attributing the problems of that era to the lack of wise leadership. He praises the comrades for their 'good recent work' and reminds them that he has 'never moved from this county.' He asks, 'Might someone else neglect our success here?' This episode ends with Li moving

to the podium where he begins to address the group. Li gives a kind of pep talk, encouraging the people to try to be the top-producing county in China. He suggests that the great hopes for the future can only be accomplished through reform. The battle lines are clearly, but politely, drawn at this meeting as Gu and Li vie for the support of the party membership and for the confidence of the rest of the people of Gulin County.

Episode 3

We resume with Li still addressing the Communist Party meeting. He says that the old leaders have made a fine contribution to the county, but now it is time for new challenges.

In the next scene, Gu is at home when the director and assistant director of the county police department arrive. The police have come to Gu's house to arrest his son (who is not at home) for smuggling. A long conversation ensues where Gu tries to convince the police to 'go easy' on his son. Thinking that the police may have been buoyed in their confidence to arrest his son by the presence of Li, Gu reminds them that Li is likely to leave: 'When he leaves, you will again be under my control,' he tells them. The situation becomes further complicated when the police director's assistant asks Gu for help moving his wife from the countryside to the city to Join him. And when it is revealed that the police director's son is ill, Gu offers to find help for him, but suggests that in return his own son should be taken care of as well: 'You should understand my feeling for my son!' Later, Gu falls ill at home under the pressure of the situation and is rushed by ambulance to a hospital. Li arrives at the hospital to pay his respects to the older, and apparently infirm, Gu.

Li walks among the people of the city, stopping to advise many of them how they can improve their personal finances through profit-driven, incentive-based work. He meets an old man, Se, who he promises to help build a well to provide the much-needed water. The old man prefers to build a 'dragon temple' in order to pray for rain, but Li gently recommends that science is a better bet. Xiaoli is watching Li during all these interactions, and she tells him, 'I want to write about you in my book.' He replies: 'No, you should write about Se instead.'

A loud dinner party is being held at the county electric company facility. The party is given in honor of the district leader of electric power who is visiting Gulin County. Li arrives and the festivities stop. He criticizes the electric company ganbu for inviting so many people to this party because the food and alcohol are paid for out of the department budget. He blames the ganbu for his failure to provide electricity to farmers who needed it for their harvests. By spending money on the party, Li said, 'You drink the people's blood.' A discussion takes place about how farmers have had to bribe the ganbu with gifts in order to get electricity. Li instructs that this practice of guanxi must stop.

In the meantime, Gu is holding an unauthorized meeting in his hospital room with friends, many of whom are older ganbu who feel threatened by Li's presence in the county. They unite to oppose Li and agree with Gu's assessment that Li 'does not respect older officials.'

Episode 4

Several short scenes begin the episode. Gu telephones the district Party Secretary to complain about Li's 'troublemaking.' Li has a positive talk with the ganbu of the electric company, whom he had scolded previously, signalling that Li is winning respect from at least some of the managers. Li also solves a problem at a school where coal was needed to heat the children's food and drink.

The relationship between Li and his former girlfriend, Lin, is revealed at a public meeting. Li agrees to go public about their history and he goes to Lin's house but she isn't there. They meet by chance in the woods. With romantic music playing in the background, Li and Lin walk their bicycles along a path in the woods talking intimately about their past, about the situation in Gulin County, and about their life philosophies. Li is optimistic about changes in the party and in the country; Lin is cynical. They reach Lin's house and go inside. Li is smoking Winston (Americanmade) cigarettes and they share a Western beverage, cocoa. Lin cries about her suffering during the Cultural Revolution. Li, expressing sadness that he had not taken more responsibility for Lin when they were young, listens to her sensitively as they discuss their roles in life — past, present, and future. It is clear that they do not have a romantic relationship anymore, and Lin asks Li not to return to the house for fear of damaging both their reputations. They touch hands as he leaves.

Xiaoli, meanwhile, has been following Li and Lin and appears to be very jealous when she sees them touch. In another brief scene, the police have arrived at Gu's house where, after all, they arrest his son.

Episode 5

Li and Xiaoli walk together in the village, their growing involvement becoming quite clear. They talk about the politics of the county and Li credits Xiaoli for her maturity. 'To accomplish the reformation,' he says, 'we must be strong.' Xiaoli kisses Li on the cheek.

In brief scenes, Li visits the home of a retired ganbu to solicit support from him in his reform efforts. Gu contemplates writing a letter to Li's father to ask him to recall his son from the county. Li and Xiaoli visit Gu to ask his advice on a small matter and Gu refuses to cooperate: 'I have no advice for you. Do what you want.'

Li travels to an outlying farm area by bus. He stops the bus to settle a fight between two female merchants. On the bus he discusses with others the problems that old Guomindang officials face in China today and he recommends improving their lot. A long discussion takes place at a water storage area in the countryside. Li wants to use the water that is contained by the dam to breed fish, a plan the party had already approved. The ganbu in charge of the dam is a former party official who was dispatched to this undesirable job by Gu. The ganbu says that no progress has been made at the dam site in the plan for fish breeding because of bureaucratic hassles created by Gu.

Episode 6

Li continues to discuss the fish-breeding plan with Zhu, the official at the site. Li tells him, 'Before, it was the harder you worked, the more you got hurt. But with me here now this won't happen again.'

A struggle erupts between Li and the leader of a commune in the county, Pan, who was promoted to his position during the Cultural Revolution and is an old friend of Gu. Pan attempts to turn the people of his commune against Li by blaming him for the shortage of water suffered by the people of the commune. The people yell their disapproval at Li when he arrives. Li and Pan have a confrontation. Li tells Pan: 'It is your responsibility to solve the problem here. If you cannot do it, I will find another commune leader.' Li tells him that he is aware of the many awards that Pan received during the Cultural Revolution: 'But now is now. You must do your work. What research have you done?' The confrontation continues as Li and Pan visit a school house that has been destroyed by bad weather. Shoeless children and their teacher are forced to endure unbearable conditions at the school. Showing great concern for them, Li asks Pan: 'Why haven't you fixed this problem?' Pan responds that it is not his responsibility. Li tells him, 'You are the director here. You are responsible!' Li turns to the teacher and the children and gives them a little speech, saying that the problem must be solved right away. The Li/Pan entourage continues to inspect the commune facilities. Li finds another room that could be used as a classroom, but Pan says it can't be done right away. Li asks Pan if he is really qualified to be a commune director. We also learn that Pan's nephew wants to marry the teacher and, if she doesn't agree, she will be reassigned to an even more undesirable place.

Episode 7

Another problem develops. Not only is the farming area in Gulin County lacking rain, Li discovers that the peasants have not been managing the land properly. The farmers explain to Li that they prefer to exploit the fields for immediate profits permitted under the new incentive policy. Conserving the land, rotating crops, and guarding against erosion are longterm approaches to farming. But because the peasants fear that the incentive policy will be revoked or changed in the near future, they have made the short-term decision to get as much immediate gain as possible. This scene reveals another serious problem that plagues the country — the lack of faith that people have in the consistency and stability of government policy. To solve this problem with respect to local farming, Li appoints Hu, a ganbu with whom he had disagreed earlier and who had called Li's attention to the land management problem, to a high-level research pos ition. This appointment reflects on Li's fairness (appointing a former opponent) and his practicality (appointing a talented and hard-working person to a key post — a key contrast to the stereotype of positions held by unqualified ganbu).

We briefly meet Uncle Meng, a shabby old man who lives in the forest and advocates protection of the woodlands (he will return later). Li goes back to the village where the elementary school is located to see if Pan had made the improvements he demanded. As Li approaches, the old school collapses, injuring many children. The teacher lies nearly dead. Emergency vehicles are not available as they are all being used by the director of the hospital for unauthorized personal reasons.

Throughout these scenes we see that several local committee members of the Communist Party are gradually beginning to support Li. They vote to fire Pan from his position as secretary of the commune — a major show of confidence for Li. Li then makes a speech at a party meeting where he appoints Hu, the former adversary who had already been promoted, to the vacated position. Further demonstrating kindness and fairness, Li consoles Pan in the speech, reminding the group that 'every ganbu should learn a lesson from what has happened here.' In the final scene, Li is back on the bus headed to the countryside when a storm breaks out and a tree falls across the road.

Episode 8

We resume the story back on the road where it is apparent that there has been much illegal cutting of trees. This is a big problem in China as about one-fourth of the nation's forests have been destroyed since 1949. Young men are using a government truck to haul the stolen wood. Li busts them at this, but he patiently explains to them that what they are doing is wrong. The way Li handles the situation stands in stark contrast to the heavy-handed tactics typically used by the old ganbu.

Uncle Meng, the old man of the forest, is in his little house. He is portrayed as a kind old man with a habit of conserving everything — he will take nothing for himself and his love of the woodlands is evidence of his selflessness. He is later shown in the forest admiring the birds and animals, when he encounters a group of boys. He asks them not to hunt or smoke so as to protect the trees.

A struggle takes place when many young men prepare to return to the forest in order to illegally cut trees again. Uncle Meng tries to stop them, but falls and badly hurts himself on some rocks. In another location, Li discusses with experts the wisdom of tree cutting. Another former adversary of Li contributes to the discussion, a subtle indication of his growing support for Li. The ganbu who allowed the tree cutting is fired.

Episode 9

In the firing of the incompetent ganbu, Li lectures the gathering about protecting the forest. At the same time he praises the contribution made by the old ganbu, but he says that 'You have lost control here,' and he tells him 'Now you can do other important work.'

Xiaoli brings her uncle Gu a letter that was written by Li's father, the head of a central ministry in Beijing. We find out that Gu had written a polite letter to the senior Li previously, complaining about his son. Xiaoli is upset with her uncle's actions. Hu, the ganbu who twice had been promoted by Li, shows up and he and Gu begin to discuss the younger Li's performance in the county. Hu: 'We should take care of the people.' Gu: 'We are politicians. We should take care of political problems.' Xiaoli and Gu fight after she reads the letter aloud. In the letter, the elder Li allows that his son may not be competent for the position he has assumed. Xiaoli angrily departs to find Li. She runs into Lin along the way and they have unpleasant words.

Pan, the fired commune secretary, cries at home about the loss of his job. Some children from the village laugh at him and a man tries to collect money from him for some painting that had been done. This scene makes the point that when Pan held his position as secretary, he would not have had to pay for the work, but instead would have granted the painter a favor — an act of guanxi.

We resume action in the forest. Uncle Meng has fallen gravely injured but many young men are still intent on cutting trees. Meng's son begs the men not to do it. Li arrives and he and Gao, a ganbu in charge of the forest, have a confrontation. Gao offers to resign and there is a taking of sides over him. A generational difference emerges as he is supported, at least tolerated, by the older men but is opposed by the younger ones. Li tells him, 'You have worked hard, but the masses oppose you now. You should absorb a lesson from this.' Li then addresses the young men about the history of the county, and they admit that they are wrong.

Li now realizes that he knows who old Uncle Meng is. Forty years ago, the old man had saved Li's father's life. After that, Meng had singlehandedly planted all the trees nearby, turning a bare mountain into a forest. In the final scene, Meng is dying from his fall. Meng refuses to admit that he had helped Li's father (another indication of his selflessness), but requests that a box full of money that he has saved throughout his life be used for protecting the forest, not for his son or grandson. Li promises that the money will be spent accordingly.

Episode 10

Uncle Meng dies and many people come to his little house to pay their respects. A variety of short scenes follow. Xiaoli gives Li a letter from his father. Gu and his wife go to the jail to visit their son. The jailed son asks his father to get him out, and old Gu answers: 'I can't do more under the law. Your daddy's heart is very sad.' Pan later comes to Gu's house, crying pathetically (an unacceptable show of emotion in this situation for a Chinese man) and looking for sympathy.

Xiaoli is plotting for a way to convince her father to support Li. Gu notices that Xiaoli has written Li's name on some papers in her room (she lives in her uncle Gu's house). Gu asks Xiaoli of her feelings about Li:

This exchange is a clear illustration of an extremely untraditional position taken by a woman in the People's Republic and contrasts vividly with the style of the older and far more conservative Lin.

The next day Xiaoli goes out to find Li, but runs into a friend who warns her that Li may be leaving the county soon. Xiaoli yells, 'No!' She runs to the outskirts of town where she finds Li walking with Lin. She jealously watches them. They notice Xiaoli and Lin touches Li as she departs from him, asking him to visit her. Li asks Xiaoli why she came there. Xiaoli is nearly hysterical, threatening to kill herself. Li asks her to sit and talk. He tells her that he wants to contribute something positive to the history of China. She says that she will ask her father, General Secretary of the Province (the next administrative level), to help him, saying she has designed a clever strategy for doing so. Li tells her he doesn't want this kind of help. Xiaoli threatens Li, telling him that she can hurt him by revealing his relationship to Lin who now is revealed to have been married to Xiaoli's brother and as having been sexually abused as a teenager! Li angrily stands up and asks her why she must be so hard. Why can't she take pity on a divorcee? He asks Xiaoli why she cannot understand another person's position. He tells her that she is very lovely, but that she also makes people suffer — 'this is such a contradiction.' Xiaoli runs away. In the final scene, a train arrives in Gulin County carrying Zheng, a high-level party official and the former secretary of Gulin County, a man who once held the position that is now occupied by Li.

Episode 11

Zheng has arrived to check Li's work and he immediately gets bad impressions. Xiaoli runs into Zheng and Li and acts as if she doesn't really know Li. They meet workers from the electric company who had their privileges curtailed by Li earlier for their excessive partying. Gu invites Zheng home for dinner where they meet with other resisters to Li to discuss a strategy for possibly removing him. Zheng claims that he (Zheng) is democratic. He says, for instance, that his wife and children decide about what food is eaten in his home. Despite his politeness and apparent correctness, however, Zheng opposes the reformation and asks Li to give it up.

An executive party committee meeting is held to discuss Li's future. Li, who is present, is criticized on two counts. First, one of his adversaries claims that Li has failed to acknowledge contributions made by former officials (including Zheng, but also Gu) to the progress of the county. Second, Li is called a 'dictator,' that he makes all the decisions by himself and as a result the people feel oppressed. Li denies the charges.

Hu speaks on Li's behalf, giving an account of his own transformation and outlining the problems with Gu's son. He asks Zheng to be objective. Another man, an intellectual, supports Li, saying, 'Some officials do nothing,' a remark that Zheng takes personally. Several other key committee members speak in support of Li, including the ganbu from the electric company who earlier had been busted by Li. This is a crucial moment in the drama as it is nearly impossible to imagine in real life that a ganbu who had been embarrassed and punished as this man had would support the person responsible. The portrayal of many ganbu in New Star is ulti mately favorable, showing their potential for acceptance of the new leadership style embodied in the character of Li Xiangnan.

Li explains the reasoning behind his decisions during the two months of his governance in the county. When questions are directed to him about his involvement with Lin and Xiaoli, however, he abruptly stands and leaves the room. Later, friends privately encourage Li to speak out and extinguish the rumors about his relationships with the women. Li loses control emotionally in front of his friends, but calms down and quietly remarks that 'we must continue our work here, otherwise we fail.' At the end of the episode, one of Li's confidants finds out from the director of the police station that Zheng has ordered Li transferred out of the county.

Episode 12

Several short scenes introduce the last episode. Li's friends try to convince Zheng to support him. Li arrives at the room where Zheng is staying but cannot talk to him because Zheng is watching a volleyball match on television and ignores him. Feng is at home celebrating the news of Li's departure as he thinks this will clear the way to have his son, who had been incarcerated with Gu's son for smuggling, released from jail. Xiaoli and Li meet briefly. She is leaving by bus and Li asks her to say 'hello' to her father. Zheng and Li finally meet to discuss the situation. Zheng tells him he is going to 'change his position' and also advises him to be more careful with his girlfriends.

Li and one of his closest friends, Kang, have coffee together, then take a walk. Kang consoles him, telling him he is 'too good' and threatens people like Zheng. Li claims that he himself is not competent for political work, but Kang insists that his talent is both theoretical and practical and urges him to stay and contribute. They discuss Li's romantic situation, and Li admits that perhaps he should be married. Kang says someday he will write a novel about Li. He says the title will be Ambitious and Loving.

Li goes to visit Lin who receives him warmly. Their relationship has changed now with Li's firing. Lin is a 'damaged woman' because of her past (especially the divorce) and Li is damaged now too. They are closer as a result. Li tells her he wants to find a more quiet environment and continue to do some research on Chinese social and political problems. They walk together to visit an old woman who had taken care of Li when he was a young boy. They greet the woman who then prepares Li's favorite food which she remembers from years ago. Li gives her a present of clothes and distributes little gifts to the other neighbors. Everyone knows that Li is leaving and they are sad.

Again, Li and Lin walk together. They discuss their philosophies and recall the time they had spent together as teenagers. They talk about the political realities of making an impact at the highest level in China. Family politics are discussed too and Lin clearly explains her past marriage, a description that upsets Li. They meet a group of ganbu who support Li. The ganbu ask him not to leave the county, but he asks them to support his work, not him. Much support is shown for Li by his former opponents and by those who previously had not taken a position.

A bicyclist approaches with a letter from the Province Secretary, the brother of Gu and the father of Xiaoli. The letter praises Li, saying 'You have some good ideas and good proposals [for reform). I have given a copy of your proposals to all province party committee members to read.' So, ironically, Li is being dismissed from his position, but receives praise at the same time.³ New Star ends ambiguously. Li is celebrated as a 'new generation leader' and reform has been implicitly endorsed. Still, Li's personal future is in doubt and the potential for reform in Gulin County is completely unclear.

New Star Fever

Reaction to New Star came from everywhere. Most of it was favorable. Audience members spontaneously sent an unprecedented number of letters to the network praising the broadcasters for airing a program of such great relevance. The stunning response to New Star motivated one Chinese sociologist, Zhou Yong-ping, to conduct a large-scale audience survey about the program. He labeled the phenomenon 'New Star Fever':

The program was a critical success, winning several prestigious national awards for excellence in a television drama series. When the lead actors were not nominated for individual awards, the oversight became a minor scandal in the country. Although the program was criticized by some network officials who claimed that the artistic quality and production level were not high (attributed to the 'lack of experience' at the Taiyuan station), and was faulted by some audience members (to be explored below), the consensus was clear: New Star was a television series of unmatched political importance. Television was not only the political agenda setter, but also the popularizer of the story. The success of the television series led to publication of New Star as a book that has sold out several printings and is still in demand.

Viewers Respond to New Star: Reform in Fashion

Almost everyone in China had an opinion about New Star. The great majority of the comments were favorable and many reasons were given for liking the series. But there were lots of criticisms too, even among the program's supporters. One point is clear: the program caught the attention of the world's largest television audience because of its subject matter. The sociologist who coined the term 'New Star Fever' described the program as 'acupuncture that touched the contemporary social dilemma in China' (Zhou, 1986).

Zhou's study

I was told by faculty members at the People's University in Beijing about a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at Beijing University who was about to publish a major piece of survey research on the audience's response to New Star. This man is Zhou Yong-ping. We met with Zhou to discuss his study and to translate into English an article he was writing about his research that was subsequently published in a Chinese journal (Zhou, 1986). Zhou's work is important for two reasons. Not only does it disclose systematic information about this television series, it is one of very few comprehensive audience studies ever published in China.

Zhou sensed from the beginning that New Star was important. Word of mouth about the series was so strong that he quickly developed a survey questionnaire in order to measure public opinion about the program. He met with officials at the Taiyuan Television station, the author of the story (Kuo Yunlu), and workers at various levels (farmers, factory and service employees, technical specialists, professionals, and students) in order to decide what items should be included in the questionnaire. He mailed copies of the questionnaire to a random sample of 1,300 people in Beijing and Shanghai, including the outlying regions where farmers live. Slightly more than three-fourths of the completed questionnaires were returned and, according to Zhou, unrecovered questionnaires were missing because of administrative problems in the research rather than lack of enthusiasm for the program.

The overall response to New Star

New Star's enormous popularity was clearly evident both in my research and in Zhou's. Nearly every family we talked to knew about the program and most had watched several episodes. The national television network had never received so many letters about any program and some 92 percent of the opinions expressed were favorable. Zhou reports that 91 percent of the people who answered his survey watched at least one episode and that about half his respondents watched them all. Of Zhou's respondents who watched, 91 percent said they liked the show.⁴ Chinese print media pub lished countless positive reviews. People throughout China talked about the program at home and at work.

Zhou found that the program was popular among all viewers including, believe it or not, most ganbu, though they and high school students (for a very different reason - lack of interest) were least favorable toward the program. Besides the relevance of the program to life in China, the two major factors that encouraged viewing were the series format (audiences became hooked after viewing one or two episodes) and interpersonal influ ence attributable to the favorable talk that the program stimulated. While the program was widely appreciated throughout China, New Star was not received with equal enthusiasm everywhere. The most interest and favorable response came from the northern part of the country, as determined by the origin ofletters sent to CCTV, the high ratings it received in Zhou's research (which was conducted there), and the interest and knowledge expressed by our narrators from this area. Still, New Star appeared twice on television in Guangdong Province and, according to broadcast authorit ies there, the program was popular overall and had a significant impact.

How realistic is New Star?

'Realism' is a key evaluative criterion raised by viewers. Various realisms emerged. First, the audience frequently told us that the program is realistic because it reveals actual, deep, nagging problems of Chinese society. In Zhou's survey, 78 percent of the respondents agreed that 'a realistic picture of the main conflict in contemporary Chinese society was presented (in New Star).' Even more (79 percent) agreed with the statement: 'New Star revealed the necessity of reform; it reflects the people's strong desire for reform.' Zhou's study also shows that viewers (77 percent) thought that the program realistically depicts the obstacles that the reformation faces. And, respondents did not agree that the 'political conflict in the Communist Party' was 'too exaggerated' in the program (3 percent).

After this general endorsement of New Star's realism, however, many audience members said that the way in which reform was portrayed in New Star is far less true to life:

So, while New Star was thought to be realistic in its portrayal of problems that are close to home, the way the problems were solved in the drama was far less convincing. Certainly one reason for the audience's discomfort with this aspect of the story results from the adaptation of the novel into a television series. Key scenes are portrayed in a very concentrated way. The program often seems to be a sequence of incredible disasters or sticky situations that are almost always effectively solved quickly by Li. His brusque efficiency, intensified by the compression of time and action characteristic of television drama, made this aspect of the story seem unbelievable to some viewers. While some people fantasized about how China could benefit from such an uncharacteristic speeding up of change, others were less certain of the possibility. Consider this difference of opinion:

Li Xiangnan — personification of reform

Not all the families we interviewed in China remembered New Star by its title, but as soon as we mentioned Li's name there would usually be instant recognition. His name was synonymous with the program and, in the minds of many viewers, with the reformation. Of course, Li is the 'new star.' And while most people said they admired him, his heroism was considered by some to be flawed. Ironically, many viewers complained that he got his executive position in the province because of his father's influence, a kind of relationship abuse that only reinforced the bad feelings that viewers hold about this problem. Because of this, Li's accomplishments were considered by some viewers to be tainted or, to continue the theme I am already developing, unrealistic.

There were other criticisms of Li too. One Beijing woman, a 55-year-old retired cook, called him 'wild, stubborn, and unreasonable. He tries to give a little lesson to anyone he can find. Anyway, I never met anybody like him in my whole life.' True enough, Li is different — an exceptional leader who stands out because he so aggressively pursues a policy and course of action he believes is right. Traditionally in Chinese society, individuals who promote themselves or their points of view too strongly are disliked or thought to be foolish. But most viewers of New Star praised Li for his aggressive and rather self-righteous personality. They often spoke of him as a friend. They said that they could participate vicariously in reform through him.

Li's role as a leader in the reformation, together with television's penchant for making stars through repeated exposure and the feeling of intimacy produced by the melodrama's close-up style, had created a media hero. The image of Li easily surpassed the constructed model citizen personae that originate in the Department of Propaganda:

This remark reflects the primary perceptions that audience members held toward Li: strength and fairness. Our narrators described Li's strength this way: 'decisive,' 'had courage ... he dared to say and dared to do,' 'powerful just like he should be,' 'clear and strong,' 'didn't hesitate,' 'grasps situations tightly,' 'strong mind,' 'says what is right and doesn't care about pressure,' and 'not afraid.' Furthermore, some 92 percent of Zhou's respondents agreed with the statement: 'Li is a confident, powerful, and talented person; when he handles problems he is strong and insistent.'

Just as important, he was considered to be fair: '[he] ... listens to public opinion ... doesn't just make decisions by himself,' 'keeps his promise ... he can really bring the "higher spirit" to the low workers,' 'fair ... works on behalf of the ordinary people,' 'honest,' and 'made mistakes, but cor rected his mistakes.' In Zhou's report, 74 percent of the sample agreed that 'Li never takes advantage of the system; he is a good official to protect the people.' Only 2 percent agreed with the assertion that 'Li is politically devious; he wants private profit.' Several of our narrators complimented Li highly by referring to him as a Bao Chieng Tien personality. Bao was a famous judge who lived during the Song Dynasty and was known for his absolute fairness. Chieng tien means 'clear sky' or 'blue sky.' Li Xiangnan protected the rights of uneducated farmers and workers, just as Judge Bao had done centuries before. So, Li had earned the honorific title from history, Bao Chieng Tien.

Li's role in the drama was central to China's political struggle. He gave symbolic hope to many viewers that the Chinese reformation might some day begin to resemble in reality what took place in New Star. Nearly eveyone we talked to said they believed that the direction of reform as it was displayed in New Star is correct. After that, however, opinion was divided between those who wishfully believe that it is possible to accomplish the work in a manner similar to what was shown, those who believe that it is absolutely unrealistic to expect anything of the sort, and others who think that reform can take place, but that Li's leadership style was inappropriate — an opinion held by many Communist Party members. This matter of style was discussed by several of our narrators:

Gu — personification of the obstacle to reform

The audience also reacted strongly to Li's antagonist, Gu Rong. His role in the television series as the conservative, old ganbu represents a type of leader in Chinese society that is far more recognizable to viewers than the image of Li had been. Whereas Li represents the ideal ganbu, Gu is the reality. The audience responded to Gu as a kind of composite ganbu, a fictionalized character who possesses all the bad qualities of the middlelevel bureaucrats, a man who combines the worst of Chinese tradition with the most corrupt and inefficient elements of the communist system. Respondents to Zhou's questionnaire agreed strongly (83 percent) that 'In the real world we seldom see a person like Li, but we see many people like Gu and Pan' (the commune director who was dismissed by Li in the program).

Conclusions

From Confucius to the feudal emperors, to Chiang Kaishek, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Fang Lizhi, China calls out for heroes. Li Xiangnan was China's first television hero. Many viewers admired him deeply, considered him a friend, and engaged him to do vicariously what they themselves cannot do in their work situations. Even those who considered him a 'dictator' frequently thought that his progressive ideas about reform were far more important than his character flaws.

One critical argument that can be made against New Star as a symbol of reform, however, relates precisely to Li's popularity and the traditional reliance in China on a great leader. The program may have focused too much on Li as an individual and on his personal triumphs. The villagers and farmers of Gulin County thought Li was their savior — an authentic, modernday judge Bao Chieng Tien, and many viewers reacted to him in this valiant role. This focus takes away from the more compelling political issue in China — the necessity for structural reform that is far less amenable to the dramatic conventions and visual gloss of television. The repressive system stayed in place during New Star. The rules were the same before and after Li's tenure in Gulin County.

Battleground of the generations

Differences of opinion that were expressed about New Star, and about Li's leadership style, were often divided by age and generation within families. When the program appeared in 1986, many young people still hoped that real reform could take place within the communist system, that somehow young cadre like Li would be appointed to key positions and lead the way. At the same time, many older people were frightened by the prospect of reform as it was portrayed in New Star. The concept of reform is often interpreted differently by the young and the old. For the young, who often compare the situation in China to what they perceive to be the realities of the West and Japan, 'reform' means a fast and dramatic change. For the old, it means to modernize according to the government plan in a gradual, stable way. 'Reform,' therefore, can be used to signify very differ ent positions. During the 1989 uprising, for instance, both the government and the demonstrators rationalized their actions in the name of reform. Our narrators provide additional perspectives:

In other cases, however, members of the older generation support the reformation while their children completely distrust the motives behind government-sanctioned reform or are profoundly cynical about China's ability to transform such an entrenched system. Zhou's study casts light on this situation. He found that people of all ages and work categories were favorable to reform, positive about New Star, and supportive of Li. He concludes that the generations overlap more than they differ in their desire to change China. But consensus among audience members on these issues masks a crucial difference that is typically demarcated by age and generation. The fact that nearly everyone wanted the country to change is not surprising, even in 1986. The sharper question is how should it change? On whose terms? Can the government be trusted to lead the people into the future? Does anyone really expect that leaders like Li Xiangnan will replace the Gu Rongs of China? Won't Li become the Gu of the future anyway? Can guanxi and guanxi wang ever become things of the past in a communist system?

Provoking political discourse

New Star not only harshly criticized the abuses of power that are so rampant throughout the country, it did something that good art should do in any circumstance. It caused people to discuss and take positions on larger questions — especially the matter of the efficacy of government-sponsored reform. The very appearance of New Star on CCTV was a victory for Zhao Ziyang (who had yet to emerge from the politburo as party secretary) and the 'Western faction' of the CCP. Other viewers were less optimistic. Opinions differ:

Many people believe that not only is China developing too slowly, but that citizens are subjected to endless government hyperbole that is designed to create an artificial image — an unrealistic, overly positive picture of cur rent conditions, including the status of national reform. For most people, the certainty of media representations fails to reflect the tentativeness of government policy and the profoundly frustrating conditions of everyday life.

Furthermore, real reform implies democratic participation, a sensitive historical issue in China. The people remember well that Mao's Hundred Flowers Movement in 1957, which was designed to promote robust criticism of the government and its leaders in order to produce democratic dialogue, was followed later the same year by the repressive Anti-Rightist Campaign, where many people were persecuted for expressing political sentiments. 'Democracy Wall' in Beijing, a place where citizens at one time were encouraged to express political opinion, was closed unceremoniously in 1978. The student uprisings in late 1986 and early 1987 in Shanghai and Beijing were temporarily snuffed out by the government at the height of excitement about the Open Door policy, and we all know what followed in June 1989. Unclear and constantly changing policy, backed by hollow rhetoric and the constant threat of military force, greatly demoralizes the people.

New Star left everyone with lots of questions. First of all we don't know what happened to Li or to Gulin County. Although Li was heroic, in the end he was not clearly successful. His removal from the county presumably left the fate of the people in Gu's hands once again. Many viewers liked the program but didn't like the ending or preferred not to accept the hopelessness of the final scenes. Others saw the concluding scenes as typical of what would really happen in China — nothing.

Still, the very appearance of New Star on the national television network is one of the most important political developments to take place in China since the end of the Cultural Revolution. By 1986 no domestic program had ever stirred viewer interest like this one did. Although not everyone shared in the enthusiasm, very few people were cynical about New Star. Viewers took the program personally. One woman remarked incredulously, 'finally somebody did something for us!' People discussed not only the artistic merits and dramatic intrigues of the show, but its relevance to their daily lives and to the future of the nation. Chinese men, like males all over the world (Lull, 1988), rarely discuss television dramas with each other, but they frequently talked about and debated New Star with their friends. New Star was much more than a television series. How people reacted to the program revealed not only their feelings about the show, but about the prospect of reform and the very future of communist China.