In the Name of the People (TV series)

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In the Name of the People
Traditional Chinese人民的名義
Simplified Chinese人民的名义
Hanyu PinyinRénmín de míngyì
GenrePolitical drama
Based onIn the Name of People
by Zhou Meisen
Written byZhou Meisen
Sun Xinyue
Directed byLi Lu
Presented byFan Ziwen
Gao Yalin
Chen Jingzhu
Li Xuezheng
An Xiaofen
Li Gong
Jiang Hao
Li Lu
StarringLu Yi
Zhang Fengyi
Wu Gang
Xu Yajun
Zhang Zhijian
Ke Lan
Hu Jing
Zhang Kaili
Ding Haifeng
Gao Yalin
Narrated byXu Tao
Ending themeIn the Name of the People (以人民的名义, Yǐ rénmín de míngyì) performed by Han Lei and Vivi Jiang
ComposerDong Dongdong
Country of originChina
Original languageMandarin
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes55
Production
Executive producersMeng Shouping
Huang Lin
Wang Yun
Sun Heping
Pei Yi
Peng Cheng
Chen Xunhua
ProducersLi Lu
Gao Yalin
CinematographyCui Weidong
EditorCao Weijie
Running time45 minutes
Original release
NetworkHunan Television
Release28 March (2017-03-28) –
28 April 2017 (2017-04-28)

In the Name of the People (Chinese: 人民的名义; pinyin: Rénmín de míngyì) is a 2017 Chinese television drama series based on the web novel by Zhou Meisen.[1] Its plot revolves around a prosecutor's efforts to unearth corruption in a present-day fictional Chinese city. It drew large audiences in China, where its release coincided with President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign. It is the first broadcast political drama featuring high-level government corruption in China since 2004.

The production received significant government funding from the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the highest agency responsible for both investigation and prosecution in China.[2][3] The intervention from censors was much lighter due to the support of the authorities. The series is considered by some western observers as the Chinese version of House of Cards.[4]

The program's stars include Lu Yi as detective Hou Liangping, Xu Yajun as his antagonist Qi Tongwei, and Zhang Fengyi as Sha Ruijin, the provincial Party Committee Secretary.[2][5][6] Zhou Meisen and his wife Sun Xinyue adapted Zhou's book for television.[3][7] It was primarily filmed in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province.[8]

Synopsis

In the Name of the People chronicles the internal power struggle of the Chinese Communist Party in the fictional city of Jingzhou, Handong province. The series depicts fictional communist party disciplinary investigators seeking to bring corrupt senior cadre to justice.[9]: 47 

Cast

Reception

In the Name of the People was an instant success in terms of viewership.[9]: 47  The drama also surpassed 7% in ratings, breaking the single day ratings record for a Chinese drama.[10] The series also received the praise from People's Daily, the Communist Party's newspaper.[11]

However, some dissidents, such as cartoonist Rebel Pepper, treated the series as a way for the authorities to manipulate and fool the public.[12] The core of the series is that anti-graft efforts could only be conducted by a strong government rather than democratic elections or a free press, as The New York Times commented.[13]

Ratings

Premiere ratings[14]
Air date Episode CSM52 city network ratings CSM National Network ratings
Ratings (%) Audience share (%) Rank Ratings (%) Audience share (%) Rank
2017.3.28 1 1.523 4.49 1 2.41 7.37 1
2017.3.29 2 1.490 4.69 1 2.30 7.31 1
2017.3.30 3-4 1.270 4.02 1 1.62 5.41 1
2017.3.31 5 1.084 3.370 1 1.61 5.66 1
2017.4.1 6 1.239 3.97 1 1.46 4.83 1
2017.4.2 7-8 1.505 4.77 1 1.60 5.30 1
2017.4.3 9-10 1.820 5.89 1 1.84 6.05 1
2017.4.4 11-12 2.024 6.34 1 2.03 6.82 1
2017.4.5 13-14 2.264 7.11 1 2.16 7.33 1
2017.4.6 15-16 2.444 7.70 1 2.18 7.47 1
2017.4.7 17 2.083 6.42 1 1.93 6.36 1
2017.4.8 18 2.275 6.94 1 2.06 6.59 1
2017.4.9 19-20 3.035 9.01 1 2.57 8.31 1
2017.4.10 21-22 3.287 10.30 1 2.77 9.29 1
2017.4.11 23-24 3.524 11.09 1 2.93 9.89 1
2017.4.12 25-26 3.649 11.79 1 2.87 9.91 1
2017.4.13 27-28 3.711 12.05 1 3.15 11.00 1
2017.4.14 29 3.020 9.670 1 2.41 8.19 1
2017.4.15 30 3.138 10.132 1 2.39 8.17 1
2017.4.16 31-32 4.202 12.80 1 3.20 10.50 1
2017.4.17 33-34 4.793 15.44 1 3.51 11.99 1
2017.4.18 35-36 5.061 16.70 1 3.78 13.35 1
2017.4.19 37-38 5.356 17.15 1 4.02 13.72 1
2017.4.20 39-40 5.465 16.97 1 3.91 13.33 1
2017.4.21 41 4.432 13.86 1 3.51 11.42 1
2017.4.22 42 4.311 14.18 1 3.04 10.84 1
2017.4.23 43 6.069 20.14 1 4.30 16.44 1
2017.4.24 44-45 5.801 18.65 1 4.39 15.06 1
2017.4.25 46-47 6.123 18.89 1 4.78 15.97 1
2017.4.26 48-49 6.682 20.78 1 5.27 17.45 1
2017.4.27 50-51 6.695 21.25 1 5.46 18.62 1
2017.4.28 52 6.666 20.13 1 5.58 17.76 1
Average ratings 3.661 11.53 1 3.03 10.24 1

Awards and nominations

Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
23rd Shanghai Television Festival Best Television Series In the Name of the People Nominated [15][16]
Best Director Li Lu Nominated
Best Writing Zhou Meisen Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Wu Gang Won
Zhang Zhijian Won
Best Supporting Actress Hu Jing Nominated
22nd Huading Awards Jury Award In the Name of the People Won
8th Macau International Television Festival Best Television Series In the Name of the People Won [17][18]
Best Director Li Lu Nominated
Best Writing Zhou Meisen Won
Best Actor Zhang Fengyi Won
Best Supporting Actor Gao Yalin Won

References

  1. ^ Chow, Vivienne (28 December 2017). "Growing Chinese Online Literature Market Leads to Film, TV, Game Adaptation Boom". Variety. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b "China laps up glossy TV corruption drama". BBC News. April 8, 2017. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  3. ^ a b Ming, Cheang (March 30, 2017). "China's anti-graft campaign may be headed for a screen near you". CNBC. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  4. ^ Chinese Corruption Series ‘In The Name Of The People’ Rules On TV And Online.
  5. ^ Huang, Echo. "China's new TV show about how good it is at fighting corruption has been viewed 350 million times". Quartz. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  6. ^ 张行健 (April 11, 2017). "Stills of 'In the Name of People' released". China Daily. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  7. ^ 孙馨岳用女性视角丰富剧中人物形象.
  8. ^ 《人民的名义》中你认出多少南京元素.
  9. ^ a b Tsang, Steve; Cheung, Olivia (2024). The Political Thought of Xi Jinping. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197689363.
  10. ^ 《人民的名义》收视破7 创十年国产剧史最高纪录. 重庆晨报.
  11. ^ Zhang, Fan (2017-03-31). "人民日报评论员观察:反腐,以"人民的名义"". People's Daily (in Chinese). Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  12. ^ Rebel Pepper: In the name of People?. China Digital Times.
  13. ^ Greed, injustice and Decadence: What a 5 Scenes from a Hit TV Show Say About China Archived 2017-06-03 at the Wayback Machine. New York Times.
  14. ^ "电视剧收视率排行榜 | 收视率排行" (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  15. ^ "23届上海电视节入围名单公布 《欢乐颂》获八项提名". ifeng (in Chinese). May 24, 2017.
  16. ^ "第23届上海电视节白玉兰奖获奖名单". Sina (in Chinese). June 16, 2017.
  17. ^ "2017第八届澳门国际电视节奖项提名". Weibo (in Chinese). Macau International Television Festival. December 11, 2017.
  18. ^ "澳门电视节高亚麟三度登台 《人民的名义》成赢家". Sina (in Chinese). December 22, 2017.