On The Shaping Of The Role Of "Blood Plum Blossoms" - The 16-19 Episode Of The TV Series "Blood Plum Blossom"

Anti-Japanese War is becoming one of the favorite subjects of the soap operas nowadays, which mainly intends to promote patriotism and nationalism. These operas are mostly characterized by attractive plot, typical characters and deep feelings. It's a common object pursued by both the author and the playwright to create excellent and highly popular works.Bloody Plum is adapted from Hu Xuewen's namesake novel, which relates the story of a hunter named Liu Dongfeng, about his legendary life as a brave soldier during the Anti-Japanese War, the breathtaking adventures which happened to him and the people who he met with, their love, their hatred and their different destinies. Apart from the war heroes represented by Liu, such antagonists as Matsushima are vividly portrayed. The author is responsible for the writing of the story line from Episode Sixteen to Eighteen, which tells about how Liu, escorted by Li Zhengying and Baishui, returned to the Lion Mountain, a stronghold of Anti-Japanese Army, to recuperate and how the stronghold was under siege. The story centers around Liu, involving such supporting roles as Li Zhengying, a memeber of CPC, Matsushima Ryuzaki, a Japanese secret police, Zhang Yu, a Japanese agent, Cheng Xiao, a memeber of Kuomintang.Mainly tells the story of Liu Dongfeng on his time living in the stronghold of Lion Stone, Liu Dongfeng assisted Li Zhengying and Bai Shui escort cultural relics to River Liu, Zhang YU assisted Song Dao wiped out the Tiger Mountain and Lion Mountain stronghold, and a series of stories.The creation of the story is supposed to ensure totality of the structure and coherence of the plot on the one hand, and highlight the theme and the suspense on the other. Successive portrayal of the characters remains as an important element for those excellent operas. Not only the major characters but also the minor ones succeed to impress the audience a lot, thanks to the meticulous design of their personality, action and language. This is also what the author concentrates on in the writing of the three episodes.This paper attempts to conduct a theoretical analysis of the story design and character portrayal. Two points are clearly explained in terms of character portrayal. Firstly, Liu Dongfeng stands out as the hero of the story, whose image, inner mind, and language have been elaborately designed and well represented; secondly, the minor characters and even the antagonists are indispensable for a contrast and foil. Some weaknesses in the writing of the episodes are pointed out here as well.