Twitter Bits: 62 Years of Selfies and “Fu Manchu x The Goon Show”

Sifting through China-related tweets to bring you some interesting Twitter tidbits, we came across this remarkable clip from the BBC:

#OnThisDay 1976: The Water Margin was first broadcast on BBC Two. Here's how a Japanese TV epic, based on a Chinese Classic, was dubbed into English by a writer who understood neither Chinese nor Japanese. pic.twitter.com/0kuOO4q1Yv

— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) September 21, 2018

The Water Margin, also known as All Men Are Brothers, is a Robin Hood-like bandit story based on oral retellings and legends; the first full text version was recorded in the 16th century, but the tales within it go back much further — and the nature by which it was passed down means there are some wildly different versions. But even with that context, the way this BBC version was made is still pretty incredible, in its own way.

A short video clip of a different sort also caught our attention recently, courtesy of Tong Bingxue. Tong’s Twitter account is a real treasure trove of fascinating historical images and video from China over the years. We’ve reposted from the Beijing-based historian and collector’s feed before, in fact, after he shared this video of “Princess” Der Ling:

Watch “Princess” Der Ling Appeal for Greater Understanding Between US and China — in 1930

Now, Tong has a new book out (in Chinese), which centers around the life of Ye Jinglv. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard that name before, the significant thing about Ye is that he took a self-portrait every year from 1907 to 1968, and the book is about those photos and the mission to piece them all together. Which is all very interesting, but if your Chinese reading ability isn’t quite up to diving into such a story, then check out the video posted by Tong below, which whips through the 62 photos in just over a minute:

Here is a video clip of the 62 portraits, from a documentary produced by China Central Television. pic.twitter.com/Uxa3WY4nc8

— Tong Bingxue 仝冰雪 (@tongbingxue) September 22, 2018

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