Chinese dramas and films

The drama «War and People», which began filming in March 2026, has finally confirmed its cast and released a teaser.

The series is an adaptation of Wang Huo’s novel of the same name. It is set against the backdrop of the war with Japan and the events that followed.

The story centers on two generations of one family: the father, Tong Shuangwei, a high-ranking Kuomintang official, and his son, Tong Jiating, a progressive law student.

In 1937, after the fall of Nanjing, Tong Jiating and his father are forced to flee the city. Thus begins their years-long odyssey across China — from Nanjing to Wuhan, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chongqing.

Tong Jiating joins the Communist Party and devotes himself to the revolution. His father, Tong Shuangwei, gradually becomes disillusioned with the corrupt Kuomintang government and sees his ideals collapse.

The series is billed as a sweeping historical epic about a nation’s fate at a turning point in history.

The father and son leads will be played by Yu He Wei («Three-Body (2023)», «Forging Justice») and Bai Jingting («The First Frost», «Reset»).

The series also features eight other stars: Wang Jia Jia, Zhu Ya Wen, Ren Bin, Jiang Shu Ying, Xu Ling Yue, Zhou You, Zhang Tian Yang, Guo Xiao Ting.

The series was first announced in 2023, when it was included in Tencent Video’s slate, and in 2026 it was added to CCTV’s lineup.

Read more: CCTV’s 2026 drama lineup unveiled

Filming began in March 2026. The series was initially planned for 30 episodes, later expanded to 60.

The novel’s backstory is also notable. The writer Wang Huo lived through the war and witnessed its horrors. Once, Wang Huo tried to save a young woman who had fallen into a ditch during heavy rain. He hit his head on a steel pipe, sustaining head and retinal injuries. He lost sight in his left eye and completed the last two parts of the «War and People» trilogy with great difficulty.

In an interview with a correspondent for the «Hongxing» newspaper, Wang Huo said he chose the pen name «Wang Huo» (his real name was Wang Hong Bo) because of a quote attributed to Maxim Gorky: «Use fire to destroy the old world and build a new one». He explained that the character for «fire» (Huo) is simple and bright, evoking something grand and significant.

He said: «At that time I simply wanted to write faster. I was afraid I would grow old and have no time left. What if I were gone and the book still hadn’t been published?»

Translation from one language to another has compromised the accuracy of the quote, and it is not entirely clear which text by Maxim Gorky was meant. It may be from «The Life of Klim Samgin»: «One must set the world ablaze, one must destroy the old world». But that is not certain. Still, the image of a world fire, from whose ashes a new world rises, was indeed widespread among Russian Communists in the early 20th century and could have been used in many places. Among them are «To the woe of all the bourgeois / We will inflate the world fire!» (Alexander Blok, «The Twelve»), «He wants to raise a world rebellion, to set the world on fire, to destroy the old world; he believes that from the ruins of the old world, from the ashes, a new world will arise of itself» (Maxim Gorky, «The Artamonov Business»), «The fiery thirst for a world fire in which everything old must burn» (Nikolay Berdyaev, «The Origins and Meaning of Russian Communism»).

Citizens, a reminder: matches are not toys. Protect nature - your mother.