A TV program showcasing the history of many of China’s cultural relics has become a huge hit.

The weekly program, “National Treasure,” was first aired by China Central Television (CCTV) on Dec. 3, with the opening episode putting three of China’s finest cultural treasures in the spotlight: the painting “A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains,” the rarity Large Vase with Variegated Glazes and a stone drum.

Famed actors Li Chen, Wang Kai and Tony Leung play the “national treasure guardians” of each item in the premiere, re-enacting the history of each artifact through historical drama.

Wang played Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). During the emperor’s reign, China’s porcelain-making techniques were the finest in the world, with the era producing the Large Vase with Variegated Glazes.

One scene shows Emperor Qianlong explaining the history of the vase, and the unfathomable difficulties of its production, to a series of historical figures.

The vase is overlaid with 17 distinct glazes and 12 coats of paint, which required it to be refired several times due to the many different phases in its production.

Success in such a complicated process would be no more than 0.23 percent, making the vase a truly remarkable and rare object, according to Zhang Shen, a guide at the Palace Museum, during the show.

The show quickly went viral, scoring 9.3 out of 10 points on Douban, a popular movie rating platform in China, making it one of the most popular programs of its genre in the country.

The show also made a splash on social media and online platforms. On Bilibili.com, one of China’s most popular video-sharing platforms, the first three episodes were viewed over 5 million times in total.

Bringing history to life

Museums are a key way for Chinese people to learn about the country’s cultural relics. China had nearly 5,000 registered museums nationwide as of the end of last year, receiving about 900 million visitors annually.

“China’s museums have entered a golden period of development and the numbers of collections and visitors keep growing,” said Shan Jixiang, curator of the Palace Museum, at the inauguration of the program. “But that is not enough. We need to bring the relics in our museums to life and display their unique beauty in more forms.”

The program production team spent two years researching and preparing for the show to ensure it gives a full picture of the relics involved.

“We want our audience to feel that the cultural relics are like people who weathered vicissitudes, and that they have their own personalities and lives,” said Yu Lei, producer and chief director of the program.

In the span of 10 episodes, a total of 27 masterpieces from nine major Chinese museums are to be presented.

A total of 27 celebrities and another 27 people in the program will explain the history of the relics and their own stories about them. Curators from the nine museums also offer their commentary throughout the program.

“It uses cultural relics as a vehicle to represent history,” said Yin Hong, a communications professor at Tsinghua University. “In doing so, the abstract concept of traditional culture is transformed into figurative expressions.”

“National Treasure” is not the first cultural TV program to have significant success in China.

In 2013, the “Chinese Character Dictation Competition,” a Chinese literacy contest, was so popular it was extended for three seasons until 2015.

It was followed by similar hit shows “Chinese Idiom Competition” in 2014 and the “Chinese Riddle Competition” in 2016. (Xinhua)