Zhang Jizhong

Zhang Jizhong (born May 23, 1951) is a Chinese film producer, director, teacher, and writer.

He is known as one of the more prominent television producers in China.

His best known productions include the CCTV adaptations of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, namely Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Water Margin, as well as adaptations of Louis Cha's wuxia novels.

He is also known for building large film cities with the support of local government authorities, sets that have later been developed into tourist attractions.

Zhang's adaptations of Louis Cha's works are somewhat controversial in China.

Reception to these productions are generally mixed as some feel his productions are largely overblown, muddled and bombastic, while others champion his large budget and use of scenic locations.

In Zhang's early life, he and his seven siblings endured many hardships because his father served as a county head for the Kuomintang.

In the sixth grade, with the encouragement of one of his school teachers, he applied for the PLA School of Fine Arts, but was rejected after a background check on his father's political status, even though he passed the exams.

Before 1972, he also applied to China's Central Academy of Drama and other schools, but his application was still rejected after a political check, despite passing the entrance requirements.

During the Cultural Revolution, Zhang was sent to work in the countryside as part of the Down to the Countryside Movement, where he worked in a coal mining town in Shanxi for six years.

In 1974, Zhang became a teacher in a coal mining town in Shanxi and taught history, Chinese and biology.

He also led a literature and art performing troupe that consisted of coal workers and assumed the roles of director, screenwriter and composer.

After the collapse of the Gang of Four and at the time of the post-1978 economic reform in China, Zhang entered Shanxi's modern drama theater to become a stage actor.

In 1979, a friend took him to a film set at the Shanghai Film Group Corporation, where he was discovered and later cast for the main role One Day When We Were Young, a television drama.

In 1983, Zhang met Zhang Shaolin on set, who would become his long-term working partner.

Zhang Jizhong and Zhang Shaolin's first television production as producer and director respectively, One Hundred Years of Suffering, won the Five One Award.

Some of their other works, including Vice Squad General, The People's Policeman, and Good Man Yan Juqian, all won Flying Goddess awards, one of China's awards for television production.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, was the first work Zhang did as a producer for China Central Television (CCTV).

When Zhang Jizhong and Zhang Shaolin discovered that CCTV was auditioning producers and directors for the series, they went to Beijing to audition, only to discover that the roles of the five production teams were all taken.

Unwilling to settle for a smaller role in Beijing, the Zhangs returned to Xiamen to continue working on their own television projects.

One month later, Zhang received a note from CCTV saying that changes had been made to the production team, and there was an open position to film the fourth part of the show.

Zhang accepted and went on to produce 13 of the 84 episodes for the series, when he had endure over 10,000 kilometers of travel in 11 months in the remote areas of Yunnan, Qinghai, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, as well as battle scenes involving thousands of extras and hundreds of horses.

Two large film cities were built for the series in Hebei (33,000 m²) and Wuxi (3,000 m²), and have since become tourist attractions.

Following the success of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Zhangs were asked to produce The Water Margin, another one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.

Zhang Jizhong and Zhang Shaolin were appointed as head producer and director respectively, and had full responsibility for the series.

Martial arts were an important aspect of the production process for The Water Margin, and Zhang worked with choreographer Yuen Woo-ping.

After three years and eight months of production, The Water Margin was broadcast on CCTV with high viewership and was the recipient of many Flying Goddess awards and made a profit of 100 million yuan for CCTV.

After the success of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Water Margin, Zhang was appointed a permanent position at CCTV.

In 1999, Hong Kong writer Louis Cha told a mainland Chinese newspaper that if CCTV treated an adaptation of one of his novels as seriously as with Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Water Margin, he would only charge one yuan for the rights.

Zhang faxed Cha a reply and the next day, Cha gave Zhang the permission to choose one from his 14 novels.

Zhang bought a frame, carved some patterns on it, inserted a one yuan note and gave it to Cha, who was pleased by the gift and the two have collaborated since then.

Zhang has produced several television series based on Louis Cha's wuxia novels from 2000 to 2006.

Laughing in the Wind was the first mainland Chinese adaptation of Cha's The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.

The series received mixed reviews because of Zhang's changes to the original story but it still received a very high 19% audience rating.

Zhang's second production, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, broadcast in 2003, has been broadcast in Japan since 2005.

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils was broadcast in 2003.

The series helped propel Hu Jun and Liu Yifei to fame, who moved on to star in films such as Red Cliff and The Forbidden Kingdom.

Backed by Louis Cha, Liu Yifei returned to star in Return of the Condor Heroes.

The series also starred and launched the career of Huang Xiaoming.

The series received record high ratings when it was first broadcast on the Japanese NECO television station.