Why can "Xilai Le, a Miracle Doctor" with only 35 episodes become a supreme classic about traditional Chinese medicine?

How many people still remember the drama "The Miracle Doctor Xilaile"? Xilaile, who is humorous and henpecked, and Sai Xishi, who is kind, charming and melancholic, were in the childhood of many people?

In 2003, the TV series "Miracle Doctor Xilaile" attracted a lot of attention once it was aired. The show was broadcast on various major TV stations in turn, making people all over the country get to know this happy man who is sometimes serious and sometimes nonsensical. But there is a very interesting story behind the emergence of the character "Xilaile".

When screenwriter Zhou Zhentian was young, because several relatives in his family were practicing medicine, he often told him anecdotes about how doctors treated people in his early years.

Once, a warlord’s concubine fell ill and said she would not live for a few days. However, after looking for a few Chinese medicine doctors, they all said that there was no big problem, it was just a little angry. As a result, they were treated as quacks, beaten up and thrown out.

Later, I found a smart doctor. He was not anxious to see a doctor at first, but asked some questions about the warlord's concubine. It turns out that the warlord master took his newly married wife to the front line, and the concubine fell ill just to compete for favor.

So the Chinese medicine doctor pretended to be surprised and said: "You have a serious illness", so he prescribed a lot of ginseng and deer antler to her. Sure enough, when the warlord saw the prescription, he thought his concubine was seriously ill, so he hurried home. When the concubine was happy, she also rewarded the Chinese medicine doctor.

This interesting and true story made Zhou Zhentian deeply feel that in the social environment at that time, whether medical skills were good or not, medicine and skills should be viewed separately. Not only must stubborn diseases be cured, but also people who are in need can be rescued skillfully, so Zhou Zhentian got inspiration and decided to create a little character with superb medical skills and humor.

At that time, the image of Liu Luoguo played by Li Baotian who was 30% weak and 70% intelligent fit perfectly with Zhou Zhentian’s inner character setting, so he tailor-made such a character for Li Baotian and named it "The Miracle Doctor Mao". "Delight". After reading it, Li Baotian felt that the name was not suitable, so Zhou Zhentian changed the name to "The Miracle Doctor Xidele". But when filming was about to start, it was changed to the well-known "Miracle Doctor Xilaile".

The name is nice and the character is plump, but it is not easy to successfully play this role. In order to let Xilaile deserve the title of "miracle doctor", Zhou Zhentian spent all his time studying ancient Chinese medicine books, including "Compendium of Materia Medica", "Back of the Elbow" and other classics of Ming medicine, as well as folk remedies and methods from various places, such as "Frightening Energy" Cure hiccups, green onions can save coma." All kinds of little tricks entertained the audience sitting in front of the TV.

At that time, many well-known Chinese medicine practitioners also expressed authoritative opinions and participated in the discussion of these folk remedies. The result of their discussion was that many folk remedies can be followed. Because the discussion is so heated, many people watch the TV to see the doctor. Is this okay? In order not to cause uncontrollable accidents, the producer directly said, "Chinese medicinal prescriptions in this drama must not be used indiscriminately." This also reflects the influence of the play at that time.

In order to create the role of "Xilaile" that was tailor-made for him, Li Baotian required himself to memorize all the prescriptions before filming, no matter how complicated the prescription was or how long the lines were. Therefore, Li Baotian is always the first one to arrive at every shooting and does not interact with others. Just a person talking to himself and thinking back and forth. In this way, we saw a Chinese medicine doctor with superb medical skills and humor. He saved lives and injured, outsmarted the powerful, promoted the culture of Chinese medicine, and exposed all kinds of conditions at the bottom.

Another unknown story is that when Zhou Zhentian had just finished writing the script, the Southeast Asian economic crisis occurred, and countless film and television projects were cancelled. At that time, a Hong Kong company that had already purchased "The Miracle Doctor Xilaile" had no choice but to cancel the filming plan without even paying the royalties. It was delayed until 2002, when YangTV bought it back again. Although the copyright changed hands several times and the director was changed several times, the only thing that remained unchanged was the lead actor Li Baotian.

In addition to Xilaile in the play, the other supporting roles are also very brilliant. The feisty Mrs. Xi, the passionate and beautiful Sai Xishi, the shrewd and loyal Defu, the ungrateful Tian Kui, the unscrupulous Meng Qinghe, and the bone-crushing Dr. Wang.

The penetrating characterizations made many people laugh sometimes and grit their teeth at other times. Laughter, anger, and curses are all true feelings in the world. Love, hate, anger, and ignorance are all the flavors of life. Because it was so popular, Li Baotian, who "never plays a role a second time", rarely acted in the second part.

Looking back on this show now, it is really full of memories. The TV series at that time were not only fascinating in their plots, but the superb performances of the actors were even more impressive. I think that excellent film and television works may not be talked about every day, but once the memory is evoked, you and I can always be amazed.

I don’t know, does this text evoke your memory of "Xilaile, the Miracle Doctor"?