Animated film Chang An asked to apologize for historical mistakes

(ECNS) -- An academic society urged the producers of the movie Chang An to apologize for historical mistakes on Thursday.

The Luoyang Society of Sui and Tang Studies, based in Luoyang, central China’s Henan Province, issued a statement on its WeChat account, claiming that some plots in the movie are severely inconsistent with historical facts.

Chang An, set in the prosperous Tang Dynasty(618-907), tells the story of Gao Shi, who  experienced a crisis after the An Lushan Rebellion, recalling his friendship and bygone days with Li Bai and Du Fu. Al three were famous poets of the Tang Dynasty.

According to the society, the first meeting of Li Bai and Du Fu took place in the year 744 in Luoyang, not in Chang An, or today’s Xi’an in Shaanxi Province. Du lived in Luoyang in his early years, not Chang An as described in the film.

The well-known scene "Three Greats within a Day", which depicts the meeting of the painter Wu Daozi, the swordsman Pei Min, and calligrapher Zhang Xu, all of whom boast extraordinary expertise in their respective areas, took place in the Tiangong Temple in Luoyang, not in Yangzhou in today’s Jiangsu Province.

In addition, in the film, Guo Ziyi, a politician of the Dang Dynasty, was saved by Li Bai, not Gao Shi, another renowned Tang poet.

“We won’t point out other factual errors one by one,” the society said in its statement.

“The plots which vary from history will mislead the audience, especially teenagers, and hurt the feelings of those living in areas where the figures were born and the events occurred,” said the society.

It has hired a legal firm to insist  the director and the production company correct the mistakes and restore the true history and the historical figures, the statement noted.

The box office of the film has reached over 1.7 billion yuan (about $233.47 million), Sina News reported.