FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - DAY
Phone in hand, PETER is reading some Quora answers and comments.
PETER (V.O.): There's a video link about China. What's it?
Peter taps on the arrow icon.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, its a docudrama series - 典藉里的中国 or "China in Classics".
Watching.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Its 1st episode features the "Book of Documents" or "Classic of History" 尚書.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's an important Chinese classic. But I don't know anything about it.
Peter continues to watch.
Act 2
INT. STUDY - CONTINOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The main character is Master Fu Sheng 伏勝 (268 BC-178 BC). He was a Confucian scholar of the Qin and West Han dynasties.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Master Fu was a philosopher and writer. He was famous for saving the Classic of History 尚書 from Emperor Qin's book burning order.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Master Fu hid Chapters of the Classic in the walls of his home before escaping from the internal warfare that eventually ended the Qin dynasty.
Watching.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When the Classic was searched by Emperor Wen of Han 漢文帝(203 BC-175 BC), only Master Fu had a set.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If history isn't recorded, there won't be any legacy. In those days, Chinese history was recorded in bamboo or wooden slips; and some was cast in stone.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It was only in 105 BC that inventor Cai Lun 蔡倫 publicly declared that he had invented the novel paper-making process.
Watching.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As Master Fu was an elderly already, Emperor Wen despatched his official Chao Cuo 晁錯 to learn from him.
We see on screen knowledge-transfer sessions.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Ah, that's what some of the texts meant.
Watching.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It is so interesting to learn about the Classic of History and about the origin of China, its people and culture in an emotive docudrama!
Watching.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It also fantasizes a modern-day time traveller relating to Master Fu of the impact he has made.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As life is short, the docudrama/fantasy has made the impossible possible.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's hard for anyone with heart not to react to it as it is making a point on humanity.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Master Fu lived to age 90 some 2200 years ago.
Fantasizing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If Master Fu could live 22+ times of his life, he could have felt the impact himself.
Fantasizing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm already at age 67. Have gone through via the docudrama 2200 years of Chinese history, I feel like if I have lived 33 times of my life!
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Until after the 1st industrialization, nothing much in humanity have changed for 2200 years.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): With the advance of technology in the 21st C, I just wonder if humankind would become a multi-planet species.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I won't be around to know.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - LATER
An iPad by his side, Peter leaves a Zoom meeting.
PETER (V.O.): But for this important meeting, I would have continued watching the docudrama series.
In YouTube, Peter searches for 典藉里的中国.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's 1st episode has moved me.
Peter begins to work on his laptop.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I feel like not just linked to my roots, but I'm living through history.
Typing.
.PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me share my accidental discovery with others.
Phone in hand, Peter checks a Quora answer request.
.PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Where to move to find 5-hour workdays? That's the question.
Peter replies by typing: To the Future.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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