Introduction

This article introduces the concept of iconography and its application in art history and art appreciation history, emphasizing the differences between image types and image motifs. By analyzing the documentary "The Book of Rites in a Prosperous Era", this paper explores how to use the method of visual analysis to interpret political images and how to tell Chinese stories through visual discourse.

Political Image Chronicles and Documentary Images

Introduced the concept of "Political Image Chronicle" and its application in documentary image analysis. Warburg proposed the concept of "image analysis", emphasizing the inheritance and continuity of image expression methods. Panofsky developed systematic image analysis methods, including three levels: "pre image description", "image analysis", and "image interpretation". Wanke extended the study of images to the field of political science and pioneered the research of "political image chronicles", focusing on the description and classification of image types in political communication. Vank's students apply political imagery to contemporary political image analysis. Political image types from different socio-cultural contexts are widely used in documentaries in various countries to convey ideology and values. Political imagery has strong dissemination power and influence.

Three Political Images and the Rise and Fall of National Treasures

The documentary "Shengshi Xiudian" constructs a narrative discourse of contemporary China by selecting "major series" and compiling stories, utilizing ancient painting image types in Chinese art history. The first episode of "Gathering" uses Chinese national treasure paintings as the visual corpus to narrate the scattering and ups and downs of these art treasures. It interweaves the stories of painting works and their gathering with the historical images of China's development since modern times, showcasing the connection between the gathering and dispersal of national treasure paintings and the fate of the Chinese nation. The image types of "national treasure paintings" used in the film include Gu Kaizhi's "Women's History Admonitions", Han Huang's "Five Bulls", Zhan Ziqian's "Spring Outing", etc. These works symbolize the cultural wealth of the Chinese nation and are endowed with the functions of image memory and cultural memory, becoming symbols of the Chinese nation. The film showcases the connection between national treasure painting and the fate of the country through three "political imagery" themes: firstly, the theme of national treasure painting being lost overseas, symbolizing the humiliation and suffering suffered by the Chinese nation in modern times due to the weakness of the country; The second is the theme of "digital return", which showcases the relationship between national and painting movements, politics and art, as well as the new era of Chinese characteristic international relations ideology of "digital sharing"; The third is the application of national treasure painting in the current popular cultural leisure and art activities, expressing that the Chinese people are the inheritors and creators of Chinese culture. The film tells the story of a farmer painter creating the new era painting "Along the River during Qingming Festival" and depicts the activities of ordinary people gathering around the stove to drink tea, expressing the material and spiritual richness of Chinese people's lives, as well as their roles as inheritors and disseminators of contemporary Chinese millennium culture.

Four Political Images and the Narrative of "Plum Blossoms"

The documentary "Shengshi Xiudian" showcases the unique natural, moral, and aesthetic views of the Chinese nation through the use of plum blossom imagery, condensing the unique values of the Chinese nation. The film portrays the cultural and national spirit of Chinese literati through the stories of Sui Mei, historical figures such as Lin Hejing and Wang Mian, and plum blossom poetry and paintings. The social memory function contained in the plum blossom image awakens collective memory and guides the audience to understand the significance of plum blossoms inheriting Chinese cultural context and nourishing national spirit. The film applies the plum blossom to the themes of China's modern revolutionary history and socialist modernization construction, symbolizing the excellent character of the Chinese nation. The overlapping of plum blossom and historical images reflects the inheritance and continuity of red history, such as the mosaic of plum blossom and Jiangjie prototype, the battle of crossing the river and other images, to build a political image in the Chinese path to modernization narrative. Plum blossom symbolizes the creativity, selfless dedication and perseverance of the Chinese people in the process of building a new China and socialist modernization.

Five concluding remarks

From the perspective of political image chronicles, the documentary "Shengshi Xiudian" constructs meaning through image structure and editing, expressing the author's values and political attitudes. The film uses excellent cultural heritage of humanity as a medium to form a political discourse strategy that is in line with mass communication, and spreads the "Big Series" cultural project. The film uses the image chronicle narrative strategy, selects the images and historical stories in the history of Chinese art as the image types, constructs the unique aesthetic, moral and values of the Chinese nation, reflects the relationship between the excellent Chinese cultural heritage and Chinese path to modernization, interprets the theoretical innovation and social practice of the "two combinations", expresses national consciousness and family and country feelings, and provides visual narrative strategies and models for the dissemination of Chinese stories in the new era.