Huang Yanpei is a Chinese historical television series based on the life of Huang Yanpei, a prominent educator, industrialist and politician who was also one of the founders of the China Democratic League. Directed by Hong Baosheng and Zhao Lei, the series starred Zhang Tielin as the eponymous character. The series was first broadcast on CCTV-8 in China on 27 May 2010.
Zhang Tielin as Huang Yanpei
Tang Guoqiang as Mao Zedong
Liu Jin as Zhou Enlai
Ma Xiaowei as Chiang Kai-shek
Gu Wei as Chen Yi
Zheng Weili as Wang Jiusi
Hao Yang as Yao Weijun
Mi Xuedong as Du Yuesheng
Zhang Wei as Zhuang Ziyun
Liu Yibing as Wang Qingli
Xiao Daiqing as Shang Yimin
Sun Meng as Sun Yutang
Lei Zhenyu as Shi Liangcai
Liu Xin as Shao Lizi
Ma Rui as Lin Suyu
Li Yusheng as Lu Hemei
Liu Jingfan as Zuo Shunsheng
Wang Shiwen as Wang Shijie
Gai Mei as Leng Yu
Peng Guobin as Huang Jingwu
Wan Bin as Ding Dali
Xu Guangming as Wu Zhongyou
Li Zhi as Yang Chengqi
Yu Yang as Zhang Zhizhong
Cheng Cheng as Huang Yanpei's son
Wang Jianjun as Gu Shoucheng
Hou Tongjiang as Yang Sisheng
Sui Cunyi as Lai Xiaodong
Zheng Xilong as Yu A'shun
Fu Xiaobo as Yu Guoquan
Bai Hongbiao as Gu Junfan
Qi Xiaoxiao as Huang Yanpei's daughter
Liu Di as secret agency leader
Yan Fengqi as Zhu De
Xiao Guilin as Peng Dehuai
Zhou Yemang as Sun Yat-sen
Song Weihua as Wang Ruofei
Lin Xin as Soong Ching-ling
Li Ou as Fan Wenlan
Li Bao'an as Gang Yejin
Shen Tian as Assistant Xu
Qi Zixuan as Worker Li
Zhao Baozhu as Driver Ma
Luo Yuan as Lanhua
Liang Song as Cai Yuanpei
An Ruiyun as Zhang Jian
Bai Qiulin as Cheng Dequan
Zhang Dongqiang as Zhang Zhidong
Liu Jun as Zhang Xueliang
Choenyi Tsering as Reporter
Long as William Burke
Zhang Jinliang as Chu Fucheng
Cao Yuzhou as Zhang Bojun
Zhang Hongtao as Fu Sinian
Zhang Rihui as Hu Juewen
Chen Zhenghua as Liang Shuming
Li Qiaoke as Sun Qimeng
Wang Yingming as Zhang Qun
An Limin as Wang Genzhong
Wan Zheng as Pan Hannian
Liao Chongru as Zou Taofen
Yang Chong as Zou Jialiu
Zhao Lei as Ino Osamu
Liu Xiaoxi as Wang Jingwei
Feng Boming as Teshima
Thomas as Thomas Edison
Zhou Qing as Guard commander
Wang Weiwei as Warden
Around March 2009, when Huang Yanpei was still in production, it elicited strong criticism from Huang Fangyi (黄方毅), one of Huang Yanpei's sons. Huang Fangyi wrote on an online blog that his family members were extremely displeased with the historical inaccuracies and errors in the television series, and that they strongly objected to Zhang Tielin portraying his father on screen. Huang Fangyi further described in the following points:
Zhang Tielin's image and temperament, including his speech (Zhang speaks with a strong Tianjin accent), did not match Huang Yanpei's. Zhang is well known to audiences as a comedy actor, so it is inappropriate for him to portray Huang Yanpei, who is known to be a serious man. It is also ironic and disrespectful to allow an actor of non-Chinese citizenship — Zhang took up British citizenship in 1997 — to portray Huang Yanpei, who is known for his deep patriotism.
Huang Yanpei's extramarital affair with Lin Suyu, a fictional character, in the television series is an insult to his moral character. The romance is a form of "low class" trivia.
Huang Yanpei was a vegetarian for most of his life. However, in one scene, he is shown eating maoxuewang, a Sichuan dish made of pig's blood.
It is inappropriate for fictional characters such as Zhuang Ziyun and Shang Yimin to play significant roles in Huang Yanpei's life.
The television series did not accurately reflect the struggles in Huang Yanpei's life. Some events in Huang's life deviated largely from how they were in actual history, such as his contributions to education and the economy. Huang's relationship with the Communist Party was inaccurately portrayed.
Huang Fangyi mentioned that he wrote to the producers, providing suggestions for changes to be made. However, except for some kind words, he did not receive any further response from them. He was not satisfied as he felt that the television series deeply affected his family emotionally, and said that they would continue to protest.
