When Du Fu "personally" sang about the middle-aged dilemma of running around renting a house and moving, Su Shi sang about his experience of being demoted to Huangzhou at the age of 43, and Liu Bang sang about his late start but unwillingness to admit defeat...an empathy spanning thousands of years is taking place among young people.
In October, the post-90s creator Wang Kunzhe (screen name "Zhe FILM") released his AI music MV "Comer", which quickly broke the circle. A large number of messages flooded into the comment area. Some said "I cried", some said "I was poked", and some said "knowledge flowed into my brain in a strange way"...
This MV allows ancient figures such as Du Fu, Su Shi, and Liu Bang to stand on the stage and talk about their respective plights in the form of rap.
This is not an isolated case. Recently, more and more young people are using AI to let the ancients "open the microphone" and hold "superstar concert tours", forming a creative boom. From the "Big Tomorrow Group" to the Three Kingdoms group portraits, from poetry adaptations to rap battles, historical figures have been "resurrected" in the form of modern stages, gaining a lot of attention on short video platforms.
Using AI to let the ancients "hold a concert", why is this so attractive to young people?
The ancients stood on today's stage and sang out their lives
Wang Kunzhe is from Wuhan and is a certified author of the AI video creation platform LibTV. His creative starting point was very simple. He has previously made a series of "ancient people open the mic" rap battle videos, allowing Li Bai, Du Fu and others to joke with each other in vernacular, or show their experiences of traveling through the mountains and rivers. After doing a few issues, he felt more and more that many of the situations of the ancients were very similar to today’s young people.
"I want to make a heartfelt work that allows them to sing out the mood of contemporary people." Wang Kunzhe said.
The structure of "The Man Who Came Over" was carefully designed by him. The first three verses of the verse are "performed" by Du Fu, Su Shi, and Liu Bang respectively, representing three life situations. Du Fu starts, because he is "the most down-to-earth", and his predicament is relatively concrete. He "can pull people in as soon as he opens his mouth", such as moving, renting, and running around in middle age; Su Shi continues, talking about the ups and downs and wandering with a smile; Liu Bang ends, talking about starting late but not admitting defeat. Behind is a group portrait, each person has one or two lines, the rhythm is accelerated, and the emotion is pushed to the chorus.
"I'm not here to teach you, I'm here to accompany you on this journey." This is the line sung by the three characters, and it is also the voice that Wang Kunzhe wants to convey.
Another Station B UP owner, Jiang Ying, took a different path. This e-commerce practitioner born in the 1990s is quite famous for his "Big Tomorrow Group" and AIGC videos of Three Kingdoms characters singing in his spare time.
Jiang Ying is a history lover. He is impressed by the charm of some ancient people and deeply regrets some endings. One day, he had a sudden thought: if the familiar historical figures walked out of the books and stood on today's stage, how would their lives be sung? "I have always felt that Chinese historical figures should not be boring names in textbooks or cold statues in museums. They were once young and passionate, and they had their own character and ambition."
Why choose the Three Kingdoms period and the Ming Dynasty as the background of the "Ancients Concert" video? "The Ming Dynasty's staunch temperament of 'the emperor guards the country, the king dies for the country' and the romanticism of the three kingdoms are the core driving force of my creation." Jiang Ying said that making historical figures "alive" and presenting them with positive images will allow more young people to feel the charm of traditional culture.
Jiang Ying said frankly that the most difficult thing is not the technology, but "capturing the charm." "AI can draw a very realistic face, but how to make the character's eyes and temperament match his personality, and how to make the mouth shape match the emotional depth of the lyrics, requires a lot of aesthetic judgment and manual fine-tuning."
Jiang Ying gave an example of a shot that was less than 2 seconds long. Because the camera moved quickly and there were many characters, the AI generation was often misaligned. He changed it more than 10 times and generated nearly 20 scraps.
"Tree Hole" and "Exit", young people and ancients communicate on an equal footing
On the day "People Come Over" was released, Wang Kunzhe found that the data increased faster than any previous item. He was originally worried that the audience would not buy it if he suddenly released a ballad song after he had been releasing "hot and explosive" works. The data dispelled his concerns, but what really touched him was the feedback in the comment area.
"Everyone treats my comment area like a huge tree hole. Everyone is talking about their own experiences, helplessness, and grievances." He said that he saw many netizens comforting and helping each other. "Suddenly, so many kind and loving people appeared. I was very touched."
Wang Kunzhe positioned the work "The Passenger" as an "export" rather than an "antidote". "The antidote is more like telling you how to get better, and it may be preaching. What I do is to open this tree hole, so that everyone can have a place to put the unspeakable fatigue in their hearts."
Zhang Ji, a company employee, is a history buff, and he has recently watched a lot of "ancient people's open mic" videos, such as "The Great Tomorrow Group's Victory MVP Settlement" and "People Who Have Come Ahead".
"I saw a sense of contrast: the ancients appeared in front of the audience in a modern way. For example, the 'Big Tomorrow Group' sang "Uptown Funk" in English; "The Overtowner" also used a popular singing method." Zhang Ji believes that the reason why "The Overtowner" resonates is because young people find that familiar historical stories are actually their current lives. "This is just like what is written in the "Preface to the Lanting Collection": 'Looking at the present in the future, we also look at the past in the present.' The most interesting thing about history is that like a mirror, you can see too many repeated things happening over a long period of time."
Jiang Ying lamented that using AI to make the "Ancient Concert" video was a profound moment of empathy.
"When I trim and adjust the characters' expressions frame by frame, I seem to be talking to the souls from hundreds of years ago and feel their emotions, angers, sorrows, and joys. This is a great spiritual satisfaction." Jiang Ying feels that for the audience, this is an "immersive history lesson." "Many fans left messages. When watching the video, they fully felt the beauty of Chinese clothes, the high spirits of our ancestors, and the breadth and depth of Chinese characters... There were also viewers who read history books to understand history and enhance their cultural confidence and heritage."
"It turns out that traditional culture can be so cool, and it turns out that the vitality of historical figures can span thousands of years and remain hot." Jiang Ying believes that this is the significance of technology empowering cultural inheritance.
Cultural commentator Han Haoyue saw a deeper understanding of young people's psychology from this craze. He believes that young people have a kind of cultural worship mentality. The poems, stories and cultural influence of the ancients accompany them as they grow up, "invisibly treating them as elders who can be respected, learned and worshiped." When these ancient people with "elder status" express their voices in a language that young people can understand and feel close to, the acceptance level will naturally be higher.
But Han Haoyue also pointed out the other side: "Young people are more willing to accept equal, friend-like communication. When they are not treated equally in the surrounding environment and real life, they will actively look for it from tradition." AI video provides exactly this opportunity for equal communication.
AI lowers the technical threshold and creation must be sincere
Chen Jialin, a 30-year-old company employee, was originally not interested in history. She was most afraid of memorizing the "Chronology of Major Events" when she was in middle school. However, when she read "People Who Have Come Ahead", she saw that the cover was full of "familiar people" and she was curious about "how the ancients would sing with the help of AI."
Hearing Du Fu sing, "I wrote 'I want to live in thousands of mansions' because I just want to have a home", it hit the heart of this young man wandering in a foreign land. Chen Jialin couldn't help but like it and quickly forwarded it to her friends.
During the interview, Wang Kunzhe repeatedly mentioned one word: sincerity. "Young audiences are more sensitive, more connected, and watch a lot. Whether you really understand them or cater to them, many people can tell at a glance." He said that he did not think about how to please the audience when he did it. "If you treat them as the object of pleasing, you may fail from the beginning."
This "sincerity" is reflected in the creative method.
The basis of the lyrics was created by Wang Kunzhe himself, and the AI was responsible for trial and error, arrangement and combination, and checking historical facts. He had an inspiration memo that he kept for ten years, containing scattered sentences and ideas. "Not every sentence in life is a punchline (golden sentence)" This sentence has been kept in the memo for several years, and eventually became one of the core expressions of "The Past".
What role does AI play in this? Wang Kunzhe's answer is: a capable assistant, but not a substitute. "AI saves me a lot of effort, but it can't directly take out what's in my heart for me."
Jiang Ying also had similar feelings. He believes that the technical threshold has been lowered and AI tools allow ordinary people to create "blockbusters". With the help of AI, the ancients return in modern form, making history perceptible and approachable, and forming a cross-time and space dialogue with young people.
Han Haoyue regards AI as a tool for young people to express themselves. "The group that has been most affected by AI technology is the young group, and has the highest proficiency in using it. AI music has become an important tool for young people to write, spread, and find a sense of presence." He predicts that in the future, AI will play a greater role in young people's voice, survival, and search for a sense of presence.
After "Come Over" became popular, Wang Kunzhe's life was filled with a lot of news and finishing work. He revealed that the "Ancients Open Mike" series will most likely continue, but it will not continue to repeat the routine of "ancients suddenly singing modern songs". "Any card becomes ineffective if played too much, and the same goes for the 'Contrast' card."
Wang Kunzhe is considering making a video of Tao Yuanming, asking him to express the concept that "you don't have to judge your own score by using the paper given to you by others."
Zhang Ji saw that in addition to the AI-generated "Ancient People Opening the Mai" videos, there are also many creators using AI to generate video podcasts of conversations with ancient people. They have also integrated their thoughts on history and historical figures into their creations. "This kind of work is for future generations to examine the stories of their predecessors from the perspective of their own times. From a certain perspective, it can be regarded as 'informing the past to inform the present'."
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Shen Jiequn Source: China Youth Daily
November 08, 2026 Version 04
