The theory of encoding and decoding includes encoding and decoding. Encoding means transforming information from one form to another form, decoding means interpreting the information encoded. So, the meaning of information will be influenced by many factors from decoders and encoders. In digital age, creators will use digital cultural products to convey their thoughts and encode their ideas. I will talk about a Chinese TV series as examples, and the method discourse analysis will be used.
The TV series Deng Xiaoping at history’s crossroads, published in 2014 on CCTV, which presented the great Chinese communist party leader Deng Xiaoping came back after cultural revolution and how he impacted the development of China. This series was published by Chinese official, if is some normal series from official, it will just praise the leader and without any mistakes or some point can be attacked potentially. But this series is totally different, it is very controversial and funny and caused many discussions that guess the ideas of editor and director. I will explain some scenes in this series as examples. The first scene is about after the chairman Mao died, the cultural revolution ended, Deng Xiaoping came back and needed to decided the routes of China, in a meeting he gave a speech and asked a question: “how way go our way?” , then an officer replied: we need to lift up chairman Mao’s great flag. But Deng Xiaoping just said: comrade, what did you say, I didn’t catch it. The officer repeated what he said, then Deng Xiaoping replied: alright, I completely agree. Well said. This is a very deliberate design of the plot. In China, no one will oppose chairman Mao so obliviously usually in an official series. This is unusual and funny, drew much attention. The audience tend to decode editor and director’s meaning. And there still is a big discussion about this scene online now. How audience explains it depends on many factors, usually depends on their stance, ideology, recognition of politics. If someone just wants to stay alive, have stance as “no stance” and without any sensitivity about politics, they will just get Mao and Deng have different routes. If someone who is a leftist and enjoy the time when chairman Mao stay alive, he/she will think Deng is going the way of capitalism, the editor was mocking Deng use this way hiddenly and use “alright, I completely agree” this sentence as memes to point that I’m not agree actually. If someone is a rightist or get profit from the policy of Deng, he/she will support what Deng said and the editor was mocking chairman Mao, class struggle is wrong, we should focus on economical construction, even go capitalism way. If someone just enjoy from the conflict between them, he/she will praise the editor is high level, can satisfy both two sides. If someone who support present establishment(in a political sense), he/she may have many things to consider, because the series published in 2014, it was a sensitive period, Xi Jinping rose to power to be president in 2013, he punished several Deng’s family members because of corruption and there is less censorship and ban about Deng and his henchmen, Deng have said: I’m the son of Chinese people, some online users just use “my son” to point him won’t be limited. So, he/she may think President Xi wants to back to chairman Mao’s route in ideology and thought fields, this series may be a signal. If someone who doesn’t support President Xi, wants to betray China, he/she will say Deng and Xi all rats are alike, Xi even didn’t want to hide what they did. If someone who has enough political civility and support present establishment, he/she won’t totally deny Deng Xiaoping, he/she can connect this to Soviet Union, Deng Xiaoping to Mao Zedong just like Khrushchev to Stalin, Stalin was totally denied. Although Deng disagree with Mao personally (from the first reply of him), he will not oppose Mao and completely agree in legality, especially to other country. That’s a far-reaching and great resolution, because in 1977-1978, at that time Soviet Union didn’t collapse, many politicians didn’t find its problem at that time. How to decode a tiny scene is very funny and related to many things, these discussions make the online space bustling.
The second scene was about Deng taking part in his friend and supporter, marshal Ye JianYing’s birthday, he with Ye and other generals are waiting for the birthday cake, after Ye said: oh, the cake comes and followed with another sentence is brightly lit! There are two designed points can be found from what I said: why is the birthday related to lights? And Chinese people usually ate longevity noodles but not cake at that time. This is funny, I will not explain them more, they are related to the gang of four.
Decoding and encoding can be very complex even in two small scenes. I also suggest guys watch this series.
Loved this post. Your use of Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model shows how an ostensibly “official” series can still be radically polysemic. The Mao–Deng meeting is a great example: the pause, the “What did you say, I didn’t catch it,” and then the ironic “Alright, I completely agree” operate like a wink to multiple audiences. Left, right, and “no-stance” viewers each find a coherent but incompatible reading, which perfectly illustrates dominant, negotiated, and oppositional decoding. The birthday scene (“the cake… brightly lit!”) is another neat instance of strategic ambiguity and double address: it plays innocently as celebration, yet invites intertextual readings about the Gang of Four and ritual symbolism.
If you expand this, I’d love brief production context (CCTV, 2014) tied to reception: early Xi era, shifting censorship norms, and how that shapes both the encoders’ “safe” signaling and the audience’s inferential work. Methodologically, discourse analysis could be complemented with reception data—archived forum threads, meme circulation of “I completely agree,” even paratexts like trailers and state media coverage. Do you see the show exercising “authoritative encoding” while deliberately leaving cracks for negotiated readings? Either way, your close reading makes the online bustle feel theoretically grounded and genuinely fun.