Tricks on the Dead: The Story of the Chinese Labour Corps in WWI - Production & Contact Info

Tricks on the Dead: The Story of the Chinese Labour Corps in WWI (2014– )
TV Series | Documentary

Primary photo for Tricks on the Dead: The Story of the Chinese Labour Corps in WWI

Tricks on the Dead: The Story of the Chinese Labour Corps in WWI (2014– )

TV Series | Documentary

In the years following the 1911 Xinhai revolution in China, the country was rapidly emerging into international affairs for the first time. The First World War erupted in 1914 and by 1916 British, French and Chinese states had signed ...See moreIn the years following the 1911 Xinhai revolution in China, the country was rapidly emerging into international affairs for the first time. The First World War erupted in 1914 and by 1916 British, French and Chinese states had signed agreements to send almost 140,000 indentured Chinese labourers to the battlefields of Europe. 85,000 of this newly formed 'Chinese Labour Corps' were secretly transported across Canada in locked CPR trains on the very railway built by their countrymen. They were then shipped to Europe where thousands died but until recently remained largely unacknowledged. So the question of this unusual journey still remains today: 'What were the Chinese doing in an imperialist war in Europe?' Zhang Yan, a young Chinese history student who is from the same Shandong villages as the Chinese labourers in 1916, sets out to answer this question and find out what really happened to the men of the Chinese Labour Corps. Discovering clues from the diary of Chinese interpreter Gu Xingqing, Zhang Yan travels across three continents to uncover Gu's journey with the British controlled Chinese labourers. Entering a world and history cloaked in politics, confusion and misinformation about the Chinese experience in WWI. Zhang Yan must piece together this history in order to restore the collective memory of those in his Shandong community and around the world who have largely forgotten about the men who made this journey nearly 100 years ago. See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
9 cast members

Name	Episodes	Known for
Mackenzie Gray Major Tyms Major Tyms See fewer	1	Legion (2017)
Robert Lawrenson 2nd Lieutenant Daryl Klein 2nd Lieutenant Daryl Klein See fewer	1	Everything, Everything (2017)
Bradley Duffy Dr. John Sebert Dr. John Sebert See fewer	1	Snowpiercer (2020)
William Samples Major Wells Major Wells See fewer	1	The Big Year (2011)
Sky Kao Gu Xingqing Gu Xingqing See fewer	1	The Man in the High Castle (2015)
Steve James Major James Major James See fewer	1	The Iron Sixth (2017)
Su Jian Ping Sun Gan Sun Gan See fewer	1	The World is Bright (Shi Ming) (2019)
Steve James Major James Major James See fewer	1	Floating Away (2015)
Chris Cope Dr. Livingstone (2014) Dr. Livingstone (2014) See fewer		Bau, Artist at War (2024)