一摞摞的钞票、谋杀、逃亡。你或许会认为这些只会出现在黑帮电影中，但实际上，它们都来自于一部今年3月28日首播的中国政治剧 ——《人民的名义》。
The 55-episode TV series was based on a novel of the same name by famous political novelist Zhou Meisen, 61. Different from other political-themed stories, In the Name of People attracts both older and younger audiences. This may be because it is mostly based on real cases.
这部电视剧共55集，改编自现年61岁的著名官场作家周梅森的同名小说。和其他政治题材的电视剧不同的是，《人民的名义》同时吸引了老一辈和年轻一代的观众。这或许是因为该剧大部分都基于真实的案件。
For example, the drama is built around a corruption (腐败) case brought to light by conflicts (冲突) at a factory in a fictional province. The corrupt officials in the story are a combination of real former senior leaders, including Zhou Yongkang and Xu Caihou.
比方说，该剧围绕一宗发生在一虚构省份的腐败案件展开，一场工厂冲突让这一案件浮出水面。而剧中的腐败官员们则是周永康、徐才厚等真实前高官的综合体。
This is also why the novel has been called groundbreaking (开创性的). It describes a deputy state-level (副国级的) official as a villain (反派). This presents audiences with a picture of Chinese authority in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign.
这也是这部小说被称为“有开创性的”的原因。它将一位副国级干部描绘成了一名反派，向观众们呈现了中国政府持续反腐的风貌。
“The novel not only shows the complexity and difficulty of the battle against corruption. Rather, Zhou makes a deep inquiry (探究) into what makes a politician’s soul twisted (扭曲的),” literary critic He Shaojun told China Daily.
“这部小说不光展现了反腐战争的复杂和困难。更确切地说，周梅森还深层次地探究了官员灵魂扭曲的原因，”文学评论家贺绍俊在接受《中国日报》采访时表示。
According to Zhou, there are many things that may lead to the corruption of an official. Weakness of character, the temptations (诱惑) present in an official career, and traps (陷阱) set by other people are all reasons he gives. “But actually, the real reason is the development of human greed (贪婪), with the power not being supervised (监督) properly,” he told China Daily.
周梅森认为，许多因素可以导致官员腐败。性格缺陷、仕途中的诱惑以及他人设下的陷阱，都是他所给出的理由。“但事实上，真正的原因是人性贪婪的不断膨胀，以及权力并未得到良好的监督，”他在接受《中国日报》采访时表示。
And Zhou knows this from personal experience.
而周梅森则是从自己的个人经历中了解到了这一点。
To gain deeper understanding of politics for his writing, he took a one-year job as a deputy secretary general in the city government of Xuzhou, Jiangsu, in 1994. During this time, Zhou found that he was treated much better than a regular person.
为了能在写作中对政治有更深的理解，1994年，他在江苏徐州市政府挂职做了一年的副秘书长。在这期间，周梅森发现他受到的待遇比普通人要好得多。
“I was just a common man before I took this job, and I had no idea of what privilege (特权) was like until I became a deputy secretary general in the city government,” Zhou told China Daily. This job made him realize that power is something that one can easily become addicted to (上瘾).
“在接下这份工作前我只是个普通人，我也对何谓特权毫无概念，直到我成为了市政府的副秘书长，”周梅森向《中国日报》表示。这份工作让他意识到，权力很容易让人上瘾。
But it was also this experience that enabled Zhou to describe his characters with more detail. “I don’t consider corrupt officials as demons (恶魔). They are human. I try to explore their inner conflicts after they fall from high positions,” he told Beijing News.
但也是这一经历，让周梅森能够更加细致地描绘他笔下的人物。“我并不把腐败官员视作恶魔。他们也是人。我试着探索他们从高位落马后内心的挣扎，”他在接受《新京报》采访时表示。
