Tian Zhiyuan is a fictional character, played by actor WU GANG; Tian Zhiyuan, an old subordinate of Deng Xiaoping, was born in the Second Field Army. After Deng Xiaoping was overthrown, he was beaten to the right. He divorced his wife Cao Hui, who likes to follow the political trend, and lived alone with his son Tian Yuan. With the downfall of the Gang of Four, Deng Xiaoping came out to take charge of the work, and Tian Zhiyuan returned to work in Deng Xiaoping, becoming Deng Xiaoping's right-hand man (the director of the State Council Policy Research Office in the play), making great contributions to the reform and opening up. The prototype should be a patchwork of experiences from Deng Liqun, Yu Guangyuan and Du Runsheng.

Looking at Xia Mo again, Xia Mo was designated as "Deputy Director of the Expert Bureau of the State Council and Director of the Economic Research Institute of the former Academy of Sciences", and Deng Xiaoping called him "an economic expert of our party" in the play. According to the research of scholar Cao, there are no more than three people worthy of the title of "economic experts within the Party": Sun, Xue Muqiao and Ma Hong. All three have worked in major economic management departments and served as "directors of economic research institutes" at different times.

The play describes Deng Xiaoping's main activities in 1976- 1984, mainly from 1 27 days after the death of Comrade Mao Zedong in 976 to 1984, 10,1,and Deng Xiaoping was in Tiananmen Square. At this point, it is of epoch-making significance for China to smash the Gang of Four, end the ten-year turmoil, set things right and embark on the road of reform and opening up.