Greatness comes out of the ordinary.
伟大出自平凡。

The TV series Medal of the Republic symbolizes this saying. It tells stories about the first group of eight recipients of the Medal of the Republic, China’s highest honor for those who have made great contributions to the country’s development.
电视剧《功勋》体现了这句话的含义。《功勋》讲述了首批八位“共和国勋章”获得者的故事，共和国勋章是中华人民共和国最高荣誉勋章，授予在中国特色社会主义建设和保卫国家中做出巨大贡献、建立卓越功勋的杰出人士。

Among the recipients are combat heroes Li Yannian and Zhang Fuqing, nuclear physicist Yu Min, farmer Shen Jilan, satellite expert Sun Jiadong, the “father of hybrid rice” Yuan Longping, nuclear submarine designer Huang Xuhua and pharmacologist Tu Youyou.
首批“共和国勋章”获得者包括：战斗英雄李延年、战斗英雄张富清、核物理学家于敏、农民杰出代表申纪兰、卫星专家孙家栋、“杂交水稻之父”袁隆平、核潜艇总设计师黄旭华和药理学家屠呦呦。

The series has aroused enthusiasm on Chinese social media. It brought over 470 trending topics on Sina Weibo. When the last episode was released on Oct 21, many viewers made bullet comments to pay tribute to these great people. As of Oct 27, it has a score of 9.1 out of 10 on Douban.
《功勋》在中国社交媒体上引发热议，新浪微博的相关热搜话题达470余个。10月21日最后一集播出时，许多观众发送弹幕，向这些英雄人物致敬。截至10月27日，《功勋》在豆瓣得分9.1分(满分10分)。

Compared to most biopics that tend to document the whole life of the featured individual, this series focuses specifically on the individuals’ proudest moments, Zheng Xiaolong, the series’ chief director, told Xinhua. “Their achievements explain why they deserve the honor.”
与大多数倾向于记录人物一生的传记片相比，《功勋》尤其关注每个人物的高光时刻。该剧总导演郑晓龙在接受新华社采访时表示：“把功勋人物的事迹拍出来，就解释了为什么他们被授予共和国勋章。”

For example, the episode on Shen Jilan highlights her efforts to defend women’s labor rights and advocate for the inclusion of “equal pay for equal work” between men and women in the Constitution.
例如，申纪兰的故事突出了她为维护女性劳动权益、倡导将男女同工同酬写入宪法的不懈努力。

“They are all normal people who became great. They made extraordinary achievements through working tirelessly and adhering to firm ideals and convictions to make contributions for the people and the country,” Zheng told Qingdao-based Bandao News.
郑晓龙在接受青岛半岛网采访时表示，其实每一位功勋人物都是平凡人，他们通过自己的潜心钻研在各自领域做出成绩，坚守初心，为人民和国家做贡献，进而成为了功勋。这体现了平凡人的不平凡。

(Translator & Editor: Li Xinzhu AND Luo Sitian)
https://www.i21st.cn/story/3733.html