Xinjiang Nanshan’s Large-Scale Live-Action Mythological Musical "The Pact of Kunlun"
Reservation hotline for Kunlun’s Pact: 0991-8585456 (same)
The large-scale live-action mythological musical "The Pact of Kunlun" is about to be staged, and will kick off on August 18th in Urumqi, Xinjiang. This is the latest work created by Natural Scenery Ceremony, with Mr. Mei Shuaiyuan, the founder of China’s live-action performances and chairman of Natural Scenery Ceremony, serving as the lead director. The creative team is formidable. The live-action theater of "The Pact of Kunlun" is located in the valley on the east side of the Silk Road Ski Resort in the Nanshan scenic area of Urumqi, integrating the beauty of natural landscapes, the light of artistic culture, and the novelty of modern technology. The grand live-action stage combines the magnificent and solemn Western Zhou Dynasty palace complex with the fairyland of the Western Regions in the same space, embodying realistic and expressive stage effects. The 8,000-square-meter audience area can accommodate more than 3,000 spectators to watch the performance.
As one of the ten major live performance projects for people’s livelihood construction in Urumqi in 2018 and a cultural project benefiting the people in 2019, ‘Kunlun’s Pact’ will be presented as a gift in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, playing the main theme of ‘upholding national unity and promoting ethnic unity’, showcasing the long history of exchanges, interactions, and integrations between the mainland and border people.
Recently, the performance entered the final synthetic rehearsal stage. The chief director, Mr. Mei Shuaiyuan, has overall control over the final presentation effect of the work. His demanding and rigorous approach to artistic presentation permeates every one of his requirements. He believes that ‘Kunlun’s Pact’ is a vital work that will take root and thrive in Xinjiang, displaying the romantic beauty of history and mythology amidst the landscape.
’Kunlun’s Pact’ is based on the records of classics such as ‘The Classic of Mountains and Seas’ and ‘Records of Emperor Mu of Zhou’, telling the story of Emperor Ji Man of the Western Zhou Dynasty fulfilling the pact with the West Queen Mother, the goddess of Kunlun, made by his ancestor Emperor Huangdi. He vowed to trade hearts and traveled thousands of miles to the western territories, enduring countless hardships, and finally fulfilled the Kunlun pact with the West Queen Mother, playing a resonant sound of gold and jade, earning the loyalty of the people throughout the land.
Mr. Mei Shuaiyuan said that Landscape Ceremony prefers themes with grand historical narratives, incorporating the magnificent beauty of dreams and real-life dramatic conflicts, the call of poetry and distant places, and the ultimate expression of patriotic feelings into the natural live environment to form a content-oriented performance, awakening the long-dormant Chinese stories on the ancient land.
The story of Emperor Mu of Zhou and the West Queen Mother’s thousand-year pact has been widely circulated in our country. ‘The Jade Pool’ by Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin, a seven-character quatrain, interprets the legend of the Kunlun pact between the West Queen Mother and Emperor Mu of Zhou: ‘The Jade Pool’s fairy mother opens her embroidered window, her song of sorrow echoes the earth. The eight steeds travel thirty thousand li a day, why doesn’t Emperor Mu return again?’
’Kunlun’s Pact’ is a historical mythology drama with both historically accurate and mythical legendary parts. The mythical part of the story is full of poetic and romantic atmosphere. The historical part has a basis, whether it is ancient bronze ware or historical records, we can find ancient authentic traces,” said Mr. Mei Shuaiyuan.
According to ‘Records of Emperor Mu of Zhou’, Emperor Mu of Zhou was the fifth emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty. He appointed Zao Fu as his charioteer. Zao Fu excelled at driving chariots. He tamed eight magnificent steeds—Chi Ji, Dao Li, Bai Yi, Yu Lun, Shan Zi, Qu Huang, Hua Liu, and Lv Er—in Taolin, using them as Emperor Mu’s royal chariot to go on a western inspection tour. Emperor Mu of Zhou set out from Haojing (today’s Xi’an, Shaanxi), crossed the Tianshan Mountains, ascended Kunlun, and met the West Queen Mother of the West in mythology.
History is like poetry, legends are like dreams. Thousands of years later, the Kunlun mythology unfolds atop the mountains. ‘Kunlun’s Pact’ will uncover the dust-laden memories, recreating the mysterious ancient mythology on the western territories, displaying the interconnected culture and shared bloodlines among various regions of the motherland since ancient times, as well as the strong and enduring deep friendships among border people. It plays a resonant sound of gold and jade echoing through millennia between heaven and earth.
Reservation hotline for Kunlun’s Pact: 0991-8585456 (same)