Yang Liping's Pingtan Reflection - New Oriental Aesthetics Stage Play

Yang Liping’s directorial work, ‘Pingtan Reflection’, is a unique ocean-themed hyper-folk production that delves into the cultural background of both sides of the strait. It is inspired by the sea, rooted in misty legends, and blossoms in soul. With a romantic and classical mythological narrative style, it reinterprets and re-expresses the profound traditional Chinese folk culture in a contemporary manner. It traces the thousand-year history of Pingtan, deeply integrating the cultures of the Austronesian, Maritime Silk Road, and Taiwan Strait, constructing a shared marine cultural landscape and context between the strait. The play adopts the conceptual New Oriental aesthetics as its aesthetic concept, integrating intangible cultural heritage, and is co-created and performed by artists from both sides of the strait. It tells a classical mythological epic with strong Eastern colors, painting an artistic picture with dance as the brush and culture as the ink, presenting a grand stage production of humanistic exchange and integration between the two sides. As a representative work of New Oriental aesthetics, ‘Pingtan Reflection’ not only achieves the artistic pursuit of modern expression of traditional aesthetics but also promotes the image of national culture, deepens artistic and cultural exchanges between the two sides, and fosters common development and spiritual harmony among compatriots across the strait.

Main creative team:

Director: Yang Liping

Chief Consultant: Ma Tianzong

Costume Design: Cui Xiaodong

Music Design: Qi Yanfeng

Stage Design: Tao Lei

Styling Design: Jia Lei

Act divisions and plot:

[I] Sea Fairyland | The ethereal Kirin hides in a fairyland, where a prosperous year is celebrated with song.

[II] Sacred Land Life | The worries of the sacred land are drawn by a dream, where the long wind tears up the waves.

[III] Beautiful Homeland | Men plow and women weave in harmony, united in fighting against typhoons.

[IV] Invasion by Foreign Tribes | Heroes brave the wind and waves, and lovers find it hard to meet.

[Epilogue] National Peace and Prosperity | Praying for peace and blessing, the sea is calm and the wind is clear to this day.

Plot summary: The story is set after Pangu created the world, with the emergence of the nine provinces of the earth, auspicious signs from heaven, and the birth of all living beings. There is an overseas fairy island – Pingtan Island, known as the ‘Kirin Island’ because of its shape like the mythical beast Kirin. The residents live in peace and make a living from fishing, guarded by the ‘local deity’ City God and blessed by the ‘Sea Goddess’ Mazu for safety. The White Dragon Prince ‘Junshan King’ and the daughter of the sea ‘Pingtan Blue’ meet by chance on the island, fall in love, and together with the island residents, they face trials and resist typhoons. Whenever the weather is favorable, they release sky lanterns to pray for well-being. However, the peaceful and fairyland-like Kirin Island is coveted by ambitious and greedy foreign troops, who, after long preparation, launch an invasion, and danger is imminent. Since then, the brave and kind Junshan King and Pingtan Blue, the righteous and awe-inspiring shield guards, the compassionate and loving gods, and the vicious foreign troops have together composed a grand classical mythological epic about protection and justice on Kirin Island.

The performance is open on December 20-21, Friday-Saturday, with performance times and durations subject to the actual situation.