The dance drama "A Dream of Red Mansions," adapted from the Chinese classic novel that tells the stories about the rise and fall of four noble families, was staged in Beijing on Saturday to the delight of dance drama enthusiasts.
Written by Cao Xueqin in the 18th century, "A Dream of Red Mansions" is recognized as one of the four great classical novels in Chinese literature. It centers around Jia Baoyu, a young man from an aristocratic family, and his tangled relationship with the two female protagonists, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai. It's an epic tale reflecting the ups and downs of the Jia family and, by extension, the entire Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
The show was created and staged by Jiangsu Center for the Performing Arts (JSCPA). Since its premiere in 2021, the dance drama has toured 36 cities with over 260 performances and made its overseas debut in Singapore in September this year.
"I am from Chengdu and have come to Beijing during the National Day holiday to watch the show. As a fan of dance dramas born after 2000, I have traveled to other cities to see the dance drama 'A Dream of Red Mansions' dozens of times," said an audience member.
The dance drama is popular among young audience members thanks to its young creative team born in the 1990s. However, adapting the complex literary masterpiece into a dance drama was challenging for the young creators.
"In the early stages of our creation process, we frequently traveled to places such as Nanjing and Beijing, including the Jiangning weaving bureau and Cao Xueqin's former residence, for inspiration and insights. We've striven to capture the cultural background and literary essence of "A Dream of Red Mansions." It's only when we are fully engaged in the creative process can we truly discover the charm of literary masterpieces," said Li Xing, director of the dance drama, who also played the role of Jia Baoyu.
Meanwhile, the team has put great effort into details such as stage and costume design.
"We drew inspiration from Sun Wen's art book [artist of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)] and incorporated elements from Peking opera and Kunqu opera, along with our own interpretations and designs," said costume designer Li Kun.
"A Dream of Red Mansions" is in inheritance and publicity of excellent traditional Chinese culture, showing respect to the principles of the original work, and integrates a young, imaginative and innovative perspective into the work, presenting a re-interpretation of literary classics by young artists.
"We conducted a survey about this dance drama and found out that the average age of the audience is around 27 years old. Basically, most of the audience members in the theater are young people," said Liao Yi, producer of the dance drama.
Chinese dance drama revives literary classic
The population of golden-haired monkeys, or snub-nosed monkeys, at a reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province has been steadily increasing as conservation authorities adopt new technologies to protect wildlife and boost biodiversity.
The 2,821-square-kilometer Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve sits in the core zone of the Three Parallel Rivers of the Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The reserve stands as an exemplary model for the province's efforts to protect the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys, an endangered species unique to China.
New digital technologies are playing an increasingly vital role in this initiative. Among them is a set of weight scales readable by remote control, which were added to the national nature reserve this year to more effectively monitor the health status of the monkeys.
A total of 11 new baby monkeys were born this year, said staff, adding that their current weights are within the normal range and they are all in good health.
In addition to monitoring the monkey's weight changes, they collect and detect the feces of the primates every season to learn about their physical condition, said Lai Jiandong, head of the wildlife rescue station at the reserve.
Conservationists also use cutting-edge advances to collect exhaustive data on the monkeys' habitat.
"The technology we are utilizing is laser radar, and its advantage is that it can create a three-dimensional reconstruction of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys' habitat. This enables us to assess the habitat quality of the monkeys over a larger area, compared with traditional remote sensing methods, which rely solely on imagery or ground-based manual surveys. The traditional methods cannot reflect the three-dimensional habitat of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys," explained Yang Haitao, an associate researcher at the Institute of Remote Sensing and GIS under Peking University.
This year, the nature reserve has also reintroduced 40 Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys to the wild in order to promote genetic exchange. The group of 40 Yunnan golden hair monkeys includes three families and one group of males, with the youngest being just three months old.
Data showed that the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey population in the Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve has increased from nearly 500 individuals when the nature reserve was established in 1983 to roughly 2,500 individuals at present, making up 65 percent of the total population of the species in China.
Dubbed "elves of the snow mountain", Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys live in the mountainous forests of Yunnan and the neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region. They are listed as national first-class rare and endangered protected species in China and as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
New technologies help monitor endangered snub-nosed monkeys in Yunnan
