A historical opera telling the story of Wu Zetian, China's only recorded empress, premiered on Monday in Xi'an, an ancient capital located in the northwestern province of Shaanxi.
Created by Xi'an Sanyi Troupe after six years of dedicated efforts, the show "Stele Without Inscription" chronicles Empress Wu's legendary journey as the smart and ambitious woman navigated the complexities of governance and power, taking the throne in her own right, reforming the regime, developing the economy, fostering cultural prosperity, and ultimately paving the way for the golden age of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
With captivating storyline and enchanting background music, the performance recreated the splendor of the Tang Empire in the form of Qinqiang Opera, a Chinese folk opera genre mainly prevailing in northwest China.
"Everything is incredibly beautiful, including the script, the director's interpretation, our performances, the music, the lighting, and the costumes. I hope that more audience, especially young people, will come to the theater to watch our Qinqiang Opera," said Hou Hongqin, one of the performers.
Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an served as the capital of 13 dynasties in Chinese history, including the flourishing Tang Dynasty.
Historical opera featuring China's only empress staged in Xi'an
Historical opera featuring China's only empress staged in Xi'an
A Chinese envoy reiterated the necessity on Wednesday for external armed forces and mercenaries to withdraw from Libya as soon as possible.
"The peaceful reconstruction of Libya is now at a critical stage, and to promote political transition is an important cornerstone to ensure its long-term peace and stability. China calls on all parties to continue to adhere to the general direction of a political settlement, strengthen dialog and consultation, and garner more consensus for the early resumption of political negotiations and establishing unified state institutions," said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, at the Security Council briefing on the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
Dai called on the international community to continue to support efforts to seek African solutions to African problems and promote a political settlement to the Libyan issue. "We call for the respect for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Libya, and reiterate our urge that external armed forces and mercenaries be withdrawn from Libya as soon as possible in a smooth and orderly manner," he said.
He also called for easing antagonism and confrontation, and maintaining security and stability; and focusing on humanitarian challenges and improving people's livelihood in Libya.
Noting that Libya has experienced a long period of civil war and conflict with a seriously divided security structure, and some of the recent unilateral actions have worsened the fragile security situation, the ambassador called on all Libyan parties to put the interest of the country and the people first, remain rational and restraint, continue to strictly comply with the ceasefire agreement, implement the consensus of the 5+5 joint military commission, and work together to safeguard the hard-won detente.
Dai urged the international community to continue to provide support to Libya in strengthening counter-terrorism efforts and maintaining border security, and to scale up humanitarian assistance and provide more constructive support for its development and rebuilding.
He said China supports Libya to utilize its oil resources well and use oil revenues to improve people's well-beings, and called on the Security Council to pay effective attention to the concerns of the Libyan authorities regarding frozen assets abroad and work out a solution as soon as possible to protect Libyan people from losing their wealth.
China supports UNSMIL to play its due role in mediating the Libyan issue and make greater effort to advance political transition and achieve lasting peace in Libya, Dai said.
Chinese envoy urges external armed forces to withdraw from Libya
