Costume play fuses tradition into modernity
A Dream of Splendor, a costume series based on folk customs of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127AD), screened on Tencent Video and its overseas app WeTV on June 2.
Integrating Chinese tradition into modern thinking, the play triggered heated discussion and endless feed backs online, and it tells the legend of heroine Zhao Pan’er and her two close friends Song Yinzhang and Sun Sanniang.
They ladies of sound business minds managed to upgrade a small tea house into a largest restaurant in Dongjing, capital city of the dynasty, with the help of the hero Gu Qianfan.
The difficult experiences as startups reminded the Chinese audience of those who have been working hard for a living in Beijing, Shanghai and other first-tier cities in China.
“I have planed to produce a series or film about women for long. Different from my past plays, A Dream of Splendor highlights modern women’s ideas and experiences,” said Yang Yang, the director. “It’s the first time I tried to show modern lifestyle via traditional costume series.”
The stars lineup and civil atmosphere description have shown a poetic and vivifying Song dynasty sense that is popular with massive audience.
In A dream of Splendor, the heroine Zhao is good at tea art. To show traditional Chinese tea culture, inheritors of tea acrobatics have been invited to give lectures to the troupe.
“I want to show the Song dynasty customs in depth rather than put the Song elements together simply,” said Yang. Therefore, the troupe visited the ancient capital Dongjing(today’s Kaifeng) in central China’s Henan province, to get themselves full inspired.
When talking about inspiration for the script, the screenwriter Zhang Wei said: “The woman characters in the Yuan dramas by Guan Hanqing, one of the most famous opera writers in Yuan dynasty(1271-1368), are kind, smart and brave from a modern perspective.
“I hope to encourage women to help each other when facing challenges. Striving for a common goal is meaningful, and the spirit can be a treasure in our lives.”
Source: Ecns.cn; Trans-editing by Wang Qing