Literary classics presented through dance and song in Qingpu

A Chinese culture festival is stirring up Qingpu District, offering an innovative twist to revive ancient culture and cultural relics.

The first session of the series of activities, "The Voice of Pre-Qin (pre-221BC), 2023 Qingxi Classic Night," was held at Wanshou Pogoda of Zhidao Academy on Saturday night.

Via immersive demonstration, it enabled people to read a number of classic masterpieces including "The Book of Songs," "The Analects of Confucius," "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu and "Spring and Autumn of Master Lü". It presented a combined use of VCR, recitation, dance and sitcom, as well as theatrical play and stage setting and new multimedia.

At the same time, the event made three cultural relics collected by Qingpu District Museum come alive on stage, breaking the boundary of reading, in a Jiangnan (regions in the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River) dance.

The three treasures are a bronze percussion instrument and a celadon cauldron dating back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), and a yubi, flat jade disc, dating back to the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

The cultural festival combined Chinese classics with Jiangnan and haipai (Shanghai-style) cultures.

Hosted by the district library and museum, the event aims to enable the public to read Chinese classics and explore local cultural treasures in an innovative way, thus experiencing the everlasting charm of traditional Chinese culture, district cultural and tourism officials said.

More immersive experiences are being planned by the library and museum with a highlight on traditional Chinese culture based on the series activity plan.