Chinese opera gets a modern storyline

Wang says that he first knew the story from the 1993 film version and, having studied at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, he has seen a lot of classic productions of this Chinese opera story.

"For my graduation design, I thought I could try to adapt this traditional Chinese opera through my own means, that is, animation," Wang says.

He focuses on depicting the love between the two. As the concubine dies, she is shown to go to a wonderland where grass is green and flowers are blooming.

"I used this imagined scene to show their love, before the story returns to reality, Yu Ji's death," Wang says. "It is my wish to present the ending in a romantic way, but I decided to respect the original plot."

Ma Chi, Wang's supervisor, approves his effort in using animation to promote traditional opera. Ma says: "His work is based on our classic opera, and is also quite aesthetically pleasing. Animation allows more teenagers to see our traditional culture and makes it more approachable to them."

According to the teacher, the combination of traditional opera and digital media is a positive trend for the art's future development.

"While Chinese opera itself, as a stage art, must be presented on stage, the audiovisual elements of the art form could be extracted and integrated into new media and technology."

Contact the writer at chengyuezhu@chinadaily.com.cn