Gala delves into a sea of myths to present a mountain of culture

The ancient Chinese myths featured in Shanhaijing, or The Classic of Mountains and Seas, have long inspired modern music. Mountainsea Musical Evening, a gala hosted by Henan Satellite TV and streaming platform Youku, is the latest example of how young musicians have interpreted the mythology in their lyrics.

Presented via extended reality technology, and with creative stage designs in line with the mythological tales, the gala was broadcast on Saturday evening — the day of "Little New Year", or xiaonian in Chinese, which is usually celebrated a week before Lunar New Year, which will fall on Sunday.

"Through the musical language, we tried to depict the stories in Shanhaijing onstage, presenting Eastern aesthetics to the audience," Zhou Jun, director of the gala, says, adding that, as a treasure in Chinese literature, the book is an encyclopedic collection describing faraway lands and the fantastical tribes residing in them, which shows Chinese people's romanticism, philosophy and values.

The show opened with Taiwan singer Kenji Wu's song, paying tribute to the legendary story of Kuafu, a man who aspired to chase the sun.

"We made a big adjustment to the ending of the story to mark the country's successful launch of Kuafu-1, a solar exploration satellite. Unlike the tragic hero in Shanhaijing, the Kuafu onstage does catch up with the sun," Zhou says, adding that, from the legend more than 2,500 years ago to the progress in space exploration the country has made today, it is amazing and they are proud to see the past and the present interact with each other in the performance.

Following the opening song, four chapters themed on the mythical creatures in Shanhaijing are unveiled, featuring pop songs and dances categorized as guochao, which refers to the modern trend toward Chinese cultural elements and traditional style. The ancient tales were staged with modern elements or interpretations.

In the pop songs, Zhou hopes the audience can feel the bravery of yinglong (a winged dragon) and that the love songs can express the charms of jiuweihu (nine-tailed fox). Although these implausible tales have endured for thousands of years, their exploration about the feelings of fury, love, desire and loss are still felt today.

In these songs, the ancient mythical world is recalled and triggers the cultural confidence among the younger generation, according to Zhou.

Besides songs, Liu Yu performed a dance, Painting Scroll, using his body as brush strokes to paint luanniao, zouwu and zhulong, three mythical creatures from Shanhaijing.

At the gala, there was also a specially created "street" with a hotpot restaurant that hosted a gathering of post-1990 generation photographers, illustrators, craftsmen and designers, who have rediscovered the beauty of ancient Chinese culture.

"Nowadays, young people want things that reflect their own culture, which takes the guochao trend to new heights," Zhou says, adding that Shanhaijing provides endless expressive possibilities to youths, favoring creativity and surrealism.

As technology changes how stories are told, Xu Jia from the gala's digital team says it was the stage that brought these mythical tales from human imagination to audiences, both visually and immersively.

"In technological terms, I can say that we created a spectacular stage, applying the latest invention in motion capture, the virtual camera," Xu says. The virtual camera acts more like a virtual monitor that allows directors to judge the overall effect of the show.

It was not the first time that Henan Satellite TV has produced programs inspired by traditional culture. Since its dance show depicting female musicians at the Tang Dynasty (618-907) banquet went viral in 2021, breaking the stereotype of Chinese classical dance with its humorous and realistic tone, the television station has released a series of programs themed around Chinese festivals.

"Drawing experiences from these successful programs, the content creation team wants to create a brand-new stage, which shortens the distance between performers and audiences," Zhou says.