China Stages Romance of 2,000-year-old Lady

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

 ◆ China Stages Romance of 2,000-year-old Lady

The 2000-year-old love story of Xin Zhui whose corpse was found well-preserved in a mystery fluid in southern China's Hunan Province in 1972, has been recast in a dance drama. As one of the performances marking the third China Golden Eagle TV Festival, the drama made its debut on Dec. 20 in the Hunan Provincial Great Theater in Changsa, capital of Hunan. Titled The Lady of the Ancient Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 24), the dance is based on the love triangle between Xin, her husband who served as the prime minister of the then Changsha Kingdom, and the monarch. The playwrights said they were inspired by silk paintings on Xin Zhui's tomb to revive the culture and landscape of the times on stage. In a theatrical breakthrough, the performance combined folk literature and modern styles, said Liu Zhenqiu, art consultant and co-composer of music for the drama. An image of the late Xin was created by a professor with the Chinese Criminal Police Institute based in northern Shenyang city in August by using an X-ray of her skull and other high technology.