Shen Congwen and Border Town
Border Town was written by Mr. Shen Congwen, one of famous literature in China. Shen Congwen (December 28, 1902 – May 10, 1988), was born in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province. Formerly romanized as Shen Ts'ung-wen, he is considered to be one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, on par with Lu Xun. Regional culture and identity plays a much bigger role in his writing than that of other major early modern Chinese writers. He was known for combining the vernacular style with classical Chinese writing techniques. Shen is the most important of the "native soil" writers in modern Chinese literature.He was slated to win the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, but died before he could be awarded the prize.
More Read: Former Residence of Shen Congwen
First published in 1934, Border Town brings to life the story of Cuicui, a young country girl coming of age during a time of national turmoil. Like any teenager, Cuicui dreams of romance and finding true love. She's spellbound by the local custom of nighttime serenades, and she is deftly pursued by two eligible brothers. But Cuicui is also haunted by the imminent death of her grandfather, a poor and honorable ferryman who is her only family. As she grows up, Cuicui discovers that life is full of the unexpected and that she alone will make the choices that determine her destiny. A moving testament to the human spirit, Border Town is a beautifully written novel, considered Shen Congwen's masterpiece for its brilliant portrayal of Chinese rural life before the Communist revolution.
Translator Jeffrey C. Kinkley is the author of The Odyssey of Shen Congwen and editor of Imperfect Paradise, a collection of Shen’s stories. He holds a Ph.D. in history and East Asian languages from Harvard and is a professor of Chinese history at St. John’s University in New York.
The drama is mainly based on the story of the literary master Shen Congwen's book "Border Town", and the character "Cui Cui" is the main line. It is a large-scale folk drama that is rich in Xiangxi humanity. The theater is built in the foothills of Phoenix. The light is very dazzling under the illumination; the stage is stepped, two huge ancient trees are used as the background, and the light and shadow with strong visual collision is flowing down like water. The slings of the stars, such as ink and blue, are like dreams; a huge veil is hung above the stage, and the water column jumps up and down with the music, eventually forming a very high water curtain with unique salary reduction ideas and dreams. The forest theater, the dazzling dance costumes, and the beautiful lighting and sound.Hundreds of costumes in the performance are beautiful, with more than 100 procedures, a production team of 110 people, and more than 10 months of making a green wedding dress, the most beautiful one, a red Miao head, a red Miao clothing, hundreds of red silver ornaments, and a 3 meter long red wedding dress appeared in the dream of Cui Cui at the end of the play, and made her a "best bride".
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