Abstract
Shanxi Province, one of the main cradles of Chinese performing arts, is located in the North China region. Studies on no fewer than four inscriptions prove that buildings dedicated to the performing arts (known as dance halls) appeared as early as the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 960–1127) [Stone tablet record of a newly built Houtu goddess temple (including ‘Dance Building’) in Wangquan county, Hezhong prefecture, 2nd year of the reign of Jinde (1005 A.D.), Song Dynasty. See Che (2011)]. This type of construction is often located inside the temple courtyard, and its location is similar to that of Xian Hall (the hall of consecration) of the later Ming Dynasty. It can be inferred that the dance hall was adapted to the need to worship the gods with drama and dance performances. In the traditional daily life of northern China, theatrical performances are popular and auspicious elements of religious rituals.
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Notes
- 1.
Stone tablet record of a newly built Houtu goddess temple(including ‘Dance Building’) in Wangquan county, Hezhong prefecture, 2nd year of the reign of Jinde (1005 A.D.), Song Dynasty. See Che (2011).
- 2.
The folk ritual activities called “Shaishe-showing,” shows for gods and ancestors, these rituals were one of the main ways of performing opera. See Duan (2008) pp. 56–60.
- 3.
Although every government official in Shanxi emphasized “reproducing the green mountains and rivers of Shanxi” as an official routine, Yu abandoned the inefficient and propagandistic measure of planting trees for the barren mountains every spring and left the task of upgrading the urban environment to professional specialists and companies.
- 4.
The meeting analyzed the situation of the lag in the construction of social welfare infrastructure in Shanxi Province. Most of the existing social welfare infrastructure in Shanxi Province was built in the 1950s and 1960s. It is in disrepair; the equipment is aging; it is functionally outdated. Some facilities are basically nonexistent. These buildings are unable to support and promote the rapid and healthy development of cities. At present, there is no grand theater, concert hall, or convention and exhibition center capable of hosting large-scale conferences and exhibitions in Shanxi Province. See the People’s Government of Shanxi Province (2007).
- 5.
The squareness, the three gates on the southern front of the Capital City and the symmetrical positioning of the gates and courtyards in this frontal area, the assertive orthogonal structure in relation to the four cardinal points, the use of axes, the domination of the north-south axis, the articulation of the center, and the elaboration of the southern front of the center, were eminent in Beijing. See Zhu (2004), p. 99.
- 6.
For example, the Japanese prints that were popular among Westerners in the nineteenth century are known in Japanese as ukiyo-e, literally “Pictures of the Floating World’, which is a common reference to “the life one lives.” Contemporary Asian architects often revisit the concept of floating space:’ By seeing a garden as a metaphor for the process of time interminable, a life of some sort, there might be a chance that I can express a living architecture, an architecture floating amidst time’. See Tang (2018), 17 and Andō et al. (1997), 512.
- 7.
In March 1982, to change the backward situation of the provincial capital’s cultural infrastructure, the provincial department of culture applied to the provincial planning commission for a report, hoping to build a new theater in Taiyuan with modern features, complete functions, and advanced equipment. See Sang (2002), B04.
- 8.
For example, the review of the Grands Projets written by Guan Zhaoye, Academician of the China Engineering Academy. See Guan (1989) pp. 10–19.
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Acknowledgements
This paper is part of a study supported by the Research Grant Council, Hong Kong Government, Project No. CityU 11658816. The authors thank the constructive comments and suggestions from Dr. Zhang Liang, Mr. Cai Wenyue, Ms. Zhou wenyi, Mr. Pierre Chambron, Ms. Liang Jia, Dr. Tang Keyang, Dr. Xiao Ping and Mr. Xiao Ying.
My father was trained as a surgeon in Beijing. His professor habitually listened to J. S. Bach’s works during preoperative preparation. Since graduating, my father has applied this musical philosophy in our family, and he took us to performing arts shows as much as possible.
I spent my childhood in Taiyuan, where there was little chance for a young boy to attend high-grade performances. My only visit to the Grand Theatre in Beijing will always remain in my memory, although then, I lost myself in the comfortable seats and dazzling lights rather than the performance. If readers can empathise with me as a young boy, they may understand what motivates the Shanxi people’s ambitious behaviour regarding grand theatre.
In addition to the modern grand theatre, many Soviet-style performing spaces were built in the 1950s–1960s that were still functional at the end of the 20th century. I lived in a unit compound (“danwei dayuan”, unit yard community) with an auditorium for conferences, drama shows and movies. The small square in front of the auditorium became the center of the community. I would do my homework with my friends on the wide railing after school. When children played football or basketball on the square, their parents sat on the entrance steps, watching over them. My grandfather always had numerous tickets to every performance in the auditorium.
The building made a favourable impression on me. As an adult, I have experienced many performing spaces in Asian and European countries, but the way I think about performing spaces has been and continues to be influenced by nostalgia for my happy childhood.
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Xiao, Y., Ni, M. (2019). The Shanxi Grand Theater: The “Renaissance” of Chinese Drama Land. In: Xue, C. (eds) Grand Theater Urbanism . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7868-3_7
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