Tang Dynasty Show - Visual Feast! Bring you to the life of Tang Dynasty (1300 years ago) by Music and Dance in Xian China
Xian itself is a scroll painting describes thousand years of China. The glory and disgrace of a period, the fall and rise of a dynasty, the peace and war of a history are all on the painting. The Tang Dynasty Show guides you the scroll painting by ancient music and dancing.
Before the Tang Dynasty Show, the guests will be invited to attend Jiaozi Banquet (Chinese Dumpling), which may follow the ancient customs of their people that the show always begins after attendee eating and drinking to repletion.
I watched the show in Sunshine Lido Grand Theatre next to the Xian Ancient City Wall. At the beginning, as usual, I degusted different kinds of Jiaozi as dinner, then rose of the curtain with a martial music by a royal drum:
The Tang Dynasty Show lasts for 1 hour and different kinds of music drama, dancing and musical instrument are presented. Some of them I recorded as below:
White Sleeve Dance:
An ancient folk dance show with 1700 years history and became very popular at the imperial palace in Tang Dynasty. Ramie was the main material to make long sleeves for dancing in ancient China. The background song of the Tang Dynasty Show, "On the white ramie" was written by Li Bai, a very famous poet in Tang Dynasty.
Monk Xuanzang:
Xuanzang, a Buddhist pilgrim in Tang Dynasty, made a 16-year historic pilgrimage to India along the Silk Road. This show describes how Xuanzang traveled about 10,000 miles on the Silk Road and climbed three of the highest mountain ranges of Asia.
Spring Outing:
Spring Outing Show pictures a ritual ceremony in Tang Dynasty. A group of young girls just return from a spring outing and express the feeling or happiness by dancing and singing.
Emperor Meeting His Army:Emperor Taizong (598-649AD, 2nd Emperor of Tang Dynasty) is one of the most famous strategists, statesmen and emperors in Chinese history. This show pictures how the Emperor trained his army and won a victory in a war.
A Beautiful Dream:This show is based on a love story about Emperor Xuanzong (685-762AD, the 6th Emperor of Tang Dynasty) and his favorite concubine Yang Yuhuan, which is the most popular show in the Tang Dynasty. One day, the emperor dreamed that he was touring the fairyland in the places under the moon. He saw many fairy ladies in rosy cloud like costumes dancing and singing in the sky. After he woke up, he composed a music drama describing his dream and asked his concubine Yang Yuhuan to arrange and rehearse the beautiful dance and light music that we are going to enjoy now.
Grand Dynasty:This is the final program of the Tang Dynasty Show and reflects the prosperous of Tang Dynasty and the wise reign of the Emperor by musice and dancing.
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[...] To see more about my Xi’an trip, you can go to my China Tour Guide Blog to see my new post about Fabulous Tang Dynasty Show. [...]