Impression Liusanjie
The Story of Liusanjie
Liu Sanjie (The Third Sister of the Liu Family) is a legend of the Zhuang people. The story of Liu Sanjie became known throughout the country thanks to an eponymic movie, produced in color in 1961. An instant hit, the movie also helped spread the legend to the entire Southeast Asia.
The Zhuang people believe that the legendary Liu Sanjie actually existed. The Middle Jian Village on the Lower Jian River at the foot of the Lower Jian Mountain in the Yizhou Town of Guangxi Autonomous Region professes to be her birthplace. Her original name is said to be Liu Shanhua. Since she was the third child of her family, she was given the nickname of "Liu Sanjie," meaning "Sister No. 3 of the Liu Family." An incarnation of a lark, as the Zhuang people so believe, Sanjie started speaking eloquently when she was only one. At the age of three, she already had a melodious voice. In her teens, she was regarded as the top singer of folk songs—songs in an antiphonal style, typical of the ethnic people in South China. Coveting her beauty and talent, a local tyrant named Mo Huairen wanted to have her as his concubine. Rejected, the angry Mo plotted to murder her. With the help of her boy friend and fellow villagers, she managed to escape. The two lovers traveled as they sang, and eventually found their ultimate freedom by turning themselves into a pair of larks.
Today, the people of Yizhou Town claim that they still possess some of her relics, such as a shoulder pole in the crevice of a cliff, a spot she frequented to do her laundry , and a site where she purportedly beat the local despot and his hired singers in a dramatic song contest.
The legend of Liu Sanjie was originally an oral tradition and later found itself in romance, drama scripts, and county annals in Guangxi. Studies show that the legend is not exclusively of the Zhuang people. Its spread turns out to be more ethnically and geographically diversified. For, similar stories can be found among the Miao, Yao, Buyi, Mulao and Han ethnic populations in Guangdong, Hunan, Yuannan and Guizhou provinces as well.
The Show
This is a performance like you have never seen or experienced before. An area of 2 kms along Lijiang River and 12 peaks as stage setting, tighter with boundless sky, compose the Shanshui Theatre with mountains and rivers the largest natural theatre in the world. In this masterpiece of the creator, a brand-new performance on the natural stage setting of Guilin scenery is produced. Unlike the traditional artificial stage performance, the performance on the natural stage is a great work of man and god. No one knows how long this picturesque scenery has been waiting in rain and mists. Is its graceful image made for us?
Peaks appearing indistinctly, the reflection of mountains in the water, misty rain and the sound of charming in the bamboo forest, are all ready to join in the performance as interludes. Suddenly this makes us learn the miraculous charm of this performance: we only do half of the work while the other half is done by the creator whose improvisation makes each scene fresh to us.
It's our great honor to have ZhangYimous as chief director. With his university acknowledge talent and creativity, he makes matchless works. In his eyes, the creator is green, representing a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. Gratitude should be extended to another two young directors Wang Chaoge and Fanyue. They ture the concept of the performance into reality with their creative enthusiasm and practical ability. Furthermore, we have top-gate designers of music, stage art, lighting and costume from home and abroad. I believe they are not chosen by the producer but the creator.
In the past 5 years, we made numerous modifications to the plan of the performance, and now we are approaching its perfection. Here, all efforts of man are to make themselves a part of nature and become its spirit. It's green and it's peaceful. It's a baptism of nature and it's a return of human nature.rasses.
The performance named Folk Song Festival of Liu Sanjie (the Third Sisters of Liu)-Beautiful Lijiang River is held in the Natural Theatre, Yangshuo., China. Located at the joining point of Lijiang River and Tianjia River, the theatre faces the widely-known Scholar's Page Hill across the river. Its auditorium looks like a green terrace with a panorama vision. Sitting there, the audience can natural scenery within an area of 2 kms along the river and the performance. Lighting and stereo sets are designed by cover means in order to intergrate with the nature. There are 2200 seats for the audience, of which 2000 are for the ordinary people, 180 for VIPs and 20 for presidents.