Chinese opera "The Grand Canal" greeted with enthusiasm in Rome

The Chinese original opera The Grand Canal was put on stage at the Argentina theater here from July 12 to July 13, and greeted with enthusiasm by the audience.

Sponsored by China National Arts Fund, the play revolved around the fascinating story of the Grand Canal, created under the Sui and Tang dynasties between the 6th and 7th centuries AD.

Guests were overall impressed by the magnificence of the performance, with its striking dances and songs, and the superb costumes.

"I liked the scenography and the costumes most, I found them very suggestive," young Aristotele Porceddu told Xinhua.

The student said he came to see the Chinese play out of curiosity, having already enjoyed some Italian operas in the past.

"The story is also interesting," Porceddu said. "The narration of this big canal created to connect Chinese distant regions through the river could well symbolize a country trying today to both reach out to the world and bring its own different areas and people closer."

The play told about the monumental works and deep struggle that were behind the conception and construction of the Grand Canal, also known as the 'Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal', which was conceived by Emperor Yang from the Sui dynasty to connect the south and the north of China.

The story goes that Emperor Yang was stubborn in having the monumental waterway realized on a very tight schedule, despite some of his ministers and many among his people were against the project, mainly because they were trying to recover from a long and exhausting war.

Such stubbornness resulted in too much workload and suffering for the people, and led eventually to an open rebellion and ultimately to the emperor's own death.

"The history of the construction of the Grand Canal conveys a message of political wisdom that is part of the Chinese culture: the water can bear a ship, but it can also swallow it up," Chinese Ambassador to Italy Li Ruiyu said in his opening speech on Sunday.

The story tells that as Yang's successor, namely Emperor Gaozu of the Tang dynasty, succeeded in calming down the rebellion and ensuring peace, the new artificial waterway started bringing wealth and prosperity throughout China.

Eventually, the Grand Canal resulted in a great benefit for the people and the country.

"The Grand Canal is the longest and oldest artificial waterway in the world, and is the result of the strength, the talent, and the hard work of the Chinese people," Li stressed.

Today, the Grand Canal is also enlisted among the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Brought on stage by the Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, the Chinese original opera seemed to strike also those guests in Rome who were already familiar with its narration.

"I come from the Jiangsu province, and I knew about the story of the Grand Canal," tourism marketing and sales executive Beixi Wang told Xinhua.

Wang, who has been living and working in Italy for five years now, said she found the play fascinating and quite original.

"It stroke me for its cultural combination: narration and characters on the stage were related to China's ancient history, and the performance overall to the tradition of Italian opera," she explained.

The opera was sponsored by the Mission of China to the European Union (EU) along with the Chinese Embassies in Belgium and in Italy, and the People's government of Jiangsu.

It will be performed at the Giorgio Strehler theater in Milan between July 15 and 16. Endit