The audience was sitting on the mat-like hassocks that monks use
for meditation. The crowd was dazzled by shining stars and a moon
in the sky actually made of small electronic lights. They delighted
in the special stunt work, such as swordplay in the treetops and
creative kung fu.
In the distance stood a temple specially constructed for the
show, in which monks could be seen doing their daily duties. Nearer
was a bridge where most of the show's plots unfolded. Closest to
the audience were five monks who sat meditating throughout the
show.
The show, entitled "Zen Shaolin," was staged as a pilot on
October 16 in the Daixiangou Valley of the Songshan Mountain, 7
kilometres from the Shaolin Temple in Central China's Henan
Province. There, the audience can appreciate the performance set
against the background of mountains, trees and stars.
Shaolin Temple, located in Dengfeng of Henan Province, is famous
for its martial arts and attracts large amount of tourists.
However, since the Shaolin Temple closes at 5 pm, few tourists stay
in Dengfeng overnight, with most of them heading for Luoyang or
Zhengzhou after their visit.
The show is part of an effort to get people to stick around
after hours and to boost the local economy, said Mei Shuaiyuan,
producer and script-writer of "Zen Shaolin." When the show opens in
March 2007 near the Shaolin Temple, he expects a daily audience of
1,500 will attend, and many of them will stay in Dengfeng
overnight.
Mei has reasons to be confident. The last show he produced,
"Impression Liu Sanjie," which premiered in 2004 in Yangshuo of
South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, attracts a daily
audience of 2,500, Mei said.
Both "Impression Liu Sanjie" and "Zen Shaolin" are shows
performed on original sites, and both sites are hot tourist
attractions, but there is also a star-studded crew to entice
audiences.
"Impression Liu Sanjie" is directed by famous director Zhang
Yimou, while "Zen Shaolin" features Tan Dun, who is not only the
composer of the show's music, but also the artistic director of the
entire performance.
"Zen Shaolin" also features other established artists such as
choreographer Huang Doudou who is also a pop dancer, set designer
Zeng Li and lighting designer Yi Liming.
"If scenes of 'Impression Liu Sanjie' can be compared to a
widescreen, then scenes of 'Zen Shaolin' are like the vertical
scrolls of Chinese painting," Mei said.
It was in Shaolin Temple that the 28th patriarch of the Buddhist
Bodhidharma founded the Zen school of Buddhism in the 6th century.
It is said that Bodhidharma meditated for nine years in Shaolin
Temple, and he used to practise martial arts to ensure his health
for meditation.
"Zen and martial arts are two important features of the Shaolin
Temple, but most people know much less about Zen than about martial
arts," said Shi Yongxin, abbot of Shaolin Temple and cultural
consultant of "Zen Shaolin."
"Zen is a kind of creativity and wisdom and it is very
beneficial to the people who learn it."
As an artist, Tan has a different explanation of Zen.
"Zen is something hard to explain. It's like when you are not
sure whether a person loves you or not, when you don't know how to
speak about it and you'd rather not speak about it," Tan said.
"Probably, Zen is something that can be better explained through
music, lighting and movements rather than verbal language."
In the five scenes of "Zen Shaolin" "Water Music," "Wood Music,"
"Wind Music," "Lighting Music" and "Stone Music" Tan tries to
integrate music with natural elements to create something he calls
"organic music."
He also adopts pieces of traditional music Buddhist and secular
including the Buddhist chant "Incantation of Great Mercy" (Da Bei
Zhou) and Henan's local music "Hua Liushui," which is said to be
the origin of the classical Chinese musical work "High Mountain,
Flowing Water" (Gaoshan Liushui).
Tan explained that Zen was not a solely Buddhist doctrine in
China, but rather, was always interrelated with other elements of
Chinese culture.
The show of "Zen Shaolin" covers an area of 3 square kilometres,
and the highest point of the performance is at an altitude of about
1,400 metres above sea level.
"In this natural environment, our ideas often come from the
weather, wind and natural sounds," said choreographer Huang. "I
experienced many things for the first time while choreographing for
the show."
The show runs for 70 minutes long and involves some 600 actors,
most of whom are students from martial arts schools in Dengfeng.
After March 2007, it will be performed nightly except for a hiatus
spanning the chilly months from November to February. If it rains,
organizers will provide raincoats for the audience.
"I hope 'Zen Shaolin' will be a successful project and
contribute to the local economy," said Shi Yongxin.
How much the show will contribute to the local economy will only
be known after March, but the project has already involved a great
amount of local labour. Mei said one-fourth of the actors were
farmers from the four nearby villagers.
The staff of "Zen Shaolin" are still revising the work, while
Mei is already preparing for two new shows on original sites, one
in Dujiangyan in Southwest China's Sichuan Province and the other
in Halong Bay of Viet Nam.
In addition to "Impression Liu Sanjie," Mei is anticipating four
of his works will be performed daily in different places in the
future.
He is also planning to build a temple-style hotel near the
Shaolin Temple, where audiences of "Zen Shaolin" can stay and
practise Zen meditation.
According to Mei, 80 million yuan (US$9.86 million) has been
invested in "Zen Shaolin," and his plan to create a tourist area,
which will include the performance and hotel, will cost a total of
350 million yuan (US$43 million).
(China Daily October 23, 2006)
