Cultural revival in ancient walled city of Pingyao
Print Edition
It is a cold winter鈥檚 night. Outside the ancient walled city of Pingyao in northern China, hundreds of people gather to watch an unusual theatrical production.
Eight women in traditional costume towel-dry six muscular and freshly-bathed men, when suddenly the women fiercely bite into the men鈥檚 arms as they howl in pain.
鈥淚f you die, the teeth marks will guide your spirits home,鈥 a narrator tells the audience.
This was how bodyguards were sent off to protect merchants in the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), and the scene has been brought to life by Chinese director Wang Chaoge in her interactive play, 鈥淎nother Glance at Pingyao.鈥
The play is part of a series of theatrical performances created by domestic directors, often held at UNESCO World Heritage sites, to rediscover history and traditional culture.
In many ways the show symbolizes the city鈥檚 recent artistic renaissance.
The performance focuses on a cultural trope all-too-familiar to Chinese 鈥 preserving the family bloodline. But the story, about a bank owner who threw all his wealth into rescuing an employee鈥檚 kidnapped son and died with 232 bodyguards in the course, also touches on business culture and character traits the Chinese are proud of.
鈥淚 was awed by the spirit of integrity and righteousness. I saw many were moved to tears,鈥 said a viewer, in an online forum.
鈥淸The play] epitomizes the character of Shanxi merchants,鈥 said another member of the audience, a Pingyao native. 鈥淲e hold loyalty and fraternity in high esteem.鈥
The play has been a huge success, grossing 100 million yuan (US$15 million) in 2017 alone, with tourists traveling to Pingyao, in Shanxi Province, from far and wide to catch this unique take on Chinese history, culture and belief.
The walled city of Pingyao was built to its current form in the 14th century, and was named a world heritage by UNESCO in 1997, as 鈥渁n exceptionally well-preserved example of traditional Han Chinese city.鈥
The city put itself on the map in the 19th century as China鈥檚 financial center. Banks flourished as Shanxi merchants expanded their businesses across the country.
鈥淚n its heyday, Pingyao hosted 22 bank centers and controlled nearly half of the money in the country,鈥 said Gao Chunping, a researcher with Shanxi Academy of Social Sciences.
Bank museum draw
Today tourists come in great numbers to the bank museum 鈥 an imposing courtyard which houses the remnant of China鈥檚 first draft bank, Rishengchang, which was set up in 1823.
鈥淧eople often marveled how the banking forefathers created ultra-safe pin codes playing with Chinese characters,鈥 said Gao Xianhui, a local tour guide. 鈥淚t was a time we rarely use Arabic numerals. And yet there were very few cases of pin theft fraud.鈥
But Pingyao鈥檚 golden days did not last. In the early 20th century, the banks collapsed one after the other, as the Qing imperial government fell and an influx of foreign banks came in equipped with better technology.
The city became soon an economic backwater, and until a few years ago, visitors struggled to find ATMs in this former banking hub.
But now the city is in the ascendancy once more, littered with souvenir shops, restaurants, museums and theatrical performances like Wang Chaoge鈥檚.
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