Reimagining a legendary tale

Ambitious show depicts Li and Miao culture via myth of Wuzhi Mountain and Monkey King

When Wuzhi Mountain, the highest mountain in South China’s Hainan province, is mentioned, many people’s first thought will be of the classic novel Journey to the West and its protagonist Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.

In the tale, the Monkey King tries to escape from the Buddha’s hand, but the Buddha turns over his palm and changes his five fingers into a mountain — named Wuzhi Mountain — and traps the mischievous monkey for 500 years.

With this seemingly mythological connection to the popular literary figure, who travels with his mentor — the saintly monk Tang Xuanzang — to India to bring back holy scriptures and enlighten his countrymen, residents in the Wuzhi Mountain area, today’s Wuzhishan city, have been inspired by the troublemaker-turnedhero’s spirit for centuries.

This is how the story unfolds in the large-scale live performance, Adventures in Wuzhi Mountain, which debuted on April 30 in Shuiman township in the city of Wuzhishan.

At the beginning of the show, the kind and brave people of the Li and Miao ethnic groups rescue an infant wrapped in a red swaddling cloth from a flood, name him Shuiman and raise him. As Shuiman grows up, he adores the Monkey King and is later inspired to protect his hometown and its people.

“In the live performance, spectators can not only see scenes from the daily lives of the Li and Miao ethnic groups, and associate with the legend of the Monkey King, but also witness the growth of a young man, understand the Chinese national spirit and see the value of diligence, kindness, courage, tenacity, wisdom and unity,” said Chen Lei, director of Adventures in

Wuzhi Mountain.

With high-tech stage lighting and visual design, the immersive show takes the mythical Wuzhishan Tropical Rainforest as its backdrop, combines the unique culture and joyous life of the Li and Miao people, and adopts the legend of Wuzhi Mountain

and the Monkey King.

Within five chapters, it tells the story of how the good-hearted and hardworking Li and Miao people build their homes, create a civilization, and unite to resist natural disasters.

Zhao Limin, art director of Adventures in Wuzhi Mountain, explains that the show incorporates a beautiful story with live performance.

“We present Wuzhishan city’s culture and customs through art and color, and more importantly, give the show a spiritual core and present it in the form of a story,” he said.

“Wuzhishan city, China’s big natural oxygen bar, is a simple and primitive place, full of ethnic culture. Here, we can feel the happiness of Hainan people,” said Chen.

“If you get close to the life of the Li and Miao people, you’ll feel their passion from the inside out. They embrace the world with a love for life.”

The show, which lasts 55 minutes, features breathtaking acrobatics and local performances, including gongs and drums, coconut tree climbing, Li-style brocade-weaving, tea picking and campfire dances.

The majority of the show’s actors

are from Hainan province.

Among them are 70 inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, such as performers of the Hainan dragonsummoning dance, Li folk songs, bamboo and wood musical instruments, and the panhuang dance of the Miao ethnic group, which is a tribute commemorating their ancestor, “Emperor Pan”.

“The real-life setting of the show blows my mind with its colorful Li and Miao ethnic cultures and the vivid and moving storyline,” said Wang Sheng, a spectator from Haikou, the capital city of Hainan.

“I particularly enjoy the way that Monkey King never appears in the Adventures in Wuzhi Mountain, but that the show’s protagonist Shuiman refers to the literary hero from time to time, and the protagonist himself becomes a loyal, responsible and courageous ‘Monkey King’ to safeguard his hometown. I believe the director is trying to convey the idea that everyone can be a Monkey King,” Wang added.

Chen said: “We hope to provide a platform in which actors and spectators can have a dialogue with the Monkey King across time and space, and the spirit of the legendary figure can bring endless hope to the spectators.”

The show was named Adventures in Wuzhi Mountain as the crew aims to deliver an unexpected artistic performance, according to Chen.

“Adventures refer to the unexpected ways people meet up and form interesting social relationships,” he explained.

In the show, for example, there is a wise old man named Uncle Dragon, who witnesses Shuiman growing into a young man.

“The dragon is a symbol in Chinese culture that unites all the ethnic groups. Li and Miao people’s worship for the auspicious mythological creature is in line with that of the Han people, who originated in the Central China Plains,” said Chen.

The live performance was undertaken in cooperation with Henan Satellite TV, known for producing programs inspired by traditional Chinese culture. It was aired on May 2 on the Henan Satellite TV channel.

Adventures in Wuzhi Mountain is also part of Hainan’s “Sanyuesan Festival” — a Li and Miao holiday that takes place on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar.

Bringing nature together with mythology, the show is expected to promote the Li and Miao cultures, the tropical rainforest of Wuzhishan and explore the innovative integration of the city’s culture and tourism, said Zhu Hongling, the Party secretary of Wuzhishan city.

“Hopefully, we can vary the show’s storylines, choreography and music, and commercialize it for this summer’s tourists,” Zhu added.