Classical Chinese revolutionary songs like "Moon over Xijiang - Mount Jinggang" and "the North Wind Blowing" were presented at the National Museum of China (NMC) on May 16. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victories of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, performers from Japan's Matsuyama Ballet Troupe gave a show of Chinese revolutionary literary works at the NMC in the form of flash-mob performance that were featured with singing, dancing and recitation. They conveyed beautiful aspiration of remembering history, cherishing peace and building a bright future in collaboration with the Chinese people.

Commemorate the revolutionary times

The Japanese Matsuyama Ballet Troupe is a renowned international performing arts institution. In 1955, its founder Masao Shimizu and his wife Mikiko Matsuyama jointly adapted the Chinese film "the White-Haired Girl" into a ballet and staged it in both Japan and China with warm response, playing unique roles in the normalization of Sino-Japan diplomatic relations in 1972. During the past seven decades, the ballet troupe has visited China many times and used its artistic performance to forge sustainable strength for the cultural exchanges and friendly ties between the two countries.
The flash-mob performance at the NMC was a cross-genre artistic creation made by Matsuyama Ballet Troupe in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the victories of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

"Below the hills fly our flags and banners, and above the hilltops sound our bugles and drums." Artists draped in red silk portrayed Chinese revolutionary spirit with their show when "Moon over Xijiang - Mount Jinggang" written by Chairman Mao Zedong was played. Noting that the boldness shown by the lines "The foe encircles us thousands strong, Steadfastly we stand our ground" from "Moon over Xijiang - Mount Jinggang" has vividly demonstrated Chinese people's optimism and perseverance, Tetsutaro Shimizu, son of Masao Shimizu and chief representative of Matsuyama Ballet Troupe, said that the reason for the ballet troupe to perform it at the beginning was to help the audiences put the revolutionary period into mind.

With the transition of lyrics, Japanese ballerina Yoko Morishita, who is also wife of Tetsutaro, gave her show of "the North Wind Blowing" in the principal role of Xi'er from the White-Haired Girl. The literary work was set in the early 1940s and tells the story of peasant girl Xi'er, who fled to live in hiding in a mountain after she was forced to work day and night as a slave in a landlord's home following her indebted father's death.

Different from the original work, Xi'er in the new edition wears a red headband and homemade clothes and gives her dancing together with other performers in contemporary dress. The newly-adapted character seems to be immune from hardship and becomes a witness of peaceful, beautiful and happy life enjoyed by modern people, adding new connotation to the classical literary work.

Cherish peace and development

The dream of Xi'er is to promote friendship, peace and collaborative development worldwide. In the classical literary work, the white-haired girl strives for peace and happiness. Performer expressed their aspirations with full passion in the show.

"There is a long history of the China-Japan friendship and it has become a model of civilization exchanges and mutual learning in the international community. The atrocities committed by Japanese military forces against the Chinese people are a painful and indelible chapter in the history. My father often educated me with a sentence from classical Chinese literature Doctrine of the Mean that being true to human nature is the way to achieve self-refinement," said Tetsutaro during an interview. He added that only by honestly facing the history can people fully cherish the peace for which their ancestors sacrifice personal life.

Peace is mankind's perpetual aspiration. The Chinese people have always cherished peace and steadfastly followed the peaceful development path. Matsuyama Ballet Troupe has granted its firm support to the Chinese people on many occasions. For instance, Masao and the ballet troupe paid a visit to Cui Tiankai, then Chinese ambassador to Japan, and handed over cash donation to him when Wenchuan of Southwest China's Sichuan province was hit by devastating earthquake in May 2008. Tetsutaro and the ballet troupe held fund-raising activities for China when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in Wuhan of Central China's Hubei province in early 2020.
In 2010, Matsuyama Ballet Troupe made revisions of "the White-Haired Girl" ballet. Since then, its members have persisted in singing China's national anthem titled "March of the Volunteers" after each show. The flash-mob performance at the NMC also followed the practice.

A primary school student from Changping district of Beijing watched the entire performance. He immediately stood up and sang the national anthem loudly when it was broadcast. His eyes were filled with seriousness and respect and the seed of peace became rooted in his heart.

Arts build a bridge of friendship

During its stay in China, Matsuyama Ballet Troupe also visited Memorial Hall of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai, Jinggangshan Revolution Museum in Jiangxi and other former revolutionary sites, and held in-depth exchanges with local artistic and literary workers.

Yoko is at the age of 77 and often has to rely on a wheelchair. She still managed to attend the entire visit and performance because it was a symbolic gesture for her to show due respect to Chinese martyrs, artistic workers and audiences. She hoped that she would pass on the ballet troupe's traditional friendship with China and the legacies forged by predecessors of the two nations.

Anna Abe, a young member of Matsuyama Ballet Troupe, has followed the troupe to visit China for many times. She said that every exchange event was filled with aspiration and rewards.

"Dancing transcends language. The charm of arts is that although we speak in different languages, yet we fully understand each other. I hope that young people of the two countries will take part in more similar exchange activities to deepen their friendship. In addition, I wish that Chinese audiences can grasp a deep understanding of our sincerity via my performance," Anna added at an interview.

The exchange event also brought Matsuyama Ballet Troupe to Shanghai Dance School affiliated with Shanghai Theatre Academy, Beijing Dance Academy, China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG), and other Chinese partners.

Early in 1960s, Matsuyama Ballet Troupe and Shanghai Dance School kicked off bilateral cooperation on personnel training and exchanges. "During their visit to China, teachers from Matsuyama Ballet Troupe have often visited Shanghai Dance School and attended classes together with Chinese students," said Wu Jie, head of Shanghai Dance School. He added that with the rise of the internationalization of Chinese dance education, more Japanese students are expected study in China and young Chinese people will find more opportunities to attend people-to-people exchange activities in Japan, promoting the exchanges and cooperation between youth of the two nations in arts education.

General-Manager of the CAEG Guo Liqun said that the reason for Matsuyama Ballet Troupe and its artistic works touches the Chinese audiences is its understanding of Chinese culture. During the past years, Matsuyama Ballet Troupe has visited many former Chinese revolutionary sites, which include Yan'an of Shaanxi and Mount Jinggang of Jiangxi, making their interpretation of Chinese literary works more authentic, relevant and understandable by the public. He added that the CAEG will continue with the introduction of Japanese ballet art to China and bring extraordinary Chinese performing arts to Japan.