STORY: What life like for people 700 years ago
SHOOTING TIME: June 14, 2024
DATELINE: June 18, 2024
LENGTH: 00:03:43
LOCATION: LINFEN, China
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Guangsheng Temple in north China's Shanxi Province
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): JIANG HAORAN, Xinhua correspondent
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JIANG HAORAN, Xinhua correspondent
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): JIANG HAORAN, Xinhua correspondent
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): JIANG HAORAN, Xinhua correspondent   

STORYLINE:

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): JIANG HAORAN, Xinhua correspondent
"Would you like to know what life was like for people in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)? Let's step into the Shuishen or Water God Temple to have a look.
On the walls all around, murals cover a total area of 197 square meters. These murals were painted in 1324. They mainly depict praying for rain, raining, and honoring the gods. When heaven blessed the land with rain, the most popular local performer was invited to perform to express gratitude to the Water God."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JIANG HAORAN, Xinhua correspondent
"This is the famous Yuan Dynasty drama mural, one of the three treasures of Guangsheng Temple.
Eleven actors fully dressed up and stepped onto the stage, with the central figure in the front row adorned in a red official robe, the protagonist. From her graceful countenance and the pierced ear, it can be inferred that this is a female disguised as a male. The preciousness of this mural lies in its provision of tangible material for studying the formation and development of Chinese opera.
During the Jin and Yuan dynasties (1115-1368), opera was extremely popular in southern Shanxi (Province), with almost every village having its own stage and everyone enjoying watching performances. Even today, many ancient stages still exist here, and the love for opera has been inherited through generations."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): JIANG HAORAN, Xinhua correspondent
"The unique feature of the murals in the Water God Temple is that they are the only murals in ancient Chinese temples that don't depict Buddhist or Taoist themes. The mural behind me depicts an ancient ball game in China. During the prosperous periods of the Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties (960-1368), everyone enjoyed playing it, from emperors and ministers to people from all walks of life.
Here, the chessboard resembles Chinese chess, while the pieces resemble Go pieces. In the wooden bucket under the square table are fruits and vegetables. The white ones are ice cubes. The old fisherman in the picture watches a local official weighing the fish. Two maids are lighting a fire, and the area around the coal emits a red glow, indicating that it has not yet burned out, which is very realistic."

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): JIANG HAORAN, Xinhua correspondent
"After 700 years, the murals have been so well-preserved. Why is that? The late Chai Zejun, an expert in the conservation of cultural relics and ancient architecture in Shanxi, once said 'There are three reasons: First, the hall has no windows, so it is less affected by sunlight. Second, the environment is relatively dry, and the walls are made of adobe and rammed earth, with strong water absorption capabilities. The walls themselves absorb moisture, reducing humidity. Additionally, there are no major sources of pollution around the Water God Temple, so the murals are not affected by air pollution.' The smooth lines, delicate brushstrokes, vivid colors, and realistic scenes of these precious murals take us back 700 years to encounter the aesthetics and spiritual world of ancient people."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Linfen, China.
(XHTV)