ChinaDaily[980113-8]

[Chinese News]

China Daily

98 / 01 / 13 /

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1. Dr 'Knock' cures the healthy
2. Forum discusses future of China's modern drama
3. Sand-fighter winning her war
4. What's on (Page 10, Date: 01/13/98)
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Dr 'Knock' cures the healthy
AT a rehearsal hall deep in a small hutong near the Drum Tower in
Beijing, Jiang Wen, a Chinese film star, Wei Xiaoping and their
colleagues are busy preparing for a new play, "Knock," which will
debut on Friday at the Capital Theatre.
With only a table and two chairs, Jiang and the rest of the cast
have transformed the rehearsal hall into a small 1920s French town
through their dialogue and action.
Playing a character totally different from the loafer in Zhang
Yimou's "Keep Cool," Jiang now settles into Doctor Knock's French
gent black glasses and striped sweater. Mustering all his
knowledge and best tricks, Jiang is trying to convince a peddlar
(acted by Liu Wei) that he is ill.
In the middle of Liu Wei's response, director Wei Xiaoping stops
him.
"You should speak louder here. According to his personality, he
does not murmur to himself," says Wei, who is trying to solve the
key details in this rehearsal.
Liu Wei tries time and again to get his voice level right.
At the same time, actress Liu Lili is practising her lines in
whispers behind a screen near the door, while actor Liu Linian is
stretched out on a bed taking a rest.
"We have enough passion, enough sense of responsibility, enough
love for drama, but we don't have enough time," says Wei.
Despite working about 10 hours every day, he doesn't show any sign
of fatigue.
Wei just came back from France, mainly for the play. One year ago,
Wei met Jiang in France, and they talked about the play. Jiang
showed great interest.
A film actor for 12 years, Jiang is looking for a chance to go
back on stage, where he first began his performing career.
So Wei and his French wife Pascale translated "Knock" into
Chinese. Soon Cao Li, an actor from the China Youth Theatre,
joined Wei and Jiang.
These three former schoolmates of the Central Academy of Drama
formed a temporary troupe, and the preparatory work was finally
completed last December. Fang Qingzhuo, Wang Xueqi and Chen
Jianbin are all in the cast. They started rehearsing in late
December.
A classic satire written by the renowned French writer and
playwright Jules Romains in 1923, "Knock" has been performed
professionally more than 1,400 times in France. A part of the
dialogue is a standard fixture in French students' literature
texts. So "Knock" is a figure familiar to every Frenchman.
The play tells the story of Doctor Knock's success after he
succeeds Doctor Parpalaid as physician of the little town of Saint
Maurice.
From Dr Parpalaid he learns that there are actually no patients in
the town. With his overweening faith in "modern medicine," Knock
declares that "healthy people are but the unconscious sick," and
so decides to "cure" the people of the town.
Offering free diagnoses, Knock employs ruses, hints, pledges and
threats to convince almost every one in town that he or she is ill
and needs the help of the doctor.
He enjoys the close collaboration of the pharmacist Mousquet, a
convert to the doctrine that "thinking leads the world."
In three months, St Maurice's medical situation is changed. The
residents begin to receive up-to-date medical equipment and
services, and the patients receive "medical care in complete
accordance with modern health regulations."
All this surprises Doctor Parpalaid.
Intoxicated with his own success, Knock gives Doctor Parpalaid an
enthusiastic description of "a new realm which gives full
recognition to medical science."
When the townspeople march through the "aureole of medical art"
with medical instruments in hands, even Doctor Parpalaid begins to
suspect he himself may be suffering a funny turn.
"It is a very deep play, yet it is not dull," Jiang says. "I feel
that the play is like a mirror, in which we can see ourselves. It
is a story that might happen to us at any time."
Wei says that he feels the play is about people's attitudes
towards themselves, their responsibilities and society.
"I can't give Knock a definition," he says. "He is so familiar to
us. I like him, but sometimes I fear him, for he is like a knife
that cuts us open to reveal our inner weaknesses."
The play also once cut into fascist fears. The Nazis forbade the
play during the World War II, seeing a certain mockery of their
deeds in it.
Jiang says he will make Knock a man with no distinctive
behavioural characteristics or flamboyance.
"He cannot have any outward characteristics, because he might
change himself into another person at any moment," Jiang says.
Jiang has not seen any French production of the play. Wei has seen
only one, which he says he did not like.
So they are trying to create a Knock of their own, to be different
from any other version of the play.
This temporary troupe is a democratic troupe, Wei says. He himself
has created the atmosphere for every artist to think and to
express his or her opinion.
Watching them work together, one feels that the space for
creativity between the lines is almost limitless. Valuable sparks
are born from the clash of different opinions.
"Look at these germs: green, yellow, black...." says Knock to the
elementary school teacher, pointing to his pictures. The teacher
soon becomes so sick he wants to throw up.
This is the third time today they have rehearsed this scene, but
still the whole crew remains unsatisfied with the effect.
Liu Linian points out Chen Jianbin is too cool, which is
alienating him from the play.
Jiang tells Chen to forget the script. "Among us, you are the one
that looks most like a teacher. You needn't act. Just be
absolutely relaxed and you will be OK," says Jiang.
Then they go over the scene again....
"We don't know whether this play will be successful, but our
efforts are certainly worthy. At least we can introduce this play
to Chinese audiences," says Jiang.
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_Date: 01/13/98_
_Author: Mu Qian_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Forum discusses future of China's modern drama
HOW does Chinese modern drama welcome the new century?
The issue aroused heated discussion during a recent three-day
forum of leading theatre experts and critics in the country.
Reviewing the modern drama's development over the past 90 years,
most experts and critics agreed that those who are involved in
modern Chinese drama should allow themselves a freer rein in
imagination and creation.
Chinese modern drama started in 1907. In that year, Wang
Zhongsheng, with his drama troupe Chun Yang (Spring Sun), put on
stage "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in Shanghai. The Chunliu Society, a
literary and art organization founded by artist Li Shutong, put on
Alexandre Dumas' "La Dame Aux Camellias."
But at that time Chinese modern drama was only in its embryonic
form.
The early development of Chinese modern drama was linked with
Chinese democratic movements. The May 4th Movement of 1919, with
its goals of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism for a new
political and cultural order, gave modern drama its first
spiritual baptism.
In those years of wars and chaos, Chinese modern drama developed
through a series of movements in the 1930s and 1940s. It became an
effective medium for revolutionaries to arouse the people's
consciousness in fighting against the Japanese invaders and
Kuomintang corruption and in helping usher in the new era of the
People's Republic of China.
After 1949, the continuous political changes hindered the
development of drama, the forum participants pointed out. During
the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), all art forms became tools of
leftist propaganda. Modern drama was no exception.
"The influence of politics has left its imprint on Chinese modern
drama," Liu Housheng, vice-president of the China Dramatists'
Association, said at the forum. "Drama is a creative art form, not
simply a propaganda tool," said Liu.
Yang Jinfeng, director of the Dalian Modern Drama Troupe, said
that some playwrights shy away from the real situation of society
for political reasons and turn to the theme of folk customs.
Dong Jian, professor of Nanjing University, pointed out that more
efforts should be made to encourage a variety of modern dramatic
forms, including experimental theatre.
Most participants noted that several problems still hinder modern
Chinese drama from progressing towards the new century.
For instance, television, videos and other forms of visual and
performing arts have lured away many prospective young viewers.
The number of theatre-goers is shrinking.
Meanwhile, a large number of actors and directors have turned to
making TV drama series and films, which gives them instant fame
and reaches more viewers.
The forum, which is about modern Chinese drama's development, is a
major part of the commemorative activities celebrating the 90th
birthday of modern drama in China. It started late last month and
will continue through this week.
So far, a total of 18 plays have been staged, attracting a large
number of theatre-goers.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin went to the modern drama "Nanjing
Military Academy" (Hu Ju Zhongshan), which tells of the
difficulties late Marshal Liu Bocheng went through in starting the
first professional military academy of the People's Liberation
Army.
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_Date: 01/13/98_
_Author: Xiao Mu_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Sand-fighter winning her war
PEOPLE always associate the desert with loneliness and
lifelessness. Ci Longjun, a delicate-looking woman, believes it is
her mission to save lives from being engulfed by deserts.
Unrolling a map, Ci, a 62-year-old authority on landscape ecology,
analyzed her formidable "enemy" just as any good general would:
The yellow belts on the map show that the areas of desertification
take up one-fourth of the world's land mass. Asia has the largest
area of desertified land in the world and is one of the world's
most severely desert-affected regions.
According to a recent survey, said Ci, the area of desertified
land in China accounts for 27.3 per cent of the country's total
land.
The enemy is strong. But Ci is undaunted. She believes that human
beings can win, at last, in the fight against desertification.
This faith has encouraged her to choose combating desertification
as her life-long profession, an arduous and itinerant work.
"I am proud of my work because society needs it," said Ci.
After finishing her undergraduate and graduate studies at the
Beijing Forestry University in 1958, Ci, unlike most of her
classmates who stayed in big cities, voluntarily applied to work
in the Xinjiang Academy of Forestry. There she participated in a
comprehensive investigation into the geography of Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region in Northwest China, which embraces the largest
area of desertified land in the country.
The work marked, for Ci, the beginning of a life inseparable from
the desert.
Ci dedicated 20 years of her youth to the barren land of Xinjiang.
The wind and sand of Xinjiang help forge her strong character.
During those 20 years, she shuttled between Urumqi and the
frontlines of the deserts, a seven to 10 day journey by bus. She
handled the fatigue and the diet change readily, but the
inconvenient living quarters and the language difference
challenged her.
Not until two months before the birth of her first of two
children, did Ci leave the deserts. And one month after the birth
of her child she hurried back to the deserts.
But her hard work has paid off. Her more than 10 years of
investigation and research led her to the shaping of a method for
combating desertification: a shelter system combining grasses and
trees.
Ci's method involves the creation of multi-sandbreak belts with a
combination of trees, shrubs, and grasses planted on the fringes
of farmlands to stop sand drift, while within farmlands, narrow
forest belts and small grids are established to break up the force
of desert winds.
"In the past, people planted only wide windbreak forest belts. The
wide belts not only vie for sun and water with crops, but occupy
cultivatable area," said Ci. "My theory of systematic forest belt
planting can do a better job of improving the oasis climate and
maintaining the stability of the oasis ecosystem."
In the first National Science Conference of China in 1978, Ci won
the only forestry prize for her theory of systematic forest belt
planting. This system, widely applied in the Turpan Basin, has
enhanced the area's cotton production.
Combating desertification is a subject that requires
multi-disciplinary knowledge, including astronomy, meteorology,
biology and geography. In the process of conducting her
researches, Ci realized the necessity of extending her knowledge.
In 1980 she went to Cornell University in the United States for
further study, where she earned her doctoral degree in landscape
ecology.
She returned to China in 1991, with her practical experience
supplemented with rich professional knowledge and excellent
English. The country has entrusted her with many responsibilities.
Now she is the head of the National Bureau for Combating
Desertification, deputy president of the Chinese Academy of
Forestry, a professor at Beijing Forestry University and deputy
director of the Association of Landscape Ecology.
Ci is a woman of action. She isn't used to being confined in an
office. She keeps a busy schedule all year round, dealing with
administrative work, keeping up with her research and guiding
doctoral students.
On October 14, 1994, more than 100 countries, including China,
signed the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification
(UNCCD) in Paris.
Ci Longjun attended the inter-government negotiations on the
implementation of the UNCCD as the deputy director of the Chinese
delegation and a high-level consultant.
"I am very lucky to have linked up with this international
campaign on combating desertification," said Ci.
Thanks to the anti-desertification efforts of people like Ci,
China has achieved a lot in this field.
The project of establishing shelter forest systems in the "three
norths" region -- meaning the North, Northwest and Northeast of
China -- is in full swing. This ecological project, the largest in
the world, will green 18 million hectares of desertified land. It
is based mainly on Ci's theory of narrow forest belts.
Chinese scientists have studied 100-odd technologies on
anti-desertfication, some of which have been introduced in
Nigeria, Zambia and Argentina.
But the situation of desertification in China is still worrying.
According to Ci, the desertified land in China is spreading at a
speed of 2,460 square kilometres per year. In Xinjiang, 16 million
people share 800 oases, which are separated and surrounded by
deserts 12 times bigger in area than the oases.
But Ci still believes human beings will triumph over nature.
"Our country has drawn up a long-range blueprint for combating
desertification," she said. "I hope I can make a contribution to
it."
The long-range plan contains three phases. By 2000 China will
harness 59.5 million hectares of desertified lands; by 2010,
another 68.68 million hectares of desert will be under control,
and by 2050 the ecologic environment and economic development will
be brought into harmony.
In the meantime, Ci continues her own unrelenting work against the
never-resting sands.
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_Date: 01/13/98_
_Author: Shi Xi_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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What's on (Page 10, Date: 01/13/98)
EXHIBITIONS
Crosses show -- Artist Ding Yi's art exhibition "Ding Yi: Crosses
'89-'98," is being held from January 10 to 18 at the art gallery
of the Beijing International Art Palace .
The show features several dozen of Ding's mixed media Cross
series.
On corrugated paper or tartan fabrics, Ding, with charcoal, chalk
and acrylic, brings out elaborate patterns made up of crosses in a
variety of colours.
Ding started painting the Cross series in 1988, prompted by his
knowledge of printing techniques.
Crosses marked and divided the surface of the sheets.
He challenged himself to transform its simplicity and
functionality into a pictorially rich and variegated subject.
Time: 9 am-6 pm, January 10-18
Place: Beijing International Art Palace, 48 Wangfujing Street,
Dongcheng District
Tel: 6512-5063
Collection show -- The Beijing International Art Palace is holding
a 40-day oil painting exhibition until February.
The oil paintings on display come from the collection of the art
palace and most have been displayed in the gallery of the art
palace.
Set up in 1991, the Beijing International Art Palace has held more
than 200 shows, including Chinese painting, oil painting, folk art
and imitations of European classical oil paintings.
Time: 9 am-6 pm, until February 6
Place: Beijing International Art Palace, 48 Wangfujing Street,
Dongcheng District
Tel: 6512-5063
German art -- A modern art exhibition from Bavaria, Germany, is
running at the China National Art Museum.
The show features more than 100 drawings, photographs and
sculptures by 16 artists from Bavaria.
Time: 9 am-5 pm, until January 18
Place: China National Art Museum, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6401-2252
Ancient handicrafts -- Beijing Art Museum, situated in the ancient
Wanshou Temple, reopened its Exhibition of Handicrafts from the
Ming and Qing dynasties on November 28. The exhibition not only
keeps the best items of the old exhibition, but also includes more
than 100 newly selected treasures from the collection of the
exhibition hall.
The exhibition is divided into six parts: jadeware, wooden and
bamboo carvings, rhinoceros horn, glassware, enamel and
lacquerware.
Time: 8.30 am-5 pm, daily
Place: Wanshou Temple, Suzhoujie, Haidian District
Tel: 6841-3380
CONCERTS
'98 spring concert series -- Beijing's symphony buffs will find
another big feast waiting for them before they have finished
digesting the grandeur and magnificence of the New Year symphony
package.
The '98 Spring Concert Series will kick off on Thursday in Beijing
Concert Hall.
Organized by the China National Culture & Art Corporation, this
concert package includes three stages. Following are the first
two:
Austrian Piano & Cello Concert
Austrian pianist Joerg Demuf and Jiang Jing, an Austria-based
Chinese cellist, will perform in Beijing Concert Hall on Thursday.
Demuf started his career as a professional pianist at age 14 in
Vienna and won many international awards.
Jiang, a graduate of Vienna Music Conservatory, has toured Europe
professionally.
Time: 7:20pm, January 16
Evening concert -- The evening concert of the "Second
International Poverty Alleviation Award" will be given in
recognition of those youngsters from the poverty stricken areas,
who have achieved great success in struggling against poverty.
Organized by the United Nations Development Program and the China
Teenager Development Fund, the show includes songs, dances, poem
recitations and drama skits.
Time: 7:15pm, January 14
Place: Beijing Century Theatre, 40 Liangmaqiao Lu, Chaoyang
District
Tel: 6615-7879, 6618-7084, 6615-7880
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_Date: 01/13/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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