My Interpretation of the Chinese Elements in Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony of Beijing 2008 Olympics is amazing! I don’t want to use this word to describe last night’s performance for it has been worn out in so many viewers’ mouths, but I can’t find a more proper word to express my feelings. Fascinated by Director Zhang Yimou’s imagination and originality, touched by the thousands of performers’ unity anad efforts, attracted by the glamor and charm of traditional Chinese culture, I’m soooo proud of Chinese people and culture!

The following are some interesting Chinese elements I particularly like:

The countdown
缶, pronounced as fou, is a music instrument in Chinese history. In the Bird Nest, 2008 fou players struck the traditional welcome beat while spoke aloud a sentence in Lun Yu(Confucius’ words): Isn’t it a great pleasure to have friends coming from afar? With their beat, the light inside the fou turned on and out. Finally, here begins the countdown! The 2008 fou players lead the audience around the world. Heartbeats of the world united. 10(the upper part is Chinese character of ten,十), 9(九), 8(八), 7(七), 6(六), 5(五), 4(四), 3(三), 2(二),1（一）！

WOW, how can they ever managed the arrangement of lights so precisely! And again I can’t hold my excitement of seeing Chinese characters in the countdown! It’s just amazing!

The Olympic rings:
At the same time, 29 gigantic footsteps created by fireworks appreared one by one from Yong Ding Gate to the bird nest, representing the 29 Olympics in modern history. When the last step walked in the nest, it transformed into millions of stars, which form the Olympic rings. So romantic it is that arounded by Fei Tian(flying fairies, a Chinese element often seen on Dunhuang wall paintings), the rings floated in the midair, like a piece of dream. Very science-fictional.

Movable printing characters—one of the four great inverntions in Chinese history
The movable printing characters are also very impressive. 897 well trained performers hid in seperated ‘characters’. Three stages of the development of the Chinese character “和”(harmony, peace) immerged from the surface, fully extend the message that Chinese people love peace and try to contribute to world peace.

Chinese people suffered a lot this year. Heavy snow, railway accident, flood, earthquake… besides these, there are the clique of ‘Tibetan independence’, unfair news coverage…in a word, some countries are just afraid of the rise of China. Yet, in the series of struggles, Chinese people are standing together, more closely and level-minded than ever. At this moment of the collective festival, I know in some parts of the world some people are still seeking chance to pour filth on China. But no one can doubt the fact that China is becoming stronger. It’s an unrrestrainable trend, and I’m proud of it!

Surrounding the huge ‘和’ are thousands of deciples of Confucius. Holding the bamboo books and reciting Confucius’ maxims, the performers draw me back to the Spring and Autumn period of China, a time of rituals and ceremonies, a time of reforms and blossoms…I especially love these sentences:
四海之内皆兄弟也。All men are brothers. (showing the generosity and tolerance of a great nation)
朝闻道夕死足矣。Once learned the ultimate truth in the morning, I don’t regret to die in the evening.（whenever reading it, I feel like crying. Isn’t it the perfect footnote for the strenous scientists?）…I can’t remenber the rest. But a strong wish rose in my heart: I want to re-read Lun Yu.

Taiji

Surrounding the reeling bamboo book are 2008 Taiji players. White, loose Taiji clothes help the players fully emmersed in a peaceful state od mind. This is the unstrained Chinese spirit. This is what I admire most about the ancient Chinese heroes.