Recently, the classical dance Nymph of the Luo River popped up in Liaoning Provincial Museum (LPM), interpreting the essence of cultural relics and bringing the national treasures to life by integrating paintings with dance.

The live performance was also projected on a big screen, making the static paintings “true to life”. Actors in ancient costumes danced gracefully to present the beauty of Nymph of the Luo River, attracting a large number of spectators.

Gu Kaizhi, an artist of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), created the long scroll of Nymph of the Luo River based on Cao Zhi’s famous poem Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River. The original drawings, unfortunately, have not been passed down, but copies by people living in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) retained the original style authentically, becoming a renowned masterpiece in the history of Chinese painting. The Copy of Gu Kaizhi’s Nymph of the Luo River by Song People has also been recognized as one of the treasures of Liaoning Provincial Museum.

During the May Day holiday, lots of young people visited LPM and were fascinated by the novelty of displaying the beauty of cultural relics through flash mobs. Some visitors dressed in Hanfu (traditional Chinese attire)  were interested in the actors’ classical hairstyles and costumes, others expressed that it was intriguing to appreciate beautiful dances while admiring cultural relics and feel the charm of “bringing relics to life”. Going forward, Paintings of Cranes will also be introduced to more people through same activities in LPM.