The rich tapestry of Chinese civilization came alive in a constantly evolving and abstractly fascinating scroll painting.
The Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony saw humans, dressed in black, dance on a blank scroll, playing the perfect role of paint-brushes to give the first touch of creativity and intellect to an art form uniquely Chinese.
The half-finished artwork became a platform, from where Confucian aphorisms found their voice.
Participants take part in the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium August 8, 2008. The stadium is also known as the Bird's Nest. [Agencies] More Photos about the Opening Ceremony
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A woman teacher conducted a class of a bunch of children, who added strokes in color. Finally, when the athletes began their parade, the children's feet splashed more color over the existing layers, turning them into a burst of visual vibrancy.
The "Four Great Inventions of Ancient China" occupied center-stage as 3,000 disciples of Confucius danced in a circle, chanting: "All are brothers within the four seas."
Blocks simulated movable types created waves and billows, with the Chinese character he (peace or harmony) being depicted in various stages of its evolution. It took a while for the audience to realize that the 897 blocks were not computer operated, but each had a human performer hidden inside.
The other three inventions - gunpowder, compass and paper - were more or less implied. Fireworks are a peaceful use of gunpowder, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) sailor Zheng He's expeditions came to life partly through the use of the compass, and the scroll canvas was supposedly made of paper.
Zheng He's "treasure ships" were simulated by two phalanxes of oars so huge you'd be excused if they conjured up a certain scene from the movie Ben Hur. They moved parallelly, ultimately joining at the head and tail - or the bow and stern - to form one mammoth ship while in the rectangular center of the arena the Silk Road was first suggested by flying apsaras, an image from the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu province.
Seven flying apsaras and dancing girls really flew toward the ceiling from north to south, and three from east to west at the beginning of the gala, adding a sense of cosmic fantasy.
In the later half of the show, the graceful skywalk of astronauts echoed the flying of the apsaras.
The visual effect of ascent appeared throughout the show. At the climax of Music, a number based on five renowned Chinese paintings from five different dynasties, two colonnades rose from bases wheeled in and gradually revealed their ornate grandeur, much like those in the movie Curse of the Golden Flower.
To top it off, from each of the 32 columns sprang a dancer who displayed her skills from high above, 12.3 m, to be precise.
The transition from ancient to modern started with 26-year-old Lang Lang's piano solo. He was accompanied by a five-year-old girl, which pointed further to the future.
Starlight had a soothing new-age feel, with self-illuminating dancers taking the shape of a translucent dove and a bird's nest within a bird's nest. The theme of ascent found another image with a colorful kite, which, in history, flew overseas as early as the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties.
To expand on the notion of harmony, Nature presented a vaguely Taoist visualization of the peaceful coexistence between man and nature. The waterfalls as depicted in Li Bai's famous poem, reconciled the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth, yin and yang, round and square, motion and inertia, heaven and earth, and all the other contrasts in the world. The concept was updated when children painted ancient landscapes into green, the color for environmental awareness.
The theme song, You and Me, was delivered on top of a 24-m globe, around which 58 stuntmen walked perpendicular to the part of the earth they happened to be, creating an illusion of weightlessness. Sung by Sarah Brightman and Liu Huan, the song is a variation of the One World, One Dream mantra.
The singers were surrounded by 2,008 volunteers, each presenting a smiling face collected from around the globe. The faces then appeared on the overhead panel and the night sky as part of the fireworks display.
The use of fireworks throughout the opening ceremony added variety, rhythm and consistency to the show.
It started as a flashlight, a countdown, the welcoming flowers of peony and chrysanthemum. It stamped 29 giant footprints along the central axis of Beijing, signaling the number of the modern Olympic Games. It opened the gate of heaven and revealed the five rings. And, of course, it brought the evening of excitement to a perfect climax.
There was only one video clip, of 1 minute 20 seconds, that introduced traditional Chinese paper-making and the process of scroll painting all the way to framing.
The 67-minute show morphed into the entrance of those friends and guests when more than 10,000 athletes and sport officials from 204 countries and regions marched into the National Stadium.
