Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

A Chinese concert by the show Super Chinese Style Music presented an audio-visual feast that combined traditional Chinese aesthetics with popular youth elements to audiences in the Yinzhou district of Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang Province on Tuesday.

The show, staged by the China Media Group (CMG), caught the attention of Generation Z by promoting Chinese music and traditional opera through a promotional campaign that emphasized the platforms commonly used by youth today, thereby enhancing young people's sense of identity and pride in Chinese culture and allowing traditional culture and art to gain new vitality. 

Over the past decade, creators have drawn upon innovation to produce a number of good artworks that are intellectually and artistically successful as well as popular among the public. 

On October 15, 2014, addressing authors, actors, scriptwriters and dancers at a symposium in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged artists to create more works that are both artistically outstanding and morally inspiring in order to serve the people and socialism and to present socialist core values. 

Artists should be innovative and put the social benefits of their works before everything else, Xi said. 

As the quality of life has improved for the population of China, Chinese are in need of better cultural products, according to Xi, who urged the country's artists to learn from the people and base their creations on real lives.

"The creation of art can fly with the wings of imagination, but make sure art workers tread on solid earth," he said.

Xi's remarks point the way forward for authors, actors, scriptwriters and dancers, who have created more and more good artworks in recent years. 

One of them, the Super Chinese Style Music show, can be seen as positive proof of the spirit that top Chinese leader has emphasized as it stays on the right course without following the beaten track and respects tradition but not outdated practices. 

President Xi noted that traditional Chinese culture is the lifeblood of China and an important source of socialist core values, as well as "a foundation for China to compete in the world."

All in all, China's fine traditional culture has become an important source of literary and artistic innovation. The characteristic of Chinese music is that its musical elements are closely integrated with traditional Chinese culture, so it is not only a simple musical form but also a means of cultural inheritance and expression.

Cui Wei, the former secretary-general of the Chinese Theatre Association and a drama critic, said that the Chinese opera songs presented in Super Chinese Style Music have strong cultural affection and a pioneering spirit. With their works, the ideological connotation and artistic charm of traditional culture and Chinese style can be fully expressed. 

Photo: Courtesy of the CMG

The concert fully showcased local Xiqu, or Chinese opera, elements including Yue Opera and Yong Opera as well as other Chinese cultural heritage such as local snacks and Hanfu, the traditional clothing of China's Han ethnic group.

In the eyes of Tian Qing, honorary director of the Music Research Institute of the China National Academy of Arts, the show has carved a new path for the innovative transformation of traditional culture through integration, breakthroughs, and innovation. On the one hand, it actively reaches out to traditional culture for nutrition, and on the other hand it reaches out to young people.

At the symposium 10 years ago, Xi said that the "pursuit of the true, the good and the beautiful" is the mission of artists as the best works of art "touch people, baptize their soul and enable them to find beauty in nature, life and their minds."

In the past 10 years, more and more good works of art have been created. Popular TV series such as Blooms Shanghai have had great impact, leading the new trend of "traveling with classic literature." Theater works adapted from literary classics such as Dream of the Red Chamber have gained both reputation and market popularity.   

In 2022, the TV series A Lifelong Journey, adapted from the Mao Dun Literature Award-winning novel, became a hit as the story of the three generations of the Zhou family touched millions of viewers. It also reflects the noble character of Chinese people and their kindness, wisdom, perseverance and understanding. As the theme song goes, "There are as many ways to live as joys and sorrows; as many changes as there are, the sun will still rise and set."

Only by respecting the people, understanding the people, and loving the people can we observe the people's lives and express their voices.

Innovation is like a torch, lighting up the journey of literary and artistic creators and encouraging everyone to climb to the top with more confidence.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. life@globaltimes.com.cn