The First Emperor[]
Synopsis[]
- Adapted from the screenplay The Emperor's Shadow by Lu Wei, the story is taken from The Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. Emperor Qin, the first emperor of China, attempts to persuade a childhood friend, Gao Jianli, to compose a new national anthem to glorify his empire. However, not only is Jianli's village devastated by the ruthless emperor in his attempt to unify China, but his mother is violently killed, and his fellow citizens enslaved. Thus Jianli refuses to compose the anthem and goes on a hunger strike. The Emperor asks his own daugher to persuade Jianli to finish writing the anthem, and the two of them fall in love. The anthem never gets written, and instead, Jianli writes the music sung by slaves building the great wall of China.
Links[]
Reviews[]
- New York Times Review
- International Herald Tribune
- NY Mag Review
- New Yorker Review
- NewsDay.com Review
- Boston Globe Review
- National Public Radio Review
- Asia Pacific Arts Review
- Christian Science Monitor Review
- Guardian Review
- Opera Online Review
- Q OnStage Review
- Variety Review
- Beijing Review
- People's Daily Review
- Epoch Times Review