Artist Statement
The Butterfly Lovers is an experimental piece uniquely combining fine
arts and film languages. It is a contemporary reinterpretation of Chinese
folk tale, meanwhile aims to develop aesthetic traditions with new media
art.
The film is based on a Chinese folk
story under the same title (see note). In the film, the lovers dressing
in traditional Chinese opera costume, roam in Manhattan’s night. Set in
the new background, the two protagonists repeat such scenarios as “Seeing
off for Eighteen Miles” and “Meeting at the Balcony” in the original story.
With the dreamlike dislocation, the film depicts the isolation in the
heart of the characters, which metaphorically implies the vulnerability
and resistance of the Chinese culture during the process of westernization.
Toward the end of the film, on Brooklyn Bridge, which can be referred
to the bridge where the lovers had met first time in the original story,
the female character makes a gesture like a stripper. We may be further
shocked and saddened by the reality when examining it in the context of
cultural traditions. The Butterfly Lovers indicates that the passion of
the lovers remains alive after thousand years, and their spirits are still
suffering from the environment, which is destroying their dignity and
identities.
As Chinese artist living in self-exile
for years, we have experienced and witnessed the reality of Chinese diaspora
in America, which makes me deeply concern the impact of globalization,
both upon the culture and the individual. This film explores foreignness
and displacement, focusing on the spiritually homeless who struggle to
preserve the true humanity. Though being distorted and misplaced, the
thousand- year-old legendary characters remain alive in everyday people’s
soul, silently and obscurely. It becomes artist’s responsibility to visualize
and translate those silent voices into a universal language - visual art,
therefore enhancing understandings between varied cultural groups in a
globalized society, in the age of uncertainty about future, about identity…
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Note:
The Butterfly Lovers or Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai "梁祝" is
a Chinese legend about the tragic romance between two lovers. The legend
is sometimes regarded as the Chinese equivalent to Romeo and Juliet.
The story is set in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420). The legend begins
with a beautiful, intelligent young woman named Zhu Yingtai from Zhejiang,
who is the ninth child and the only daughter of the wealthy noble Zhu
family. After much effort, she convinced her father to let her disguise
herself as a young man traveling to study in Hangzhou. During her journey,
she encountered a young scholar Liang Shanbo. They felt like old friends
at the first meeting and therefore took vows of brotherhood. For the three
years in school, they shared the same room. Yingtai slowly fell in love
with Shanbo. Although being every bit Yingtai's equal in studies, Shanbo
was a bookworm and did not see any traces of female characteristics in
Yingtai.
Time flew by quickly. Three years passed, and one day Yingtai received
a letter from her father asking her to return home as quickly as possible.
Yingtai had no alternative but to pack her belongings immediately and
bid farewell. In Yingtai’s heart, she had decided that even if heaven
and earth died, her love for Liang Shanbo would never change, and she
wanted to be with him for all eternity. Hence, before her departure, Yingtai
revealed her true identity to her headmaster's wife and requested the
headmaster’s wife to hand her jade pendant as a betrothal gift to Shanbo.
Liang Shanbo, being Yingtai’s sworn brother, accompanied Yingtai for 18
miles to send her off. During the journey, Yingtai hinted to Shanbo that
she was a girl, but Shanbo did not catch onto her hidden meaning. Finally
Yingtai thought of an idea: she told Shanbo that she would be a matchmaker
and match make Shanbo with her sister. Before the two parted, Yingtai
reminded Shanbo to pay a visit to her house so that he can propose a marriage
to her "sister" (who was really herself). Liang Shanbo and Zhu
Yingtai reluctantly took leave of each other at the pavilion where they
had first met.
When Shanbo arrived at Yingtai’s home, he discovered her true gender.
They were devoted to and passionate about each other, and the lovers vowed
that if they cannot live together, they will die together. The joy of
the reunion of the two came to an end when Yingtai told Shanbo that her
parents had forced her to marry a rich and spoiled gentleman. Liang Shanbo
was heartbroken. His health slowly deteriorated until he became seriously
ill and later died in his office as a county magistrate.
On the day Yingtai was to be married to Ma Wencai, whirlwinds prevented
the wedding procession from escorting Yingtai beyond Shanbo’s tomb. Yingtai
left the procession to pay her respects for Shanbo. Yingtai descended
in bitter despair and begged the grave to open up. Suddenly there was
a clap of thunder, and the tomb opened as Yingtai had wished. Without
hesitation, Yingtai leapt into the grave to join her beloved Shanbo. Yingtai
and Shanbo's spirits had turned into a pair of beautiful butterflies and
emerged from the tomb, flying together among the flowers forever, never
to be apart again.
Bibliography
"'Butterfly Lovers' to bid for Intangible World Heritage" (June
15, 2004) Xinhuanet.