The dance drama The Dazu Rock Carvings is presented by the China Oriental Performing Arts Group, Publicity Department of CPC Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, Dazu District Committee of Chongqing Municipality, People’s Government of Dazu District, Chongqing Municipality and People.cn Co., Ltd. It is co-presented by the Publicity Department of CPC Dazu District Party Committee, Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute, Dazu District Culture and Tourism Development Committee of Chongqing Municipality, Dazu District Federation of Literary and Art Circles of Chongqing Municipality, and Dazu Rock Carvings International Culture and Tourism Group Co., Ltd. The drama received financial support from the China National Arts Fund in 2024, and the Beijing Chicpia International Culture Development Co., Ltd. is its sole promotion agent in China. The drama took two years to produce, aiming to inspire in-depth exploration into ways to advance the creative transformation and innovative development of China's fine traditional culture. Themed Chongqing’s only world cultural heritage - the Dazu Rock Carvings, the drama is all about the stone carvers who created the Dazu Rock Carvings, interpreting the 400-year history of carving in 100 minutes.
In the long history of world grotto art, the Dazu Rock Carvings are unique for its characteristics - national character, worldly concern and life orientation. During hundreds of years from the Tang Dynasty to the two Song dynasties, the people here made their living by quarrying and carving rocks. Their keen yearnings for a “happy life” were turned into cliff carvings, imprinting their lofty ideal in “The Dazu Rock Carvings”.
Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism are combined together in the Dazu Rock Carvings, which is rare in the world. The towering cliff walls carry an eternal longing that the Chinese people in all ages have for a prosperous society, and it is the cornerstone of everybody’s happy life.
In ancient China, very few stone carvers had their names left on their carving works, but on the Dazu Rock Carvings, there are tens of carvers’ names, which have stayed alongside their masterpieces for thousands of years. These carvers were all ordinary people, who didn’t achieve any earthshaking feat during their lifetime, and nor did they leave anything about their life experience in any history book. However, despite their unpredictable fates, these people carved on the cliff walls with both hands, created a happy life for themselves and making a contribution to the construction of a prosperous society.
True satisfaction does not mean pursuing an eternal life, but depends on whether the spark of life can be perpetuated in spirit. A happy life is led everywhere - in every bountiful or blank year, at present when every heart feels contented, and in people’s struggle for a better life, it keeps eternalising every moment essential for building a prosperous society.
The dance drama is based on a variety of classic Dazu rock carvings, which are transformed into what represents Dazu people’s yearning for a happy life. Some of these rock carvings are the “Illustration of the Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents” at No. 15 Shrine in Dafowan Grotto, Baoding Mountain, the “Picture of Herding Cattle” at No. 30 Shrine outside Yuanjue Cave, Baoding Mountain, the “Girl Raising Chicken” at No. 20 Hell Shrine in Baoding Mountain, the “Female Flutist” at No. 17 Shrine of Da Fangbian Fo Bao’en Jing in Baoding Mountain, the “Great Statue of Ten Wisdom Kings” at No. 22 Shrine in Dafowan Grotto, Baoding Mountain, the “Shrine of Tankasri Avalokitesvara” at No. 113 Shrine in North Mountain, the “Ten-Face Guanyin Cave” at No. 6 Shrine in Shimen Mountain, the “Shrine of Monk Zhigong” at No. 6 Shrine in Shizhuan Mountain, and so on.
It took centuries to make the Dazu Rock Carvings. In addition to the combination of three religions, the people of Dazu also carved various human lifestyles on the cliff walls, characterising the Dazu Rock Carvings by “national character, worldly concern and life orientation”. That’s how the Dauzu people romanticised their longing for an ideal world, which is a prosperous society built out of all people’s happy lives.
As a first-rate cultural masterpiece, the dance drama The Dazu Rock Carvings boasts a top Chinese creative team and cast, including the chief choreographers LIU Cui and ZHANG Yaqi, playwright MA Hongtian, script supervisor GUO Changhong, composer LIU Tong, visual director and set designer GAO Guangjian, lighting designer REN Dongsheng, video projection designer HU Tianji, costume designer YANG Donglin, hair style designer JIA Lei, stage manager LI Xiaobin, dance director LI Li, guest choreographers LI Chao and FAN Lu, executive choreographers PEI Yun and LU Chiyuan, choreographers LI Jiayi and CHEN Jiajia, executive set designer SHI Junliang, and props designer ZHOU Weicheng, as well as outstanding young dancers from the Oriental Song and Dance Company, such as ZHANG Han, MENG Qingyang, ZHU Jinhui and HE Zhongda. They will work together for a contemporary expression of the dance drama art.
Presenters
China Oriental Performing Arts Group
Publicity Department of CPC Chongqing Municipal Party Committee
Dazu District Committee of Chongqing Municipality
People’s Government of Dazu District, Chongqing Municipality
People.cn Co., Ltd.
Co-Presenters
Publicity Department of CPC Dazu District Party Committee
Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute
Dazu District Culture and Tourism Development Committee of Chongqing Municipality
Dazu District Federation of Literary and Art Circles of Chongqing Municipality
Dazu Rock Carvings International Culture and Tourism Group Co., Ltd.
Producer / Operator: Beijing Dongfang Xindalu Culture & Arts Co., Ltd.
National Sole Agent in 2025: Beijing Chicpia International Culture Development Co., Ltd.
Performed by Oriental Song and Dance Company
Executive Presenters: JING Xiaoyong, GUAN Hong, CHEN Yiqing, XU Xiaoyong, YE Zhenzhen
Chief Executive Producers: GAO Ai, YAN Bing, LUO Xiaochun, LIU Qingqing, YANG Hua, QIAN Hu, XIONG Zihua, ZHANG Feng
Executive Producers: SHEN Chen, ZHANG Lei, LIU Liang, CHEN Li, CHEN Qilin, FU Yunzhen, LIU Wei, ZHAO Qian
Artistic Consultants: HAN Zhen, ZHOU Liya
Cultural and Historical Consultants: JIANG Siwei, LI Fangyin, GUO Xiangying, ZHANG Yeqing
Rock Carving Consultant: LIU Nengfeng
Chief Directors: LIU Cui, ZHANG Yaqi
Playwright: MA Hongtian
Script Instructor: GUO Changhong
Composer: LIU Tong
Visual Director / Set Designer: GAO Guangjian
Lighting Designer: REN Dongsheng
Video Projection Designer: HU Tianji
Costume Designer: YANG Donglin
Hair Style Designer: JIA Lei
Stage Director: LI Xiaobin
Dance Director: LI Li
Guest Directors: LI Chao, FAN Lu
Deputy Directors: PEI Yun, LU Chiyuan
Choreographers: LI Jiayi, CHEN Jiajia
Deputy Set Designer: SHI Junliang
Props Designer: ZHO Weicheng
Drama Director: GUO Xinnong
Cast Coordinators: SHEN Ning, ZHANG Huan
Rehearsal Directors: LI Xuejing, WEI Dan
Photographer: WANG Xufeng
Graphic Designer: LIU Xianlin
Calligrapher: YANG Tao
Chief Managing Producer: Hari Bal
Performance Director: ZHAO Baozhong
Operation Directors: LUO Wei, LI Dan
Managing Producer: WU Shan
Publicity Director: CHEN Juan
Deputy Managing Producer: FENG Chao
Production Coordinator: ZHANG Linwei
Publicity Coordinator: DAI Chunxu
Stage Managers: DI Jingchao, OUYANG Ningxin, WANG Jinning
Assistant Set Designers: Haorile, PAN Chenyue
Assistant Video Projection Designers: LI Hongxi, LIAN Yijia, GU Ruoshi
Assistant Composers: ZHAO Cheng, DING Mian
Costume Designers: WU Shaohua, LIU Qianqian, ZHENG Qiongyao, CHEN Xuanyue
Assistant Lighting Designers: HU Bo, YANG Yu, SHI Difei
Executive Hair Style Designer : WU Xiaolin
Stage Technical Coordinator: ZHANG Guanglong
Sound Designers: SUN Chaojun, QIU Yinghui, HU Xiaodong, XU Bo, WEI Wenbo
Lighting Designers: LI Ziwei, WANG Xin’ao, Lobsang Chokyi
Video Designers: CHENG Yang, QIU Zhulin
Costume Designers: Wang Mengfei, CHEN Xinrui, HAN Zhuojun
Stage Crew Managers: LI Long, ZHANG Shaoyu, DU Xiangyang, SUN Dianfu
Props Designers: PAN Zheng, ZHANG Zhiwei, LI Jing
New Media Coordinator: ZHOU Enru
Executive Publicity Officers: ZHANG Nan, SU Jiawei
Video Producers: CHU Qianle, LIU Shuyang, PAN Sirui
Recording Team
Recording Conductor: HUANG Lijie
Dixiao Artist: DING Xiaokui
Guzheng Artist: DING Xue’er
Orchestra: Asia Philharmonic Orchestra
Music Recording & Mixing Engineer: LI Yuesong
Music Recording Studio: Beijing Film Academy Music Recording Studio
Music Mixing Studio: Shengwuzhe (Beijing) Culture Media Co., Ltd. Mixing Studio
Music Producer: Beijing Tianchang Shengchang Cultural Development Co., Ltd.
Cultural and Creative Souvenir Design Team: CAO Simiao, JING Biyun, MENG Zhaoran, LIU Wei, PAN Ziming, LUO Yujia
Documentary Filming Team: MA Longyan, HAN Ruxin
Art Researcher: QIAN Jiayu
Legal Team: ZHANG Ranran, LI Yanwei, WU Bing
Publicity & Operation: Brand and Business Centre of China Oriental Performing Arts Group
Main Cast: ZHANG Han, MENG Qingyang, ZHU Jinhui, HE Zhongda, HAO Xuerui, LI Jie