Composer's Note

Written by Huang Ruo, Composer & Librettist

Book of Mountains and Seas 「山海經」is a vocal theatre work for twelve singers, six puppeteers, and two percussionists. It is inspired by the ancient Chinese compilation of early myths of the same title, which was first transcribed in 4th century B.C. Over the years, these mythological stories have become part of Chinese written and oral history, shifted and reshaped to match our contemporary times. Book of Mountains and Seas is a 21st-century adaptation and expansion of four of these tales. Its lyrics are based on the original Chinese texts from the book, with additional newly created words to complete the soundscape and symbolic drama. As the four tales are ancient, they are abstract and timeless. Book of Mountains and Seas contains timeless codes about the Universe, creation, planet, nature, life, human ambition and fate, the relationship and interaction between mankind and the planet.

Scene One: THE LEGEND OF PAN GU 《盤古開天地》

The creation of our planet is told through The Legend of Pan Gu 「盤古開天地」, which illuminates Earth’s birth from a cosmic egg containing the hairy giant Pan Gu. He separates the egg’s parts—the yin and the yang—to create the Earth and the sky, which he held apart for 18,000 years. As Pan Gu grew, the sky moved further from the Earth; when he died, his body became the Sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, animals, minerals, vegetation, rains, winds, and finally, humans of our planet.

Scene Two: THE SPIRIT BIRD 《精衛填海》

Spirit Bird focuses on the relationship between a tiny helpless bird and the vast powerful sea, through a tale of an impossible yet persistent revenge. A princess named Nu Wa drowns at sea. Her spirit takes over the body of a bird and for the rest of time she attempts to exact revenge on the water, filling the sea with twigs and pebbles.

Scene Three: THE TEN SUNS《后羿射日》

A continuation of the creation story, scene three is based on the story of the ten Suns, who are the children of Mother Xi He and Di Jun, God of the Eastern Heaven. The ten Suns peacefully resided on a mulberry tree in the eastern sea. Each Sun revolved around Earth in formation riding a Sun bird, a routine that they tired of. One day, the ten Suns decided to fly out together, which shriveled the crops, dried up the water, and caused animals and humans to die. Hou Yi, God of Archery, was called upon to help control his children. Hou Yi killed nine of the suns, sparing the last to leave Earth with light. Out of fear, the remaining sun remains faithful to his fixed schedule of flight, which creates night and day.

Scene Four: KUA FU CHASING THE SUN《誇父逐日》

Kua Fu the giant was perplexed by the Sun’s whereabouts at night and decided to chase and catch the Sun. With each stride he gets closer to the Sun, however, he could never catch up to it. He followed the Sun from the East to the West, draining all rivers and lakes crossing his path as sources of water to quench his burning thirst as he closed in on the star. However, he couldn’t finish his quest because he died of the extreme heat and exhaustion. When he died, he dropped his walking stick on the ground, which grows into forests of peach blossom trees.

These myths are reinterpreted through the lens of our modern-day relationship with the world we live in. The two creation stories conjure a sense of respect and awe for the Universe and environment. In The Legend of Pan Gu, the humble lesson to learn is, humans, although are the rulers of our planet now, are created last. They are created equally as with everything else. However, do humans respect the natural process of Universal order? In The Spirit Bird, this intriguing story asks important questions: is a weak force always meant to submit and surrender to a strong force? Is endless revenge always meaningless? In Kua Fu Chasing the Sun, it is illustrated that the ambition of human beings and the belief that nature can be conquered and consumed endlessly will eventually backfire on us. Maybe in this apocalyptic moment of the world, nature gets the last laugh and will survive beyond us.