Golden rice waves and the rhythmic beat of drums—Youren’s performance at Chishang amazed everyone

By MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network Editorial Department, compiled and reported by Liao Qiyu
 

With blue skies as the backdrop and green mountains and white clouds as the setting, the seventh “Chishang Autumn Harvest Rice Art Festival,” organized by the Taiwan Good Foundation, took place over two days starting October 31. This year, the festival once again invited the Youren Drum Theater to perform in Chishang and, for the first time, brought their production “Beyond Time” outdoors. For this outdoor presentation, the Youren Drum Theater specially adjusted the theatrical content by removing the original floor projection and using natural light and shadow for visual effects. With nature providing the most beautiful stage, the performance offered all audience members in Chishang a spiritually enriching sensory feast.

Ko Wen-chang, chairman of the Taiwan Good Foundation, said that seven years ago when he first came to Chishang, he was not only deeply captivated by the local scenery but also moved by the simplicity, purity, and cultural richness of the people of Chishang. Over the past seven years, the Taiwan Good Foundation has been deeply rooted in the land, becoming friends with local farmers and collaborating with residents to imagine various possibilities for Chishang. Building on Chishang’s rich local cultural foundation, and seeing from the same perspective as the land and its people, the foundation launched the “Spring Plowing, Summer Tending, Autumn Harvest, Winter Storage” Chishang Four Seasons events. In 2009, they invited pianist Chen Guanyu to play amid the golden rice fields, an event that was featured on the website of TIME magazine, showcasing Chishang’s beautiful scenery to the world. On September 16, 2015, The New York Times even published a front-page, full-page photo and related report on Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s performance of “Rice” in Chishang.

The 2015 “Chishang Autumn Harvest Rice Art Festival” invited the Youren Drum Theater back to Chishang to perform their highly acclaimed work “Beyond Time.” With the golden rice waves of Chishang’s Brown Boulevard as the backdrop, the beauty of art was on full display, allowing everyone present to break free from distracting thoughts and fully immerse themselves in the experience of being beyond time, carried away by the powerful drumbeats.