Peking Opera is no stranger to the cinema. In 1905, the first Chinese movie ever made, The Battle of Dingjunshan, 【小题1】(feature) a recording of a Peking Opera show with the same title performed by the celebrated master Tan Xinpei (1847-1917) .

Movies featuring the art form were popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Famous masters starred in films, 【小题2】 have become valuable material for researchers. In the 1960s and 1970s, revolutionary-themed modern Peking Opera theatrical productions became 【小题3】(increasing) popular.

In 2011, the government-supported Peking Opera Film Project was launched, bringing together top artists and movie studios 【小题4】(transform) classic shows into feature-length movies.

A total of 16 Peking Opera companies, schools and film studios 【小题5】(join) the project since it started, 【小题6】 more than 60 leading artists have starred in the 19 Peking Opera movies that have been shot.

Yin Xiaodong, president of the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, said, “The big screen highlights facial 【小题7】(expression), movements and detailed gestures made by Peking Opera performers 【小题8】(give) audiences a clearer view of the ancient art form. Moreover, as there are only a limited number of seats in 【小题9】(tradition) theatres, cinematic versions overcome the limitations of time and space.”

The film The Jewelry Purse, adapted 【小题10】 the classic work performed by Peking Opera master Cheng Yanqiu (1904-1958), is the latest movie listed in the Peking Opera Film Project.

Have you ever lasted or perhaps heard of sugar painting? As fewer people choose to make sugar paintings, the traditional Chinese folk craft might have become a 【小题1】 (distance)memory in some ways. However, a 38--year--old craftsman, Li Jiangzhong, is devoted to 【小题2】 (keep)the art of sugar painting alive.

Li worked as a minor for more than ten years. After 【小题3】 mine closed down, Li turned to housing decoration until he 【小题4】 (force)to give that up due to a finger injury. Earlier this year, he discovered sugar painting, something he really had an interest 【小题5】.

Since there was no sugar painting craftsman in his village, he studied by 【小题6】 (he)through large quantities of videos and information on the Internet. Li loved painting when he was young, and he found it easy 【小题7】 (learn)the skill in sugar painting. He soon mastered the skill and could have varieties of sugar paintings 【小题8】 (make)with melted brown or white sugar. A craftsman 【小题9】 (basic)paints animals and flowers on a stone board with the syrup(糖浆). A piece of sugar art appear when the sugar cools down. Li’s many paintings 【小题10】 told interesting stories were liked by a lot of children.

Book Restorers Touch History

—Keeping ancient manuscripts in tip-top condition requires expertise and passion—

Whenever Song Jing visits a museum, she makes a point of checking out the section on ancient books. In addition to appreciating the wisdom 【小题1】 (hide) in those historical volumes, she focuses on how they are bound and presented.

Song works in the restoration division for ancient books at the National Library of China which is home to about 3 million ancient manuscripts, many of which require restoration before they can see 【小题2】 light of day again. Some books have suffered great loss. Take, for example, a 16th-century copy of Yongle Dadian. Only 3.5 percent of the total publication are known to exist.

The process of 【小题3】 (repair) ancient books is complex. Day after day, Song and her colleagues are fully immersed in the duty of handling and healing the old books. Thanks 【小题4】 cutting-edge technology, restorers can create paper 【小题5】 (incredible) similar to the original version. However, the old-fashioned techniques still come in handy sometimes. 【小题6】 (fear) the chemicals in commercially produced paste might harm the books, restorers have to make the glues by themselves. The paste needs to be mixed right before the repair,   【小题7】 it will go bad because of sitting for too long.

The valuable cultural heritage that restorers have preserved 【小题8】 (serve) as the best evidence of Chinese civilization. Recently, the library has sent 【小题9】 (it) specialists like Song to deliver speeches in colleges and on TV. “I’m glad to see such 【小题10】 (arrange) and I hope to inspire people to find their passion in the preservation of our traditional culture,” Song says.