Have you ever looked at a painting and wondered what it would be like to live inside of it? Dressed in Ruqun (襦裙, a set of clothes including an outwear and a skirt) and Pibo (披帛, a narrow-sleeved silk wrap), a video of court ladies in the Tang Dynasty cosplayed by middle school students from Guangzhou recently went viral on social media.
(Photo: Nanfang Plus)
The cosplayers are students of the Middle School Affiliated to Guangzhou University. What they cosplayed are figures of "Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk" (《捣练图》, by Zhang Xuan, a court painter in the Tang Dynasty).
(Video: Nanfang Plus)
In the video, some of the ladies are pounding the silk with long wooden poles, while others are preparing thread on the ground or sewing on a stool. There are also two maids, one helping stretch the silk and the other fanning a charcoal stove for heating the iron.
Zhang Qi, the art teacher of the Middle School Affiliated to Guangzhou University said, this cosplay was the highlight of the school's 33rd art festival. In addition to "Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk", students also brought figures in another two paintings back to life, including "Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers" (《簪花仕女图》) and "Yongle Palace Murals" (永乐宫壁画, the murals painted on the walls of the Sanqing Hall in Shanxi province).
(Photo: Nanfang Plus)
"We hope that students can learn more about ancient Chinese paintings by cosplaying figures in those exquisite masterpieces", said Tao Tao, one of the instructors of this activity.
Author | Paprika
Editor | Wing, Nan, Abby, Monica, Jerry
