Structure Type: Opera stage 戲台.
Location: The opera stage is located within the complex of the massive Temple to the Eastern Marchmount 東嶽廟. The Temple itself is located on a hilltop just to the south of the county town.
Period: 1947. The date and artist are given in the corner of one of the panels.
Artist: Zhang Xiaoliang 張效良.
Mural Contents: The murals are painted on wooden panels around the opera stage, thus forming the backdrop to any play performed there. The two relatively intact panels show perspectival city scenes in which actors are performing scenes; these probably correspond to some specific play, but I’m not sure what. A large number of other panels are painted around, but these are now so faded as to be totally irrecoverable.
A particularly interesting bit are these trompe-l’œil paintings set high up under the rafters. The panels show a realistic illusion of hung plaques, on which are written “Cities Upon the Seas” 海上市 and “Towers Upon Giant Clams” 蜃上樓 – phrases synonymous with illusion and phantasmagoria.
Full Gallery
