A Chinese animated film, “Chang An,” featuring some of China’s most well-known poets has won praise for drumming up interest in traditional Chinese poetry and has been a surprise hit at the box office.
Since its release on July 8, the film has fetched over 700 million yuan ($100 million) as of Monday, leading the domestic box office over the weekend.
The film is set in the Tang dynasty, an especially prosperous era of Chinese history from 618 to 907, and depicts some of the era’s most famous poets including Li Bai, Du Fu, and Gao Shi — all household names in contemporary China, with the study of their poems mandatory at school.
The film revolves around the interweaving stories of Gao Shi and Li Bai, depicting their struggles to better themselves and society in the Tang dynasty. Drawing from both myths and history, the almost three-hour-long film features 48 well-known Tang poems. Continue to read the full article here
– This article originally appeared on Sixth Tone
