FINE ART Supports the Successful Premiere of the New Historical Peking Opera The Upright Official Li Dianlin
The play was selected for the Shanxi Art Fund's 2025 Stage Art Creation and Production Project. The script was written by renowned screenwriter Jing Yanbin, with direction by Ma Xiao, a faculty member of the Directing Department at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, and vocal score design by the celebrated opera musician Zhu Shaoyu. The leading role was performed by Sheng Zhiqiang, a renowned laosheng (old male role) master of the Xi school, joined by the acclaimed huulian (painted‑face) performer Zhang Wei and the Meipai qingyi (female lead) master Shan Na. The play focuses on the rampant corruption of the late‑Qing era’s donation‑based official appointment system. It tells how Li Dianlin, holding a high position in the Ministry of Personnel, witnessed the devastating effects of selling official posts on the people and resolutely risked his own safety to boldly remonstrate against the abolition of the two‑thousand‑year‑old system. The drama interweaves Li’s conflicts with his junior fellow Wang Rui, Empress Dowager Cixi, and his wife Zhou, creating a three‑dimensional portrait of an upright official who is both firm and compassionate. As the first original work to bring Li Dianlin to the theatrical stage, the play uses historical narrative to reflect on clean governance and the greater good of the nation, drawing lessons from the past to promote integrity, righteousness, and steadfastness in our own time.
In this Peking opera feast of clean‑official culture, multiple professional lighting fixtures from FINE ART provided outstanding light efficiency, passionately supporting the unyielding spirit of the upright official. The FINE 550 BSW PLUS three‑in‑one light, with its large 169mm output lens, creates a robust beam. Its rich color system – CMY, CTO, and an independent color wheel – interweaves with an eight‑facet prism and a twenty‑four‑facet prism, combined with a dynamic effect wheel, to depict the solemn dignity of the remonstrance in the imperial hall and the inner turmoil of the character. The FINE 1400 PERF, with its unique optical design, achieves uniform light distribution and allows frosting via focus adjustment without changing the beam size or luminous flux. Equipped with a full framing system rotatable 90°, it sharply frames Li Dianlin’s decisive posture as he dares to speak truth to power.
The FINE 4019 PIXIE PLUS two‑in‑one beam and wash light, using high‑quality RGBW four‑in‑one LEDs as its light source with individually controllable beads, delivers a maximum output of 900W and an illuminance of 29,500 lux at 6 meters. With a wide linear zoom range of 4° to 60°, uniform color mixing, and 0–100% smooth linear dimming, it effortlessly creates the layered atmosphere from late‑night contemplation to fierce debate in court. The FINE 400CL7 professional LED cyclorama/floor light employs a 7‑color full‑spectrum optical design with Ra and R9 both above 90, and theatre‑grade 16‑bit high‑precision dimming, providing delicate and precise coverage that illuminates the faces of the characters, revealing every trace of compassion and determination of the upright official.
As the final notes of Peking opera fade and the spirit of integrity lingers, FINE ART uses light as a brush – not only illuminating the iron‑will of an official who risked death to speak the truth, but also reflecting the timeless power of honesty, righteousness, and adherence to principle that transcends ancient and modern times. Where light and shadow reach, the clean governance and national duty are transformed on this stage into an enduring echo of the ages.
