page_title: 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
section_title: 1. Scroll Painting
hierarchical_section_title: 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony / Sequence of events / 1. Scroll Painting
caption_attribution_description: English: Performances at the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
context_page_description: The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It began at 20:00 China Standard Time on Friday, 8 August 2008, as the number 8 is considered to be auspicious. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture. The artistic part of the ceremony comprised two parts titled "Brilliant Civilization" and "Glorious Era" respectively. The first part highlighted the Chinese civilization and the second part exhibited modern China and its dream of harmony between the people of the world. The stadium was full to its 91,000 capacity according to organizers.
  The ceremony was directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who was the chief director and was assisted by Chinese choreographers Zhang Jigang and Chen Weiya. The director of music for the ceremony was composer Chen Qigang. It was noted for its focus on ancient Chinese culture, and for its creativity, as well as being the first to use weather modification technology to prevent rainfall. The final ascent to the torch featured Olympic gymnast Li Ning, who appeared to run through air around the membrane of the stadium.
context_section_description: At the prelude to the section, Beautiful Olympics, a short film, was screened depicting the making of paper, another of the Four Great Inventions, ending with a rolled-up scroll painting to set the stage for the next segment. Ceramics, porcelain vessels and other Chinese fine arts artifacts were beamed on a giant LED scroll, representing the first of the Four Great Inventions of China, paper, and displaying animated graphics, slowly unfurling. At its center was a piece of white canvas paper, which then ushered in a performance of black-costumed dancers whose hands hid brushes that had been dipped in ink.  They performed a dance while leaving their trails on the block of white paper, reminiscent of Chinese ink and wash painting. This was accompanied by the sounds of the guqin, China's ancient seven-string zither, as played by Chen Leiji (S: 陈雷激, T: 陳雷激, P: Chén Léijī).  The LED scroll then showed an old, rare painting by Wang Ximeng.
caption: Dancers painting on the scroll
exif: {}