Rong ** reporter Cai Zimin, Zhang Suping, Xu Xiaocheng, correspondents, Lin Fengjin, Pan Tingting.
Last night, Zhou Jiejun, director of the Quanzhou Gaojia Opera Inheritance Center, who had just returned home from Beijing, read the 224 New Year's message published by *** word by word, and his mood could not be calm for a long time.
Three days ago, Zhou Jiejun took 74 crew members to perform the Gaojia opera "Weitou Bride" to party and state leaders and people from all walks of life in the capital at the 2024 New Year's Opera Gala held at the National Center for the Performing Arts, telling the story of the family love of compatriots on both sides of the strait in Weitou Village, the "first village of cross-strait intermarriage", which is also the only program selected in Fujian Province. He told reporters: "As soon as I returned to Quanzhou, I saw the New Year's message, and I was even more deeply touched by the sentence 'The reunification of the motherland is a historical necessity, and compatriots on both sides of the strait should join hands and share the great glory of national rejuvenation.'" ”
Art comes from life, and Gao Jia's opera "The Bride of Waitou" interprets the flesh and blood of compatriots on both sides of the strait, and shows the changes and gains brought by the mainland to "promote integration through communication, benefit, and affection" for compatriots on both sides of the strait.
Gaojia opera "The Bride of Waitou" appeared at the 2024 New Year's Opera Gala (photo courtesy of the troupe).
The drama shows the story of compatriots on both sides of the strait "going both ways".
As the only program in the province to be selected for the 2024 New Year's Opera Gala, Quanzhou Gaojia Opera "The Bride of Waitou" has gone through layers of screening and finally stood out and became one of the 15 participating works in the country.
Zhou Jiejun said that this drama is based on the development of Jinjiang Weitou from the "first village of artillery warfare" to the "first village of cross-strait intermarriage", focusing on the special group of "Weitou brides", telling the joys and sorrows of the three generations of the two families for more than 40 years, and showing the touching story of compatriots on both sides of the strait working together to build a home under the background of "promoting integration with communication, promoting integration with benefits, and promoting integration with affection".
This is the first time that Quanzhou Gaojia opera has appeared on the stage of the New Year's opera party, and such a high-standard and high-level performance is the first time in the history of the development of Gaojia opera. Zhou Jiejun said. In March 2021, during his inspection in Fujian Province, the general secretary proposed that it is necessary to highlight the promotion of integration through communication, benefits and affection, and have the courage to explore a new path of cross-strait integration and development. "The Bride of Waitou" is a masterpiece of cross-strait drama created by the artists of Quanzhou Gaojia Opera Inheritance Center to conscientiously implement the requirements of the general secretary and carefully create.
The drama originates from the real cross-strait story, and it is a "two-way rush" of compatriots on both sides of the strait that has lasted for decades. Weitou Village, located in Jinjing, Jinjiang, faces Kinmen across the sea. On New Year's Day in 1979, after the publication of the "Letter to Taiwan Compatriots," fishermen on both sides of the strait began to contact again. The warming up of nongovernmental economic and trade exchanges has been accompanied by increasingly close cross-strait personnel exchanges. In Weitou Village, there is gradually a cross-strait marriage in which the "Waitou bride" enters the heart of the "Taiwanese groom" and the "Taiwanese bride" enters the door of the "Waitou groom", which is also the origin of the "Waitou bride".
The "bride of the head of the circle" has become a link of non-governmental exchanges between the two sides of the strait
The story of compatriots on both sides of the strait working together to build a homeland touched the hearts of the audience, and also made the main creators of the drama and the prototype of the story excited.
There are 148 pairs of "cross-strait marriages" in Weitou Village, including 138 "Weitou brides" and 10 "Taiwanese brides", and is known as "the first village of cross-strait marriage". Here, the story of a family on both sides of the strait happens every day, and it has become a good story.
Screenwriter Chen Xinxin recalled that at the beginning of the creation and rehearsal, the main creators went to Weitou Village many times to collect style, and when everyone walked into the "823 Artillery Battle Memorial Hall", they stopped for a long time in front of a historical **. **, several young women flew kites in the direction of Kinmen, and the words "My relatives, I hope you go home early" are written on the kites. "I was struck by this call of humanity. Now, one of the reasons why everyone's painstaking efforts have been widely recognized is that this is a vivid portrayal of the mainland's "promoting integration with feelings".
The story of the 'Waitou Bride' appeared on the stage of the National Center for the Performing Arts, which is our pride, and the 'Waitou Bride' in real life has long become a link between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait People-to-People Exchange. Hong Pingping, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Village Committee of Weitou Village, said. "I didn't expect that after more than 30 years, my story was put on the stage and caused such a big response. Hong Shuangfei, the first "bride of the head of the wall", was very excited when he heard the news.
The new vision of the "bride" is the "mother-in-law's family".
In recent years, Quanzhou has done a good job in the three articles of "communication, benefit and affection", actively explored a new path of cross-strait integration and development, and built the first home for Taiwan compatriots and Taiwan enterprises to land. Weitou Village seized the opportunity to launch the "Weitou Bride" brand and embarked on a characteristic development path: to carry out the construction of a new countryside of "Revitalization of Weitou and Second Entrepreneurship", vigorously develop the cultural tourism industry, expand the aquaculture industry, and hold activities such as "Cross-Strait (Weitou) Qixi Festival of Returning to Relatives" and "Fujian-Taiwan (Weitou) Rural Tourism and Cultural Festival". The annual GDP of the village reaches 3800 million yuan, the village collective income is nearly 3 million yuan, and the per capita annual income is 3850,000 yuan. Hong Pingping said that it is the common responsibility of everyone to build the maiden home of the "bride of Weitou" and the in-law of the "Taiwan bride". The story of Weitou Village is becoming a vivid case of cross-strait integration and development.
The 4th Cross-Strait (Jinjiang Weitou) Qixi Festival Cross-Strait Youth Friendship Activities (data map).
Hong Yuchan (red) returned to Weitou with her two grandsons earlier to participate in the homecoming activities. (Data map).
The bride "went home to celebrate" March 8 "Women's Day (** from Jinjiang News Network).
For the "brides of the wall", home is a place that often comes and goes, Quanzhou is home, and Taiwan is also home. At the beginning of 2023, the "mini three links" passenger route from Quanzhou to Kinmen, which had been interrupted for three years, resumed operation, and Hong Shuangfei couldn't wait to board the road back home. Now, she goes back to her parents' house every month. Hong Yuchan, who is similar to Hong Shuangfei's identity, is even happier, her grandson was admitted to Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics last year, and her grandmother's deep love for her hometown affects her grandchildren's life choices - returning to the mainland can they truly understand the mainland and share the development opportunities of the mainland.
It has been more than five years since Quanzhou opened water to the Kinmen water supply project, and after the vision of "one family on both sides of the strait, drinking the water of the same river" has become a reality, the "brides of the head of the wall" have expressed the hope that the exchanges between the people on both sides of the strait will return to normal as soon as possible and realize the "one-day living circle" on both sides of the straitIt is hoped that in the near future, the two sides of the strait will be connected to electricity, gas, and bridges, and that the "one-day living circle" will become a "half-day living circle."