Draft:National Treasures Concert

The "National Treasures·Treasure Concert" is a cultural exchange and overseas promotion event for the Central Radio and Television Station's program "National Treasures." It was held on October 24, 2019, at the Tokyo National Museum's Heiseikan in Japan. The video of the event was first broadcast on the Bilibili bullet-screen website on November 5, 2019, and was later aired on CCTV's website on November 14, 2019.

Background activity

"National Treasures" is a cultural and historical exploration television program that has been airing on the CCTV Variety Channel since December 3, 2017. The show is produced by China Central Television and CCTV Documentary International Media Co., Ltd. The second season was produced and aired in December 2018. Each season consists of ten episodes, with the first nine episodes featuring three artifacts from each of nine museums, including the Palace Museum. These episodes introduce the guardians of these national treasures along with their historical backgrounds. Each artifact's celebrity guardian and program assistant perform a stage drama titled "Past Life Legends." Subsequently, individuals connected to the artifact, ordinary cultural workers, or practitioners related to the cultural significance of the artifact share the "Current Life Story." After each episode airs, viewers vote on the three artifacts featured by that episode's museum, selecting one to be displayed in a special exhibition at the Forbidden City. The tenth episode reveals which artifacts have been selected.

In December 1979, the People's Republic of China and Japan signed the "Sino-Japanese Cultural Exchange Agreement." The year 2019 marked the 40th anniversary of the signing of this agreement. To commemorate this milestone, the "Three Kingdoms" exhibition, co-hosted by China and Japan, opened on July 9, 2019, at the Tokyo National Museum. The "National Treasures Music Concert" event was also considered part of the 40th-anniversary commemoration activities.

Relavant information

The hosts of the event were Wang Yang and Zhuoma, with Wang Yang also serving as the host for the NHK program "Learning Chinese Through Television." Notable guests at the event included Guo Yan, Minister of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Japan; former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda; Wang Jiaxun, President of the Chinese Enterprises Association in Japan; Takashi Iwata, Emeritus Professor at the University of Tokyo; Hideo Murata, Managing Director and Head of Public Interest at the Democratic Music Association; Japanese guitarist Kiyoshi Shoumura; and Chinese actress Xu Qing, among others.

The event followed the narrative style of the "National Treasures" program, first telling the "Past Life Legends" of five national treasure-level ancient musical instruments, followed by performances by prominent traditional musicians from both China and Japan who played or performed pieces related to these instruments.

No.	Name	Collection/Owning Unit	Additional Description
1	Mother-of-Pearl Inlaid Purple Sandalwood Five-String Pipa	Nara's Todaiji Temple Shosoin	A Tang Dynasty relic from the 8th century, a gift to Emperor Shomu, exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum from October 14 to November 2, 2020 in the special exhibition "The World of Shosoin - Imperial Guardian of Heritage." Performance: Chinese musician Fang Jinlong played "Ambush from Ten Sides" on a modern five-string pipa.
2	"Gigaku Masks" Mural	China's Mogao Caves, Dunhuang	Located on the south wall of Cave 112, part of the "Western Pure Land Transformation." It dates from the Tang Dynasty and includes depictions of a five-string pipa and vertical harps, two of which are in the Shosoin collection. Performance: Wu Lin, a player of the Chinese national orchestra, performed "Yang Guan San Die" on a reconstructed vertical harp; Fang Jinlong and Wu Lin performed "Feathered Clothes Dance" together on modern versions of their instruments.
3	Carved Shakuhachi	Nara's Todaiji Temple Shosoin	One of eight shakuhachis from the Tang Dynasty preserved in the Shosoin. Originally a Wu-Yue region ancient musical instrument, replaced by the xiao in China, but widely spread and became a traditional Japanese instrument. Performance: Japanese shakuhachi player Hikaru Fukuda performed "The Distant Sound of Deer"; Fukuda and his wife, a shamisen player, performed "Poem of the Wind" together; Fukuda, Fang Jinlong (pipa), and Wu Lin (vertical harp) performed "Rebounding Pipa and Gigaku Music of Heaven" composed by the event's music director, Maku Yue.
4	Bugaku Mask “King of Lanling”	Osaka's Shitennoji Temple	An important cultural property from the Kamakura period, used in gagaku performances. Performance: Gagaku performer Hideshiki Toi (dancer) and 9 musicians performed "Pulling Heads"; Chinese dancer Huang Doudou and 9 musicians performed "King of Lanling".
5	"Nine Heavens Ringing Jade" Guqin	Private collection of He Zuoru	One of the Tang Dynasty "Nine Heavens Ringing Jade" ancient guqins. Performance: Chinese guqin player Li Xiangting played "Three Variations on the Plum Blossom" and "Flowing Water"; Li Xiangting (guqin), Fang Jinlong (pipa), Wu Lin (vertical harp), Hikaru Fukuda (shakuhachi), Kinoya Kuniyoshi (shamisen), and Hideshiki Toi (silk bamboo) performed "The Road of the Blue Sea" composed by Toi.

Remark

"Wénbó" refers to cultural relics and museums. According to the introduction on the official website of the Eastern Museum, the mother-of-pearl inlaid purple sandalwood five-string pipa was displayed in the early part of the special exhibition. It was scheduled to be replaced by a purple sandalwood painted groove pipa in the later part of the exhibition. The exhibition's introductory images indicate that the former's display ended on November 4th, while the host introduced it as ending on November 2nd.