When the lights of the theater intersect with light and dark, and when the joys and sorrows of a century interweave with the fireworks of the world, an observer who has been deeply involved in Beijing theater for more than 40 years uses his pen as a ruler and his heart as ink to condense hundreds of feasts in two years into text sketches. Qi Yimin's 2026 new work "Hundred Operas: A Beijing Audience's "Atonal" Theater Sketching", as the sequel to "Hundred Operas Banquet", is not only a cross-category aesthetic wandering, but also a Beijing-style theater viewing note. It is also a sincere confession dedicated to art and life by a cultural scholar and life observer. This collection of essays takes "atonality" as its core, breaking the shackles of stereotyped comments and giving each text both artistic quality and warmth of life, making it a rare guide for those who love theater.
"Hundred Operas: A Beijing Audience's "Atonal" Theater Sketches", written by Qi Yimin, published by Research Press in 2026
"Atonality" is the most distinctive soul of this collection of essays, and it is also the unique background for Qi Yimin's viewing and creation of dramas. Different from the obscurity of academic drama criticism and the superficiality of entertainment criticism, he uses the transparency of a "capital native" and the speculation of a cultural scholar to abandon the fixed review framework and let the feelings of watching the performance flow naturally. The hundreds of texts included in the book correspond to the hundreds of performances he watched at the National Center for the Performing Arts and other major theaters in the capital between September 2022 and April 2024. There is no deliberate praise or criticism, no rigid theory accumulation, only the most authentic feelings and the most vivid records, just like the unconventional improvisation in the theater, free and powerful. This kind of "atonality" is actually the most sincere aesthetic expression – not bound by genre, not kidnapped by authority, only based on inner touch, making every essay a unique mark of watching the drama.
Hundreds of operas are gathered together, and everything coexists. The words in the book are like a panoramic picture of contemporary stage art. With a broad vision, Qi Yimin has extended his brushwork to drama, Peking opera, ballet, symphony, opera, pingtan and many other art categories, taking into account ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, and for both refined and popular tastes. There are deep echoes of classic dramas such as "Thunderstorm" and "Xiaojing Hutong", as well as graceful and lengthy opera passages such as "The Suo Lin Bag" and "The Princess of the Tang Dynasty", as well as dance spectaculars such as Yang Liping's "Peacock" and the Mariinsky Theater Ballet. The banquet is visually stunning; it includes the peak performances of art masters such as Buchbinder and Yuja Wang, the delicate interpretations of senior actors such as Liu Mintao and He Bing, and the pyrotechnics of mass performances such as Guo Degang's cross talk and Han Hong's concert. From the philosophy of Chekhov's "The Seagull" to the gentleness of Suzhou Pingtan's "Thunderstorm", from the solemnity of the Vienna Symphony Concert to the humor of the Deyun Society's special performance, the hundreds of plays are all-encompassing, just like a "family portrait" of contemporary theater art and artists, fully displaying the diverse charm and elegance of the times on the capital's stage.
Qi Yimin has an interdisciplinary background including a bachelor's degree in economics, a master's degree in public administration, and a doctorate in comparative literature, as well as more than ten years of overseas life experience. This makes his writing humorous, elegant, magnanimous and natural, and his comments have both depth and warmth. He would use vivid metaphors such as "hands like king crabs" to describe Bogorelic's playing. He would think of the fireworks in Zhuozhou and Bazhou when commenting on Shi Yihong's "Suolin Bag". He would look back at the years while listening to "Long March Suite" and seamlessly connect his feelings about the performance with his life experience and thinking about the times. There is no piling up of gorgeous words in the article, but the real meaning can be seen in the plain, and the deep feelings are hidden in the details. As the editor said, he has transformed into a "drama magician" and used sketching techniques to transform hundreds of performances into a smart "magic picture", allowing readers to be immersed in the scene and feel the unique charm of each performance even if they are not in the theater.
The value of this work has long gone beyond an ordinary theater viewing guide and has become a spiritual journey that connects art and life, tradition and contemporary times. It is not only a summary of Qi Yimin's personal performance viewing experience, but also a microcosm of the capital's drama and music stage in recent years, with distinct immediacy and contemporary characteristics. In the book, we see not only hundreds of wonderful performances, but also an observer's awe for art and love for life – he will be moved by the actors' ingenuity, sigh for the inheritance of classics, applaud the vitality of public performance, and also think about the nature of art and the meaning of time while watching the play. For readers who love art and theater, "Hundred Opera Collection" is a "super interesting guide" that guides us to unlock a new perspective of watching dramas; for ordinary readers, it is a window that allows us to feel the charm of art in words and appreciate the beauty of life in fireworks.
The theater may come to an end, but the love of art and life will never fade away. Qi Yimin used hundreds of words to freeze the two years of theater time. With "atonal" sincerity, he broke down the barriers between art and life, letting us understand that art is never a lofty spring and snow, but a spiritual nourishment that blends with fireworks and touches people's hearts. "A Collection of Hundred Operas" is like a pot of warm tea, sweet after reading it for the first time, but sweet again after tasting it. In this two-year aesthetic journey, we not only gained the influence of art, but also understood the meaning of love – treating art with a sincere heart and embracing life with a transparent heart. This is the precious revelation left to us by "Hundred Opera Collection".
