난 믿어요. 그래서...

난 믿어요. 그래서 난 지킬 거예요 (我相信，所以我坚持). What the Korean words mean is, "I believe, so I insist". These words continued to sound in my mind after I walked out of Sejong Center last Sunday night.

'Butterfly' (蝶), China's first large-scale musical, was performed for only 3 days at the Sejong Center last week. The Butterfly's storyline is inspired by the tragic love story of 'Liangzhu' (梁祝). Except for the main characters' name - 'Liang Shan Bo' (梁山伯) and 'Zhu Ying Tai' (祝英台), nothing else in the musical quite resembles the original Chinese classics.

China's first large-scale musical - 'Butterfly' (蝶). The storyline takes inspiration from the Chinese classics - 'Liangzhu'. The hanging butterfly-shape sculpture shown in the picture above is made up of many smaller metallic butterflies. The art piece is lowered at the end of the muscial and it looks awesome. Photo from Chosun Daily.

The 'Butterfly' tells a story about a cursed tribe living at the 'End of the World'. They called themselves the 'Butterfly People'. To break the curse, their tribe leader arranged for his daughter, Zhu Ying Tai, to marry a human. A wandering poet, Liang Shan Bo, met a drunkard one day and was guided by her to the 'End of the World' where he met Zhu Ying Tai and fell in love with her. Liang Shan Bo attempted to elope with Zhu Ying Tai one night before her arranged marriage but was captured and sentenced to death. Like the original classics, both Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai perished in the end but they were reincarnated as fire butterfly in the musical.

"I believe, so I insist" is the love message which the musical is trying to put across. However, it can also be seen as a message from the people who brought this musical into being. Because they believe, therefore they insist and the first Chinese large-scale musical was born. It is heartening to watch a musical in Chinese. Though 'Butterfly' may yet to be in the same league as the western musicals, it is a good step forward.

Love and dream alike, need belief and perseverance for them to become meaningful. Therefore, I shall believe and I shall insist.

Before the start of the musical, I was sitting on the stair of Sejong Center, watching the construction work being carried out on the new Gwanghwamun Square. A 600-year dream will soon be brought back to life. I want to be there when it opens as I want to witness the realisation of a dream.