ZHONG Q​i

 

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The final work of this series was completed on November 13, 2023. At dawn the next day, I returned from a riverside inn fifteen kilometers away to the original shooting site. When I confirmed that the day’s weather and flow conditions could no longer produce a scene as breathtaking as the previous day’s, 《Theater of the Yangtze River ™》—a project spanning five years and nine months—officially came to a close.

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The obsession with the final work—"Epilogue"—had actually been buried in my heart for two years prior. I was certain I needed it. For this reason, after completing all other works, I deliberately set aside time and embarked on a journey dedicated solely to the river in my mind. At that time, I did not know when I would return—I only knew I would come back only after I had finished.

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During the shoot, I employed some peculiar “tricks”—when troubled by the persistent failure to encounter the perfect combination of weather and water conditions I sought—I put away my camera and sat in meditation on a large riverside rock. With eyes closed, I listened as the river wind and the sound of rushing currents endlessly washed over my ears. I tried to forget my own existence, to detach myself from it all. Unintentionally, “self-forgetting” became the most essential practice of this series.

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The Yangtze River has been an important river since ancient times. As the longest river in China, it meanders for 6,300 kilometers and flows through 1.8 million square kilometers of land. It originates from the economically underdeveloped western regions and journeys toward the most affluent and highly urbanized eastern areas of China, nourishing nearly 460 million people living on one-fifth of the nation’s territory.

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Yet every era has its unique struggles, and everyone inevitably encounters unknown new challenges. When problems remain unresolved, it is natural to feel anxious and lost. Thus, in the face of inner chaos, we eventually embark on a quest—inward or outward? And so, the story I intend to tell begins to unfold…

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​Zhong Qi, 2024

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