Revolutionary music entertains a holiday crowd in a people's cultural park within the confines of the old Imperial City. Once the scene of solemn ceremonies staged by the Chinese emperor and his court, the five-century-old pagoda-roofed Temple of Ancestors has been restored and is now open for the enjoyment of everyone. All morning long last May Day, here and on ten other temporary stages set up in the park, professional troupes presented excerpts from the five operas, two ballets, and one concert work that comprise China's "modern revolutionary dramas." Sponsored by Mao's wife Chiang Ch'ing, the dramas put art to work as an educational tool in a government effort to keep alive the spirit that drove revolutionaries to establish Communism in China.
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