赳赳大秦

The Show

Background

赳赳大秦 is a large-scale epic immersive spectacle built around Qin culture. Its creative spark is the earliest surviving family letter in China — the “Heifu Wooden Slips” unearthed from the Qin tomb at Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei. Over two thousand years ago, Qin soldiers Heifu and Jing wrote to their elder brother Zhong of their longings for home; the show begins with these two slips, weaving the fate of a nation and of ordinary people into the story of one small figure.

Unlike common historical dramas, the show does not open with the grand narrative of the First Emperor, but follows the life of an ordinary Qin man: audiences see how the Qin people labored, fought, and held fast to the belief of “one world under heaven.” The creative team’s goal is clear — to make the work first and foremost a “play,” not merely a “show.”

This is the world’s first fully traversing, moving theater: during the performance the audience seats advance mechanically with the story, the stage and seats interweaving, 80 minutes with no intermission. The production is a major Shaanxi provincial cultural-tourism project of the 14th Five-Year Plan, with its premiere in Xi’an on September 27, 2024.

Plot

The show unfolds across seven acts, progressing as the audience seats move forward:

Act Title
Prologue Prologue
Act I Heifu the Qin Man
Act II The Eternal Capital
Act III The North Wind Moans
Act IV The Reeds Are Green
Act V 赳赳大秦
Finale Finale

The story advances on two threads: the love between Heifu and his beloved “He,” and the historical unification of the six states by Qin. Heifu was a prisoner of war from Zhao; because he knew how to make tiles, he was brought before the master builder Yi, and a single “would you become a Qin man?” pulled him back from the brink of death. He joined the building of the Xianyang palace, earned a title for saving the ruler’s life, and finally left his love to march to war, dying on the road to unification — becoming, with countless nameless soldiers, a terracotta warrior. Scenes such as Jing Ke’s assassination attempt on the Qin king, the debate of the six-state rulers in the Xianyang hall, and the eternal oath of the terracotta army, all unfold before the moving audience seats.

The show opens in reverse from the archaeological site of the Terracotta Army and closes with the figure of a kneeling archer — the specific plot and ending are best left for the live experience.

Main Characters

  • Heifu: from Zhao prisoner of war to Qin craftsman and soldier; his life encapsulates the rise of Qin
  • He: Heifu’s beloved, the love thread by the Wei River
  • Master Builder Yi: the Qin master craftsman overseeing the Xianyang palace
  • Jing Ke: in Act III “The North Wind Moans,” the audience enters the palace through the assassin’s perspective
  • The Qin King: the First Emperor, orchestrating from the Xianyang palace

Creative Team

  • Producer: Shaanxi Culture Industry Investment Holdings (Group) Co., Ltd.
  • Chief Directors: Zhou Liya, Han Zhen (known for “Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting” and “The Eternal Wave”)
  • Stage Visual Design: George Tsypin (USA; co-director of the Sochi Winter Olympics opening ceremony; master of international stage design)
  • Lighting Design: Donald Holder (USA; Tony Award winner for Best Lighting Design, Broadway)
  • Multimedia Design: Olivier Goulet
  • Screenwriters: Sun Henghai, Li Xun and other top domestic teams, with film screenwriter Lu Wei and Qin-history expert Li Kaiyuan involved
  • Operation: Shaanxi Daqin Performing Arts Operation Management Co., Ltd.

Theater & Technology

The 赳赳大秦 theater was “built for the show, not the other way around” — stage and story designed together:

  • Stage 116 m long, 38 m wide, total area 4,393.403 m², awarded the Guinness World Record “Largest Theater Stage” in November 2024
  • World’s first fully traversing, moving theater: about 1,500 audience seats ride a 37.7 m × 36.7 m super-large hydraulic platform, moving at multiple speeds through a building space over 160 m deep
  • Stage divided into four major spaces and six scenes, with 360-degree indoor realistic sets
  • Flying stagecraft spanning 45 m — Asia’s largest indoor moving stage device
  • BlackTrax real-time tracking: 321 beacons, processing 255 tracked points at 100 frames per second, driving 600 computer lights and 1,000 effects fixtures
  • 10 curtain machines of 42 m, nearly 300 high-tech stage machines, over 30,000 stage fixtures; single-scene maximum projection area reaches 2,600 m²
  • Physical effects of water, electricity, mist, and wind, shifting with the story
  • Costumes and props reconstructed from Qin artifacts: terracotta warrior costumes replicated 1:1, a single piece weighing about 17 jin (≈9 kg); the score weaves in pre-Qin musical elements such as the bianzhong (bronze bells)
  • The theater is equipped with AI smart translation glasses, so overseas visitors can also follow the classical-language dialogue

Reputation & Honors

Two years since premiere: over 1.43 million cumulative attendees, more than 1,000 performances, average occupancy around 95% (statistics through 2026.8, source: official figures). Over 500 million total online impressions, consistently topping Xi’an cultural-tourism charts.

Praise from the industry and audiences:

“赳赳大秦 is not only in China, but a one-of-a-kind work in the whole world — deeply stunning in artistry, ideas, and watchability alike.” — Jin Dong (National First-Class Actor; head of China Coal Mine Art Troupe)

“Silver and gold cups mean less than the audience’s word of mouth.” — Jin Dong

“赳赳大秦 is like a thoroughly exhilarating dream.” — Liu Minta

“A stage can be this spectacular — simply an unprecedented experience.” — Pu Cunxin

“赳赳大秦 is a perfect union of art and technology… a miracle!” — Sergei Makovetsky (Russian artist)

Recognitions include the Guinness World Record “Largest Theater Stage,” the 2024 Lingjing Award “Excellent Case of Immersive Performing Project,” China Cultural Tourism Pioneer Award, China Annual Creative Case of Tourism Products, Innovation Pioneer Case, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s “Second Batch of National Excellent Tourism Performing Catalog.”

Show Info

  • Runtime: 80 minutes, no intermission
  • Venue: 赳赳大秦演出剧场 (northeast corner of Fengdong Avenue and Tiantai Road, Weiyang District, Xi’an; Fengdong New City, Xixian New Area)
  • Premiere: September 27, 2024

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