Academic history drama written in Yunnan University

The College of Ethnology and Sociology at Yunnan University, or YNU – located in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province – in 2018 created an academic history drama, The Age of Kuige, whose impact is continuing to be felt.

It has since been regularly staged at the university at the beginning of July and the end of December every year.

"Kuige" in Chinese refers to an old building in Yunnan province which houses people engaged in sociology during 1940-45 and the period was named the age of Kuige.

The drama has been awarded the title of "cultivation project of the 2020 action plan for the promotion of college original culture" by the Education Working Committee of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee.

It has also been dubbed a "Yunnan social science popularization and innovation demonstration project" and a "Yunnan social science planning and popularization project" by the Yunnan Federation of Social Sciences.

Interdisciplinary collaboration was advocated by the drama. A total of 135 students from 10 schools in the university participated in the original creation of the script. They collected literature, did field research, as well as conducted performances and multimedia production and other processes.

They jointly studied ethnology and sociology literature, breaking through the customary disciplinary barriers.

As a result, the School of Ethnology and Sociology of Yunnan University subsequently formed a teaching curriculum with drama as the core. The undergraduate courses for "The Age of Kuige Original Academic Drama" and the "Ideological History and Theater Ceremony" were developed at the same time. Additionally, a series of teaching activities, such as reading conferences and field research, were carried out.