The Sun and Moon: The Daming Palace will soon be hitting the worldwide tour route with stops planned in Europe, the US and Australia.

By Mao Jiayu

The white gauze curtain shone with twinkling stars. A full, bright moon sparkled softly, hanging high in the air. A tuneful orchestra majestically swelled to a climax just as a gaggle of graceful, gentle young women walked slowly and elegantly towards the limelight, hands clasped in unison. Each model was adorned in elaborate Tang Dynasty wear, seductive red lips and all, the stage awash in a sea of luxuriant color.

The Beijing Exhibition Center on the night of November 23 held Sun and Moon: The Daming Palace, a fashion show that glorified royal costumes as they were since in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty (618—907).

The Tang Dynasty is widely regarded in China as a golden age for the Chinese civilization, an era when cosmopolitan culture flourished. And more than 2,000 years later, designer Han Chunqi, décor designer Jiang Haoyang and composer Bian Liunian—all of who held directing responsibilities during the 2008 Olympics closing ceremonies—teamed up to bring China's most prosperous age back to life.

The show was divided into three parts: Grand Ceremony of the Levee, Banquet at the Palace and the Prosperous Tang Dynasty. Altogether more than 1,000 costumes were shown, which in total took six months to design and then tailor. Traditional Tang architecture, cultural relics and musical instruments were integrated into the designs.

It was common during the Tang Dynasty for women to bunch their hair up in the shape of "an elaborate edifice above the forehead," reads China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty by Charles Benn. And it was the hairstyles worn by the models that were of prominent focus during the Sun and Moon show, as pipa, erhu, lotus and even wine pot-inspired designs could be seen atop their heads.

One model wore a pink lotus suit with a garland worn on the head that gave the appearance of a fairy maiden who had just departed a fantastical realm. Another model's green silk robe, featuring an over-sized Peking opera mask, clung to her seductively coquettish, hour-glass figure.

The Tang Dynasty saw the only empress in Chinese history, whose name, Zhao ( ), is comprised of the Chinese character's for the sun and the moon positioned above one for the sky. The sun and the moon in China are typically associated with yin and yang, the two opposing forces of nature, one feminine and negative, the other masculine and positive.

The Daming Palace, seat of power during the Tang Dynasty, was the largest of its kind worldwide during the seventh to tenth centuries. 17 of 21 Tang emperors lived in and governed from the Palace, and its name in Chinese refers to competent leaders able to learn the lessons of history.

Last week's Tang fashion spectacular, in conjunction with the release of the film Daming Palace, was a part of a coordinate publicity push for the upcoming Daming Palace National Heritage Park, set to open next year.