Nanjing
I represent Nanjing because my connection to this city is a "living archive" shaped by my grandparents’ memories and my work with the elderly in old neighborhoods.
I want to explore how ordinary citizens preserve "moral memory" through quiet testimonies of wartime trauma, the Cultural Revolution, and rapid modernization—narratives that rarely enter official textbooks. I am defending these overlooked storytellers whose lived experiences form a parallel archive that keeps the city’s conscience alive. Like Cicero, I aim to show that these fragile, human stories are indispensable to a community’s identity and virtue.
This story matters because how a community remembers its past directly shapes the moral aware citizenry of its future. Capturing these personal stories before they are lost to time ensures that resilience and ethical reflection remain central to our civic identity.
—Gabi Ping Guo
Gabi Ping Guo
Chapter Leader
Gabi Ping is a high school student at Nanjing Foreign Language School passionate about preserving stories and connecting generations. Growing up in Nanjing, she developed a deep appreciation for local history and culture. As the Minister of Life, she has led initiatives in cultural exchange, research, and social innovation. Through GNI, she explores Nanjing Baiju as a living archive of urban memories.
Our project creates a literary archive of Nanjing Baiju by collecting oral histories from inheritors, performers, and local audiences. Through interviews and documentation, we explore how Baiju preserves Nanjing’s urban memories, dialect, folk traditions, and everyday experiences while examining challenges and possibilities for its future inheritance among younger generations.
Team Members
Olivia Han
Olivia Han is from Nanjing, China. She was once in positions of director, choreographer, stage manager, playwright, or actress in 8 theatre productions and interned at Jiangsu Grand Theatre. She's also been working on theatre-related activities facing different age groups, from children to the elderly. Obsessed with traditional Chinese cultural heritage, she's been conducting in-depth research on Kunqu and Nanjing Baiju.
Tessy Zhang
As a humanities and social science student, I am curious about human society and historical development. I enjoy analyzing social issues from multiple logical angles. Regular reading and independent real-world observation help me form objective and well-reasoned views on the complex world around me.
In the Field
