The famous male dan performer Mei Lanfang (left) and the sheng performer Yang Xiaolou
Scenes from Chinese opera
At the end of the great Qin dynasty, (221-206 B.C.), rival forces battled for the control of the empire. Finally only the armies of the great general Xiang Yu and the commoner Liu Bang were left. In a decisive battle in 202 B.C., Xiang Yu's troops were defeated by Liu Bang, who went on to become the founder of the Han dynasty. This opera focuses on Xiang Yu and his beloved concubine Yu at the moment of Xiang Yu's defeat. Xiang Yu narrates the story of the battle and expresses his grief as his soldiers are slaughtered. Concubine Yu tries to console Xiang Yu by offering him wine, but inwardly decides to take her own life to express her allegience to her king. She performs a daring dance with Xiang Yu's two swords as the king looks on. At the end of the dance, Concubine Yu kills herself with the sword.
The Monkey King Sun Wukong (right) fights the Pagoda-Wielding Heavenly King
Havoc in Heaven (Da nao tian gong)The hero of this opera is Sun Wukong, (also known as the Monkey King, or Monkey) an extremely popular figure from the well-known story Journey to the West (Xi you ji).
As the opera begins, the Dragon King (the god of rain and water) is sending violent storms to the world of men. In order to stop the storms, Sun Wukong goes to the bottom of the sea and steals the Dragon King's storm scepter. The Monkey King fights off the Dragon King's soldiers (an army of crabs and prawns) and makes off with this supernatural weapon.
The Dragon King reports the theft to the chief god, the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor attempts to reign in the mischievous Monkey by offering him an official position in his court. Sun Wukong demands to be named "Great Sage Equal to Heaven." The Jade Emperor complies, but in spite of his lofty title, Monkey is assigned the lowly task of guarding the Heavenly Peach Garden.
One day some celestial maidens come to stroll in the garden. They tell Monkey that the Queen Mother of Heaven is going to have a grand birthday banquet, but he is not invited. Furious, Sun Wukong breaks into the palace and helps himself to all the divine food, thus ruining the gods' banquet. The Jade Emperor sends his fiercest general, the Pagoda-Wielding Heavenly King, to punish Sun Wukong. After a rousing battle, the Monkey King defeats the Pagoda Wielding King and returns in triumph to his home on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.
Mei Lanfang as Yang Guifei in The Drunken Concubine (Guifei zui jiu)Sample from opera This opera showcases the abilities of the dan actor to capture the emotion, movement, and voice of a scorned woman. The concubine Yang Guifei is the favorite of the Tang Emperor Ming Huang (685-762 A.D.) She is invited to join the emperor in the Pavilion of Hundred Flowers, but soon learns that he has gone to visit another concubine instead. Guifei drinks by herself, recalling her happiness when she first came to the palace and bemoaning her bitter fate. She becomes very drunk, demonstrated by graceful spinning and slow acrobatic maneuvers performed with the wine cup. Confused and disconsolate, she returns to her quarters alone.
Back to Setting of Chinese Opera End Task For more information on Chinese opera, visit this Beijing Opera site.
