ChinesePerformingArtsNo5 June2022

CONTENTS I I
II I CONTENTS
No.5
June 2022
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
Tobias BIANCONE, GONG Baorong
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

(in alphabetical order by Pinyin of last name)
Tobias BIANCONE, Georges BANU, Marvin CARLSON, CHEN Jun, CHEN
Shixiong, DING luonan, Erika FISHCHER-LICHTE, FU Qiumin, GONG Baorong,
HE Chengzhou, HUANG Changyong, Hans-Georg KNOPP, HU Zhiyi, LI Ruru, LI
Wei, LIU Qing, LIU Siyuan, Patrice PAVIS, Richard SCHECHNER, SHEN Lin, Kalina
STEFANOVA, SUN Huizhu, WANG Yun, XIE Wei, YANG Yang, YE Changhai, YU
Jiancun, Jean-Pierre WURTZ
EDITORS
WU Aili, CHEN Zhongwen, CAI Yan, MA Hui
TRANSLATORS
YAO Xiaoxiang, GE Jing, ZHOU Yuxing, XIA Yuchen
PROOFREADERS
Alexander AGATE, Thomas JONHSON, CHEN Linfeng, ZHANG Qing
DESIGNER
SHAO Min
CONTACT
The Center of International Theater Studies-STA
CAI Yan: [email protected]
CHEN Ying: [email protected]
CONTENTS I 1
CONTENTS No.5
June 2022
INTRODUCTION
2 The Cantonese and Their Songs:
How Land Cultivates the Performing Arts
/ LUO Li
STUDIES OF CANTONESE YUEJU

8 Yam Kim-Fai and the Prosperity of Female Wenwusheng
in Cantonese Yueju
/ WANG Yong'en
16 The Breakthroughs of Traditional Cantonese Yueju:
Taking the Film White Snake as an Example
/ REN Tingting
24 Research on the Performances of Cantonese Yueju
in the United States
/ MA Hui
34 Retrospect and Prospect: The Communication of
Cantonese Yueju in Southeast Asia from the Perspective of
Mutual Learning among Civilizations
/ HUANG Lu & LIU Junling
ROLES, ARTISTS AND THEATRES
45 On the Changes of the Types-of-Role in Cantonese Yueju
/ YIN Qinghua
55 Immersing in Arts, Sublimating Hearts:
Ding Fan and His Artistic Achievements
/ ZHANG Jinqiong
64 Guangdong Cantonese Opera Institute
/ LIU Shiyun
TODAY’S STAGE OF CHINA
70 Epilogue to the Modern Drama Version of
The Dream of the Red Chamber
/ YU Rongjun
80 Six-hour Version of The Dream of the Red Chamber:
Contemporary Aesthetic Reconstruction and Interpretation
/ SUN Yunfeng
89 Poetry, Xiqu and Classicism: The Modern Drama Version of
/ CAI Xingshui
THE SPREAD OF CHINESE THEATRE
96 “Purification” of Theatrical “Chineseness”:
Manifestation and Reception of Cultural Identity in Western
Tours of the Mei Lanfang Troupe in Early 20th Century
/ GAO Yang
INTRODUCTION OF CLASSICS
105 Introduction to Classical Plays (V)
/ LI Ran
OVERVIEW
110 Chinese Theatre in the Second Half of 2021
/ AI Shasha
2 I INTRODUCTION
The Cantonese and Their Songs:

How Land Cultivates the Performing Arts
LUO Li
In the early 1980s, evening entertainment for people in Guangzhou can only be
described as rather dull. Even with televisions and radios present as popular
items, Technicolor TV, for most families, remained a luxury. As I recollect, I
envision my grandmother taking me to the theater to “watch the grand show”
one of my first memories. It was through the repeated listening to young
gentlemen and ladies on stage—and hearing the humming from my relatives
around me—that I, albeit slowly, but naturally, learned to sing the Hung Sin-
Nui 1’s song in Zhaojun Departs the Frontier as a child: “I now hold my Pipa,
waiting…” However, for those children younger than me who grew up watching
much more TV, Cantonese Yueju 2 may be unfamiliar. Though younger
generations may not retain the familiarity with the practice that older generations
possess, one finds it difficult to disagree that Cantonese Yueju continues to
make up an important aspect of Cantonese culture. The Cantonese people
seem to possess a natural affinity for their own songs, and one finds citizens
humming the songs during everyday life. The spectrum of moods sung range
from heroic to bitter, romantic to devastated. In karaoke shops one often hears
those songs most popular: “The flower fills the sky and covers the moonlight. I
try to use this cup of wine to remember you on Fengtai…” or “With a light boat
passing, people are separated by thousands of mountains…” How strange a
situation: while the modern person cannot live without the newfangled phones
and iPads, we remain reluctant to relinquish the old pleasures from a far off
time. We easily find Cantonese Yueju on social media platforms such as Tik
1 Hung Sin-Nui or Hong Xiannv ( 红线女 ). [Translator’s note]

2 Cantonese Yueju ( 粤剧 ) is a traditional Chinese opera that originated in southern China’s Cantonese
culture, and involves music, singing, martial arts, acrobatics and acting. In order to be accurate, some
proper nouns of Chinese traditional opera are transliterated here. [Translator’s note]
INTRODUCTION I 3
■ Hung Sin-Nui (1925-2013) ■ Wang Zhaojun, potrayed by Hung Sin-

Nui in Zhaojun Departs the Frontier
Tok, for example. Cantonese Yueju lives in the Cantonese body and soul, no
matter from what era one finds one’s birth. As long as one’s native language
is Cantonese, there exists an inexplicable affection for Cantonese Yueju; the
power of culture and tradition, perhaps.
Cantonese Yueju, known as the “Southern Red Bean” or “The Grand Opera of
Guangdong”, remains the best known Xiqu genre in the Cantonese area and
finds particular popularity in Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, and overseas
where Cantonese Chinese emigrated. Cantonese Yueju comprises the
integration and enrichment of a variety of other Xiqu genres and Cantonese
folk arts. It is, therefore, engraved with the mark of Cantonese culture
and history. Cantonese Yueju evolved from other Xiqu 1 genres outside of
Guangdong and after being localized by Cantonese folk music, eventually
found popularity as an art form. From the Han and Tang Dynasties to the Ming
and Qing Dynasties, Guangzhou cemented itself as an important port for
both domestic and international trading. The prosperity of the economy and
the development of commerce attracted performing artists from both north
1 Xiqu ( 戏曲 ), refers to Chinese traditional opera. [Translator’s note]

4 I INTRODUCTION
■ Sit Kok-Sin (1904-1956) ■ Ma Sze-Tsang (1900-1964)
and south of Guangdong. Folk songs, folk music, dance, and rap literature
were so popular that the saying “Cantonese are good at singing” appeared.
The aforementioned prosperity laid a solid foundation for the formation of
Cantonese Yueju in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the mid-17th century,
Yiyangqiang and Kunqiang 1 flowed into Lingnan, developing into mature
dramatic genres after some conglomeration. In the late 18th century, local
artists, drawing on the experiences of other genres of Xiqu, set up local
performing groups in an attempt to successfully integrate the music of Bangzi2,
Pihuang3, and other genres with the Cantonese dialect. Gradually, Cantonese
Yueju with a strong regional style formed. During the period of the Republic
of China (1912-1949), Cantonese Yueju were performed entirely with the
Cantonese dialect. The surge of Cantonese Yueju reflects its inclusive, diverse,
and interpersonal characteristics. In the 20th Century, too, Cantonese Yueju
used only the Cantonese dialect, eventually being influenced by Jingju and
Kunqu4, modern drama and films. It reached a fairly mature and developed
1 Yiyangqiang ( 弋阳腔 ), a genre of Xiqu that originated in the Ming Dynastywhich in Yiyang, Jiangxi
Province, and spread to many other places, and which was noteworthy for its use of a chorus as well
as of soloists. Kunqiang ( 昆腔 ) also known as Kunshanqiang ( 昆山腔 ), refers to a genre of Xiqu which
originated in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, in the Ming Dynasty. [Translator’s note]
2 Bangzi ( 梆子 ), also known as Hebei Clapper Opera, is the main type of Xiqu in Hebei province.
[Translator’s note]
3 Pihuang ( 皮黄 ), short for xipi and erhuang, usually refers to Beijing opera. [Translator’s note]
4 Jingju ( 京剧 ) and Kunqu ( 昆曲 ), refers to Beijing Opera and Kunqu Opera. [Translator’s note]
INTRODUCTION I 5
peak around the 1950s, in a form that remains rather untouched, thus being
finalized as an art form and genre of Xiqu. The rise of Guangzhou, Hong Kong,
and Taiwan in the 1920s and 1930s promoted the popularization of Cantonese
Yueju from the countryside to the city, and from open-air to the theater. Over
the years, Cantonese Yueju developed from crudeness to exquisiteness, and
the scripts in particular have advanced in complexity and fluidity. The most
famous Cantonese Yueju actors such as Sit Kok-Sin, Ma Sze-Tsang1, and the
Hung Sin-Nui all gained their popularity in the large cities of Hong Kong and
Guangzhou. The aforementioned urban environment and professional theaters
played a decisive role in the maturing of the local Xiqu genre.
The flexibility, openness, pragmatism, and innovation of the Cantonese

people might still be observed in their thinking and actions. Generally, the
culture emphasizes the spirit of exploration along with a broader vision and
open mindset. There exists a strong sense in business and value of services.
In modern Chinese history, the Cantonese people are often at the forefront
of both economic and cultural developments. Cantonese Yueju, similarly, is
flexible, inclusive, and open to different cultures and tastes. This characteristic
is inseparable from the Cantonese culture of embracing and accepting new
things, absorbing foreign cultures, and integrating them with traditional culture.
Without Cantonese culture, Cantonese Yueju would never have developed
into its special local form. The flexibility and openness of Cantonese culture
invited vocal techniques and singing from outside of the region to be localized,
and developed local folk songs and martial arts. Pragmatism and innovation
resulted in several new shows in the process of localization of Cantonese Yueju.
Western musical instruments such as violins and cellos found integration, and
the performance practices adopted aspects from straight plays and film acting
techniques.
Due to the Cantonese peoples’ innate innovative spirit, Cantonese Yueju

generally includes bolder characteristics than other types of traditional Chinese
Xiqu, particularly in its development and constant innovation. Take two of the
masters of Cantonese Yueju, Ma Sze-Tsang, and Sit Kok-Sin, as examples;
both of them advocated improving Cantonese Yueju in the 1930s. In the spring
of 1931, Ma Sze-Tsang performed in San Francisco, USA. Before leaving, he
compiled and printed the book A Thousand Miles Tour written while on travel
through the US. In this book, he expressed his view and hopes on developing
the “new drama”. After returning from the United States in 1933, Ma Sze-
1　 Sit Kok-Sin or Xue Juexian ( 薛觉先 )，Ma Sze-Tsang or Ma Shizeng ( 马师曾 ). [Translator’s note]
6 I INTRODUCTION
Tsang put forward a clearer view of reforming Cantonese Yueju: “one should
learn from the other’s strengths and while also preserving the core of one’s
own to better develop a more advanced art form.” In August 1936, Sit Kok-Sin
organized the Kok-Sin Touring Theatre Company and spent more than three
month touring around Singapore. Before the tour, he wrote The Collection of
Kok-Sin , also known as Special Issue of Kok-Sin Touring Theatre Company.
The collection included Sit Kok-Sin’s declaration on reforming Yueju “Thinking
During the Journey to the South”, which clearly and vividly expressed his views:
Kok-Sin’s ambition was not only to combine the drama of the South with the
North, but to integrate Chinese Xiqu with Western dramas. “We will learn their
strengths to make up for our shortcomings, remove the dregs and save the
essence so that our drama will become the world’s drama, and our arts will
become the world’s best kind of arts.”
My focus on the study of Cantonese Yueju films began ten years ago. There
exists particular interest in studying Cantonese Yueju from the perspective of
media and technological developments. A benefit from studying Cantonese
Yueju from this point of view is the highlighting of the flexibility and sensitivity
to technology of Yueju and the Cantonese people. Cantonese Yueju has
always innovated with its integration with media. It stemmed from purely
live performance on stage to a more integrated form involving recording,
radio, film, television, audio and video products, and the Internet in the
early 20th century. This turned the limited one-time live viewing experience
into a repeatable performance, allowing the impact of Cantonese Yueju to
become deeper, wider and more lasting. The “saving” and “developing” of
Cantonese Yueju on different media is actually an extension of the existence
of it through the development of media. Cantonese Yueju is not only sold as
scripts, publications, and records, but also as movie theater experiences in
different private viewing facilities. The development of film hugely impacted
the promotional model and perceptual approaches of Cantonese Yueju. The
screen allows the audience to return from private viewings to a public space,
opening the possibility of enjoying such a visual and aural experience with
others. Although the experience is no longer a live stage experience, but in
the collective chamber of the theater, the Cantonese Yueju viewing experience
seems to have resurrected in new form. One recording of a performance
can be shown over and over again in different scenarios and even in different
countries. Audiences in different places and at different times can enjoy the
same performance, which drastically changes the original limited spacial
structure of drama. Geography no longer poses a difficulty in viewing. In this
sense, Cantonese Yueju is no longer a subject of urbanization, but aids the
nostalgia for their home experiences that emigrated Cantonese people long for.
INTRODUCTION I 7
What’s more interesting is that with the development of VOD (view on demand)
service, Cantonese Yueju movies have once again returned to private family
owned viewing sessions. Cantonese Yueju exists now in a plethora of ways,
and certainly has not dissipated.
For the Cantonese ethnic group, Cantonese Yueju is not only a form of
entertainment and art, but more importantly, an aesthetic activity and cultural
memory that embodies the cultural identity of the ethnic group and contains the
deepest passions and emotions for the motherland. Absorbing artistic styles
from the outside, Cantonese Yueju traveled from the South and developed
into a local form of art with its own performing groups. By improving itself and
entering into urban theaters, it clearly conveyed the acceptance of Cantonese
culture. Times changed and Cantonese Yueju developed its own artistic style
and performing traditions. From the ritual plays to specific repertoire, from New
Year’s repertoire to immortal plays, it is evident that Cantonese Yueju still plays
an important role in Cantonese folk culture. Tracing the spread of Cantonese
Yueju in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, and Macao to its trajectory in
the old Shanghai and its origin in Southeast Asia, North America, and other
Cantonese immigrant populated areas, we can clearly see that despite
geographic difficulties, Cantonese Yueju still closely connects the Cantonese
people with their local accent, culture, and emotions. When analyzing the
singing technique of Cantonese Yueju’s integration with the local folk arts,
one realizes what an ever-changing and non-static form of music the genre
pervades. While studying the interrelationship between Cantonese Yueju music
accompaniment and Guangdong music instrumental performance, between
the southern style of Wuji martial arts and Wushu martial arts, and even the
accent of Cantonese language, one finds constant reinforcement of the ever
evolving Cantonese Yueju as a folk-art form.
Cantonese people retain a natural affinity for singing their own music.
Sometimes, however, it is hard to determine whether it is the culture of the land
that cultivated Cantonese Yueju, or the art itself that nourished generations of
Cantonese people.
LUO LI
Vice president of Guangzhou Institute of Literary and Artistic Creation.
8 I STUDIES OF CANTONESE YUEJU
Yam Kim-Fai1 and the Prosperity of

Female Wenwusheng2 in Cantonese Yueju
WANG Yong’en
Cantonese Yueju, recognized as a topic within the World Intangible Cultural

Heritage list is an important sub-genre of Chinese Xiqu. Primarily popular in
Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong and other China regions, Cantonese Yueju
has also spread overseas, growing into one of the most influential types of
theater. Cantonese Yueju troupes began as completely consisting of men,
though eventually completely female troupes appeared. For a considerable
period of time, the all-male and all-female troupes coexisted in separate
spaces, before finally combining and sharing the stage. Following this merge,
two new kinds of role emerged; namely, the Male Dan (Dan referring to the
female role) wherein a man disguises as woman, and the Female Wenwusheng.
Later, the former gradually disappeared, while the latter exists and retains its
popularity even today. It must be said that the famous Female Wenwusheng,
Yam Kim-Fai, deserves much credit in solidifying the role.
The most successful and influential Female Wenwusheng in the history of

Cantonese Yueju, Yam Kim-Fai (1913-1989), from Guangzhou, was fond
of Yueju even as a child. At the age of 13, she studied with her aunt, the
Cantonese Yueju Female Wusheng Xiao Jiaotian, and later under Huang
Luxia. In addition, Yam Kim-Fai secretly learned from Kwai Ming-Yang3, an
actress of particular fame, known as a "Gold-Medal Wusheng", or, an actor
with a dashing stage style, handsome appearance, unique singing, and a
mastery of both literary and martial arts plays. The "Gui School" he founded
1　 Yam Kim-Fai or Ren Jianhui ( 任剑辉 ). [Translator’s note]

2　 Wenwusheng( 文武生 ) is a type of role unique in Cantonese Yueju. "Sheng" ( 生 ) are the leading male
actors in Xiqu.
3　 Kwai Ming-Yang or Gui Mingyang ( 桂名扬 ). [Translator’s note]
STUDIES OF CANTONESE YUEJU I 9
■ Yam Kim-Fai (1913-1989) ■ From left to right: Yam Kim-Fai, Pak

Sheut-Sin and Tang Ti-Sheng
made up one of the five major schools of Cantonese Yueju and influenced the
whole field. Yam Kim-Fai, entranced by Kwai Ming-Yang's presentation, often
attended his performances and attempted to imitate his style. Her postures
and gaits obviously influenced by Kwai Ming-Yang prompted her labeling as
the "Female version of Kwai Ming-Yang". After honing her stage performances,
she emerged as the most important Xiaosheng in the Tiantai Troupe and found
particular fame due to her part in the play Waiting for the Moon in the West
Chamber . From 1935 to 1945, she performed in Macao and grew in popularity.
In 1943, she founded the New Sound Troupe with Au-Yeung Kim and invited
Pak Sheut-Sin and Chan Yim-Lung1 to join, the former of whom eventually
became her lifelong partner. During the ten years in Macao, her performing skills
matured as she gradually developed her own style and moved past Kwai Ming-
Yang’s techniques of singing and acting. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese
War, the New Sound Troupe moved to Hong Kong under her leadership where
she actively performed. Her collaborations included many famous Cantonese
Yueju actors, and she invited the famous playwright Tang Ti-Sheng to write
plays for her. She also established an influential Xianfengming Troupe with
Pak Sheut-Sin. In the following years, she cooperated with Pak Sheut-Sin to
perform a number of plays, such as The Imperial Flower , The Peony Pavilion:
An Enchanting Dream , and The New Legend of the White Snake , all of which
established a great reputation for the genre in both Hong Kong and Macao. At
the same time, Yam Kim-Fai actively participated in filming. From 1951 to 1964,
1 Au-Yeung Kim or Ou Yangjian ( 欧阳俭 ), Pak Sheut-Sin or Bai Xuexian ( 白雪仙 ), Chan Yim-Lung or

Chen Yannong ( 陈艳侬 ).[Translator’s note] .
■ Stage photo of Waiting for the

Moon in the West Chamber
■ Stage photo of The Legend

of Purple Hairpin
she participated in more than 300 films, most of which were Cantonese Yueju
films. Films such as The Nymph of the River Luo , The Legend of Purple Hairpin ,
and The Imperial Flower received enthusiastic responses and after reaching the
peak of artistic accolades and influence, she finally announced her retirement in
1972.
Of the roles Yam Kim-Fai played, many were troubled scholars whose talents
were unrestrained by feudal ethics, Examples of such characters are Zhou
Shixian in The Imperial Flower , Li Yi in The Legend of Purple Hairpin , and Cao
Zhi in The Nymph of the River Luo , etc. The male protagonists she played
shared intelligence, handsome appearances, unrestrained demeanor, and a
bit of innocence, simplicity and honesty. Such charismatic characters were
consistently popular with the audience.
Yam Kim-Fai' s masterpiece, The Imperial Flower , narrates the at-once joyful
and sorrowful story between Princess Changping, the daughter of Emperor
Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhou Shixian, the husband of the
princess. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Changping lives in seclusion
at a nunnery. To bury her father Emperor Chongzhen and save her brother
the crown prince, she pretends to surrender to the Qing dynasty, and after
everything is settled, she and Zhou Shixian take poison and die on their
wedding night. Shrouded in a sense of desolation and pathos, the play created
a great sensation after the performance. The male and female protagonists
played by Yam Kim-Fai and Pak Sheut-Sin achieved immediate and widespread
popularity, much due to the sincerity and persistence of Zhou Shixian portrayal
by Yam. “Meeting at the Nunnery”, a scene in which Changping and Zhou
Shixian reach their most intense emotional collision, fully manifested Yam Kim-
Fai's acting skills. Changping hides herself in a nunnery following her guilt
after disobeying her father's order to be a martyr for her country. When Zhou
Shixian finds her, she pretends not to recognize him. Increasingly angered
with her feigned ignorance, Zhou finally threatens her with death to force her
admission of knowing him. Zhou Shixian finally confirms the nun in front of him
is indeed Changping. Understanding the difficulty in letting go of her father’s
disappointment, he attempts to comfort her again and again, but Changping
insists on ignoring him. Powerless, Shixian complains about the Bodhisattva
in the nunnery, which proved useless. Desperate, Shixian debates suicide due
to the meaninglessness of life. Within the long arias, Yam Kim-Fai soundly and
accurately expressed Zhou Shixian' s complex emotions and his repeatedly
changing mood through her masterful expressions and tone. In the most iconic
scene of “The Death of the Princess”, Changping and Shixian stumble and
stagger, supporting each other, and die clinging to each other after consuming
arsenic wine. When the two faced each other in tears, understanding their
final moments together, Yam Kim-Fai embodied Zhou Shixian' s reluctance,
helplessness, and love in her rich expressions and meticulous movements,
which touched and left deep impressions on the audience.
Yam Kim-Fai’s charisma and attractiveness were particularly highlighted

when playing the role of a scholar. With a strong foundation in performance,
■ CD cover of The ■ CD cover of The Nymph of the River ■ CD cover of The Legend of
Imperial Flower Luo Purple Hairpin
her acting convincingly captured the appearance of a martial arts specialist,

resulting in heroic and vigorous performances. She often starred in plays
involving talented men and beautiful girls. When acting out the emotional
communication between men and women, she combined hardness and
softness in tone of voice, but never exaggerated her affectations, resulting in
realistic performances both generous and gentle in manner. The numerous
images of scholars she created were quite in line with her own temperament
and fully demonstrated women’s advantages in playing male roles, which
ultimately developed into the unique charm of Female Wenwusheng.
With her powerful and gentle vocal prowess, Yam Kim-Fai formed her own
unique singing style, characterized by fluency, naturalness, freshness, and
clarity. Never surpassed by other contemporary Female Wenwusheng,
her style paved the way for future singers, as well. A prime example of her
individual talents was, of course, her portrayal of Zhou Shixian’s depression.
Her vocal timbre, softer than a man’s, allowed for more consistency with
Zhou's mood. She often incorporated her unique timbre while singing, leaving
deep impressions on the audience. She sang one of the lines in The Imperial
Flower two octaves higher in order to enhance the strength and power of the
vocal timbre. Additionally, she paid great attention to the voice’s involvement
in portraying a character’s image. All the scholars she played attached great
importance to both emotional intelligence and righteousness. Accompanied
by the lucid and lively style of "Ren’s Singing", the characters’ images mutually
accomplish each other, adding much charm to the characters.
Yam Kim-Fai’s iconic status among the Female Wenwusheng resulted from her
personal talents, exquisite acting skills, and the emerging popularity of this type
of role. In the past, only those actresses involved in all-female troupes played
male characters. Following the co-education of male and females in the same
class, this phenomenon diminished. However, Yam Kim-Fai’s popularity and
status remained invincible. Not only the most popular female Wenwusheng
of the time, she was never considered inferior to the male Wenwusheng; her
performances pushed beyond the stage of imitating male Wenwushweng and
established a distinctive acting style that belonged exclusively to females. Her
revolutionary approach to acting thus enabled the art of Female Wenwusheng
to develop independently and contributed to the prosperity and development of
this business.
Yam Kim-Fai bid farewell to the stage in 1969, and her direct disciple Lung
Kim-Sang (Sabrina)1 became a popular Female Wenwusheng in the early
1　Lung Kim-Sang (Sabrina) or Long Jiansheng ( 龙剑笙 ). [Translator’s note]

■ Lung Kim-Sang (1944- )
■ Stage photo of Pretty Pan An , Lung ■ Koi Ming-Fai (1967- )

Kim-Sang as Pan An
1970s before retiring in 1992. While inheriting Yam Kim-Fai's repertoires and
acting style, Lung also actively sought social and professional breakthroughs.
For example, the newly-adapted repertoire Pretty Pan An --performed in
1983--presented considerable challenge. In this play, Pan An becomes a
chivalrous woman disguised as a man, with a Female Wenwusheng playing
the Huadan1 in the last scene. The play seems almost specifically written for
Lung Kim-Sang, showcasing her multifaceted acting by switching between two
different styles of character: the valiant and heroic Female Wenwusheng, and
the delicate and shy Huadan. The contrasting personalities added to the charm
of the characters and the difficulty of shaping them, but it also highlighted the
advantages of the Female Wenwusheng, further exerting great influence on its
later development.
1 Huadan ( 花旦 ), the role of pretty young woman or female of the coquettish type in the Chinese
traditional Xiqu. [Translator’s note]
After inheriting the title from her master Yam Kim-Fai, Lung Kim-Sang became
the leading figure of the Female Wenwusheng and continued to progress the
genre. Under the influence of the two generations of Yam and Lung, the team
of Cantonese Yueju Female Wenwusheng maintains a good momentum of
development and holds a seemingly promising future. After them, though with
different successions of teachers, the Female Wenwusheng more or less bore
the traces of their influence.
After Lung Kim-Sang withdrew from the stage, Koi Ming-Fai (Joyce)1 emerged
as the leading figure of the Female Wenwusheng. Finding fame in the early
1990s, she took on the responsibility of establishing a troupe of her own and
ushered in the third generation of the "Yam School". Most of her plays were
classics performed by Yam Kim-Fai and Lung Kim-Sang. With her handsome
appearance and powerful vocal timbre, she exceeded at performing the
elegant scholars, the roles of the infatuated, and the masculine martial artists.
She played both Sheng and Dan as well as Lung Kim-Sang in many works
such as Pretty Pan An and Mistake at the Flower Festival (Huatian Baxi ). Having
inherited Yam and Lung’s legacies, Koi Ming-Fai pushed for bold innovations
and often presented amazing performances. When performing “The Death of
the Princess”, she integrated Latin dance into it, injecting fresh vitality into the
Cantonese Yueju culture. She also held several solo concerts, demonstrating
her extraordinary ability and great artistic potential. Her various explorations
and innovations in the field of Cantonese Yueju provided more possibilities and
room for the development of Female Wenwusheng.
The popularity and influence of Female Wenwusheng such as Yam Kim-Fai,

Lung Kim-Sang, and Koi Ming-Fai certainly derives, at least partly, to their
individual abilities and the unique charm of this genre, but it also required the
love and support of an audience.
Women predominantly made up the audience for Female Wenwusheng.

In the era of Yam Kim-Fai, for example, most of her fans comprised wives
and ladies of wealthy families; women remained unmarried for life, and even
nuns. For rich women with both money and free time, watching Cantonese
Yueju became one of the best forms of entertainment. Yam Kim-Fai received
much support and adoration from wealthy female audience members due
to her performance style, which, due to its gentleness laced with little virility,
appealed to their aesthetic taste. The nuns and unmarried women made up
1　Koi Ming-Fai (Joyce) or Gai Minghui ( 盖鸣晖 ). [Translator’s note]

their own special category since they were quite excluded from normal life and
felt deep emotional loneliness. They found respite in Yam’s performances as
their normal lives remained emotionally lonely. They were deeply moved by the
handsome and infatuating men played by Yam Kim-Fai, characters that were
ideal men beyond their reach outside of the theater. The freedom of real-world
consequence allowed for free fantasy and these audience members treated
Yam Kim-Fai as an outlet for their feelings and emotions, who therefore earned
the title of "the lover of the theater fans".
When it came to the era of Lung Kim-Sang and Koi Ming-Fai, the audience
remained primarily female. The sentimental love stories performed by Female
Wenwusheng on the Cantonese Yueju stage and their gentle feminine
temperament provided great spiritual comfort for women with delicate and
sensitive emotions, which was the advantage of Female Wenwusheng in
comparison to that of males’.
To summarize, then, Female Wenwusheng were originally the product of the

female-only class. After many roles of Xiqu that allowed the performance of
men and women in the same class, this kind of cross-gender performance
soon shrank and disappeared from the stage. However, the business of Female
Wenwusheng in Cantonese Yueju has been preserved and continues to grow
in prevalence. Continued popularity owes much to the success achieved by
Yam Kim-Fai, who created a new era for Female Wenwusheng performance.
After Yam Kim-Fai, through the continuous efforts of Lung Kim-Sang, Koi Ming-
Fai and others, this type of role continues even now and bears responsibility as
a staple characteristic of Cantonese Yueju, with fanciful charm and abundant
vitality.
WANG YONG’EN
Professor of Communication University of China.
The Breakthroughs of
Traditional Cantonese Yueju:
Taking the Film White Snake
as an Example
REN Tingting
In May 2021, the Cantonese Yueju film White Snake , produced by the Zhujiang
Film Group, the Guangdong Cantonese Yueju Theatre, and a few others,
premiered. As of August 1st, the cumulative box office reached 20.8 million1
and continues to maintain a steady growth trend. Such financial achievement
may rank comparatively low in the spectrum of the entire film market, but the
box office numbers in context (the average screening rate for Xiqu films is less
than 1% and the box office of traditional Xiqu films has never exceeded the ten
million mark in the past five years) impresses greatly.
■ Poster of the film White Snake
1 The data comes from the "Maoyan Professional" app.

Previously, a 20.8 million box office domination seemed unimaginable. The

film itself is based on the youth version of the Cantonese Yueju White Snake .
The story’s narration unfolds through flashbacks and a deconstructed
and re-arranged story of love in seven chapters including “Prologue: The
Memory of Love”, “Falling in Love”, “Thrilling Love”, and so on. The film took
into consideration the aesthetic tastes of the audience through the use of
multimedia in presenting a modern aesthetic conception of the rainy and
misty South of the Yangtze River. The original play first started touring in 2014.
Although critically acclaimed within the traditional Xiqu market, due to the
limitations of the market, the number of tickets sold paled in comparison to that
of a movie. It is also worth noting that the film White Snake attracted mostly
young audience members. As of July 20th, audiences aged 24 to 29 accounted
for 33.51% of the overall audiences; audiences under 35 accounted for
89.69%1. If one calculates the number of audience members according to the
average movie ticket price of 40 RMB, there are over 400,000 young audience
members who watched the film. Considering the fact that traditional Cantonese
Yueju generally appeals to an older audience, (an issue that plagues and has
plagued the industry for a long period of time) the success injects hope into the
industry. It is difficult for Guangdong Cantonese Yueju Theater to attract more
1 王垂林：《戏曲电影 < 白蛇传 · 情 > 为何叫好又叫座 — 优秀传统文化 “ 双创 ” 的一次成功探索》，《中

国文化报》文艺评论版，2021 年 7 月 22 日。[Wang Chuilin: why the Xiqu film White Snake is popular
- a successful exploration of "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" of excellent traditional culture,
China Culture Daily, Literary and Art Review Edition, July 22, 2021.]
than 400,000 young audience members through one production even though
the theater has gained reputation as a trendy and cultured venue to attend.
The breakthrough of the film at the box office is largely due to the production
team’s hard work. With the help of large swathes of data collection and
the analysis of the position of traditional culture, the distributor selected
Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, and other cities to concentrate on publishing and
advertising. With the help of personal media and mainstream media working
together (as well as organizing Hanfu1 show events that were related to White
Snake ) the campaign successfully targeted traditional Chinese culture fans and
Hanfu fans mainly born in the 90s and 2000s. Concurrently, the movie uses
special effects, 4K panoramic sounds, and other audio-visual technologies
to present classic scenes such as the “Stealing of the Immortal Grass” and
“Water overflowed Jinshan Temple”. The technological advancement satisfies
the audience’s visual needs, and the story is also more in line with the taste
of a modern audience. For example, on the basis of keeping classic lines
and lyrics while adding accessibility, the film team altered parts of the songs:
simplifying and compacting them in comparison with the stage version. The
classics scenes are also integrated with popular singing methods, and Western
orchestration supplements the accompaniment music.
It should be noted that the film is more in line with the main consumer –
1　Hanfu ( 汉服 ), the traditional dress of the Han Chinese people.

a young audience, whether in regards to the publicity strategy, content

optimization, or technological innovation. Certainly the aforementioned
adjustments contribute to the large difference in box office between the stage
version and the film, but the fundamental reason remains that the audience
of movies runs deeper than that of traditional Xiqu. According to the “2018
China Performance Market Annual Report” of the China Performance Industry
Association, the number of traditional Xiqu performances dropped by 3.09% in
2018, while the box office revenue dropped by as much as 10.54%1 compared
to 2017. In general, the marketability of traditional Xiqu seems relatively weak.
Therefore, most Xiqu productions rely on government support, and public
“pro bono” performances account for a large proportion. Few audiences are
willing to pay to enter the theater for traditional Xiqu performance and a reliable
support system for performances remains to be formed.
As the film market grows, Cantonese Yueju films have already taken a part of
the audience away from the traditional Cantonese Yueju. From the historical
perspective of the integration of traditional Cantonese Yueju and Cantonese
Yueju films, before the 20th century, the traditional Cantonese Yueju was an art
form viewed in public areas and theaters. Traditionally, then, the Xiqu’s primary
venues included squares in rural areas and theaters in cities. Upon entering the
20th century, with the emergence of new media such as movies, this traditional
1　See the official website of China Association of Performing Arts: http://www.capa.com.cn/news/

showDetail/143428.
model lost its monopoly on public attendance and could not compete with
movie theaters. Due to the limitation of time and space with regards to
theatrical performances, films offer both lower costs and repetitive viewing with
regards to the actual scenes. In 1933, the first audible Cantonese Yueju film,
The White Golden Dragon , starring the famous Cantonese Yueju actress Sit
Kok-Sin premiered to great success in Shanghai, and soon, in Guangzhou and
Hong Kong, and even in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries. The
flexibility of time and space allowed audiences in these regions to see Mr. Sit’s
skillful performance at the cost of a movie ticket. Statistics show that the cost
of the film was 1,500 USD at the time, while the box office income reached
over 100,000 HKD in a little more than a month when released in Hong Kong.
While Xiqu films gradually developed into an independent artistic genre,
Cantonese Yueju films matured along the way as well. Various forms such as
Cantonese Yueju documentaries, Cantonese Yueju excerpts, and Cantonese
Yueju songs emerged and won over large audiences from traditional Cantonese
Yueju production. The 1959 Cantonese Yueju film The Emperor Flower not
only restored the story and the songs of the stage version faithfully, but utilized
film conversion, close-ups, special effects, and other motion-picture camera
techniques to highlight the actors’ specialties. What traditional Xiqu fans obtain
from the films is not simply the recording of a stage performance, but a more
pleasing – modern – aesthetic experience. The advantages of Cantonese Yueju
film over traditional Cantonese Yueju particularly express themselves within the
production process. At this point, Cantonese Yueju films compete with traditional
Cantonese Yueju performances and have won a larger share of the market.
Today, we have already entered a new age for modern media. The continuous
development of movie technology allows movies to develop far ahead of the
traditional Cantonese Yueju. The integration of movies and other modern media
challenges traditional Cantonese Yueju to adapt or fade away. Although more
and more live broadcasts of Cantonese Yueju have improved the timeliness of
Cantonese Yueju production, it also increased the risk of losing audiences in
the theaters. There are also over-packaged Cantonese Yueju online games and
other fake Cantonese Yueju on the Internet, causing misunderstandings among
audiences and contributing to an inaccurate perception of the art.
It is without question that film as a modern media led to traditional Cantonese

Yueju losing some audience members. It is worth pondering, however, the
timing of such loss; traditional Cantonese Yueju faced the impact of modern
media for more than a century and it has never died out. One might speculate
as to why there remains a loyal majority of audience members willing to travel
to a theater to watch a Cantonese Yueju performance. The reason is as follow:
the fundamentals of drama remain true. The difference between watching
a show on the screen and the experience in a live theater can never be
eliminated. A theater lover will always insist on the live experience of interacting
with actors. The view aligns itself with Polish dramatist Grotowski’s classic
definition of drama: “After gradually removing what proved to be superfluous,
we found that even with no makeups, no costumes, no scenic design, no
independent performing areas (the stage), and no lighting and sound effect,
etc., drama exists. On the other hand, without emotional, direct, and live
communication between the actors and the audience, drama doesn’t exist.” 1
What Grotowski highlighted is that the essence of drama emerges from the live
performance of the actors and the live experience of the audiences at the same
time. Audiences need to go to the theater to experience the real drama, for it
is only within the halls of the theater that personal and intimate connections
between performer and viewer exist.
Alternatively, when the art of traditional Cantonese Yueju integrates with

modern media such as movies, it maintained its artistic identity and even
explores more possibilities, even when these possibilities are accompanied by
challenging obstacles. Compared with other types of Chinese Xiqu, the history
of Cantonese Yueju destined it to be more flexible and diverse. Cantonese
Yueju already started to learn from films during the process of localization in the
early 20th century. With audiovisual products challenging traditional Cantonese
1 [ 波兰 ] 耶日 · 格洛托夫斯基：《迈向质朴戏剧》，北京：中国戏剧出版社 1984 年版，第 3 页。[Grotowski:

Towards a Poor Theatre, Beijing: China Drama Publishing House, 1984: 3.]
Yueju’s presentation, a group of nostalgic audiences used Cantonese Yueju

films, TV shows, and other modern media to express their feelings for their
hometown. Traditional Cantonese Yueju also developed its influences by taking
advantage of films and TV. As a result, Cantonese Yueju gained a group of
Chinese audiences who were living far away from their hometown.
The question develops, then, into whether we can achieve a positive outcome
from the integration of modern media and traditional Cantonese Yueju. The
film White Snake provides a good example of how traditional Cantonese
Yueju responds to the challenges of modern media. It aids us in realizing that
Xiqu can also win the hearts of young audiences and successfully develop
new audiences. The key lies in how to use modern media to popularize the
art of traditional Xiqu, reminding young people of the beauty of tradition while
encouraging them to know and learn more about it.
In this sense, White Snake has successfully taken the first step, leading
the audience into the world of Cantonese Yueju film. The next step, from
the perspective of the theater performance market, is to encourage young
audiences to return to the theater. This is not only the “second step” for
the Xiqu film industry to tackle, but also an effective breakthrough for the
Cantonese Yueju market. How then, might one take the on the “second step”
in a convincing manner. The key seems to lie in the use of modern media to
awaken the collective memory of young audiences. The well-known legend
of the White Snake is a common sentiment of the Chinese. While the legend
itself is an expression of our concern for traditional Chinese literary culture, the
story on stage became a collective memory of generations of ordinary people.
The aforementioned collective memory connects the story and Cantonese

Yueju. Time proves that the White Snake on stage is technically and artistically
developed, and the theme and content are more in line with the taste of the
public; a spirit of traditional arts. At the same time, the dialect heavy singing and
the skillful martial arts arouses the collective sentiments and arouses nostalgic
emotions among the Chinese who are living abroad. It is fair to say that the
Cantonese Yueju “White Snake” deeply ingrained itself into the memories of
Cantonese and even other Chinese communities, whether its popularity has
dwindled recently or not. The fact that many young people lack attendance
with regards to the theater is not because they dislike it, but because of the
diversified contemporary entertainment industry that diminished their fondness
for tradition. Using modern technology, films with sophisticated camera work
and technology can help bring back young audiences’ interest in the story of
White Snake. Perhaps in addition to the technological prowess of the modern
age, the professional skills of Cantonese Yueju actors on the big screen along
with the influence of the celebrities might attract large swathes of the public
to attend a live performance of Cantonese Yueju “White Snake” in a traditional
theater. Ideally, in a world filled with a plethora of entertainment options, the
art of Cantonese Yueju might continue its development with the aid of modern
media, and at the same time, protect its artistic values and traditional status
while telling stories that are needed today.
REN TINGTING
Lecturer of National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts.
Research on the Performances of

Cantonese Yueju in the United States
MA Hui
The spread of Cantonese Yueju in the U.S. relates closely to the living
conditions of Chinese immigrants. Early immigrants primarily moved from
Guangdong province, specifically from the Pearl River Delta. Cantonese Yueju
emerged as the first genre of traditional Chinese Xiqu that spread to America.
Later, due to the “Chinese Exclusion Act” issued by the U.S. government,
Chinese immigrants in the U.S. were forced to gather in Chinatown, separated
from mainstream society, and formed a relatively autonomous and closed
society. Chinese culture has since preserved its completeness there, providing
Cantonese Yueju with an adequate environment to develop in a foreign country.
Thus, the Cantonese Yueju gradually evolved into one of the most dynamic
genres of Xiqu in America. From the 1850s to the present, the performance
and dissemination of Cantonese Yueju in the U.S. has experienced four
historical periods: the boom during the initial period, the sluggishness after the
World War II, the flourishing of amateur theatre societies after the 1970s and
1980s, and the new phase after the successful application for World Heritage
in 2009. Based on these four historical periods, this article will briefly investigate
the performances of Cantonese Yueju societies in the U.S. during each stage
of development.
I. Transpacific travel and initial boom (1850-1930)
Most of the early Cantonese Yueju troupes in the U.S. centered around
San Francisco on the west coast, and later radiated to multiple parts of the
U.S. and other countries in the Americas. According to America’s Daily Alta
California on October 28, 1852, the earliest recorded performances were those
by the Cantonese Yueju troupe "Hong Hook Tong"1 at the American Theatre in
San Francisco on October 18, featuring such traditional Cantonese Yueju as
The Eight Immortals Congratulate the Queen Mother on Her Birthday, Su Qin
Made High Minister by the Six States, General Guan escorts his sisters-in-law ,
and Forced to go to Liangshan. The Eight Immortals Congratulate the Queen
Mother on Her Birthday is a short Auspicious Play usually found performances
before the main performance, enhancing the atmosphere along with performing
rituals of prayer for blessings and redeeming a vow to the immortals. The
excerpt Su Qin Made High Minister by the Six States is a piece of traditional
repertoire with grand scenery and a full range of businesses, best representing
the professional level of a troupe. General Guan escorts his sisters-in-law
was a frequently performed play by the Yueju troupe at that time, and it
was immensely popular. In addition, their occurred numerous performances
of the adapted American play My Neighbor’s Wife . With some martial arts
performances inserted in, foreign audiences unfamiliar with the plot could
instead enter the theatre to enjoy the physical and visual masterwork. The
cooperation and competition of China-U.S. Xiqu on the same stage opened a
real cross-cultural exchange. The troupe performed from October 1852 to April
1853, moving from the west coast to the east coast of the country. Eventually,
the troupe faced disbandment due to the limited audiences. Though this
performance ultimately failed, it laid the foundation for the spread of Cantonese
Yueju in the U.S.
Later, several troupes such as Daan Fung Saan, Jiu Tin Coi and Daan Gwai
Jyun emerged on the west coast, most of which were established in the
1850s and 1860s and owned their own theatres of the same name. They
performed mostly popular plays passed over from China at that time, such
as the "Eighteen Repertoires of Cantonese Yueju"2. Healthy competitions
1 The name of the troupe was transliterated by Americans according to Cantonese language, and since
there was no standard Romaji at that time, the translations were often a little bit strange. “Hong Hook
Tong”( 鸿福堂 ) alone has more than ten translations such as "Hong Fook Tong", "Tong Hook Tong" and
"Tung Hook Tong". Later, English reports often used "Chinese Theatre" or "Oriental Theatre" to refer
to all the Cantonese troupes. The Chinese names of the other troupes in this article are all referenced
from: Cantonese Yueju Dictionary [M]. Compiled by the Compilation Committee of Cantonese Yueju
Dictionary. Guangzhou: Guangzhou Publishing House, 2008.
2 Eighteen Repertoires of Cantonese Yueju ( 江湖十八本 ) refers to eighteen popular and frequently
performed Cantonese Yueju, including A Handful of Snow《一捧雪》, Two Plum Blossoms《二度梅》,
Three Immortals' Hall《三官堂》, Four Scholars《四进士》, Five Sons Passing the Imperial Examination《五
登科》, Snow in June《六月雪》, Seven Sages' Family Members《七贤眷》, Eight Beauties《八美图》,
Nine Watch-Beatings《九更天》and Ten Times to Impeach Yan Song ( 十奏严嵩 ). However, these plays
are not unique to Cantonese Yueju. Most of them are long pieces adapted from the legends of the
■ The interior of the Chinese

Theatre on Jackson-Street in San
Francisco in the 1860s
carried out among the theatres, and thus in order to win over each other, they
sometimes hired famous Cantonese Yueju singers from Guangdong to join
the performances. Most performances ran from 6 p.m. to midnight, and the
audience members were predominantly Chinese. Unfortunately, these three
troupes eventually disbanded one after another, either due to accidental fires
or by natural disasters like earthquakes. After that, there existed a few small
troupes scattered among the populace, but none of them found widespread
success. It was not until the early 20th century that a professional Cantonese
Yueju troupe, New Stage, was established in Oakland, San Francisco,
fittingly a city that once led to great impact in the U.S. It was founded by the
patriotic overseas Chinese leader Li Shinan and gathered famous overseas
Chinese actors. To support Sun Yat-sen's National Revolution, the troupe
often performed revolutionary repertoires such as Awakening the Soul of the
Nation and other patriotic and progressive plays. In 1905, the New Stage
Troupe, then known as Man Gwok Ngon, performed at the World’s Fair held
in San Francisco, creating an instant sensation. Although most of the plays
they performed were traditional productions from China, they also frequently
innovated; using spoken dialogue in Cantonese and inserting the Cantonese
song Daffodil Flower adapted from a folk song from the south of the Yangtze
River, which was widely sung among the overseas Chinese. The group also
wrote new revolutionary plays directed and acted themselves. In the early
1920s, the troupe disintegrated due to the departure of Li Shinan.
Ming and Qing Dynasties. They are popular in all kinds of Xiqu in the country. In the past, Xiqu troupes
judged the artistic achievements of actors by the performance of these plays.
In the 1920s, immigration policies in the U.S. loosened restrictions on

Cantonese Yueju artists, and several professional Cantonese Yueju troupes
established themselves. The Jan Sau Nin Troupe, established in 1922, brought
in Cantonese Yueju artists from Hong Kong or Guangdong and rented the
Crescent Moon Theatre in San Francisco to perform. The repertoires included
Jinlian Flirts with Her Brother-in-Law , Red Maned Horse (Lady Precious
Stream ), Water overflowed Jinshan Temple and so on. In 1924, New York’ s
Chinatown ushered in Zuk Man Ngon, a large troupe from Guangdong, which
staged The Eight Immortals Congratulate the Queen Mother on Her Birthday ,
The Romance of The West Chamber and other repertoires at the Bowery Street
Theatre. The theatre was sold out almost every night. Another rival to Zuk
Man Ngon in New York was the Lok Cin Cau Cantonese Yueju Troupe, which,
like Zuk Man Ngon, traveled from China and toured Canada before entering
American theatres. It made its debut in 1925 at the prestigious Thalia Theatre in
New York with a cast of 44, and shared the same status and influence as Zuk
Man Ngon. In 1927, in order to avoid vicious competition, these two merged
into one company and performed at the Thalia Theater. Most of the plays were
classic traditional plays, but there were also some new plays that reflected
the lives of Chinese immigrants. Unfortunately, a fire broke out in the Thalia
Theater in 1929, and the troupe could not afford to hire enough famous actors
to participate in the performances. Thus the troupe declared bankruptcy at the
end of 1930.
■ The Greater China Theater,

1925, Exquisite photo gallery
(Wangwanli collection,
Performance and Design
Museum, San Francisco)
II.The flourishing of amateur theatre societies（1970-2009）
Since the mid-1940s, affected by WWII and the economic crisis along with
the impact of the film industry, Cantonese Yueju gradually declined overseas.
Following the 1960s, due to the lack of professional talents, professional
Cantonese Yueju societies overseas disintegrated. From the 1970s and 1980s
onward, however, amateur troupes slowly rose to prominence, with nearly
100 in the U.S. alone, concentrated in various cities such as New York, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Honolulu, and Phoenix among others.
Troupes such as the South China Music Society in San Francisco, the Minzhi
Society and the Chinese Musical Theatre Society in New York, and the Music
and Arts Society in Seattle were generally founded in the 1920s and 1930s,
all of which were non-profit in nature and funded by the local government and
overseas Chinese groups. They initially organized pro bono performances in
support of China's War of Resistance against Japan, but their real development
and prosperity emerged after the 1970s. Though founded in 1925, the South
China Music Society did not really flourish until the 1980s. It adhered to
charity acting, entertaining the public, and serving the community. In 1990, a
140-person "San Francisco Cantonese Yueju Delegation", mainly composed
of the members of the troupe, traveled to Guangzhou in order to observe the
first International Cantonese Yueju Festival, and performed the classic play,
The Imperial Flower. In 1992, on the 67th anniversary of its establishment,
the society held three charity performances: Laugh in the Sleeve , The Peony
Pavilion : An Enchanting Dream and Lee Sam-neung , to raise funds for the
construction of a local elderly self-help center.
The Minzhi Society mainly performed dramas at the beginning of its
■ The program list of The Imperial Flower ■ Photo of the 8th Cantonese Opera Festival
of 1990 Guangzhou International Cantonese
Yueju Festival
establishment, and only incorporated Catonese Yueju after the 1930s. After
a hiatus during the Pacific War, it resumed its activities and held annual large-
scale public performances of Cantonese Yueju for the Chinese community.
Its first public performance of Cantonese Yueju was in 1933. In the 1990s, it
received voluntary teaching from professionals Huang Yuefeng and Wu Jinzhi,
opened a training course on the performing arts of Cantonese Yueju, and
trained a number of actors, thus stabilizing making the various performance
activities. Founded in 1930 as a non-professional Cantonese Yueju troupe
in New York, the Chinese Musical Theatre Society was founded as a pure
Cantonese Yueju society. Charity performances were often organized in the
1930s and 1940s in order to support the Anti-Japanese war. After that, in
addition to maintaining daily performances, they would actively organize charity
performances to raise funds whenever China ran into difficulty. After the 1990s,
its prestige and influence in the U.S. increased day by day. In 1992, it rehearsed
and performed the large-scale Cantonese Yueju The Nymph of the River Luo
four times in a row, breaking the performance record of the local amateur
troupes. The Music and Arts Society was a non-professional Cantonese
Yueju society registered in Seattle and much smaller in scale as compared
to larger societies like the South China Music Society. It truly developed after
the 1980s, and rehearsed repertoires including The Lion's Roar, The Princes
in Distress , and A Ten-Year Dream among others. The Overseas Chinese
Musical Theatre Society in Boston was founded in 1939, and in its formation
presented a modest size. It was not until 1967 that Yin Zizhong, a Cantonese
Yueju musician, and Feng Shaojian, his chief apprentice, joined the club and
successively presided over artistic training, cultivating a group of talents in
performing and singing, which enhanced the influence of the society. Since the
1990s, it has traveled out of Chinatown to perform at Beacon Hill Community
College and Boston University in Massachusetts.
In addition, there existed a few relatively active theater societies in San

Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, Hawaii and other places, such as
the Southern Xiqu Research Center in San Francisco and the Huitiansheng
Cantonese Yueju Troupe in Los Angeles. The aforementioned groups actively
continue in various Chinatowns all year round and have contributed positively
towards enriching the cultural and recreational life of the Chinese community
along with spreading and singing the Cantonese culture of Yueju and music.
III. The diversified road of the Cantonese Yueju as "Intangible

Cultural Heritage"（2009－）
After the successful application of Cantonese Yueju as an "Intangible Cultural

Heritage" in 2009, three trends emerged in terms of its performances in the U.S.
Firstly, the troupes from China have increased their performances in the U.S.,
while troupes from America increased their opportunities to perform in China
and abroad. The increase in opportunities occurred through platforms such
as the Cantonese Yueju International Theatre Festival, which promotes the
arts and cultural exchanges of Cantonese Yueju between China and the U.S.
in many ways. The basic form of Cantonese Yueju troupes from Guangdong
touring in the U.S. was as follows: the tour lasted no more than one month,
the locations were concentrated in Chinatowns on the east and west coasts,
the actors have multiple duties with government officials accompanying them,
and the plays were all traditional repertoires. For example, in late August 2010,
Tang Ti-Sheng's classic masterpiece Love in the red chamber was performed
in New York's Chinatown to great acclaim. In 2017, the Guangzhou Cantonese
Yueju Troupe traveled to America to perform in San Francisco and Los Angeles,
starring two renowned Cantonese Yueju artists and Plum Performance Award
winners Li Junsheng and Chen Yunhong. They performed for almost half a
month from April 12th to 26th, involving grand spectacle and far-reaching
influence. They also held lectures on the knowledge of Cantonese Yueju and
conducted artistic exchanges with American Cantonese Yueju enthusiasts,
providing them with artistic guidance. The Guangzhou International Theatre
Festival, held every four years since 1990, has gained more opportunities for
performances and exchanges with American Cantonese Yueju societies ever
since Cantonese Yueju successfully applied for the Intangible World Heritage.
For example, Cantonese Yueju societies such as the American Arts and
Cultural Exchange Association, the San Francisco Whirlwind Music Society,
the Chinese Xiqu Arts Association, and the New York Qingxinyaji Music Society
participated in the theatre festival numerous times.
Secondly, the actors and audience slowly expanded from Chinese to the ABCs
(American-Born Chinese) and even native Americans. At the end of the 19th
century, Cantonese Yueju gained its early prosperity in the U.S. due to the
demand of Overseas Chinese traveling to the U.S. to seek gold. After World
War II, the second generation of overseas Chinese were attracted by modern
entertainment such as film and television and lost interest in Cantonese Yueju.
After the 1970s, through the efforts of several amateur societies, Cantonese
Yueju took the initiative to expand from Chinatowns into communities and
■ The appearance ■ Lyle M. Rose and Leonard Rose ■ From right to left: Lyle M. Rose
of Leonard Rose as emperor's son-in-law and Princess and Leonard Rose
in costume and Changping
makeup as Princess
Changping
schools. In order to make it more accessible to overseas audiences, many

theatre societies also introduced English versions of Cantonese Yueju. In fact,
this form appeared on the stage of Hawaiian theatre as early as the early 20th
century. To be more precise, the modified performances are actually a variant
of Cantonese Yueju, where the stage, costumes, music, and workmanship of
Cantonese Yueju were paired with English dialogues. The Hawaiian Cantonese
Yueju troupes have also invited American theatre artists and Chinese
Cantonese Yueju artists to direct together, with the Americans in charge of
the English dialogues and the Chinese in charge of other routines. From 1905
to 1929, the Hawaiian Chinese School and the Overseas Chinese Students'
Association successively presented repertoires such as Autumn in the Palace
of Han , Pretty Princess , The Yellow Jacket among others, bringing Cantonese
Yueju out of Chinatown. Additionally, after the Cantonese Yueju successfully
applied for the Intangible World Heritage, more Americans actively stepped
onto the international Cantonese Yueju stage, further popularizing the art form
for the world. For example, at the Chinese Xiqu Festival held in Hong Kong
in 2014, the Irish-American Mai Junwen was in charge of playing the lead
instrument in the first performance of “The Eight Great Pieces of Lingnan's
Lingering Rhyme” at the Yau Ma Tei Theatre on July 8, and performed with
an unhurried beat and a steady and clean tone. At the age of 12, he heard
someone singing Cantonese songs in Chinatown and fell in love with it
immediately. From that moment, he learned Mandarin, Cantonese, and Taishan
dialects, and found admittance to Boston College to delve into Asian Studies.
In order to deepen his knowledge on Cantonese Yueju, he dropped out of
school a year before graduation and traveled to the Hong Kong Academy for
Performing Arts for further study. In 2012, on the 100th anniversary of the birth
of the famous Cantonese Yueju master Liang Yintang, a father and his son, Lyle
M. Rose and Leonard Rose from the U.S. performed the classic Xiqu excerpts
of Cantonese Yueju, “The Death of the Princess” in The Imperial Flower , with
the father playing the emperor's son-in-law and the son playing the female
character Princess Changping. Their body movements and expressions were
appropriate, and their pronunciation very accurate.
Thirdly, there occur more rehearsals of classic Xiqu excerpts, but less full sets.
Chen Feinong has mentioned that in the past, most Cantonese Yueju would
perform nine sets of plays over four days and five nights, with some even
performing eleven sets over five days and six nights1. However, after the 1960s
and 1970s, as both actors and theatergoers underwent a transition from the
old generation to the new generation, coupled with the accelerated pace of
modern society and the impact of new media, the aesthetic taste of audiences
gradually favored short and concise performances. Zeng Mengyun, the
president of Guangdong Quyi Research Association in New York, conducted
research determining that “(Overseas Chinese) generally liked to sing new
Cantonese Yueju which were longer and had many small tunes, and made little
effort towards the basic Erhuang, Longzhou, and Nanyin. The masters mostly
accompanied or led the singing with musical instruments, and seldom analyzed
the music theory. The crews in the theatre societies often taught themselves
Xiqu excerpts by watching recorded videos. Therefore, the crews knew little
about postures, movements, and the technical formats of performance, and
they rarely rehearsed a full set of Cantonese Yueju either.”2 As an example,
on September 16, 2012, the commemorative performance to celebrate the
birthday of the Master Hua Guang was held at the Grand Star Theatre in
San Francisco, hosted by the Barwo Artists Association of Kwangtung in the
Western United States. Famous artists from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and San
Francisco joined hands to perform nine Xiqu excerpts, including People in the
Same Boat, Snatching the Flute, Ten Times to Impeach Yan Song, The Night
Sacrifice of Emperor Guangxu to Concubine Zhen among others. Given its
content, then, it might have been advertised a special showtime for Cantonese
Yueju highlights.
Ultimately, since being included in the UNESCO’s "Representative List of
1 陈非侬口述、余慕云执笔 . 粤剧六十年［M］. 中国香港：香港中文大学出版社，2007:31.[ Dictated by

Chen Feinong and written by Yu Muyun. Sixty Years of Cantonese Yueju [M]. Hong Kong, China: The
Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2007:31.]
2 曾梦云 . 美国纽约华人粤剧粤曲活动简介 .《南国红豆》1997（1）：18.[Zeng Mengyun. Introduction to
Chinese Cantonese Yueju and Music Activities in New York, USA. Southern Red Beans 1997 (1): 18.]
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" in 2009, along with the increasing

frequency of globalization and international exchanges, the spread of
Cantonese Yueju in the U.S. enters a new stage. Today, the spread of
Cantonese Yueju in the U.S. is still restricted by various conditions. However,
like other Chinese Xiqu cultures that are relatively minor on the international
stage, although the inheritance and development of Cantonese Yueju in the
U.S. appears difficult, it continuously gains more and more popularity among
audiences for its unique artistic appeal.
MA HUI
Lecturer & post-doctor of Shanghai Theatre Academy.
Retrospect and Prospect: The

Communication of Cantonese Yueju in
Southeast Asia from the Perspective of
Mutual Learning among Civilizations
HUANG Lu & LIU Junling
Abstract： The culture of Southeast Asia and China share similar origin and characteristics. To
study the communication of Xiqu culture like Cantonese Yueju in Southeast Asia and to
communicate cultural identity through art leads to healthy dialogues between cultures.
Mutual learning among cultures requires Cantonese Yueju to take the initiative to
enter Southeast Asian counties and absorb the excellent Xiqu culture already present.
Therefore, this paper briefly reviews the communication and evolution of Cantonese
Yueju in Southeast Asia over the past century, providing an in-depth understanding of the
barriers and dilemmas it has encountered during its attempted spread. Then, combined
with the needs of innovation for modern times, we will find an open and inclusive way
of communication from the perspective of mutual learning between cultures. That is,
spreading out from Chinatown, participating in local festivals, cultivating new successors,
integrating and interacting with Southeast Asian media, and realizing harmonious
coexistence among civilizations.
Key words： Cantonese Yueju, dilemma, communication and mutual learning, communication strategy
The charm of civilization lies in its classics of philosophy and social sciences,
and literary and artistic works such as literature, music, films, and TV plays.
Xiqu is an excellent traditional culture with "Chinese characteristics and styles".
The wide dissemination of such works forms an important aspect of artistic
and cultural exchange, and aids the world in further developing towards its
global culture. In 2015, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong
Province sponsored “The dissemination of Chinese Guangdong culture along
the Silk Road: Touring of the Cantonese Yueju Theatre”, opening a new era
of cultural exchange between Cantonese Yueju and Southeast Asia. It is also
reminiscent of history as well as a co-construction for future development.

This paper focuses on the communication and evolution of Cantonese Yueju
in Southeast Asia, and its inheritance and development in the context of a new
era.
I.The Communication and Evolution of Cantonese Yueju in

Southeast Asia
“Wherever there is a sea, there are overseas Chinese speaking Cantonese

and the singing of Cantonese Yueju.” This, to a certain extent, reflects
the widespread popularity of Cantonese Yueju with regards to overseas
dissemination. If one believes rough statistics among all the overseas Chinese
in the world, Cantonese account for 70%, and they are distributed widely in
Southeast Asia. From a certain point of view, Cantonese Yueju has become
more than just a Xiqu genre. It has become the main carrier and emotional
comfort for overseas Chinese in the world, especially in Southeast Asia, to
maintain contact with their homeland spiritually.
According to historical records, the earliest introduction of Cantonese Yueju

into Southeast Asia can be traced back to the Xianfeng period of Qing Dynasty.
With the development of overseas economy and trade, numerous Chinese
businessmen traveled abroad to conduct business or develop their careers.
A large number of Chinese workers also traveled to “go to Nanyang”, i,e,
migrate into Southeast Asia”, providing conditions for the further development
of Cantonese Yueju troupes in that area. Southeast Asia remains the main
destination for Cantonese Yueju troupes because of its geographical proximity
and cultural parallels with China. From the late Qing Dynasty to the 1930s,
Cantonese Yueju was performed frequently in Southeast Asia, gaining great
attention and popularity. Singapore and Malaysia were even known as the
"second home of Cantonese Yueju". After World War II, performances rapidly
declined due to the effects of the war. However, the situation varied from
country to country, and the development of it was polarized. Post-1960s in
Singapore and Malaysia, Cantonese Yueju continues to develop and presents
a promising view for eventual prosperity. Throughout the communication and
evolution of Cantonese Yueju in Southeast Asia, there exist three historical
stages: the flourishing in the early Republic of China (1912-1917), the decline
during wartime, and the polarization of its communication.
I-1 The Flourishing of Cantonese Yueju in the Early Republic of China
The period from the late Qing Dynasty to the 1930s witnessed the great
popularity and widespread of Cantonese Yueju in Southeast Asia. It is recorded
that in 1857, a guild organization with the same nature as the Barwo Artists
Association of Kwangtung, Liyuan Hall, was established in Singapore. By 1881,
there have been 240 Xiqu actors, most of whom majored in Cantonese Yueju.
As early as in the middle of the Guangxu period in the Qing Dynasty, there were
Cantonese Yueju troupes traveling to perform in Vietnam. In Ho Chi Minh City
and Cholon in Vietnam, there were even theatres where many famous domestic
Xiqu actors have been invited to lead their troupes to perform, kicking off the
upsurge of their performances in Southeast Asia.
The flourishing of Cantonese Yueju in Southeast Asia during this period and
the frequent arrival of theatre troupes from China’s mainland and Hong Kong
contributed to the most vigorous spread of Cantonese Yueju thus observed.
They not only preserved the traditional performance style and artistic
characteristics of the art form, but focused on the combination of tradition
and innovation in terms of content: creating new plays based on local history
and realistic themes. Most importantly, many outstanding actors were locally
cultivated, allowing for the continued practice of Cantonese Yueju.
I-2 The Decline of Cantonese Yueju during Wartime
The outbreak of World War II changed the world landscape, interrupting cultural
and recreational activities in Southeast Asian countries and breaking the habit
of watching Xiqu performances during leisure time for local people. Cantonese
Yueju was also included. The decline did not comprise a sharp downward
slope, but a gradual decline. Concurrently, the emergence of new technologies
in the broadcasting and film industries caused the focus of the entertainment
industry to shift, and the original way of recreation including watching
Cantonese Yueju and other Xiqu performances, changed. Many actors gave
up their stage performances and moved to the big screen, which marked the
beginning of the decline of Cantonese Yueju.
In the years just after the war, Cantonese Yueju saw a short period of prosperity.
However, as there were hundreds of thousands of things waiting to be done,
and the real economy was in urgent need to be restored, there existed little
energy or financial resource that could support the recovery and development
of Cantonese Yueju. Therefore, the troupes cut down their performances to the
public, and many full-scale plays were reduced to excerpts. Many practitioners
and enthusiasts have tried to save it from recession, but with little success.
I-3 The Sudden New Development of Cantonese Yueju in Singapore
The flourishing in the early Republic of China and the depression after the WWII
constituted the main state of the development of Cantonese Yueju in Southeast
Asia. Singapore, where Cantonese Yueju was first introduced and most widely
disseminated, also witnessed a gradual decline. However, there lived a group
of talented individuals who were dedicated to the preservation and promotion
of it, thus keeping it alive in this region.
I-3-1 The Establishment of Local Theatre Troupes
Liyuan Hall was the first Cantonese Yueju guild organization established
in Singapore. In 1881, it was renamed the Barwo Artists Association of
Kwangtung, and then registered and operated in Singapore. As the first local
Cantonese Yueju guild organization, it was the main source of Cantonese
Yueju performances. With the help of the troupes from China’s mainland, local
Chinese in Singapore also established troupes and presented performances.
Even during and after WWII, local troupes in Singapore kept regular
performances.
I-3-2 The System of Company Operation
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou, as the only foreign trade port in
China at the time, experienced a great economic boom, and national capital
gradually flowed into various industries. As Cantonese Yueju was a thriving
entertainment industry, the capitalists also wanted to get a share of the then
huge profits. As a result, companies began to invest in and run the theatre
business, which grew into a main source to promote the development of
Cantonese Yueju in China. This model eventually spread to Singapore. From the
beginning of WWII to 1948, the troupes mainly performed Anti-Japanese war
plays in Southeast Asia. Cantonese Yueju in Singapore survived the depression
during WWII with the support of the Shaw Brothers from Hong Kong.
I-3-3 The Innovation of Amateur Troupes
Dr. Cai Shupeng, dean of the Chinese Opera Institute in Singapore, states
that the golden period for traditional Chinese Xiqu like Cantonese Yueju in
Singapore spanned from WWII to the 1960s. The arrival of troupes from
China’s mainland gained more attention and appreciation from the locals, and
improved the quality of performances of professional troupes. Concurrently,
local troupes established themselves successively, renovating and recreating
the scripts. The most famous troupe is most likely the Chinese Theatre Circle
established by Mrs. Hu Guixin, a Justice of the Peace, in October 1981. After
30 years of exploration and development, it has grown from a small theatre

without a fixed venue to a well-known overseas Xiqu troupe that has visited
various countries around the world. From compiling Cantonese Yueju in English
to holding lectures specialized to the troupe’s own knowledge, from persisting
in “street performances” to going abroad for communication, it has not only
rooted Cantonese Yueju in Singapore, but also expanded its influence on the
world stage.
In its century-long history of spread in Southeast Asia, Cantonese Yueju has

experienced both heyday and decline, with obvious difficulties. In order to
find a suitable way of its communication in Southeast Asia to break down the
barriers of cultural exchanges, we must first understand the obstacles and
difficulties in its communication, figure out the ideas and content in line with its
development, and achieve mutual participation in learning among civilizations.
II. The Barriers and Dilemmas in the Spread of Cantonese Yueju in

Southeast Asia
When studying the development of Cantonese Yueju and even Chinese Xiqu in
Southeast Asia, scholars like Lai Bojiang, who have devoted themselves to the
research of Xiqu dissemination, often reference the interrupted communication
and the lack of subsequent efforts. Coupled with the impact of the times on
traditional culture, Xiqu itself has already been faced with difficulties and few
successors, let alone its overseas spread and promotion.
II-1 Differences in Cultural Understanding Result in Rare Audience for

Cantonese Yueju.
Influenced by the West, China, India, and even Arabia, Southeast Asian
countries retain diversified cultures. Although China borders on them and owns
close cultural ties with them, there are still great differences among countries,
regions, and cultures. “Every sound is singing, and every action is dancing.”
Cantonese Yueju is a high-context culture that integrates language, music,
singing, and other skills. Its performing arts, including singing and movements,
are indeed incomprehensible to overseas Chinese descendants and Southeast
Asian natives who have no common cultural foundation. Furthermore, the
Southeast Asian countries have various local languages, and it is difficult
for them to understand Cantonese. The general public, therefore, gradually
lost its interest, resulting in the dissemination of Cantonese Yueju. Therefore,
■ Chinese Troupes in Thailand
performance venues opted for traditional repertoire with fast rhythms and
gorgeous stage designs, and there were few new productions.
II-2 The Impact of New Technologies and Diverse Cultures Has Accelerated
the Depression of Traditional Cantonese Yueju Performances.
In the era of digital media, the Internet connects the world and also immerses
people in a "short, flat, and fast" time and space. The Internet, as a carrier of
video, audio, images and text, has steeped people with massive amounts of
information, while the traditional stage presentation of Cantonese Yueju retained
in Southeast Asia gradually fades out of the audience's view. According to the
BBC report "Chinese Xiqu in Thailand: The Struggle of Chinese Troupes" on
February 26, 2019, the spread of Xiqu there has mostly attracted Southeast
Asian audiences with peculiarity and heterogeneity, and most of them are
live performances. “In the past, a Chinese troupe could have more than 100
actors and attracted thousands of audiences. But today, we have only a few
dozen actors and a few hundred audience members.” Under such a trend,
the performing market of traditional Cantonese Yueju in Southeast Asia will
further shrink if it fails to grasp the characteristics of the times and promote its
dissemination through new technologies.
II-3 The Single and Outdated Performing Style Has Gradually Labeled the
Cantonese Yueju as an “Arts for the Old”.
The shortage of successors is a major problem for many traditional arts today,
and Cantonese Yueju, which has been labeled as an “Arts for the Old”, gives
people an impression that both the communicators and the audiences of it are
aging. The lack of understanding, knowledge, and inheritance of Cantonese
Yueju among the new generation in Southeast Asian Chinese diaspora—
mainly due to the single way of communication—presents an urgent problem
to be solved. In cross-cultural communication, the focus is on explaining
one's own culture in terms of a heterogeneous culture, so as to eliminate the

estrangement between cultures. The difference in foreign communication,
however, lies in the need to demonstrate this cultural heterogeneity, while also
reflecting the similarities between cultures. Dialogue among civilizations requires
equality and diversity, and a careful examination of cultural diversity. Given the
cultures and national conditions of Southeast Asian countries, the only way to
spread Cantonese Yueju easily and readily is through diversified communication
methods.
III. Open and Inclusive Xiqu Exchanges in Southeast Asia from the
Perspective of Mutual Learning Among Civilizations
The development of Xiqu in Southeast Asia has been influenced by Indian

Sanskrit drama and Chinese Xiqu, both of which belong to the “Three Major
Ancient Theatres in the World”1. And the elements of Chinese Xiqu, especially
Cantonese Yueju, can be observed in the works of many countries. Due,
however, to their own cultural and historical backgrounds, each country has its
own system of Xiqu, forming their unique Xiqu culture.
In order to achieve mutual learning among civilizations, it is necessary for

Cantonese Yueju to take initiative in entering the Southeast Asian region
and draw on the excellent Xiqu sub-genres of various countries. Through
multilingual translations and adaptations, Cantonese Yueju has introduced
"itself" to Southeast Asian countries. It is of equal importance to provide a
display platform for Southeast Asian countries and hold friendly exchange
activities to absorb beneficial elements from each other and promote the
excellent spirit of Xiqu culture.
III-1 Focusing on the Cultivation of Local Successors and Building the

Platform for Exchanges
III-1-1 Getting out of Chinatown and Participating in Local Festivals
Chinatown has always been a major area for Cantonese Yueju performances,
attracting large numbers of overseas Chinese. Concurrently, it has attracted
1 “Three Major Ancient Theatres in the World” refers to the ancient Greek theatre, Indian Sanskrit drama
and Chinese Xiqu.[Translator’s note]
■ Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand ■ Chinatown in Singapore
many foreign tourists to experience the cultural charm of it. Chinatown, as the
area with the most distinct Chinese identity, should indeed be the first choice
for Cantonese Yueju performances. The geographic limitations of Chinatown,
however, exclude many other Southeast Asians from the experience. Only
spreading out of Chinatown and into the local streets and alleys might better
inform the public about Cantonese Yueju.
III-1-2 Seeking Support from the Government and Building the Platform for
Exchanges
Numerous scholars mention the importance of government-involvement when

analyzing the evolution of Cantonese Yueju in Southeast Asia. In fact, a reason
for the difficulty of dissemination for many small troupes of it or other Xiqu
genres that still exist in Southeast Asia is due to the “playful” perception of the
art form due to lack of attention. Even though the tradition of performing at
festivals is inherited, due to the lack of funds, professionalism, and government
traction, only short excerpts can be performed in Chinatown or at old theatres.
Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation with the local government,
proactively enhancing the ability of Cantonese Yueju to attract audiences,
and expand its dissemination. Through the government, there might also
occur facilitation of gatherings of more professionals for exchange and mutual
learning, so as to better promote the development of the art form locally.
III-1-3 Cultivating Successors for Cantonese Yueju
As mentioned above, Cantonese Yueju is gradually becoming an “Arts for

the Old”. From the 1970s to 1990s, the popularity has gradually dwindled. In
order to achieve its sustainable spread in Southeast Asia, it is necessary to
cultivate successors and lead it from the current stage of satisfying curiosity,
to that of understanding China through learning Cantonese Yueju. One must
strive to make learning Cantonese Yueju one of the channels for dialogue with
China. Meanwhile, it should also actively blend with local culture, innovate the
performing style, or interpret in the way of local Xiqu, creating works that are
“novel” for both sides (performers and audience).
III-2 Integrating Media Interaction in Southeast Asia and Enhancing the

Effectiveness of Publicity
In today’s society where technology develops so rapidly, the new media, known
as the "fifth media", has extraordinary transmission speed and effectiveness,
providing a new perspective for the dissemination of Cantonese Yueju in
Southeast Asia. The Internet has broken the boundaries of space-time
communication, and the development of Cantonese Yueju in Southeast Asia
should take full advantage of the convenience brought by the technological
developments of the times. It must also aim to pioneer ways of utilizing the
technological advancements. The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) and
the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) have played key
roles in promoting mutual learning among civilizations. As the cornerstones of
Cantonese Yueju's dissemination to Southeast Asia are being laid gradually, it
is important to grasp the top-level design and take the advantages of media
integration in order to expand its spread and establish a two-way international
communication platform, allowing youth from different countries to appreciate
the charm of Cantonese Yueju.
III-2-1 Making Use of Social Platforms and Communicating with the Users
Directly
With the development of social media, various groups are gathered in major
social apps around the world. According to CAMIA, apps such as Facebook
and Instagram rank top among the mainstream social media apps in Southeast
Asia due to their huge user bases. In cyberspace, users are no longer the fixed
"target" audience. It is paramount for Cantonese Yueju to change its current
approach of being “discovered” by users. Such an approach is too passive.
Xiqu has a natural dependence on the media. The large variety of social media
outlets create a communication matrix, expanding the spread of Cantonese
Yueju in Southeast Asia through widespread and varied communication, which
opens the art form to the younger generation, thus opening a cultural dialogue.
III-2-2 Spicing up with Short Videos and Attracting the Youth
Using short length to spread information, short videos have changed

entertainment for the youth and have also become the main channel for their
users to obtain information. Tik Tok, Viva Video, and other major short video
platforms in Southeast Asia can serve as the preferred channels to approach
and aggregate audiences. Recording Cantonese Yueju performances and
narrating its culture in the form of short videos is a way to bring it closer to the
youth and attract them.
III-2-3 Constructing a Communication Matrix through Audio-Visual Integration
Audio-visual programs, both entertaining and hyper-textual, are the main

content of today's international exchanges. Their great vitality and far-reaching
influence warrant them an important carrier of wide-spread communication
today. From film and television works to variety shows, audiovisual programs
are equipped with the functions of mutual economic assistance and cultural
exchange. In the era of mass media, radio is the main catalyst for the
dissemination of Cantonese Yueju, and now digital broadcasting proposes
its own unique advantages in the era of Internet media. Cantonese Yueju
continues to adopt new ways of broadcasting, allowing people to experience
the artistic charm of it at their leisure, allowing for an almost imperceptible (but
real) youth involvement and interest.
Conclusion
Given that recently the world leans towards the learning of other cultures,
there currently exists a favorable opportunity for the spreading of Cantonese
Yueju throughout Southeast Asia. Those who study Cantonese Yueju, then,
should attempt to make full use of the opportunity to deepen the dialogue and
exchange among civilizations. During the process of foreign communication,
flexibility with regards to presentation must vary depending on time or place.
Combining script innovations, performing forms and stage designs with the
development of the times, and revamping older traditions in a modern light
comprise necessary actions to best spread the art form. As a high-context art
form, Cantonese Yueju is difficult to understanding from a non-educated view.
However, by decomposing its elements, combining them with local cultures of
various countries and appealing to different groups, we can promote the spread
of Cantonese Yueju in a specifically targeted way. Spreading the art promotes
intercultural exchanges and integration, builds bridges between cultures and
arts of different countries, and results in perhaps all civilizations prospering and
coexisting harmoniously.
Reference
[1] 赖伯疆 . 粤剧海外萍踪与沧桑 [M]. 广州：羊城晚报出版社 .2008. 第 1 页、第 10 页 .[Lai Bojiang.
Overseas Traces and Changes of Cantonese Yueju [M]. Guangzhou: Yangcheng Evening News Publishing
House. 2008:1+10.]
[2] 赖伯疆，黄镜明著 . 粤剧史 [M]. 北京：中国戏剧出版社 .1988. 第 350 页 . [Lai Bojiang, Huang Jingming.
History of Cantonese Yueju [M]. Beijing: China Theatre Publishing House. 1988: 350.]
[3] 沈有珠 . 近现代粤剧在越南的演出与传播 [J]. 戏剧文学 ,2016(04):138-145.[Shen Youzhu. The
Performance and Dissemination of Modern Cantonese Yueju in Vietnam [J]. Drama Literature,
2016(04):138-145.]
[4] 李婉霞 . 论清末民初公司经管的粤戏班 [J]. 佛山科学技术学院学报 ( 社会科学版 ),2015,33 (04):33-38.
[Li Wanxia. Discussing on the Company-Administered Cantonese Yueju Troupes during the Late Qing
Dynasty and the Early Republic of China [J]. Journal of Foshan University (Social Science Edition) , 2015,
33 (04) : 33-38.]
[5] 王廷信 . 中国艺术海外认知研究 [M]. 中国文联出版社 ,2016. [Wang Tingxin. The Cognitive Study on
Chinese Arts in Overseas [M]. China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing House, 2016.]
Funding Project
This dissertation is one of the phased achievements of the 2019 National Social Science Foundation for the
Arts General Project “Research on the Dissemination and Reception of Cantonese Yueju in Thailand”.
(Project No.: 2019BH01465)
HUANG LU
Deputy Dean of the School of Humanities, Guangxi Arts University.
LIU JUNLING
Lecturer of Sichuan Film and Television College.
ROLES, ARTISTS AND THEATRES I 45
On the Changes of the Types-of-Role

in Cantonese Yueju
YIN Qinghua
Abstract： As a genre of Chinese Xiqu that has spread far and wide, Cantonese Yueju has absorbed the
features of Chinese Xiqu genres of both the North and the South, as well as some overseas
culture since its birth, helping it adapt to the changes of the times and the demands of the
market. Hundreds of years of development and innovation has caused Cantonese Yueju
to make breakthroughs in terms of types-of-role, performances, singing, creation, stage
design and so on. The analysis on the changes of types-of-role in the Cantonese Yueju can
reflect the transformation process to a certain extent, allowing us to better understand the
artform.
Key words： Cantonese Yueju, types of role, changes, development
Cantonese Yueju is said to be the most dazzling artistic pearl of Lingnan

culture. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Yiyang Qiang and Kunqiang had
already been spread throughout Guangdong. Gaoqiang and Jingqiang were
also popular in Lingnan in the early Qing Dynasty, and after the integration with
local tunes such as Yueou, Nanyin and Longzhou, the initial "Guangqiang" style
was formed. 1
1 Gaoqiang ( 高腔 ), one of the four major tunes of Chinese Xiqu. It was originally called "Yiyang Qiang"
or "Yiqiang" because it originated in Yiyang, Jiangxi Province. He is a variety of tune operas derived
from Yiyang tune in Ming Dynasty and later Qingyang tune.Jingqiang（京腔）was formed by combining
Yiyang Qiang with the local language after it was introduced into Beijing in late Ming and early Qing
Dynasties. Yueou（粤讴）, a popular folk art in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Nanyin（南音）is
a folk art form of singing in Guangzhou dialect, which was formed in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.
Longzhou（龙舟）, also known as Longzhou song, it was produced in Shunde in the early Qing
Dynasty, and Guangzhou is also the main popular area. Guangqiang（广腔）, a kind of Xiqu tune by
the combination of Yiyang Qiang and Kunshan Qiang since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. [Translator’s
note]
46 I ROLES, ARTISTS AND THEATRES
During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the "Waijiang Troupes"1 from various
provinces came to Guangdong to perform more popular tunes such as Bangzi
and Luantan2, which were more acceptable for the common people. They
competed with "Local Troupes" and influenced each other in the Cantonese-
speaking area, and Cantonese Yueju, the large-scale local genre of Xiqu
identified with the unique Lingnan style, was gradually formed. From the late
Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the whole society was in decline,
leaving the door open to foreign influence. Influenced by foreign art forms
such as movies, novels, and popular music, Cantonese Yueju has actively or
passively undergone unprecedented dramatic changes, soaking up all these
new influences had to offer. A number of masters with great artistic attainments
such as Sit Kok-Sin, Ma Sze-Tsang, Kwai Ming-Yang, Liu Hap-Wai and Pak
Kui-Wing3 emerged and formed their schools respectively according to their
singing, which became a sign of the maturity of the Cantonese Yueju.
In 2009, following Kunqu, Cantonese Yueju was successfully selected into the
list of “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”. As we
all know, Intangible Cultural Heritage is not static, and it is continuing to adapt,
innovate, improve, and even reconstruct itself in varying degrees according to
social developments and aesthetic changes of the public. Taking the types-
of-role of Xiqu as an example, Cantonese Yueju, being deeply influenced by
the Xiqu genres of northern areas, had “Ten-Major-Types-of-Role” as well at
the beginning of its existence just like Hanju. The “Six-Types-of-Role System”
gradually took form later, due to various reasons such as the size of the
troupes, market preferences, performance venues and the masters. After the
founding of the People's Republic of China, due to the impact of the foreign
arts and the loss of talents itself, Cantonese Yueju is faced with a “Dual-Types-
of-Role” situation where “Zhengyin4 Wenwusheng” or “Zhengyin Huadan” takes
the lead. In the face of the tide of times, the only thing that remains the same
in the current Cantonese Yueju in comparison with the original one is that it is
always changing.
1 Waijiang Troupes ( 外江班 ): Waijiang Troupes in the Cantonese-speaking area refer to the troupes from
other provinces that come to Guangdong to perform, as opposed to the “Local Troupes” ( 本地班 ).
2 From the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, Shaanxi local Bangzi (Qinqiang) was called Luantan ( 乱
弹 ) because it was accompanied by plucked string instruments. [Translator’s note]
3 Liu Hap-Wai or Liao Huaixia ( 廖侠怀 ), Pak Kui-Wing or Bai Jurong ( 白驹荣 ). [Translator’s note]
4 Zhengyin ( 正印 ): originally referring to Zhengtang ( 正堂 ), the highest leader of the official government.
In Cantonese Yueju, it specially refers to the first leading actor in each type of role and the role with the
highest artistic level and the strongest appeal to the audience.
I. The inherited “Ten-Major-Types-of-Role”
As mentioned above, Cantonese Yueju was gradually formed through the

process of continuous competition and integration with local tunes and Xiqu
genres from outside of the Cantonese-speaking areas, among which the Hubei
Hanju had the greatest influence. In the 1920s, Mr. Mai Xiaoxia, a famous
dramatist in Guangdong, suggested a theory that "Cantonese Yueju originates
from Hubei Hanju"1, which triggered a profound and extensive discussion on
the origin of Cantonese Yueju in the field of Xiqu. Tian Han, Ouyang Yuqian,
Zhou Yibai and other dramatists have expressed their own opinions. Although
they held different positions, Hubei Hanju definitely had a very important role
in the formation of Cantonese Yueju, proven by the fact that the classification
of the types-of-role of early Cantonese Yueju was almost the same as that of
Hubei Hanju.
The “Ten-Major-Types-of-Role” of Cantonese Yueju refer to Mo, Jing, Sheng,

Dan, Chou, Wai, Xiao, Tie, Fu and Za2, which are consistent with the types-of-
role of the Pihuang genre in Hubei, Hunan, and Shaanxi.
After such types-of-role system of Pihuang was introduced into the Lingnan
region, it has undergone continuous transformation to adapt to the local
culture, and the titles of the “Ten-Major-Types-of-Role” have also undergone
some subtle changes. For example, in Cantonese Yueju, Mo is called Gongjiao,
Jing is called Huamian, Sheng is called Zhengsheng, and Xiao is called
Xiaosheng and Xiaowu3. As Cantonese Yueju develops, the Barwo Artists
Association of Kwangtung4 has unified the management of the casts and crews
and reordered the “Ten-Major-Types-of-Role” according to market demand and
social influence into: Wusheng, Zhengsheng5, Xiaosheng, Xiaowu, Zhengdan,
Huadan, Gongjiao, Zongsheng, Jing and Chou.
It becomes apparent that the stalwart and handsome Wusheng, the elegant
1 Cantonese Yueju originates from Hubei Hanju: From A Brief History of Guangdong Xiq u.
2 Mo( 末 ), Jing( 净 ), Sheng( 生 ), Dan( 旦 ), Chou( 丑 ), Wai( 外 ), Xiao( 小 ), Tie( 贴 ), Fu( 夫 ) and Za( 杂 ).
[Translator’s note]
3 Gongjiao( 公脚 ), Huamian ( 花面 ), Zhengsheng( 正生 ), Xiaosheng ( 小生 ) and Xiaowu( 小武 ). [Translator’s
note]
4 Barwo Artists Association of Kwangtung ( 八和会馆 ): This is the guild organization of Cantonese Yueju
artists. According to the profession and responsibilities of the practitioners, there are eight halls in all,
namely Zhaohe hall ( 兆和堂 ), Qinghe hall ( 庆和堂 ), Fuhe hall ( 福和堂 ), Xinhe hall ( 新和堂 ), Yonghe
hall ( 永和堂 ), Dehe hall ( 德和堂 ), Puhe hall ( 普和堂 ) and Shenhe hall ( 慎和堂 ).
5 Zhengsheng ( 正生 ). [Translator’s note]
and solemn Zhengsheng, the charming and graceful Xiaosheng, and

the Xiaowu with skilled Neigong ranked very high, and such ranking was
inseparable from the increasingly fierce competition among various types
of Xiqu in Lingnan at that time. This is well documented in contemporary
texts such as, The Eighteen Repertoires of Cantonese Yueju and The New
Eighteen Repertoires of Cantonese Yueju , the audiences at that time tended
to favor those works concerning patriotism and chivalry. In order to attract the
audience, the troupes had to strive to adopt various methods. Take Wu Song,
a character of Xiaowu, as an example. In some of the early Cantonese Yueju,
Wu Song’ s makeup did not need to be very demure and handsome, only a
layer of rouge was needed. The actors only needed to activate their internal
strength (neigong) to make their faces flush when acting out anger.
The preferences of the audience has directly determined the ranking of the
types-of-role and the related amount of remuneration, which stimulated the
troupes to try every means to innovate and caused the actors to risking
everything to pursue excitement and adventure, further forming some unique
martial arts of Cantonese Yueju, such as “Da Zhen Jun”1 , “Da Wu Jian”2 , “Ou
Zhen Xue”3 , “Shua Ya”4 and so on.
The market of Cantonese Yueju was flourishing because of competition, while

the obvious shortcomings have also been revealed. The popular types-of-role
demanded more and more personal qualities from their performers, not only
in terms of their skills, but also in terms of their handsome appearance and
distinctive tones, almost requiring them to become all-rounders. In contrast, the
lower ranked ones in the “Ten-Major-Types-of-Role” was increasingly declining.
The actors engaged in unpopular types-of-role were forced to switch to other
industries as they lost the stage, and the classic repertoires and exclusive skills
were lost. Such conditions directly contributed to the reform of the Cantonese
Yueju types-of-role. At the beginning of the 20th century, the “Ten-Major-Types-
of-Role” began to change quietly into the “Six-Types-of-Role System”.
1 “Da Zhen Jun” ( 打真军 )， where the actors fought with real Kung Fu and didn’t need a stand-in. [Translator’s
note]
2 “Da Wu Jian” ( 打五件 )，where the actors played multiple roles and could play multiple instruments at
the same time. [Translator’s note]
3 “Ou Zhen Xue” ( 呕真血 )，where the actor forcibly drank a lot of red hematoxylin water before the
performance, and then used Qigong to force the hematoxylin water out during the performance, giving
the effect of blood when spat. [Translator’s note]
4 “Shua Ya” ( 耍牙 )，where the actors performed with fake teeth in their mouths and played with those
teeth in various ways. [Translator’s note]
II. The “Six-Types-of-Role System” in response to the times
In 1889, the Barwo Artists Association of Kwangtung (Guangdong) was built in

Huangsha, Guangzhou, and a systematic management model was established
according to the classification of the“Ten-Major-Types-of-Role”, prompting
Cantonese Yueju to move towards a more mature period.
With the increasingly fierce competition of the market, some types-of-role in

the “Ten-Major-Types-of-Role” merged with each other in response to the
situation, and others could even be said to be on the verge of elimination. The
most representative of the mergers was the most important type-of-role of
Cantonese Yueju, the Wenwusheng, which was a combination of "Xiaosheng"
and "Xiaowu". In his article Changes in Cantonese Yueju Performance in the
Past Forty Years , the famous Cantonese Yueju artist and founder of the Bai
School, Pak Kui-Wing, clearly mentioned the origin of "Wenwusheng": "There
are not many actors who can master Shaolin martial arts...since few can inherit
the performing set of Xiaowu from the predecessors...When performing Zhou
Yu's cultivated elegance, some Xiaowu often use singing to remedy the defects
in their performance. Jinshan Qi, Zhou Yuli, and Zhou Yulin all belonged to this
category, and the Wenwu singing style was created by them..."
Unlike the increasingly popular "Wenwusheng", the "Gongjiao", which once

ranked among the top ones of the “Ten-Major-Types-of-Role”, differed from
both Xusheng1 and Wusheng. Its singing style was extremely unique, existing
between singing and non-singing, and placed the emphasis on pronouncing
words rather than singing, the subtleties of which cannot be expressed in words
but can only be transmitted orally or learned by heart. This has also become
an important factor limiting the development of types-of-role. There were
also other types-of-role such as "Zhengdan", "Zongsheng" and "Dahuanian"
sharing similar characteristics. It was only after decades of internal adjustments
that the original “Six-Types-of-Role System” was formed in Cantonese Yueju,
including the "Wenwusheng", "Zhengyin Huadan", "Wusheng", "Chousheng",
"Xiaosheng," and "Second Huadan".
At the beginning of the formation of the “Six-Types-of-Role System”, in order to

maintain the balance among the types-of-role and keep the performance level
of the actors, the artistic creation of the troupes, both in terms of performances
and repertoires, had to be evenly distributed among these six major types-of-
1 Xusheng ( 须生 ). [Translator’s note]

role. But new cracks soon appeared in such balanced situation. As a matter
of fact, the two groups of Wenwusheng and Xiaosheng, Zhengyin Huadan and
Second Huadan were almost identical in performances except in terms of the
significance of their roles, and there were no substantial differences in terms of
genres or types-of-role. In addition, the Choushengs were required to perform
all male and female roles of Choujiao1, while the Wusheng were responsible for
all stage characters who has a beard or has their faces revealed. It can be seen
that the “Six-Types-of-Role System” was not the six separate types-of-role we
simply thought it was. At that time, it was still very common for one person to
perform multiple roles, which placed higher demands on the actors and led to
further integration and narrowing of the “Six-Types-of-Role System”.
Foreign cultures, being affected by the war, flooded in to the country during
the 1920s and 30s, and the local culture of Lingnan region, led by Cantonese
Yueju, was severely impacted. In order to survive the predicament, artists
and various large and small troupes have carried out the fastest and most
drastic changes in Cantonese Yueju in history. In terms of its characteristics,
Cantonese Yueju has completed the transformation of stage language and
rhythm form under the initiative of famous masters such as Ma Sze-Tsang,
Sit Kok-Sin and Ouyang Yuqian. In terms of performance venues, Guangfu
troupes of Cantonese Yueju moved from outdoor performance venues such as
platforms in temples, under the sheds and on the grass, to major theatres in
Guangzhou, and made corresponding changes in bands and stage designs to
adapt to the contemporary viewing habits.
The most important change during this period was the change in the
organization of the troupes from the all-male classes to the co-educational
classes of both males and females. It was forbidden and severely punished
in the early days, under the joint administration of the government and the
Barwo Artists Association of Kwangtung, for female Cantonese Yueju actors
to join the troupe. With the accelerating reformation, a large number of new
repertoires based on foreign novels and American movies were produced,
forming a great contrast with the stage performances of traditional Cantonese
Yueju. The inclusion of female Cantonese Yueju performers has also brought
unprecedented freshness to the audience. For a time, the status of the
Zhengyin Hua Dan played by women was so much improved to the point that it
was almost equal to that of the Wenwusheng.
1 Choujiao ( 丑脚 ). [Translator’s note]

The rise of female artists has brought new hope to Cantonese Yueju, and
new plays with themes of love between men and women and family ethics
have occupied the largest share of the Cantonese Yueju performance market.
This period has also created a large number of mature Cantonese Yueju
classics, such as Forty Years after Her Left, The Sassy Princess and Her Blunt
Husband , and so on. The joint performance of the Zhengyin Huadan and the
Wenwusheng rescued Cantonese Yueju from its predicament, and the major
troupes rushed to launch a series of plays concentrated on the talents and
beauties to keep the heat on, directly causing other types-of-roles to take a
back seat. This also implies that the “Six-Types-of-Role System”, which was
designed to give equal weight to the number of scenes, exists now in name
only.
III. With no other choice, the Sheng and Dan take the lead
The emergence of the “Six-Types-of-Role System” broke the strict boundaries

between various types-of-role and the conventions of "facialization" and
"fixation" of traditional Chinese Xiqu, allowing the actors more freedom in their
performances and fleshing out more of their characters. Although the names
of the types-of-role seemed to be the same as those of most Xiqu genres,
the core of its performance was completely different, which was also a unique
feature of Cantonese Yueju.
When the boundaries between types-of-role became ambiguous, the actors'

performances and artistic skills were no longer bound by specific rules. In his
famous work Bitter Phoenix and Sorrowful Orioleas, the famous Cantonese
Yueju artist Ma Shizheng pioneered the integration of the performance
techniques of the Wenwusheng with those of the Chousheng, and his
performance was well received. Based on this feature, a series of new
Cantonese Yueju with both the solemn and humorous style such as A Perfect
Match and The Vagabond Prince were launched, thus forming a highly mixed
original type-of-role of "Wenwuchousheng"1. It is common to find artists like
Ma Shizheng who were constantly exploring in Cantonese Yueju. In addition
to being able to play the pitiful Lin Daiyu, one must also be able to play Liu
Jinding, who goes into battle to fight with the enemy, in order to become a
1 "Wenwuchousheng" ( 文武丑生 ). [Translator’s note]

favorite Zhengyin Huadan favoured by the audience.
In this way, those all-round actors were constantly trying to make

breakthroughs and constantly squeezing the living space of other types-of-role.
The decline of the types-of-role has made it difficult for many of the basic skills,
rehearsals, and routines that were developed during the period of “Ten-Major-
Types-of-Role” to appear on the stage, and they were gradually abandoned.
The situation continued to worsen. Due to the precarious situation under the
war and the increasing salary demands, many troupe owners continued to
reduce the number of secondary roles to cut down the costs. There were, at
this time, only four types-of-role left in the “Six-Types-of-Role System,” which
are Wenwusheng, Zhengyin Huadan, Chousheng, and Wusheng.
As the “Six-Types-of-Role System” developed into the 1940s, Cantonese

Yueju experienced important migrations and changes. Due to the Japanese
invasion of China and the turbulent situation in the Mainland, Hong Kong and
Macau became the wartime refuges for Cantonese Yueju. A large number of
artists and troupes went to Hong Kong and Macau for development. In order
to compete for space with fresh and fashionable foreign arts such as American
blockbusters, Western European dramas, and musical films that had been
popular in Hong Kong for a long time, Cantonese Yueju began to undergo
new changes. The repertoire creation of this period paid equal attention to
the sound and color, love and affectation, and laughter and anger, and was
characterized by a variety of forms with very distinctive features. For example,
new repertoires such as Why Not Come Back and The Romantic Monk were
mostly written for the three types-of-role including Wenwusheng, Zhengyin
Huadan and Chousheng. Traditional artists also considered this period to be
the transition from the “Six-Types-of-Role System” to the “Three-Types-of-Role
System”.1
In 1953, a state-run troupe of Cantonese Yueju was established, and in October

1956, the first Member Representative Conference of the Guangzhou Branch
of the Chinese Theatre Association was held. "The type-of-role classification
of Cantonese Yueju" became a hot topic of discussion at that time. However,
it was very difficult for Cantonese Yueju, which had been undergoing drastic
changes from its birth to its maturity, to be recovered and rescued. The cultural
department gathered a group of well-known artists, introduced the director
system, and released a group of artistic works with exquisite performances
1 “Three-Types-of-Role System” ( 三柱制 ) , also known as "San Wang Ban" ( 三王班 ).

such as White Snake, Lotus lantern , and The You Sisters in the Red Chamber
and so on.
However, the short-lived artistic peak did not prevent the dispersion of talents
and the loss of skills in Cantonese Yueju. Despite the emergence of good
actors like Hung Sin-nui, the decline of the entire industry was inevitable, and
many theatre companies were left with only “One Sheng and One Dan”, “One
Sheng Half Dan” or “One Dan Half Sheng”. The once popular “Six-Types-of-
Role System” had no other choice but to enter a new stage of “Sheng and Dan
Taking the Lead”.
Conclusion
Since the 1970s, “Let A Hundred Flowers Blossom, Weed Through the Old
to Bring Forth the New”1 has become an important instruction to encourage
and develop traditional Chinese Xiqu. Cantonese Yueju has revitalized and
embarked on a new journey under the care and support of the state, local
governments, state-owned theatres and troupes, and private organizations at
home and abroad. In order to adapt to the requirements of the new era and
realize its development, it is necessary to comprehensively develop the types-
of-role of Cantonese Yueju, promote the training of various talents, and to
rescue and restore, the originality of the repertoires, and break the performance
barriers of actors. As the most influential genre of Chinese Xiqu and the
most widely distributed and representative genre overseas, the birthplace
and development of Cantonese Yueju is a strong testament to the dramatic
changes it has endured that no other genre has been able to withstand. That's
why it has a speed of transformation unmatched by other genres.
In recent years, Cantonese Yueju has gone further and further in its innovative
journey. For example, the Fighting for the Great Tang Empire adapted from a
popular online game and the 4k Cantonese Yueju movie White Snake have
continued to gain popularity from viewers across the country, thus opening up
another feasible path for the development of Cantonese Yueju.
1 Let A Hundred Flowers Blossom, Weed Through The Old To Bring Forth The New ( 百花齐放，推陈出
新 ): It is the policy proposed by the CPC to reform and develop the art of Chinese Yueju at the early
stage of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it also applies to other literary and artistic
sectors.
In addition, many local troupes have started to rehearse traditional plays or

create new modern plays in order to train young actors. For example, the
Jiangmen Cantonese Yueju Troupe invited the famous artists to rehearse
Breaking Open the Mountain to Rescue Mother , which fully demonstrated
the “Ten-Major-Types-of-Role” of Cantonese Yueju in the early stage. Another
example is the original modern play Daybreak in South Guangdong by
Zhuhai Cantonese Yueju Troupe, which is set according to the types-of-role
of the troupe's actors and attempts to move closer to the “Six-Types-of-Role
System”.
Cantonese Yueju has undergone centuries of dramatic and magnificent

developments and has never ceased to change from the day it was born,
striving to keep developing. As Kant said, "There is nothing eternal in the world.
Everything changes and everything develops". Perhaps the layout of the types-
of-role of Cantonese Yueju will not change in the near future, but we believe
that such an innovative and groundbreaking genre will certainly stir up the tide
in the Sea of Xiqu in the future new eras.
YIN QINGHUA
Playwright of Zhuhai Performing Arts Group.
Immersing in Arts, Sublimating Hearts:

Ding Fan and His Artistic Achievements
ZHANG Jinqiong
It is said that Ding Fan holds a“special”place in the field of Cantonese Yueju,
and a quick glimpse into his biography shows that this is by no means an
exaggeration.
Born in Liling, Hunan Province, he had not started to learn Cantonese Yueju
from an early age, and had neither a familial nor professional connection to
the form. Despite this, he became one of the inaugural recipients of the “Plum
Performance Award”, the highest performance award in Chinese theatre. Other
distinctions include his position as the representative inheritor of the National
Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Cantonese Yueju Project of the United
Nations Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
More than this, he is considered the “role model”, recognized by leaders,

experts and audiences and a guaranteed "box office" in the Cantonese Yueju
market, having won the "Wenhua Performance Award" twice. His performances
hold a great appeal to both men and women of all ages, but especially to
female audiences. He puts himself into the “red boat”1 , performing various
emotions and feelings on the stage. It is oft said that onstage it seems as
though he has lost “himself”, “hiding” in the characters of “emperors and
generals”, “talents and beauties”, “common people and amorous monks”.
It can be said that he treats Cantonese Yueju as his own wife and has
"dedicated" his whole life, faithfully, to her.
Some say that Xiqu is a profession that depends on talent. Indeed, God
1 “Red boat” refers to the boat that the Cantonese Yueju Troupe takes when touring around in the early
times. [Translator’s note]
■ Ding Fan(1952- )
favored Ding Fan greatly, not only endowing him with a tall and straight figure,
a handsome appearance, and a good voice that many actors admire, but
also allowing him to meet his “Bo Le (talent-scout)” Luo Pinchao at a crucial
time in his development. From then on, he has established a connection with
Cantonese Yueju and has loved it ardently all his life.
However, who knows how much hardship and suffering a teenager from
another province with no foundations has had to go through to catch up with
his peers who have been practicing since childhood? And who knows how
difficult it is to make a decision to resist the temptation of other industries which
earn a lot more financially and stick to this "hardship" and "infatuation" soberly
and persistently when Xiqu is faced with declination? I am afraid that only Ding
Fan himself knows.
In my opinion, at such a time when everyone can be called a “famous artist”,

three requirements should be satisfied to truly live up to this title. That is, as a
famous Xiqu artist, one must have a number of masterpieces to be retained;
as a traditional artist, one must help an art system to be spread widely; and
finally, as an inheritor of a Xiqu genre, one must have a group of apprentices to
pass on the classics. Throughout his nearly 50 years involvement in Cantonese
Yueju, Ding Fan has fully lived up to these standards, and is a well-deserved
"famous Cantonese Yueju artist".
Anyone who knows Ding Fan knows that he has a gentle personality and
elegant demeanor, and lives a casual life. However, he is persistent and
■ Cantonese Yueju The Love Story of Guanyin and ■ Cantonese Yueju The Tragic
Weituotian , starred Ding fan, photographed by Xue Caihuan Sacrifice , starred Ding fan,
photographed by Xue Caihuan
scrupulous in his pursuit of art. He has practiced diligently and painstakingly

day and night to make up the gap and catch up with those who came into
contact with Cantonese Yueju much earlier. Besides, he has also learned from
others and gradually formed his own unique performing style, becoming a
famous actor noticed by all walks of life and welcomed by audiences at home
and abroad.
Looking dapper in costume, he plays a wide range of characters and is adept

in both Wensheng and Wusheng roles as well as singing and acting, particularly
in Xiaosheng. On the stage of Cantonese Yueju, he has successfully portrayed
many characters with distinctive images and different personalities that are
deeply loved and followed by audiences. He has starred in many representative
repertoires that have become famous, such as Her Soul haunting in Zhuji
Alley , The Legend of Lun Wenxu , Lotus Lantern , Emperor Taizong of Tang and
His Prime Minister Wei Zheng , Emperor Minghuang of Tang and His Imperial
Concubine Yang Yuhuan , Junzi Bridge , King of Lanling , The Legend of Red
Plums , Substituting a Civet Cat for the Crown Prince and many others. All
of them have become the classic plays of Cantonese Yueju Theatre, and
are performed repeatedly to a fine reception from audiences, with a good
reputation and being passed down from generation to generation.
With his starring roles in these plays, he has also won a large number of awards
including the First Guangdong Young and Middle-aged Theatre "Hundred
Flowers Awards", the Guangdong Art Festival Performance First Prize, the First
and Fifth "Wenhua Performance Award" of the Ministry of Culture, the eighth
Chinese Theatre Plum Performance Award, the First Guangdong Dramatist
“Outstanding Contribution Award” and the fifth China Gold Record Award
(CGRA). In addition to his many excellent artistic achievements, he has been
awarded the honorary titles of “Outstanding Expert of the Ministry of Culture”,
“Excellent Young and Middle-aged Artist”, and “Young and Middle-aged Artist
of Outstanding Performing Skills and Moral Integrity”.
Ding Fan is well known in the field of Cantonese Yueju. Whenever he shows
up in a play, the “Female Fans” in Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau and even
overseas will definitely rush to the theatre, creating a buzz and a high demand
for tickets. He has led troupes to perform in the United States, Canada,
Australia, Singapore and other countries many times over the years, and
almost all the theatres visited by his troupe are full sold-out. However, as a
great master who is obsessed with Cantonese Yueju, he is never just satisfied
with the audiences’ support and his success at the box office. In his opinion,
since the times have changed, the performing forms themselves shuld udergo
a similar innovation. Keeping up with the aesthetics of the times and striving for
innovation should be taken into consideration.
In order to innovate, it is necessary to be recognized by experts, leaders and

audiences. Although it is very difficult to achieve these three recognitions, his
masterpiece The Legend of Lun Wenxu is one of the “three-recognition” plays
with which he won the Wenhua Performance Award, performing over 600
times with great popularity even till today. Moreover, it has been made into a
Cantonese Yueju film where it was also a box office success. But he is still not
satisfied, because he clearly knows what it means to achieve such acclaim, as
he himself has noted: “Since my own involvement in this field, there are indeed
only one or two plays which meet the standard. It’s really difficult to achieve the
‘three - recognitions’, but we will never give up. We hope that we could direct
at least one play, or part of a play, every year that can gain popularity among all
the audiences”.
Ding Fan’s perception of life itself lies behind his desire to innovate his artform.
He is acutely aware that during this information age where the internet is
so developed, traditional Xiqu has fallen behind in many aspects including
aesthetic awareness, performing forms, plot structures and appreciation
habits. Compounding this, people now have more choices in culture and
arts, and traditional Xiqu is no longer the main form of entertainment for the
common people. Therefore, it is inevitable for traditional Xiqu to face the
dilemma of audience reduction and even aging. To keep pace with the times,
it is necessary for it to reform. This does not necessarily need to entail a

drastic change in inherent characteristics of the genre, nor to change the form
completely, but to "change the form of performance appropriately while fully
preserving the cultural connotations".
Ding Fan has made continuous attempts and efforts in inheritance and
development. In his performance system, we can see both the fine traditions of
Cantonese Yueju and his innovative ideas closely keeping up with the times and
innovative efforts according to the aesthetic tastes of the audience. In terms
of singing, he adopts a combination of old and new: “Unlike Bel Canto which
has a rigorous system of teaching methods in singing, there is little research
on the singing of Cantonese Yueju. And there are no teaching materials, relying
completely on the actors’ own feelings of it. Many styles of the masters are
based on their own exploration, and a singing style is formed when they feel
it is in line with what is needed and the audience feel it is special. So I think
the Cantonese Yueju should follow the path of the music industry, standardize
the study of singing, and form a set of reasonable educational standards.”
Therefore, he has consciously incorporated some of his own ideas and made
some attempts when learning singing from famous predecessors in Cantonese
Yueju, and eventually developed his own singing characteristics.
In order to better put into practice his concept of reform in the creative process,
Ding Fan is no longer satisfied with being identified purely as an "actor", and
has entered the field of directing. In his opinion, the traditional Cantonese Yueju
is protracted in plot development, and it often takes more than three hours to
finish watching a play, which will certainly make the audience impatient and
stay away from it in such a fast-paced contemporary era.
So, in the process of creating and rehearsing, he has tried to simplify the script,
speed up the development of the plot, and make it as concise as possible.
Meanwhile, he has also tried to free pieces from the limitations of traditional
Cantonese Yueju and innovated in the aspects of stage design, costumes,
lighting, sounds and so on. As he has himself said; “Of course, to be a director
of Cantonese Yueju and to innovate, one must first have a deep understanding
of its tradition, so as not to lose its traits. New forms can be used, but the
key is to use them in the right places. And when used appropriately, they can
contribute to good works.”
At present, the popular Cantonese Yueju Love at Lake Dongting , which is

performed by numerous local and municipal troupes, is adapted by Ding Fan
based on the plots of Liu Yi Delivers A Letter . This is a classic play by Luo
Jiabao, but due to various reasons, it has rarely been rehearsed in recent years.
■ Cantonese Yueju Her Soul Haunting in Zhuji Alley , starred ■ Cantonese Yueju Meeting His
Ding fan, photographed by Xue Caihuan Lover in Sweet Dream at Tang Palace ,
starred Ding fan, photographed by Xue
Caihuan
Ding believes that the singing and story of it is quite attractive and worthy of
rehearsal. While retaining the classic arias such as “Ten Farewells at Dongting
Lake” and “Perfect Conjugal Bliss”, he has presented the story to the audience
in a more novel form. With his careful “design”, the play takes on a rather new
look when it reappears on the stage, and it has achieved good results in both
artistic quality and box office figures.
As a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage, in

addition to his own efforts to inherit Cantonese Yueju and put artistic ideals into
practice, Ding Fan also spares no effort to cultivate successors in the field. He
has always thought that there is constantly new blood flooding in and the new
generation always excels the old. The competition in this field is also very fierce.
Most of the actors who have received systematic and professional training
have a good command of basic skills and master the “Four Skills and Five
Means1” well. What they lack is performing opportunities and stage experience.
Therefore, though he doesn’t have many apprentices, he is very strict with them
and has high expectations for them. He hopes that they would "not seek to win
1 Translator’ s note: 四功五法：“Four Skills” refer to the four performing techniques in Chinese traditional
Xiqu, considered the basics for an actor: singing, reciting, acting and martial arts（唱念做打）. “Five
Means” refer to the five techniques of Xiqu performing art including: gestures, eye expressions,
postures, steps and rules（手眼身法步）. [Translator’s note]
■ Cantonese Yueju The Legend ■ Cantonese Yueju The Legend of Lun Wenxu , starred Ding fan,
of Red Plums , starred Ding fan, photographed by Xue Caihuan
photographed by Xue Caihuan
awards, but to win the audiences’ favor", and attract more fans with unique
artistic charm. He has also tried his best to create performing opportunities for
them.
For example, he gave Peng Qinghua, who was very hardworking and had
just graduated, the opportunity to play the hero Chen Xiang in Lotus lantern ,
created and rehearsed The Double-Speared Luk Man-lung and directed
Dream-The Red Boat for him. In order to foster Zeng Xiaomin, he had acted as
a supporting role for her when she graduated, allowing her to star in The Chilly
River Pass , and spared no effort to support her in administration. He was also
often seen at the rehearsal site of Return the Money starring his apprentice
Wen Ruqing and Barwo Artists Association of Kwangtung starring his other
apprentice Huang Chunqiang. He often sat quietly aside, carefully recorded the
parts that needed improvement in their performance with a small notebook,
and corrected and demonstrated for them again and again after the rehearsal.
In his opinion, the teacher-apprentice relationship should be open and inclusive.
In order to equip them with more skills and make them more well-rounded, he
personally founnd teachers for them: Peng Qinghua has learned the manner
of articulation from Guan Guohua, and his Southern Martial Arts in Dream-The
Red Boat were taught by Ou Kaiming.
Ding Fan’s efforts in the inheritance and innovation of Cantonese Yueju have set
a good example for his apprentices. Peng Qinghua believes that his master's
experience in acting and directing has taught him that Cantonese Yueju
performers should not only follow the principles of Xiqu inheritance, but also
make innovations and changes in practice. In other words, he thinks that they
need to find a suitable way to fully express themselves on the stage, set foot
on their own way of art and take on the responsibility of inheritance. Indeed,
as for the duty of inheritance, Ding Fan has kept it in mind and carried it on his
shoulders ever since he first stepped onto the grand stage of Cantonese Yueju.
Now, he has passed it to his apprentices who are both diligent and excellent.
It is soon to be the duty of all of them to shoulder this responsibility inheritance
and carry forward Cantonese Yueju.
Some say Luckiness is its own virtuous circle. For Ding Fan, to have Cantonese
Yueju in his life is lucky. And for Cantonese Yueju, to have Ding Fan as her star
is also good luck. It’s really a great joy and happiness in life to immerse in the
arts and performances, and enrich and sublimate our hearts.
Profile of Ding Fan (1956- )
Honors and Titles: National First-class Actor; Winner of the eighth Chinese
Theatre Plum Performance Award; Representative Inheritor of National
Intangible Cultural Heritage; Famous Cantonese Yueju Performing Artist and
Wenwusheng.
Work Experience: Member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC); President of
Guangdong Cantonese Opera Institute; President of the Guangdong Province
Iheairisi Association; Vice Chairman of the Guangdong Federation of Literary
and Art Circles; Director of the China Theatre Association.
Treatment: Enjoying the special allowance of the State Council.
Looking dapper in costume, Ding Fan plays a wide range of characters and is
adept in both Wensheng (civil) and Wusheng (military) roles as well as singing
and acting, particularly in Xiaosheng (the young male role). He is known as
“Madam-killer” among fans in Guangdong, Southeast Asia, the United States
and Canada.
He has starred a host of plays such as Her Soul Haunting in Zhuji Alley , The
Legend of Lun Wenxu , The Tragic Sacrifice , Lotus Lantern , Junzi Bridge ,
King of Lanling , The Legend of Red Plums , The Legend of Purple Hairpin ,
Substituting a Civet Cat for the Crown Prince , Meeting His Lover in Sweet
Dream at Tang Palace , Love at Lake Dongting , The Story of Dongpo and
Chaoyun and The South China Sea NO.I.
He has also successfully directed such repertoires as Meeting His Lover in

Sweet Dream at Tang Palace , Love at Lake Dongting , Four Beauties in Ancient
China: Jiang Wenduan Art Special Art Performance , The South China Sea
NO.I , Dream-The Red Boat and Hongsheng Martial Club , which won him
Director Award of the 11th Guangdong Art Festival and Excellent Director Award
of the 12th Guangdong Art Festival.
He has won the First and Fifth "Wenhua Performance Award" of the Ministry
of Culture, the First Guangdong Young and Middle-aged Theatre "Hundred
Flowers Awards", the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Tenth Guangdong Art Festival
Performance First Prize, the First Guangdong Dramatist “Outstanding
Contribution Award”, the Fifth China Gold Record Award and other awards. He
has been awarded the honorary titles of “Outstanding Experts" of the Ministry
of Culture”, Guangdong “Excellent Young and Middle-aged Artists” and “Young
and Middle-aged Artists Excellent in both Performing Skills and Moral Integrity”,
and is a bearer of the “representative inheritor of the second batch of Provincial
Intangible Cultural Heritage Projects in Guangdong”. In addition, he was
awarded the title of "National Advanced Worker".
ZHANG JINQIONG
Vice President of Guangdong Cantonese Opera Institute.
Guangdong Cantonese Opera Institute

LIU Shiyun
The Guangdong Cantonese Opera Institute was established in 1958, with the
master of Cantonese Yueju, Mr. Ma Sze-Tsang as the first director and Ms.
Zeng Xiaomin serving as the current director. Formerly known as Guangdong
Cantonese Yueju Troupe, it later merged with the Municipal Cantonese Yueju
Troupe, Pearl River, Yongguangming, New World, Dongfanghong and other
troupes. Currently it consists of twelve internal organizations, including the
Guangdong Cantonese Yueju Troupe I, Guangdong Cantonese Yueju Troupe
II, Guangdong Cantonese Yueju Arts Center, Dance Design and Production
Center, and different academies and departments. This first class Yueju Institute
is the largest performing arts group in the field of Cantonese Yueju, and is
regarded as the highest artistic palace of Cantonese Yueju.
With the tenet of "Cultivating Talents, Rehearsing Good Performances,

and Pursuing Better Benefits", Guangdong Cantonese Opera Institute
■ Guangdong Cantonese Opera Institute

continues traditions while concurrently innovating. After more than 60 years

of development, the institute has successfully cultivated numerous talents
and produced a plethora of quality plays. The older generation of Cantonese
Yueju masters, such as Ma Sze-Tsang, Hung Sin-nui, Pak Kui-Wing, and Luo
Pinchao, were renowned at home and abroad for their superb performances.
They embraced the inheritance and development of Cantonese Yueju as their
mission, and left behind many classics such as Search the College , The Legend
of Lun Wenxu and Lady with a Brocade Umbrella . They also solidified their
legacies by cultivating many successors for the profession. Ten new-generation
Cantonese Yueju artists, including Ding Fan, Cao Xiuqin, Liang Yaoan, and Wu
Guohua, have successively won the “Plum Performance Award”. Guangdong
Cantonese Opera Institute, therefore, holds the honor among troupes as one of
the contestents that won the award the most times.
The new Guangdong Cantonese Yueju Building (also known as the

"Guangdong Cantonese Yueju Arts Center Building") began usage in 2012, and
currently resides at No. 703 Dongfeng East Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou.
The whole building contains an 800-seat main theatre, Cantonese Yueju
Exhibition Hall, Training Center, and office areas for the troupe. The Institute
owns a full range of departments and plans several performance brands in
combination with its own resource advantages. "Weekend Cantonese Opera",
which focuses on staging high-quality classic Yueju repertoires, is one of them,
and was first performed at the Guangdong Cantonese Yueju Theatre on May
25, 2018. Since then, fans of Cantonese Yueju and tourists, alike, maysee
performances at the Guangdong Cantonese Yueju Arts Center Theatre every
weekend. After several years of development, "Weekend Cantonese Yueju" has
become the first choice for people to view and experience Cantonese Yueju.
In order to diversify its performance style and content, a special "Celebrity
Performance Week" launched since late March 2019, led by national first-
class actors such as Peng Qinghua, Wen Ruqing, Jiang Wenduan, Lin Jiabao
and Huang Chunqiang, among others. Every season, a famous artist presents
his/her masterpiece to the audience, and after the last performance of each
“Performance Week”, the "Famous Artist Seminar" is held so that the audience
can communicate with the artist face to face.
In addition to serving as the audience's viewing space and the daily rehearsal
and office space for the troupe members, the building contains a pro bono
"Cantonese Yueju Cultural Experience Hall" specially designed and designated
mainly for focus on Cantonese Yueju performances, historical and cultural relics
exhibitions, and interactive experiences. Not only does the hall contain antique
stages for performances, but the staffs also keep various stylistic props. On
the left side of the stage is an open dressing room, where audience members
might learn about the actor's makeup process within an intimate distance.
On the right is the location of the open band, whose configuration and
accompaniment can be seen at a glance. These spaces are suitable for visitors
of all different ages. The hall is open to the public every Saturday from 2:00
to 4:00 p.m. and can accommodate up to 100 spectators. Activities related
to "Adapting Cantonese Yueju into Schools" are also carried out in it. Often,
Institute invites students from primary schools, secondary schools, universities,
and international students to the hall to appreciate the charm of Cantonese
Yueju.
In addition to the award-winning classics such as Lotus lantern and The

Story of Returning Gold , the Institute presents innovative productions such
as Fighting for the Great Tang Empire , White Snake and Youth , which found
critical success and youth popularity, alike. Fighting for the Great Tang Empire
was the first "Internet+Cantonese Yueju" based on and adapted from a popular
online game, and premiered at the Guangdong Cantonese Yueju Arts Center in
January 2015.
It dominated the box office of Xiqu performances according to the box office
statistics of the national performance market that year. Another innovative
achievement of the Institute was White Snak e, which stemmed from and
developed the basis of the traditional play Legend of White Snake . Zeng
Xiaomin, the lead actress, won the 28th Plum Performance Award for Chinese
Xiqu in 2017 as well as the 16th Wenhua Performance Award in 2019. The film
version of White Snake was originally planned for a theatrical release during
the Spring Festival of 2020 but had to be postponed to May 20th of 2022 due
to the epidemic. The film used its modern form to narrow the gap between
Cantonese Yueju, an art form that has spanned nearly three hundred years,
and the young people of the 21st century. Many young viewers were deeply
impressed by the beautiful costumes, singing, and plot after watching it on the
big screen. The netizens also expressed their positive reactions through good
reviews of the movie, currently enjoying an 8.1 on Douban and 9.2 on Maoyan.
On October 10th, the film version premiered on the paid channel of the video
website bilibili (abbreviated as B station) and can be watched online for only
12 yuan. As of October 16th, the number of online views has exceeded 6.602
million, and the audience rating on B station was as high as 9.8.
The aforementioned successes manifested many of the efforts of the Institute

to become innovate in the modern age, particularly with regards to the
internet. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 posed a large challenge
■ Poster of Cantonese Yueju theme ■ Cantonese Yueju Online

party on July 1
■ The experriential activity of Cantonese Yueju of Dongfanghong kindergarten, 2019
■ Cantonese Yueju Return the Money ■ Cantonese Yueju on campus, 2018

■ Zeng Xiaomin, President of ■ Cantonese Yueju Madame Huarui , starred Zeng Xiaomin,
Guangdong Cantonese photographed by Xue Caihuan
Opera Institute (2019-)
■ Cantonese Yueju Samsui Women , starred ■ Cantonese Yueju Youth , starred Zeng
Zeng Xiaomin, photographed by Xue Caihuan Xiaomin, photographed by Xue Caihuan
■ Cantonese Yueju Liu Yi Delivers A Letter , starred Zeng Xiaomin, photographed by Xue Caihuan
as it removed the possibility of conducting offline performances. Adhering

to preserving traditional Cantonese Yueju, the institute actively tried to mesh
its ideas with young thought, combine tradition and innovation, modify the
performance style in accordance with the new procedures during the epidemic,
and boldly brought the theatre stage directly to the live broadcast room. On
the evening of May 1, 2020, the online live broadcast brand "Yueyun ONLINE"
launched its first online live broadcast in conjunction with a number of online
media such as We Sing (a mobile ktv app), CCTV News, People's Daily
Online, Tencent.com among others. Many Cantonese Yueju performing artists
took turns giving Yueju performances for the general public, with more than
2.766 million online views worldwide. After the "first success" of the online
live broadcast, the Institute would simultaneously broadcast live online during
festivals or large-scale performances. As a result, more and more young
Guangzhou citizens expressed interest in Cantonese Yueju and proposed
their willingness to watch the wonderful performances presented by these
outstanding actors offline at the Institute as the pandemic situation improves.
Guangdong Cantonese Opera Institute continues to hope that more and more
young people will fall in love with Cantonese Yueju and gradually regard it as
a part of their daily life. As the continued legacy of Cantonese Yueju remains
paramount, that hope extends to the possibility of recommending the art form
to their family and friends alike.
LIU SHIYUN
Master's Degree candidate of Shanghai Theatre Academy.
70 I TODAY’S STAGE OF CHINA
Epilogue to the Modern Drama Version of

YU Rongjun
The Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the most outstanding representatives
of Chinese classical novels. Over the years, it has been performed and
recreated in various forms, with successful examples being the Yueju
version and the 1987 TV series, both of which have influenced generations
of audiences. The reason for their success, apart from the factors of their
contexts, is that both of these two versions have been recreated on the basis
of the original work that accord with the characteristics of the transplanted art
ontology.
In terms of stage plays, not only Yueju, but also almost all theatre genres have
adapted and staged The Dream of the Red Chamber . There are also many
dramas, most of which are completely new interpretations, drastic subversions,
or episodic presentations of the original. And no one presents the whole
piece in a panoramic manner. This is probably because the original work is
characterized with numerous characters, complex plots and rich content. So
it is hard for the dramatists to decide which to choose and take all factors into
account. Therefore, it is indeed difficult to structure and adapt according to the
traditional form of drama performance. More often, the theatre practitioners
prefer to find a path to evade the major and focus on something minor.
Absolutely, it is never an easy thing to re-adapt and reinterpret The Dream of

the Red Chamber . The point is how to find the angle of adaptation and the
relevance of the play to contemporary audiences. Even the same story can
be told in different ways. In order to be performed on the stage of drama, it is
necessary to be endowed with the characteristics of the art of drama, which is
the most basic.
The rich content and connotations of the novel The Dream of the Red Chamber
TODAY’S STAGE OF CHINA I 71
not only grants infinite room for adaptation, but also poses great challenges.
Adapting masterpieces is inherently a laborious but thankless job, let alone a
well-known masterpiece like this. My approach is to first "break up" the original
for my better use. In other words, we should neither deviate from the original
nor be bounded by it, but reconstruct and recreate based on close reading and
comprehensive understanding. Then, another point we should bear in mind
is to forget the original when adapting or recreating. After all, what is finally
presented on the stage is a drama, not the Xiqu, even less a novel or a film and
television work. Therefore, the essence of the original as well as that of the art
of drama should never be lost. Besides, the work will ultimately be presented
on today's stage, with contemporary audiences sitting in the theatre, so there
must be contemporary aesthetics, emotions and interpretations.
What I want to present is a stage work both with modern consciousness and
in line with contemporary aesthetics. It conforms not only to the audience's
imagination, but also to the artistic characteristics of the drama. As such,
it is a re-creation of a drama rooted in the original, with the aesthetics of
contemporary audiences at its core. This refers not only to the adaptation of
the script, but also to the various parts of re-creation in the future, including
directing, acting, and stage art.
The audience has expectations for the performance of The Dream of the Red
Chamber on the stage. Everyone has their own images of Jia Baoyu and
Lin Daiyu and other characters in their mind, with slight differences, but also
common characteristics. These common features are what we need to grasp
when creating, while those differences provide opportunities for us to give full
play to our creativity.
■ The Dream of the Red Chamber , 2021.9, Photographed by Yin Xuefeng

The modern drama version has not been divorced from the original, but is a
synthesis, concentration and reorganization of it. A period of history, two great
families, the relationship among three people (Baoyu, Daiyu and Baochai), and
the fate of all characters are the most crucial parts. The theme that interests
me most in the original is fate. The fate of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu seem to
have been doomed in previous lives, kind of predestined. It may also be one of
the few novels that tell the readers the ending from the very beginning. So what
matters is not the result, but the process. The author also seems to be recalling
the past of his family. Though there was unwillingness, he had no other choice
but to succumb to fate. Therefore, in terms of structure, I have adopted the
four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter to show the whole process
of the rise and fall of the family. Destiny can be of a person, a family, or even a
nation or the whole history, with different dimensions. However, the wheel of
destiny is ultimately unstoppable.
The drama started from the most prosperous moment of the Jias of Rong-
guo House when Yuanchun was crowned as the imperial concubine. The
whole House was immersed in a kind of ecstasy after panic. This was the most
joyous moment for both Houses1 after so long, and also a sudden glorious act
after which the Jias of Rong-guo House begin a gradual decline. All the worries
seemed to have vanished, and all that remained was joy. However, in the midst
of this joy, Jia Zheng and Baoyu both seem to have seen what they would
be like years after and their already doomed destiny. Then, this joy becomes
1 The Jias of Rong-guo House ( 贾府／荣国府 )and the Ning-guo House ( 宁国府 ).[Translator’s note]
complicated. No matter how life went on, the shadow of fate always existed.
This joy, then, was more like a temporary superficial prosperity before things
getting worse.
Then the vibrant spring came, and the twelve women characters1 gradually
made their appearance. They are as beautiful as flowers and full of vigor and
vitality as spring. But in such an energetic spring, there were also hidden
sadness, loneliness and fear. The apparent joy cannot cover up the cruel nature
of life, that is, impermanence.
Immediately afterwards arrived the summer, when everything in the stuffy

afternoon was sleepy and stifling amidst the continuous hissing of summer
cicadas. The vigor and vitality turned into restlessness and sin. However, those
girls in a fretful state were losing their lives one after another due to the tricks
of fate, all because of Jia Baoyu who in fact cherished them so much. Baoyu
seemed to be running all the time. He didn't understand what had happened
and had no time to pity or complain, with so many lives lost for him. The evil in
the hot summer sun was so wanton and blatant that it made people dizzy.
The desolate and depressed autumn began with the Mid-Autumn Moon Feast
at the Jias of Rong-guo House. Uncertainty surged in people's hearts, and
those romance and beauty slowly dissipated, revealing the hidden hideousness.
1 Including Lin Daiyu( 林黛玉 ), Xue Baochai( 薛宝钗 ), Jia Yuanchun( 贾元春 ), Jia Yingchun( 贾迎春 ), Jia
Tanchun( 贾探春 ), Jia Xichun( 贾惜春 ), Wang Xifeng( 王熙凤 ), Qin Keqing( 秦可卿 ), Li Wan( 李纨 ), Shi
Xiangyun( 史湘云 ), Miaoyu( 妙玉 ), Sister Qiao( 巧姐 ). [Translator’s note]
Powerful forces turned weak, fate revealed its cruel side, and illusions were
smashed into pieces unconsciously.
Then came the harsh winter, accompanied by the bitter wind that no one could
bear after the depression. Those hopes all turned into ice and snow and fell
silently, covering all the evil, as well as the prosperity of the past. It seemed that
everyone had found their final destination, crawling at the feet of fate, without
any decency. All the glories in the past seemed to become a flash in the pan.
Seasonal changes in the nature are irreversible and destined to be from spring
to winter. This is the common law for the development of all the things in the
world. Therefore, I structured the whole play based on the four seasons and
the combination of joys and sorrows, which was a general consideration of the
conception, imagery and structure.
In addition, the drama breaks down the linear time and space in its narrative,
allowing them to converge at any time. The way of performing as both a
narrator and role player can not only simplify the story, but also make it
possible for the actors to be measured and judged, producing the effect of
defamiliarization, and thus presenting a more calm and objective performance.
This is also the method of storytelling of traditional Chinese Xiqu, which makes
the story more three-dimensional, thereby greatly expanding the capacity of
the script and preserving the essence of the original as much as possible.
In the theatre, the audience will be reminded from time to time how to be in
and out, something that traditional Chinese Xiqu has enlightened us with. The

drama comes to an end when the property of the Jias of Rong-guo House
was confiscated, at which time the endings of many characters have yet to
be touched upon. Therefore, I have adopted the method of telling the ending
in advance in my adaptation. Wang Xifeng, for example, could see her own
corpse being dragged in the snow in her dreams, which foreshadowed her
end. And Xue Baochai, embroidering the bellyband for Jia Baoyu when he
was taking a nap, seemed to see her future. Perhaps several years later, this
would be the daily life of them both. There is a character Fairy Disenchantment
throughout the drama, through whose point of view we could overlook the fate
of all the characters.
Jacques Derrida once illustrated the intertextuality delay of meaning by using

the term “consulting the dictionary”, that is, the meaning of a word will produce
endless intertextuality delay through constantly looking up synonyms and
related words. This is also the approach I have taken in this creation. The
novel is the basis, which not only conforms to the expression of polysemy,
but also generates the tension of intertextuality. The plots and scenes of it
form intertextuality with my reading experience and expression, as well as with
the audience's experience and thoughts, thus highlighting the significance of
the drama. I tried to frame the play in a narrative way so that the characters
can be in or out, creating the effect of defamiliarization. Both actors and
characters could comment on the scenes and plots, which are also my own
understandings, and perhaps the perspectives of the audience as well.
In the drama, each character, plot or scene could be singled out and linked

to various meanings and interpretations, and even to our life experiences. For
instance, Borges, Márquez, and even Chandler and Mo Yan, their works are
all associated with history through the fate of a family. Borges' s imagery, for
example, includes mirrors, dreams and destiny. I also hope to make The Dream
of the Red Chamber more accessible to contemporary audiences through
this analysis and interpretation. One Hundred Years of Solitude has created a
unique world. “Many years later as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano
Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to
discover ice”. My script also tries to create a unique world. That's why at the
beginning Jia Zheng says: “It seemed that I have heard the thunderbolt in the
snowy night at Piling Post Station many years later, and see the vague figure
kneeling by the river, all of which disappeared within just a few minutes.”
The Dream of the Red Chamber, also known as The Story of the Stone , is
about the journey of a stubborn stone in the human world. The destiny of the
characters in it has a predestined karma in past lives, while the book tells the
story of their present life and foretells the future. I have found many plots related
to mirror image in the original and have incorporated them in the drama. Such
as the scene in which Grannie Liu saw herself in the mirror in Green Delights
when entering the Grand View Garden and Jia Baoyu saw Zhen Baoyu in the
south of the Yangtze River in his dream. Plots of happiness and sorrow are
also put together to form a contrast, such as the death of Qin Keqing and the
imperial concubine Yuanchun’s family visitation, Tanchun’s marrying far away
and the death of Yingchun, Bao and Chai’ s wedding and Daiyu’ s death etc.,
hoping to reflect the impermanence of fate through these sharp contrasts.
In terms of recreation, the character modeling, dialogue, blocking, body,

and even the tone of speech and the way of walking on the stage are all
extracted from the Xiqu tradition and integrated with modern dance, forming
a presentation that originates from tradition but not bound to it, contemporary
but not too modern. The two workshops allow the recreation to finally reach the
balance, that is, a form with contemporary aesthetic but not divorced from the
tradition. And in rehearsals, the director put a lot of emphasis on the shaping of
such form.
As for stage presentation, the main creators have reached an agreement on

the direction, that is, to present in an impressionistic style of Xiqu tradition. The
stage design is in an impressionistic and flowing style, thus leaving a great deal
of room for the actor’s creativity, but also posing a considerable challenge for
them. The stage is based on white and embellished with red, black, gold and
other colors. But such white is also the "colorful" white, with various types and
layers, thus highlighting the "unsullied" world in the eyes of Baoyu, and the
metaphoric meaning of the last sentence, which reads, “the vast white land
is really clean”. From creation to recreation, great attention has been paid to
the audience's on-site feelings and perspectives. For The Dream of the Red
Chamber , every audience may more or less have their personal understandings
before entering the theatre. Before the performance, I predicted the differences
between the audience's cognition and that of the creators. But it turns out
to be much better than I have imagined, and the vast majorities were very
receptive to our presentation and aesthetics.
We hope to arrive at the state where “Wu (Nothingness) Is the Origin”, so as to

make room for the audiences’ reflection. Therefore, we have adopted the blank-
leaving and impressionistic style of Chinese aesthetics. Li Zehou once said that
beauty is a form with meaning. Therefore, the creators have been trying to find
such a form and finally made it, that is, to return to the tradition and bring the
drama close to the traditional expression. From the script and director to the
stage design and performance, we have always adhered to this form. In the
creation, we are supposed to deal with the relationship of “existence and non-
existence”, “won and done”, “emptiness and reality” and “rise and fall”; to deal
with the relationship of the present, past and future, reality, imagination, and
dream; to deal with the relationship between people and politics, family and
individual.
We hope to involve the audience as participants, since they are undoubtedly

part of the performance. Great attention should be paid to “Capturing the Spirit
Beyond Form” in creation, that is, expressing the spirit with the form. This is
something like drawing. Though it is easy for us to draw eyes, it requires a lot to
draw the expressions in people’s eyes. We hope to convey the “spirit” through
“form”, whose establishment would ultimately contribute to the expression
of “spirit”. For example, we have taken “the sprinkling of red confetti” as an
imagery which appeared as many as 15 times throughout the drama. This
imagery was originally designed to show “the fallen reds into heaps”, while in
different plots, it could be different things such as the fallen flowers, drifting
snow, the shedding tears, or even the loss of life or the sad mood, with different
interpretations of the same form. The fallen confetti scattered in all corners of
the stage, and the actors often make them float up as they walk on the stage.
These flying and flipping confetti are also traces of youthful life.
We also hope to gain the effect of “Qi Yun Sheng Dong (a vivacious artistic
conception)”. “Qi Yun (Artistic Appeal)” is the external form from which the
"vitality" is generated, and this "vitality" is the story and the reality it can express,
which is dynamic and externalized. Especially in the performance, the director
attaches great importance to the externalization of psychological space, trying
hard to achieve the result of "vividness from stillness" through the performance
of the actors. Then it is crucial to achieve the effect of “Yan Bu Jin Yi (Words
cannot fully express thought)”. Yi Zai Yan Wai(The meaning is implied), what we
present is only the foundation, a basic expression which has to be in dialogue
with the audience's imagination, and sometimes even in confrontation.
We sincerely hope that the audience could let go of their inherent imaginations
or stereotypes of this classic and enter the stage world we have created.
In this way, we can find the possibility of a dialogue between "viewing" and
"performing", and finally reach the state of De Yi Wang Xing (emphasizing more
on meaning and less on form). Thus, we have completed a dialogue with the
audience in the theatre. This is why we revive The Dream of the Red Chamber
in contemporary times. The world outside the theatre is very complicated and
impetuous. But inside the theatre, we can calm down and reflect on our lives.
This may be the significance of contemporary theatre.
YU RONGJUN
Playwright of the modern drama version of The Dream of the Red Chamber. Vice Chairman of the 8th
Council of Shanghai Dramatists Association.
Six-hour Version of
The Dream of the Red Chamber :
Contemporary Aesthetic Reconstruction
and Interpretation
SUN Yunfeng
One of the so-called Four Chinese Literary Classics, The Dream of the Red
Chamber is an encyclopedic novel of the Chinese feudal society. Set during the
first half of the eighteenth century, the story focuses on the decline of the Jia
clan, the tragic love triangle between Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai,
and the lives of female characters represented by the “Twelve Beauties of
Jinling”. In China, the novel retains favor with artists and widely finds regular
adaptions into local Xiqu, Quyi, film and TV series, stage plays, musicals,
ballets, etc. Its adaptations remain popular with considerable number of fans.
In September 2021, a six-hour adaptation of The Dream of the Red Chamber

immediately attracted audiences in Shanghai to attend the theater. The original
novel retains a highly loyal fan-base, and the full-length stage play produced by
Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center was highly anticipated, resulting a rapidly sold-
out production. Shortly after its premiere in Shanghai, the six-hour adaptation
drew even more attention and spread its box-office success to Hangzhou. Part
of the reason for this success relates directly to the production itself; after all,
no one could have foreseen such a stylistic adaptation of The Dream of the
Red Chamber .
I. Interpretation in Reconstruction
In an interview, Yu Rongjun, playwright of the drama, claimed that with regards

to adaptation, “the most challenging aspect is to make audiences have an

open mind, not with their stereotyped impression of the original work, so
that they can get involved in our play”1 . The six-hour play includes some of
the main plot of the original literary work (120 chapters in total) but is not a
complete reproduction; the playwright adjusted certain aspects of the plot.
Similarly, the play is presented in a “discrete” manner, which differs from the
novel’s narration style.
The adaptation is split into two parts, comprising four sections: spring, summer,
autumn, and winter. The first half composing the spring and summer sections,
and the second composed of autumn and winter. The play spans one year,
during which the prosperous Jia clan (representing the privileged class in feudal
society) declines, and the characters’ fates echo the lines chanted by Daiyu
when burying the fallen flowers: “one day when spring has gone and youth has
fled/ the Maiden and the flowers will both be dead”. With an opening parallel to
mythological stories, the novel intrigues readers with its combination of reality
and illusion. The stage play inherits its juxtaposition of the dreaming state and
the waking world. In addition to the aforementioned aspects, the play flexibly
shifts between different times or spaces and further alternate’s reality and
1　《专访话剧 < 红楼梦 > 编剧喻荣军：这部剧有点挑观众，但这 6 小时值得》，陈宇浩，《钱江晚报》，

2021 年 9 月 23 日 [Interview with Yu Rongjun the playwright of "A Dream of Red Manshions": The six-
hour play has a threshold for the audience but is time worthy. Chen Yuhao, QianJiang Evening News,
Sept 23, 2021. ]
illusion. If audiences expect to witness a play that aims to represent the original
aesthetic of the work, they might be disappointed. The play structure does
not strictly follow the novel. In the book, “Daiyu buried the fallen flowers” takes
place before “Jia Zheng disciplining Baoyu”, while the sequence is reversed in
the play to serve as a transition between the two parts. Relating to the spring-
to-winter cycle in the play, the sequence rearranged is the playwright’s new
interpretation of “Flower Burying Poem” (a poem chanted by Daiyu when
burying flowers). The two events bear symbolic meanings in the play, perhaps
only alluded to within the narration of the novel. The play also emphasizes and
highlights the tragic fates of females in feudal society. The playwright remarked,
“The play would be superficial if it only focused on the love triangle of Baoyu,
Daiyu and Baochai.” Instead, he thinks the adaptation should be thought
provoking, full of power, and against standard conventions. He reconstructs the
novel’s famous episodes in an interconnected and intertextual way, challenging
audiences’ impression of the original work and bringing to them a remarkably
fresh theater experience. The “discrete” reconstruction of the plot reminds
audiences to reconsider what reflections the play has on contemporary society,
rendering them co-creators of the play.
The play rearranges the sequence of events according to spring, summer,

autumn, and winter cycle. It starts with Jia Zheng kneeling in the snow, and
other characters standing in a row in the distance—a scene that immediately
seals their sad fates even at the start. The play, after the four seasons, returns
to the “desolate and bare landscape covered by snow”. Time, an essential
element of the play, differs from the time or event sequence in the novel. The
play rearranges the sequences to reset time, transcending the original work to
philosophy. It is the play creators’ interpretation and refinement of the novel,
which are not implicit but explicit, that lead to a philosophical expression
beyond the characters and plot, and a conversation with the original work.
II. Discrete Staging
The play is consistent with the rewritten story, presented with “discrete”
performance and staging. Many of the wonderful plot and psychological
descriptions in the novel are condensed into episodic dialogues, not intended
for actors to play realistic characters, but the director’s attempts to achieve
discreteness through staging.
For instance, the scene of “Daiyu’s first arrival at the Jias of Rong-guo House”
carefully depicted in the novel, however, is composed of only a few actions of
characters in the play—

In front of a sedan chair, stand Daiyu and her two maids. One maid says: “Before
Daiyu disembarks, a sedan-chair from the Rong-guo House and carts for her
luggage are waiting in the wings.” The other says: “Daiyu has heard a great
deal from her mother about the magnificence of her grandmother's home; she
will have to watch every step she takes and weigh every word she says, for
if she places the wrong foot down they will surely laugh her to scorn.” Along
with the words, the three slowly sway their bodies and try stepping forward but
withdraw their feet. The maid continues: “In the capital, the bustle in the streets
and the crowds of people are much more than anywhere else.” After what
seems a long time, they come to a street with two huge stone lions crouching
on the north side, flanking a great triple gate with beast-head knockers. There
is a board above the center gate on which are written in large characters the
words: NING-GUO HOUSE Founded and Constructed by Imperial Command.
A little further to the west, Daiyu approaches another imposing triple gate. This
is the Rong-guo House. Each hand resting on the outstretched hand of an
elderly attendant, Daiyu and others enter through a smaller gate on the west.
Supported by the other maid, Daiyu steps through the gate. After a pause of
a few seconds, they take short quick steps. One maid reads lines along the
rhythm of steps: “Through an ornamental gate, into a courtyard, around a
screen of polished marble, across three halls, they enter the large courtyard
of the mansion’s principal apartments and stand by the rock.” They stop all
of a sudden. Daiyu takes off her cloak, revealing her face, and recites slowly
to the audience: “By the rock, I seem to recall the Crimson Pearl Flower, on
the bank of the West Sacred River and beside the Rock of Rebirth, watered
by the attendant Shen Ying to whom the Flower can hardly repay her debt of
gratitude. I would like to pay off my debts, yet I do not know how. I have no
water to pay back, except for my tears.”
In the play, the director outlines more than one event in an easy and condensed
way for staging. In “Daiyu’s first arrival at the Jias of Rong-guo House”,
Daiyu takes up less than a third of the stage, with neither redundant actions
nor movements. The two maids, as the omniscient “voiceover”, narrate
Daiyu’s entering the Jias of Rong-guo House, with only a few words. Daiyu’s
monologue, composed of three sentences, covers the first two chapters of the
novel. The actors on the stage sometimes are the characters and sometimes
onlookers who indicate the current situation for the audience. The shift between
characters and onlookers, so-called “discrete” performing, creates difficulties
for audience’s sense of involvement. Consequently, audiences must ponder
and interpret the actors’ performances with neither aid nor prompt.
The play’s arrangement of space combined with the arrangement and style of
characters also adds to the play’s dubious nature of reality. In the prologue, for
example, Jia Zheng kneels as other characters stand in a row in the distance,
an image representing at once their first appearance, their fate, and a destined
ritual at a point in time. There are many such meaningful appearances. The
creator condenses the connections between the “Twelve Beauties of Jinling”
into monologues or dialogue consisting of several sentences. Sitting in a row,
the twelve beauties face the audiences with prescribed postures, and deliver
their lines in certain moods, appearing in the scene “Baoyu travels to the Land
of Illusions”. The Fairy Disenchantment leads Baoyu into the land, while the
twelve beauties move quickly across the stage one by one and chant their own
prophecies1—Baochai and Daiyu chant “One was a pattern of female virtue/
One a wit who made other wits seem slow/ The jade belt2 in the greenwood
hangs/ The gold pin3 is buried beneath the snow” while moving. In the end,
the twelve stand in a row on the stage. The creator uses their appearances to
reflect and accentuate the tragic fate of females in the play.
1 Prophecies ( 判词 ) in The Dream of the Red Chamber are the poem of fate for major characters in the
novel, predicating their destiny in an obscure way.
2 “Jade belt” refers to Daiyu. ［Translator’s note］
3 “Gold pin” refers to Baochai.［Translator’s note］
III. Contemporary Aesthetics: Simple and Neat
The play is characterized by its stage setting and costumes, an aspect that
greatly attracts the audience members. In the 1980s, a TV series titled “The
Dream of the Red Chamber ” (released in 1987) gained enough popularity
with the Chinese people that it was regarded as a near-definitive adaptation
of the novel. Its costumes were elegant, exquisite, and diverse, a dedicated
combination of historically accurate costume elements from Chinese dynasties,
painstakingly designed and produced with wonderful quality. The adaptation
of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, however, does the opposite. It chooses
simplicity over complexity. Its simple stage design and costumes allow
audiences space for imagination. Such a bold take won it the Best Stage
Design in the 5th Chinese Theatre Awards.
In a theatre, what impresses the audiences most is what meets their eyes. In
the play, white is the base color, signifying that all the luxury and prosperity in
the novel ends with a “desolate and bare landscape covered by snow”. At the
beginning, stage designer Liu Xinlin takes the “desolate and bare landscape
covered by snow” as the prime concept for the stage design and decides
on the structure of space and visual elements. The main stage structure
comprises three huge “white walls” that transform throughout the production in
accordance to the storyline. After the prologue, three “white walls” pop up from
the ground and a thin, hollowed, red frame falls from the ceiling to stand on the
stage, forming a symmetrical square structure conforming to Chinese traditional
philosophy and aesthetics. Actors can perform freely on the spatial stage. Their
flexible performance coincides with the play’s non-linear narrative to present
the dream-like metaphors and the endless life cycle of “having” and “losing”,
and “winning” and “finishing”. At the end of the play, the three huge “white
walls” gradually close with the “Fall of Tragic Fate” theme, as if the landscape is
covered by “snow” and turns empty and void. Besides the minimalist staging,
the designer uses exquisite props for decoration. These props indicate the
places wherein events unfold: —the wooden bridge in “Daiyu’s first arrival at the
Jias of Rong-guo House”, the Jias of Rong-guo House’s chairs and desks with
carved patterns, the stone bridge in Grand View Garden, an artificial hill of rock,
and the half-hidden pavilion, etc. They seem to be of Chinese classic style at
first glance, but actually exemplify contemporary aesthetic elements, different
from the traditional objects. Their outlines are mostly simple geometry, creating
a more modern and stylish—even philosophic—staging.
In addition to the stage setting and props, the costume and makeup of actors
were also excellent. To match the stage style, all the characters dress in white

silk. White, according to costume designer Yang Donglin, appears simple but
retains profound meaning. “Immaculateness” formed Yang Donglin’s aesthetic
concept while designing costumes. He deploys white (Tea-like white, moon-like
white, tooth-like white) as his base color, and low saturation colors (vermilion,
saffron red, black, raven blue) for decoration according to the character’s
identity, personality, and destiny. Such costumes, however, may blur the
differences between characters. Only characters with strong features in their
age or personality, like Wang Xifeng, Grandmother Jia, and Granny Liu, might
be recognized through performance and costumes. The other “Twelve Beauties
of Jinling” are to be differentiated through their lines, a feat manageable only for
audiences familiar with the novel.
The six-hour adaptation of A Dream of Red Manshions is a stage play of

contemporary aesthetics. It transformed abstract words into a real and concise
performance. It pioneers a new interpretation of the original work from the
perspective of a modern people. It breaks the structure and narration of the
novel. As its playwright Yu Rongjun said, “The play is reconstructed according
to the novel’s character relationship, people’s connection with family, politics
and society, transition between illusion and reality, relations of past, present,
and future, and the fight against fate.” Besides the reconstruction of the storyline,
the play incorporates elements of traditional Chinese Xiqu. Through its simple
staging, the play transforms the characters, events, and items into a cohesive
work, and exhibits a psychological world in the theatre—highlighting “the
battle between free will and predetermined fate”. The protagonists experience
frustration, hints of nihilism, introspections, and find relief.”1 Undoubtedly, the
adaptation is innovative and introduces another perspective for evaluating
stage plays adapted from literary works. Should the adaptation be faithful to the
original work? Will contemporary audiences prefer to approach classic literary
works through reconstruction and interpretation, like the play does? I think, for
the six-hour adaptation, the tremendous box-office success lends credibility to
an answer.
SUN YUNFENG
Lecturer of Shanghai Normal University.
1 《话剧 < 红楼梦 > 为何值得看六小时？古典与现代交织出 “ 新国风 ”》，童菁薇，《文汇报》，2021 年

12 月 24 日 [Why is the stage play of A Dream of Red Manshions worth six hours? The Chinese classic
style combines with the contemporary aesthetics to form “new Chinese aesthetics”. Tong Jingwei,
Wenhui News, Dec 24, 2021.]
Poetry, Xiqu and Classicism:

The Modern Drama Version of
CAI Xingshui
To fully present a masterpiece like The Dream of the Red Chamber in the form
of the modern drama undoubtedly requires extraordinary skills. Written by Yu
Rongjun and produced by Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, the play adapted
from The Dream of the Red Chamber is highly impressive with its artistic
techniques and means of expression. Based on traditional Chinese Xiqu, it
shows a multi-dimensional and diversified artistic style applied to historical
themes. With modern and innovative ideas, the play is an atypical one, bringing
the audience a mind-blowing experience.
I. Multi-Structure
The playwright is the first to be greatly challenged when a classic novel as

profound as The Dream of the Red Chamber is adapted for performance
on the stage. If he wants to lead viewers to the cultural and artistic treasure,
the playwright needs to not only achieve a balance between the stem and
branches of the story, but also keep the essence of the book without getting
the audience lost in the vicissitudes, which is really difficult.
The play The Dream of the Red Chamber is divided into two parts, with the
total two-night performance running for duration of approximately six hours.
One can feel that the complex plot of the original, mostly preserved intact in
the play, has been carefully deconstructed, reorganized into multi-structures
■ The Dream of the Red Chamber , 2021.12, Photographed by Zhizhi Zaigewu
where relationships of characters are interlocked. The playwright not only

highlights the love story between Baoyu and Daiyu, along with the love triangle
of Baoyu, Daiyu and Baochai, but also almost all the well-known classic plot
points including the characters and their stories, the essence of time and
space in the Grand View Garden, including “Daiyu’s first arrival at the Jias
of Rong-guo House”, “Baoyu dropping the jade”, “Yuanchun’s home visit”,
“Granny Liu’s visit to the Grand View Garden”, “Qingwen tearing the fan”, “Jia
Zheng disciplining Baoyu”, “choosing pen-names at the Poetry Club”, “Daiyu
buried the fallen flowers”, “the death of two You ladies”, “ the Lady Dowager’s
Birthday”, “raiding the Mansion”, and “Baoyu’s marriage”. These stories are all
essential to the playwright’s faithful, thoughtful, and detailed recreation.
The complex character relationships and intertwined plots are carefully

structured into the time setting of passing seasons, which saves space of the
script and creates images of a group of characters with detailed description
of their appearances and personalities foregrounded by the multi-structure,
and thus the main point of the play is underlined. The double perspectives
of reality and imagination, of subjectivity and objectivity, showcase both an
acute observation of people and events and sometimes an insight from an
outsider making thorough comments and in-depth summaries, guaranteeing
a comprehensive and artistic reproduction of the classic’s strong inner power,
and displaying the meaning of the original aptly, such as the interplay of truth
and illusion and the emptiness of all things.
It is the playwright’s great familiarity and understanding of the original that lays
an essential foundation for the accurate adaptation of the play. Yu’s version
not only interprets the spirit of the classic with a focus on the traits of the
characters, but also incorporates certain modern ideas, securing harmony
between modern and traditional ideologies. Yu’s study and rewriting of The
Dream of the Red Chamber indicates his inquisitive eye and a tendency to
largely keep what is in the original novel. Some of his adapted stories coming
from the classic are enriched by thoughts and quests from today’s world, such
as the entangled love between Baoyu and Daiyu and Jia Zheng’s submissive
life.
The playwright, faithful to the original, takes pains to break the constraint of
the original’s artistic form and bring the complete story to their audience. His
adaption and reinterpretation reflects his boldness and insight. No matter how
noble or humble they are, people all have a day when their life comes to an
end. Wax and wane are inevitable in the world and the fate of an individual
occupies just a bit of the book of history. Roughness, power play, cheating,
struggle and freedom all ultimately fade away as flowers flowing afar along the
stream. Emptiness is unavoidable.
II. Multi-dialogue
Drama is an art that relies mainly on character’s monologue and dialogue to

show the plot, build character, and reveal the characters’ relationships and their
mental states. For a work as complex and intertwined as The Dream of the Red
Chamber , it is difficult to outline and present its threads and the reorganization
of the plots is bound to cause pity. Although the playwright has successfully
sketched out the characters and pictured their life, it is a challenge to secure
linguistic activities among individuals and even groups in the cramped and
confined stage space.
Based on The Dream of the Red Chamber , the playwright has wisely built
up the dialogue system of the characters, fully displaying the opposite but
complementary elements of discourse conflict in the book, and therefore
enabling audience to perfectly experience charm of the rich and complicated
discourse of the original work. The play at least includes corresponding or
opposite ideas such as man and woman, master and slave, legal wife and
concubine, child of the legal wife and of other concubines, sky and earth, ruler
and courtier, Buddhism and Taoism, immortal and demon, life and death, love
and hate, sadness and joy, truth and falsity, reality and illusion, existence and
nonexistence, nobleness and lowliness, richness and poorness, prosperity and
decline, reunion and parting, laughter and cry, inside and outside, cause and
effect, past life and present life, the moon in the water and the flower in the
mirror, absurd words and bitter tears.
Each pair of the binary collides and bursts out the dazzling impact of
language. The macro complexity of linguistic system can be seen from such
micro language pairs. In the play, there are a single person’s confession or
introspection, communication or inquiry between two characters, intertwined
chats and disputes among three people, and even multiple voices in one scene
to create a lively atmosphere. The play also makes one character speak in
multiple voices or different voices interact with each other to communicate,
refute, comment, and examine. The “dialogues” consisting of various voices
build up a complicated linguistic field and perform a joyful, noisy symphony.
Besides voices from the real world like characters’ self-talk, self-examination
and verbal exchanges mentioned above, there are also illusive words from the
fairy Disenchantment,. Moreover, the play includes modern consciousness and
today’s appreciation of beauty that crosses time and space. With the history
and present echoing, the playwright’s thinking of the novel and his learning
from the author not only break historical limits, but also express the pity for the
recycling of human sadness and happiness, as if he was looking back at the
time-honored prestigious, long-fallen families represented by the house of Jia,
the empty and decaying garden, the collapse of the tumbledown building and
the beauty, anxiety, loneliness, helplessness and sorrow.
The play version of The Dream of the Red Chamber with its multi-dialogue
and poetic discourse successfully goes back to the past, which indicates the
creator’ s respect to the classic and his joy of sharing personal thoughts from
the perspective of the present with audience.
III. Various Skills
The play The Dream of the Red Chamber does its best to present the essence
of the original novel, which can be proved by its distinctive portrayal of the
characters. It embodies the idea of democracy through the implied equality of
all beings with their ending in emptiness no matter he or she is noble, common,
lecherous or jealous.
The success of the whole play is attributed to its integration of art and
technology. Not to mention its clever and grand setting, the first minutes of its
opening can amaze people with the imaginative design. The three huge white
screens move horizontally or vertically, just as a book being slowly opened
or a painting being gradually unfolded. The oriental poetic atmosphere is

created with a landscape in the play superimposed in layers and adding a
unique charm. The wide space shaped by the large stage set seems to shrink
the people in the story, but at the same time magnify and highlight them to
an infinite degree, thus conveying the point of what the Lady Dowager said
when characters were visiting the Grand View Garden: “I sit here and look at
everyone. It seems that I can see everything, but nothing as well”.
The personification of multi-dimensional sound, light and color embodies a

rather westernized technical creativity. Although it is not the initial trail of the
kind, it shows the appropriate use with sincerity. The scene of Baoyu getting
beat is a good example in which the screams simulated with scary sound and
light effects are shocking and unnerving.
It is most impressive that the play is distinguished with various elements of

the traditional Chinese arts, among which the elegant ancient Chinese Xiqu,
epitomized by Jingju and Kunqu, has a powerful influence on the story. The
impact of the traditional Chinese arts has its solid evidence in the soundtrack,
costumes, mise-en-scène, lighting and even physical movements. The
meaningful traditional elements in the novel The Dream of the Red Chamber
have been already absorbed and integrated into the Chinese Xiqu. As a
modern drama adapted from the classic work, it is wise to borrow elements
from existing Chinese Xiqu to give a poetic performance full of traditional art
features.
To be more specific, symbolism of the play’s beautiful, minimalist, modern and

meaningful mise-en-scène both relates to its historical subject matter and the
artistic pursuit of the playwright, reflecting a deep understanding of the essence
of the book. Not only is the stage set like a book that opens and closes freely,
the whole performance is a scroll unfolded at the prologue and rolled up at the
Epilogue, leaving lingering charm for people to taste after the show.
The play itself is full of symbolic meaning. For instance, the petals falling from
the sky many times are both a sign of the changing seasons, and an indication
of the fading of life and a pitiful decay, which also adds a visual beauty and rich
meaning to the stage. With the chanting of the dead maiden and flowers, the
tragic aesthetics of pathos and sadness are highlighted as it is an implication
of the silencing of everything and emptiness in the world. The main color of
the play is white (partly red). Not only the characters in the play are basically
in white costumes, but also the three huge screens (walls) that extend freely
are also snow-white. Besides, the background, lighting and the whole stage
are mostly milky white. All of these have profound and diversified meanings.
First, it conveys the idea that no matter how noble, rich or lowly, poor one is,
life is in fact ant-like with an empty ending. Second, it symbolizes Baoyu’s inner
hollowness and enlightenment, as in “all that’s left is emptiness and a great
void”. Third, it reflects the author’s aesthetic pursuit of the “pure substance”
and his life of questioning.
In summary, the The Dream of the Red Chamber produced by Shanghai

Dramatic Arts Center is a play that glows with the interaction between
tradition and fashion, and is supported by both Chinese and Western artistic
techniques. It provides people with the all-round aesthetic enjoyment.
CAI XINGSHUI
Professor of Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts.
96 I THE SPREAD OF CHINESE THEATRE
“Purification” of Theatrical “Chineseness”:

Manifestation and Reception of Cultural
Identity in Western Tours of the Mei
Lanfang Troupe in Early 20th Century
GAO Yang
Abstract： The Western tours of the Mei Lanfang Troupe in the Early 20th Century tell us a lot about
the implicit and explicit reception of modern and traditional Chinese culture a cross-
cultural context. By using cryptic means of modernization to set off a meticulously purified
theatrical "Chineseness", their western tours revealed the plasticity of national cultural
identity in a specific historical context, and at the same time exposed the essentialist view
of cultural reception in the West that homogenizes cultures by “othering” them.
Key words： Mei Lanfang, theatrical “Chineseness”, cultural identity
I. Refine and Go Retro: The “Purification” of Theatrical

“Chineseness” by the Mei Lanfang Troupe
An idea of cultural "Purity" has always been a key issue of when it comes to
considering improvements and innovations in Chinese theatre, so much so that
there are two schools of thought dedicated to the idea of "pure theatre".
In contrast to the literary-centric view of "pure theatre" held by intellectuals

who held radical criticism and negative attitude toward theatre, some literati
with deep sympathy and understanding for traditional theatre, such as Zhang
Houzai and Yu Shang Yuan, insisted on finding the essence of theatre as
"pure theatre" in the stylized aesthetic characteristics of stage performances.
By relying on this stage-centered view of "pure theatre", Qi Rushan, Zhang
THE SPREAD OF CHINESE THEATRE I 97
■ Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) ■ A picture taken in the 1920s features

Qi Rushan (left) and Mei Lanfang
Pengchun and other intellectuals who played a core planning and leading
role in Mei Lanfang Troupe' s Western tours, carried out “purification” on the
theatrical "Chineseness" embodied in the stage performances of their troupe
based on their literary aesthetic aspirations as well as speculations about the
cultural psychology of Westerners.
As Zhang Pengchun pointed out, "Foreigners prefer to see the traditional things
in Chinese theatre.”1 The literati around Mei Lanfang who gave advice on their
Western tours clearly realized that for Westerners who are not familiar with the
tradition of Chinese theatre, the "uniqueness" of the stylized representation
system of theatre on stage is the greatest focus of their interest and concern.
The presentation of "purity" of Chinese theatre lies in the perfect presentation
of such "uniqueness" without any Western practices or elements. However,
in order to create the "pure" "uniqueness", it is not only necessary to exclude
external influences, but also to screen out internal "impurities". If the overall
"uniqueness" of theatre performances highlights the "childlike" purity and
simplicity of ancient Chinese civilization for Westerners, then the "impurities"
1 黄殿祺：《话剧在北方的奠基人之一 —— 张彭春》，北京：中国戏剧出版社，1995 年，第 269 页。[Huang

Dianqi, Zhang Pengchun, One of the Founders of Drama in the North , Beijing: China Drama Publishing
House, 1995: 269.]
■ Mei Lanfang in America
contained within would reveal the "childish" side of this civilization——a

civilization which, at that time, was already seen as frivolous from a Western
lens.
For Qi Rushan and other literati of the Mei Lanfang Troupe, the first step in
"purifying" the theatre tradition is to remove these "impurities" at all levels
of stage performances——specifically, to "refine" those elements that were
considered "corrupt customs," "vulgarities," or incompatible with the tastes of
Western audiences. For example, in the selection of repertoires, Qi Rushan and
others put great emphasis on the elegant style of the script in terms of subject
matter and content. As for the musical composition of stage performances, by
adding musical instruments with softer tones such as the Yueqin, Hulei, and
Pipa, they were able to mitigate the acoustic effects, which were produced
on account of the dissonance made by the Gongs, Drums, Huqin and other
instruments that sounded harsh to the Westerners. They also abolished the
“corrupt customs” in traditional theatre performances such as drinking, setting
or packing up props, and throwing and kneeling on mats on stage. .
In addition to the improvement of these "childish" "impurities" in theatre

performances by means of "refining", another important aspect of Mei Lanfang
Troupe’ s "purification" is to use the method of "retroizing" (i.e. making retro)
to strengthen the "childlike" "uniqueness" of the stylized representation
system of theatre on stage, which is the most appealing to Westerners. To
be specific, such “retroization” mainly includes two directions of “artistry” and
“Kunquization”, which highlight the quaint “quintessence of Chinese culture”
contained in the visual effects of performances from the two aspects of "static"
■ Mei Lanfang in America- A stage ■ Mei Lanfang in America- A stage photo of

photo of Return of the Phoenix Concubine Gets Drunk
and "dynamic".
As far as "artistry" is concerned, Mei Lanfang Troupe’s performances in the

United States and the Soviet Union were keen to seek inspirations from ancient
Chinese art resources, whether in the design of actors' appearance, the
production and setting of stage sets and props, or even in publicity materials
and the distribution of gifts to the audience, so that they could "reveal the
Oriental colors and the unique art value of China"1 to Western audiences.
In terms of “Kunquization”, based on his consistent belief that body movements

in performances are "transmuted from ancient dances2”, Qi Rushan, through
his intense study of the aesthetics and practices of Kunqu performance, came
to the conclusion that the essential characteristic of theatre performance is that
"The actors’ voice must be expressed in the form of singing, and all of their
movements on stage must be performed in a uniform and harmonious dance
gesture, giving people a dance-like aesthetic enjoyment.” This aesthetic quality
of feeling inspired by "singing and dancing in one", which closely combined
singing and body movements, had been lost in the evolution process from
1 梅兰芳（遗稿）、许姬传、李斐叔（整理）：《梅兰芳游俄记》，梁燕主编《梅兰芳与京剧在海外》，郑州：
大象出版社，2016 年，第 512 页。[Mei Lanfang (posthumous manuscript), Xu Jichuan, Li Feishu (collated):
Mei Lanfang's Journey to Russia, edited by Liang Yan, Mei Lanfang and Jingju on Abroad, Zhengzhou:
Da Xiang Publishing House, 2016: 512. ]
2 齐如山：《齐如山全集》（第一卷），台北：联经出版事业公司，1979, 第 373 页。[Qi Rushan: The
Complete Works of Qi Rushan (Volume 1), Taipei: Linking Publishing CO., LTD., 1979: 373.]
■ Mei Lanfang in
the Soviet Union
■ Mei Lanfang and an actress of the ■ Mei Lanfang in the Soviet Union- The
Soviet Union Rainbow Pass
Kunqu to Jingju.
Qi Rushan purposely sought dance images from classical poetry and verses
of all the past dynasties, and used them as sources of inspiration to create a
series of "classical dances" for Mei Lanfang’s new plays in ancient costumes
such as "Water Sleeve Dance" (Chang'e Flying to the Moon ), "Ribbon Dance"
(Fairy Scattering Flowers ), and "Cup-and-Plate Dance" (Magu Offering
Birthday Congratulations ). Moreover, in accordance with the principle of "equal
emphasis on singing and acting and the integration of singing and dancing
as one" reflected on the stage performances of Kunqu, he also “designed a
body movement for every vocal verse making it a musical” . It can be said that
this kind of "Kunquized" musical theatre with its “retroized” body movements
as the core of performances, is

undoubtedly the most effective way
to demonstrate to the Westerners
the " purity and elegance" of
Chinese theatre among all of Mei
Lanfang Troupe’s repertoires.
Under the design and guidance of

Qi Rushan and other literati, the Mei
Lanfang Troupe strove to present
a refined and retroized theatre
tradition to the Western public
through the above-mentioned
"purification" techniques in the
course of their Western tours.
■ The heavenly maids scatter blossoms
Despite this, we can still find some
traces of "moder nity" in their
performances behind this deliberately constructed "purity".
Although Qi Rushan, Zhang Pengchun, and other literati strongly emphasized

that the primary purpose of Mei Lanfang Troupe’s Western tours was to serve
as an “ambassador in art" to "promote the quintessence of Chinese culture,"
these intellectuals, who had both Chinese and Western cultural experiences
and academic backgrounds, were well aware that in the face of the two most
"advanced" Western "others" of that time, the United States and the Soviet
Union, the mere emphasis on "tradition" was not enough to give theatre full
legitimacy.
As mentioned above, in the view of these intellectuals, in addition to the aspect

of "uniqueness" worthy of display, there are also some "impurities" in the
theatre tradition. Under the standards of Western civilization, these "impurities"
will undoubtedly expose the "pre-modern" characteristics of "childishness"
in Chinese cultural identity. Therefore, in a sense, the Mei Lanfang Troupe' s
practice of removing these "impurities" in the theatre tradition through "refining"
has implicitly demonstrated a tendency towards “modernity” with Western
civilization as an external reference.
In addition to this negative approach of reducing "pre-modernity", the Mei

Lanfang Troupe also tried to discover ideological resources within the theatre
tradition that are not inconsistent with the moral requirements of Western
"modernity", or to directly graft the external form of Western-style "modernity"
onto the performances of theatre. Of course, these "modernity" operations only
play a complementary and beautifying role in the cultural identity of the Mei
Lanfang Troupe, and they can only support and promote the explicit subject of
this cultural identity-the "purified" "traditionality", in an unobtrusive way in order
to present it more clearly.
II. The Construction of "Otherness": The value judgment of the

Western public on the Mei Lanfang Troupe
Since early-modern times, the popularity of "Chinoiserie" in the Western world,

which focuses on the dissemination and reception of Chinese art and crafts,
has greatly stimulated the Westerner’s exotic curiosity about Chinese culture.
In this cultural atmosphere of "Orientalism", various art styles from China
exude a fascinating "Orientalness" in the eyes of Westerners, the source of
whose charm lies in the ancient traditions that has a strong sense of history.
This fascination with the "sense of history", however, reveals Westerner’s
"ahistorical" cultural conception in the face of unique cultures. This conception
believes that oriental culture and art have reached their peak of development
a long time ago, and then this stagnant perfection has been preserved in the
long course of time, free from the intrusion of evolution or foreign things. The
evaluation of the Westerners on the artistry of stage performances of the Mei
Lanfang Troupe is based on this kind of cultural imagination of "Otherness" that
transcends the history of Oriental Art.
Members of the Mei Lanfang Troupe, whether Mei Lanfang himself or literati
like Qi Rushan, were all well aware that constructing and reinforcing the
"uniqueness" of the theatrical tradition in front of the Westerners would be
of great importance for the enhancement of the cultural image of China.
Therefore, on the one hand, they purified and transformed the "impurities"
in the theatre tradition that might be offensive to Westerners by means of
"refining" and obscure "modernization" in order to make the "orientalism" of the
theatre tradition appear more refined and concise to Westerners. However, on
the other hand, they would never make various "modernization" operations so
obvious as to occupy the main position in the representation of the stage form,
lest they undermine their promise to Westerners of a "pure" theatre free from
foreign cultural intrusion, even if this insistence on the "otherness" can only
arouse a sense of curiosity about Chinese Xiqu in the West.
In fact, most of the general public in the West were indeed fanatical about the
performances of the Mei Lanfang Troupe out of their lust for exotic desire of
"Orientalism": they were enthralled by the ancient and stagnant yet pure and
perfect "otherness" of the Chinese theatrical tradition in Mei Lanfang Troupe's
stage performances, and lamented that the theatre art of their own country
"has no tradition and no root"1 compared to Chinese theatre. But they ignored
the fact that the innovation practices of Mei Lanfang and the literati around him
who introduced the stage performance elements of Kunqu into Jingju in the
name of "retroizing", were actually breaking down the “purity” of the tradition of
Jingju in the sense of historical evolution.
However, the complex and subtle differentiation and integration within the
genres of Jingju and Kunqu is clearly not enough to change the Westerners'
general view of the "Orientalness" of Chinese Xiqu. The artistic images
obtained from the literature resources of the past dynasties and incorporated
into the design and production of costumes, hair accessories, set props,
and promotional materials by the Mei Lanfang Troupe undoubtedly further
strengthened the overall "uniqueness" that was disconnected with the specific
historical context, thus greatly stimulating Westerners to appreciate their
performances with a kind of artistic perspective. This is true even in the Soviet
Union, which claimed to have a deep understanding of the essential aesthetic
features of Chinese Xiqu.
Conclusion
In the world order established in the early 20th century with Western civilization
as the apex of the hierarchy, Westerners solidified and typified the image of
the 'Orient' with the West as the center, to create an image of the 'Other'.
It is this homogenization of the cultural "Other" embedded in the cognitive
structure of Westerners that profoundly constrains the way in which the
theatrical representation of modern Chinese cultural identity is presented and
received in the Western world. The Western tours of the Mei Lanfang Troupe
set off and support a carefully purified theatrical "Chineseness" by means of
unobtrusive modernization, and this manipulation of the "explicit" and "implicit"
positions of tradition and modernity in theatrical stage representations allows
us to clearly recognize the plasticity of national cultural identity in a cross-
cultural context. Although this caters to and strengthens the "ahistorical" and
1 Robert Littell. New York World, February 17, 1930.

homogeneous view of the "Other" held by Westerners towards Oriental culture

to a certain extent, but at the same time, it also exposes the essentialist cultural
identity perspective that the West forcibly endowed the Oriental culture with
innocence and absolutely invariable "otherness" in the binary cognitive pattern
of "civilization and primitive".
GAO YANG
Lecturer of Yangzhou University.
INTRODUCTION OF CLASSICS I 105
Introduction to Classical Plays (V)

LI Ran
I. Song of the Great Wind
A great wind rises, oh! The clouds are driven away.

I come to my native land, oh! Now the world is under my sway.
1
Where are the brave men, oh! To guard the four frontiers today!
Everyone in China knows that these lines are from the Song of the Great
Wind by Liu Bang. However, most people are unaware that the reason for the
popularity of these lines are because of a drama with the same name, that is,
the historical drama Song of the Great Wind created in 1979 by the well-known
playwright Chen Baichen, who has made unique contributions to the satirical
comedy of the PRC and is known as "China's Gogol". In addition to this, Chen
Baichen also wrote poems, novels, and prose. He was already 71 years old
when he created the drama Song of the Great Wind , and had written nine
historical dramas before then over the course of nearly 50 years. (The Song of
the Great Wind mentioned below refers exclusively to the drama) .2
At the end of the script of the Song of the Great Wind , Mr. Chen wrote a note,
which read “This play has been compiled with reference to both the Records
of the History by the great historian Sima Qian of Han Dynasty, and the History
of the Han Dynasty by Ban Gu”. The author provides us with a vivid artistic
portrayal of the complicated history of the fifteen years after the death of the
Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang, during which time the Empress Lv and other feudal
lords who shared the surname Lv conspired to usurp the power while the
1 许渊冲英译本。[Xu Yuanchong’ s English Translation.]

2 Added by the translator for convenience.
106 I INTRODUCTION OF CLASSICS
ministers led by Zhou Bo and Chen Ping rose-up to fight and finally restored
the governance of the Han Dynasty in the name of Liu.
The drama opens with a situation full of lurking dangers, for instance when Liu
Bang dies, Empress Lv does not announce his death immediately, but instead
buys time to plot to kill a group of old ministers. However, the news of Liu’s
death was leaked, and she is forced to make an announcement, burning the
imperial edict of making King Zhao Ruyi the crown prince, and making Liu Ying
the emperor instead. The next few scenes follow closely linked one by one,
depicting the complex and sinister power struggle that spanned more than a
decade, making the performance dramatic and shocking.
In terms of character design, this drama is also particularly notable. There are
many characters in it, with at least twenty-one named characters, which can
be roughly divided into the two schools of Liu and Lv, with Lv Zhi, Chen Ping
and Zhou Bo as the main characters. The conflict between Liu and Lv is mainly
reflected in the struggle among these three, and the skirmish between Zhou Bo
and Chen Ping has severely affected their anti-Lv war.
The ups and downs of the relationship between the three characters were
handled in a meticulous and methodical manner, creating fascinating and
evocative climax points in every scene.
In Mr. Chen’s writing, Lv Zhi is ruthless and brutal while the other two ministers
are loyal, courageous, resolute, and wise. The drama appears to be a
historical one on the surface, but it has a strong realistic meaning, expressing
infinite nostalgia and reverence for the old proletarian revolutionaries in the
political struggle. The integration of realistic passions makes the play a strong
expression of sorrow, anger, and sympathy towards the innocent civilians who
were prosecuted. However, Chen Baichen himself did not directly respond to
the statement of "being close to reality and reflecting problems”. He pointed
out that "There are often striking similarities in history, but they are only similar,
not the same. Writing about the similarities and using the stories of the past
as a warning for contemporary problems would be enough for the writers. As
for how to understand it, that should be left to the audience, who will naturally
make associations from within the work”.
When performed in 1979, the Song of the Great Wind caused a huge
sensation and received the highest honors. The circles of literature and art
quickly convened a high-level script symposium, and the national leaders
recommended the performance of this drama in various localities. Both the
script and the performance received first prize in the National Drama Festival
celebrating the 30th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. It also caused a
wide resonance and national sensation among the audience. It can be said that
the Song of the Great Wind is a monument in the history of Chinese drama.
II. In the Silence
In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11 th Central Committee of the

Communist Party of China was convened. The “left”-leaning political inclinations
were cleared away and China began to enter a “new period” in contemporary
history. Along with this, an ideological emancipation movement arose, and
Chinese drama ushered in new opportunities for development. In this context,
the art of drama carried forward the fine tradition of relating to reality, reflecting
life, and expressing people’s heartfelt wishes, and acted as a pioneer in the
ideological emancipation movement. The drama In the Silence is one of the
representative works in this movement.
From 1973 to 1975, Zong Fuxian, a young literary enthusiast, enrolled in an

amateur drama-writing training class at the Shanghai Workers' Cultural Palace
to study scriptwriting. Many of the teachers in this class came from Shanghai
Theatre Academy, including Qu Xinxian, Yu Qiuyu and Rong Guangrun. Under
the guidance of these teachers, the class has gradually developed into a high-
quality creative group. Then in 1978, Zong Fuxian, who had completed his
study, was inspired by news reports and planned to write a reflective drama.
The plot of In the Silence goes like this: In the early summer of 1976, Mei Lin,
an old cadre who has suffered political persecution, and her son Ouyang Ping
flee to Shanghai to stay with an old comrade He Shifei, whom she has not
contacted in nine years To Mei Lin’s surprise He Shifei has defected from the
revolutionary left. After meeting his old comrade, He Shifei spends his time
writing fake materials to expose Mei Lin, to frame her as a traitor, despite the
fact she saved his life in the past.
At the same time, He Yun, the daughter of He Shifei, is a public security officer
ordered to search for and arrest a "criminal" who had distributed a collection
of poems titled Raising Eyebrows and Swords Out of Sheath , in Tian’anmen
Square at the public mourning to Premier Zhou. It just so happens that the
one she is looking for is Ouyang Ping, the son of Mei Lin. Upon seeing Ouyang
Ping, He Yun becomes enamored, and is plunged into anguish when she is
called upon to arrest him, confiding in her mother her turmoil, and refusing to
108 I INTRODUCTION OF CLASSICS
believe that the object of her affections could possibly commit a crime.
Things come to a head when He Yun decides to report Ouyang Ping for his
crimes. Liu Xiuying, the wife of He Shifei, reveals that her usband had been
betraying Mei Lin for sometime. All denounce He Shifei as a traitor who
betrayed his soul as well as his comrades. Finally, Mei Lin led Ouyang Ping,
He Yun, and Liu Xiuying into continuing the fightagainst the enemies of the
revolution.
In the silence was the first drama to eulogize the scene of millions of people
mourning Premier Zhou in Tian’anmen Square in 1976 as a positive image
on the stage. It consists of four acts with only six characters and inherits the
traditional creative method of "classical unities" with a high concentration
on the plot and space-time structure, showing the tense atmosphere and
rigorous structure of the drama. The six characters in the play come from
two families, with the living room of the He family as the only scene. The story
takes place within nine hours, but the conflicts and entanglements span over
three decades. Each character in it is portrayed with flesh and blood. Although
suffering great injustice and humiliation, Mei Lin, an old revolutionist, never lost
her faith in social justice and her vision for a better future. In portraying Ouyang
Ping, the author breaks away from the technique of "Gao Da and Quan ( 高大
全 , Creating an idealized and perfect character)" , and portrays him as a vivid
young man valuing affection and righteousness.
The title of the drama "In the Silence" comes from the poem Untitled , a
masterpiece written by Lu Xun in 1934, which expressed his confidence in the
victory of the people's revolution at that time. Zong Fuxian's quotation of the
poem as the title is in line with the spirit of the original work and gives great
encouragement to the public.
The drama was first staged on a small scale in the small theatre of the
Shanghai Workers' Cultural Palace, without publicity and at a very low-ticket
price. After the first performance, the applause continued for a long time, and
the audience lingered on for quite a while. Since then, it has become more
and more popular. Even with more than 40 performances in a row, there are
still audiences who have difficulty in getting tickets. Troupes from other places
all come to observe and learn. For the first time, the Wen Hui Daily published
the complete script of it in four pages for three consecutive days. As a result,
the drama attracted the attention of the central leadership, and the troupe was
urgently transferred to Beijing for a performance. After the performance, the
People's Daily published a 10,000-word special reviewer's article titled “The
Hopes and Power of the People--A Review of the Drama In the Silence ”. In
December 1978, the Ministry of Culture and the All-China Federation of Trade
Unions held an award ceremony in Beijing, conferring special awards to the
cast and crew of In the Silence , the Shanghai Workers' Cultural Palace, and
Zong Fuxian personally.
LI RAN
lecturer of Shanghai Theatre Academy.
110 I OVERVIEW
Chinese Theatre in the Second half of 2021

AI Shasha
Looking back at the creation of Chinese theatre in the second half of 2021the
boom of the mainstream theatre industry has been an important phenomenon
unneglectable to our close attention – and the role government policy has
played in all this needs much exploration.
The 14th Five-year Plan for Artistic Creation was released by the government,
requiring that artistic creation should be based on major historical occurrences,
significant national strategies, spiritual wealth, and excellent traditional culture.
The creation of national high-quality theatre should adhere, therefore, to the
equal emphasis on realistic, revolutionary, and traditional themes.
In addition, "The centennial birthday of the Communist Party of China", which

was of great historical significance, promoted the emergence of a large number
of patriotism-themed repertoires. Art troupes (schools) of all levels and types
across the country have created numerous excellent works focusing on the
centennial history of CPC and people’s life in the new era, which have been
presented in major theatrical performances. A large number of profound and
well-produced theatres have explored and told the stories of China in the
spirit of realism and romanticism, promoting Chinese culture and highlighting
Chinese characteristics and styles. In addition, the re-rehearsal of traditional
fine productions, the theatrical adaptations of classic works, and the vitality of
musical market were also theatrical phenomena worthy of attention.
I. Patriotism-themed repertoires springing up in praise of the

centennial birthday of CPC
The main line of praising the centennial birthday of CPC has run through the
entire creation and performance of Chinese theatre in 2021. Mainstream
OVERVIEW I 111
productions have attracted much attention, and “patriotism” has become the
most distinctive feature on the stage of Chinese literature and art.
Since last year, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has begun to implement
the “Project for the Creation of High-quality Stage Works in Praise of the
Centennial Birthday of CPC”, supporting and launching a series of outstanding
works which showed the glorious course of CPC over the past century. The
300 works selected for the project have been intensively performed throughout
the country from March to October, boosting the progress of Chinese stage art
masterpieces from the "plateau" to the "peak"(i.e., to a higher quality).
From April to July, the Publicity Department of the CPC, the Ministry of Culture
and Tourism of the PRC, and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles
jointly organized the “Performance of Excellent Stage Works in Praise of the
Centennial Birthday of CPC”. A total of 140 masterpieces selected from all over
the country were presented either locally or on regional tours, and 50 of them
won the opportunity to be performed in the capital Beijing.
From March to August, the "6th Chinese Original Drama Invitational Exhibition"
hosted by the National Theatre of China also opted for the theme of
"Celebrating the Centennial Birthday of the CPC". 22 exhibiting repertoires have
■ People First , photographed by Su Ning, illustration by official webset of National Theatre of China
112 I OVERVIEW
■ The poster of An Enchanting Dream , illustration by ThePaper.cn
been selected from across the country, reflecting China's century-long history
of revolution and reform from different perspectives. Among them, the opening
play People First focused on fighting against COVID19, telling the story of the
heroic figures during the anti-epidemic process.
From June to September, “The Performance of Newly-Created Excellent

Repertoires for the Celebration of the Centennial Birthday of CPC in Anhui
Province” was carried out in a combination of online broadcasting and offline
theatre performance. 40 thematic works were selected from all over Anhui
province for this exhibition.
From October 9th to the 27th, the 17th Chinese Theatre Festival was held in
Wuhan, with 31 plays from 23 different provinces, autonomous regions, and
municipalities across China participating in the show. Works like The Night
in Xiangshan and Mother focused on revolutionary history. Against the Tide
depicted the heroism of the Wuhan people during the pandemic. Miss Guimei
told the story of Zhang Guimei, the "model of the times" who has contributed
a lot to education in poor areas. While The Deep Sea told the moving story of
Huang Xuhua, the "father of China' s nuclear submarines".
China Shanghai International Arts Festival Center has hosted several activities
including the “Performance Season of the Newly-Created Stage Arts Works
OVERVIEW I 113
for the Celebration of the Centennial Birthday of CPC” (from May to July), the
“Performance Season themed ‘Great World of Performing Arts, Great Shanghai
of Arts Gathering’” (from October to December,) and many more besides. The
former brought together 14 newly created productions from 13 literary and
artistic organizations in Shanghai, while the latter included 16 newly created
stage works in China in the past two years. The works in these Seasons not
only paid close attention to the important events in the history of the CPC
and constructed specific imageries for revolutionaries, but also put emphasis
on demonstrating cultural self-confidence in a cross-border form. Moreover,
the stage comedy An Enchanting Dream , which was presented in November,
achieved success in both box office and reception. This show was able to
complete its first nationwide tour despite Covid, receiving a rating of 9.3 on the
Douban platform, making it the highest rated piece of the year.
From October to December, in order to celebrate the centennial birthday of the

CPC and make preparations for the coming 13th China Arts Festival, Shanghai
also launched the “Shanghai Performance of Excellent Repertoires of the Stage
Art”, with 20 patriotism-themed repertoires of different art categories being
selected. Among them, the drama The Outpost created and rehearsed by
Shanghai Theatre Academy and Waves performed by Shanghai Dramatic Arts
Center both took the five martyrs of the League of Leftist Writers1 as their main
characters, showing great respect for history and revolutionary martyrs.
The second half of 2021 saw a steady stream of patriotism-themed

productions on the stage of Chinese theatre. During this period, there were
numerous works produced including the original Xiqu The Song of Youth by
the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Live Broadcast of the Founding
Ceremony of PRC performed by the National Theatre of China, The Ultimate
Law of Human World is Changing by the Nanjing Drama Troupe, Lu Yao by
the Xi'an Theatre, Windless Zone by Dalian Drama Troupe and Always on the
Way created and rehearsed by The Central Academy of Drama as well as The
Outpost by Shanghai Theatre Academy.
On the whole, theatre workers eulogized historical models to tell the story
of China. depiste this, there was still room to search after the contemporary
aesthetic expression of patriotism-themed theatre in practice. For example,
The Night in Xiangshan , produced by the Beijing People’s Art Theatre, has
adopted the narrative strategy of combining temporal and psychological logic
1 Including Li Qiushi ( 李求实 ), Rou Shi ( 柔石 ), Hu Yepin ( 胡也频 ), Feng Keng ( 冯铿 ) and Yin Fu ( 殷夫 ).
[ Translator’s note]
114 I OVERVIEW
■ The Night in Xiangshan , photographed by Li Chunguang, illustration by official webset of Beijing People’s
Art Theatre
to tell history, and explored the root cause of the victory of the CCP through a
dramatic situation in which Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek had a "dialogue
between minds".
II. Reviving the high-quality repertoires for the inheritance of

traditional culture
In order to inherit and carry forward the traditional culture and promote all
kinds of theatrical genres to take on a new look in the new era, all the theatres,
troupes, and creators attached great importance to exploring, re-rehearsing,
and adapting traditional high-quality repertoires. It has been a long-standing
policy of the Chinese theatre to focus on and develop the traditional, modern,
and newly written historical theatre altogether.
On July 9, Jixiang Theatre, a century-old theatre located in Wangfujing District

of Beijing, reopened, taking “Original Sound” as one of its major features. Since
OVERVIEW I 115
■ Reopening of Jixiang Theatre, ■ Sunrise , illustration by ThePaper.cn

photographed by Fang Fei
reopening, the theatre has staged many traditional classics such as Jingju
Farewell My Concubine , Kunqu The Peony Pavilion , Hebei Bangzi The Story of
Wang Baochuan and Yueju Butterfly Lovers .
From July to December, the 2021 Great Theatre of China Theatre Festival was
held in Shanghai, and several well-known works with a good reputation such
as Scenes from a Marriage and Poison (which have both completed multiple
rounds of tours) were performed.
From August 5th to October 26th, the 2021 NCPA International Theatre Festival,
with the theme of “Inheriting the Classics from Diverse Perspectives”, staged
8 rounds of 34 wonderful performances from both China and abroad. The
dramas The Stranger , Papa’s Bed , Revolutionary Road , and more interpreted
international classics from a Chinese perspective. While a collection of Jingju
such as Stealing silver from the Treasury , Capture and Release of Caocao , and
The Legend of White Snake told the stories of China to the world.
On September 2 nd, the new theatre of Beijing People’s Art Theatre: Cao
Yu Theatre in the Beijing International Theatre Centre was officially put into
use. The new version of Sunrise directed by Feng Yuanzheng was a multi-
spatiotemporal and multi-dimensional stage exploration; the new version of
Thunderstorm , directed by Pu Cunxin and Tang Ye, expanded the hidden
space and time of the original work; and the new version of Wilderness ,
directed by Yan Rui, presented the inner dilemma of Qiu Hu with a chorus
composed of puppets. These three new rehearsals of Cao Yu' s plays have
116 I OVERVIEW
satisfied the audience's expectations for the recreation of the classics.
From September 23rd to 29th, the 8th Chinese Kunqu Art Festival was held
in the form of offline and online integration, with a total of 22 big plays and
excerpts from all over the country participating. Traditional plays such as The
Matchmaker Hong Niang , The Story of Washing the Silk , and The Rescue of a
Courtesan all took part in the performance.
From October 1 to 7, the 5th Chinese Xiqu Culture Week was held in the
Beijing Garden Expo. During the week, 23 literary and artistic groups from
Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei jointly presented more than 240 performances. Many
traditional plays got the chance to be performed on stage, such as Red Maned
Horse (Lady Precious Stream ) jointly presented by actors of both the genres of
Jingju and Hebei Bangzi, Jingju Wu Zixu , Hebei Bangzi The New Story of Bao
Zheng’s Apology , Kunqu The Romance of West Chamber , Beijing Quju Dagon
Beard Ditch , Pingju The Third Sister of Yang’s Going to the Court , and others.
From October 1st to 17th, the 2021 Beijing (Taihu) International Puppet Festival
presented classic shadow puppet plays such as The Eight Immortals Crossing
the Sea , Lotus Lantern , The Mountain of Flames and Water overflowed Jinshan
Temple , as well as ten more foreign puppet works such as Magic Flute through
both online and offline mediums.
From October 20th to December 19th, the 8th Xiqu Black Box Festival was held
in Beijing Star Theatre, bringing together 16 wonderful plays from more than
■ Center Stage , illustration by Star Theatres ■ The Tibetan version Hamlet ,

illustration by sohu.com
OVERVIEW I 117
10 theatre genres across China. The opening Yueju Center Stage , with the
fusion of Western musical instruments and Yueju music, was very pioneering.
The newly-adapted Jingju The Miser portrayed a typical Chinese miser. All the
works performed were in the form of experimental theatre, reflecting the spirit
of adhering to integrity and innovation of Xiqu practitioners in the new era.
From December 8 to 16, the 2021 China Experimental Xiqu Exhibition was held
in Shanghai, presenting more than a dozen plays across 11 genres. Puzhouxi
of Shanxi Province King Oedipus and Jingju The Death of a Petty Official
interpreted the western classics in the form of Chinese Xiqu. While Cantonese
Yueju Jin Lian and Kunqu The White Silk Robe adopted a contemporary
perspective to interpret traditional Chinese texts, which was characterized with
the spirit of experimental exploration.
From December 17 to 26, the 2021 Daliangshan International Theatre Festival

was held in Xichang City, Sichuan Province. This festival focused on the
concept of “National Style”, and performed 34 repertoires across 12 different
genres. Dramas such as Li Bai by Beijing People’s Art Theatre, the Tibetan
version of the drama Hamlet , the Jingju The Taking of Tiger Mountain , the
Dance Poetry Drama Jade Green , the folk opera Hearing Soma and many
other plays fully demonstrated the infinite glamour of traditional culture.
III. Adapting classic works into stage plays and highlighting

literariness
While the weakening of ‘literariness’ has been a common trend in current

Chinese theatre creation, the continued adaptation of literary classics, popular
films, and television programs into stage plays has helped to enrich the literary
charm of theatre.
In August, the “2021 5th Lao She Theatre Festival” with the theme of “calling
for the literary spirit of theatre” opened in Beijing. During the ups and downs of
the epidemic, the festival has performed more than 20 excellent theatres from
both home and abroad. Based on the novel of the same name by Wang Meng,
the opening play Change Forms has analyzed the spiritual growth of Chinese
intellectuals in terms of both sorrow and joy. While the closing play Diary of a
Madman was adapted from a short story by Lu Hsun and directed by Polish
director Christian Lupa. The five-act play The Tragedy of Dr. Faustus , performed
by the Central Academy of Drama, was adapted from Goethe's famous poetic
118 I OVERVIEW
■ The Dream of the Red Chamber , Photographed by Yin Xuefeng
drama Faustus . Starting from Faustus's failure in the original plot, the new
play presented the five stages of human life backwards, in order to explore the
significance and value of human beings.
From September 16th to October 2nd, the 2021 10th Hangzhou International
Theatre Festival was held, bringing together 21 impressive repertoires including
The Dream of the Red Chamber and Don Quixote. Among them, the drama
The Dream of the Red Chamber presented by Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center
was based on Cao Xueqin's classic masterpiece. This drama synthesized,
condensed and reorganized the storyline of nearly 800,000 words, and
reconstructed the narrative framework with the four natural seasons. The whole
performance lasted six hours and presented the fates of the four families and
all the characters involved concisely on a minimalist stage.
From October 15th to 24th, the 8th Wuzhen Theatre Festival was held, staging 23
specially invited plays. The opening play, The Red and the Black , was adapted
from the novel of the same name by Stendhal of France and directed by Meng
Jinghui. Li Jianjun's World on a Wire was adapted from the German director
Fassbender' s sci-fi film of the same name, which was created on the basis
of Daniel Gallu' s sci-fi novel. And the dance drama Wild Grass , performed by
Beijing Dance Theatre, drew its inspirations from Lu Hsun' s prose and poetry
anthology that was also named Wild Grass .
From March 26th to December 30th, the 2021 Nanjing Drama Festival was
OVERVIEW I 119
held. “The Collection of Masterpieces” interpreted literary classics with theatre,

presenting many attracting plays such as Deling and Empress Dowager and
Dust Settled Down . Many adaptations of literary classics also appeared in
the theatrical activities for college students and young dramatists including
the 2021 Beijing Fringe Festival, the 20th Golden Hedgehog University
Students’ Drama Festival, the 7th China Campus Theatre Festival, and so on.
For example, The Metamorphosis directed by Li Jianjun was adapted from
Kafka's novel, and King’s Friends directed by Zhang Hang was a contemporary
reconstruction of The Orphan of Chao .
The dance drama The Eternal Wave , which has adopted the mode of
“performing at a fixed place along with touring” since July, was a popular
patriotism-themed drama of good quality and reputation. It was a performance
that was adapted from a Chinese film of the same name released in 1958 that
highlighted the inspiring value of revolutionary works in contemporary society.
Adapted from a TV series of the same name, the drama The Ultimate Law of
Human World is Changing , which was also themed on the history of revolution,
reproduced the revolutionary process of China from the Northern Expedition to
the founding of the PRC.
Many influential theatrical performances, such as the drama Love in a Fallen

City , In Full Bloom and A Lifelong Journey , the dance drama Don Quixote
and The Dream of the Red Chamber , the Beijing Quju Teahouse and Four
Generations Under One Roof , the Hebei Bangzi The City of Thebes and
Medea , the Pingju Benediction and The Pretender , and the Modern Quju Lu
Town , were all adapted from literary classics or film and television programs.
Among them, Lu Town , with a unique perspective, reconstructed and weaved
the typical characters and events in several works of Lu Hsun, and showed the
social outlook of China at that time by condensing it into such a limited time
and space on the stage.
IV. The booming of musical market and the expression of local

Chinese characteristics
In recent years, with the frequent performances of foreign original musicals in

China, the rehearsals of Chinese musicals have also encountered a booming
season. According to statistics, in 2021, there were 8,894 professional theatre
performances in Shanghai, among which the number of musical performances
reached 911, making musicals an important portion of stage performances.
120 I OVERVIEW
■ Romeo and Juliet , illustration by shcstheatre.com
From the introduction of the original musicals to the production of Chinese

musicals, and then to the mature creation of local Chinese original musicals, it
is clear that musical has become a prominent type in Contemporary Chinese
theatre.
The rehearsals of the world-known musicals that were adapted into Chinese
versions including Romeo and Juliet , Ghost , Rock Faustus , Agatha , Rock of
Ages , Apolonija , Dangerous Minds , One More , and so on has not only opened
up a brand new mode of industrialization and commercialization of the theatre,
but also made Chinese oriented innovations of stage performances.
The Chinese version of the musical Romeo and Juliet , which was also the
first Chinese version adapted from the classic French musical, was directed
and choreographed by the famous French choreographer Carl Portal. The
classic Broadway musical Ghost has toured many cities in China and had had
a great appeal to the audience for its exquisite production. The performance
of its Chinese version has once again shown the romantic miracle of love. The
musical Apolonija was adapted from the Korean musical A Loving Family . It has
not only been performed 380 times in the past year with a total of more than
OVERVIEW I 121
43,000 audience members, but has also won the opportunity to be performed
in Guangzhou, Chengdu, Changsha and many other cities.
Faced with the absence of foreign musicals in Chinese theatre markets, original
Chinese musicals such as The Story of Mei Lanfang , Family , Wu Kong , The
Pretender, Under the Midnight Sun , Peach Blossom Letters , The Orphan of
Chao , Emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty , Letters Home from the War ,
On the Call, No Longer Human , Out of the dream and Cat’s Cradle have been
emerging, continuously contributing to the development and prosperity of
musical performances. Both Under the Midnight Sun and No Longer Human
produced by Ran Space were adapted from the novel of the same name by
a famous Japanese writer. While Cat’s Cradle directed by Zhou Xiaoqian was
adapted from Zijin Chen's deductive fiction The Bad Kids . Directed by Xu Jun
and written by James Fenton, The Orphan of Chao has presented the classic
Chinese story in the form of a musical on top of the foundation of the Zaju of
Yuan Dynasty and Western adaptations. While the musical The Story of Mei
■ Group photo of Symposium On the Origin and Development of Contemporary European and American
Theatre, 2021
122 I OVERVIEW
Lanfang told the patriotism of Mei Lanfang, a master of Jingju, in the form of a
fusion of Jingju and Western musicals.
In order to promote the development of Chinese musicals, the Ministry of

Culture and Tourism hosted the 2nd National Excellent Musical Performances,
selecting nine outstanding plays including On the Road and The Light Chaser
from across the country to perform in Harbin. These repertoires focused
on local Chinese stories and publicized the patriotism of Chinese sons and
daughters.
There were also many theatre awards, academic forums, symposiums, and
workshops held in China in the second half of 2021, including the 5th Chinese
Theatre Awards, the 5th Jiangsu Wenhua Award, Constructing the system of
Chinese Theatre Directors---the 17th China Theatre Festival·Theatre Directing
Art Summit Forum, World Theatre Education Alliance·2021 International Forum
on Theatre Education Research, 2021 NCPA Taihu Art Centre International
Forum, Symposium On the Origin and Development of Contemporary European
and American Theatre (Special sessions for France, Germany, Russia, and
Northern Europe), the 14th Asia-Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools International
Symposium, the 40th Anniversary of Experimental Theatre in China, and 2021
Advanced Workshop for Theatre Critics in Guangdong Province, and many
more.
AI SHASHA
Post-doctor of Shanghai Theatre Academy.

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CONTENTS I I

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

STUDIES OF CANTONESE YUEJU

The Cantonese and Their Songs:

1 Hung Sin-Nui or Hong Xiannv ( 红线女 ). [Translator’s note]

■ Hung Sin-Nui (1925-2013) ■ Wang Zhaojun, potrayed by Hung Sin-

1 Xiqu ( 戏曲 ), refers to Chinese traditional opera. [Translator’s note]

■ Sit Kok-Sin (1904-1956) ■ Ma Sze-Tsang (1900-1964)

The flexibility, openness, pragmatism, and innovation of the Cantonese

Due to the Cantonese peoples’ innate innovative spirit, Cantonese Yueju

Yam Kim-Fai1 and the Prosperity of

Cantonese Yueju, recognized as a topic within the World Intangible Cultural

The most successful and influential Female Wenwusheng in the history of

1 Yam Kim-Fai or Ren Jianhui ( 任剑辉 ). [Translator’s note]

■ Yam Kim-Fai (1913-1989) ■ From left to right: Yam Kim-Fai, Pak

1 Au-Yeung Kim or Ou Yangjian ( 欧 阳 俭 ), Pak Sheut-Sin or Bai Xuexian ( 白 雪 仙 ), Chan Yim-Lung or

■ Stage photo of Waiting for the

■ Stage photo of The Legend

Yam Kim-Fai’s charisma and attractiveness were particularly highlighted

her acting convincingly captured the appearance of a martial arts specialist,

1 Lung Kim-Sang (Sabrina) or Long Jiansheng ( 龙剑笙 ). [Translator’s note]

■ Lung Kim-Sang (1944- )

■ Stage photo of Pretty Pan An , Lung ■ Koi Ming-Fai (1967- )

The popularity and influence of Female Wenwusheng such as Yam Kim-Fai,

Women predominantly made up the audience for Female Wenwusheng.

1 Koi Ming-Fai (Joyce) or Gai Minghui ( 盖鸣晖 ). [Translator’s note]

To summarize, then, Female Wenwusheng were originally the product of the

■ Poster of the film White Snake

1 The data comes from the "Maoyan Professional" app.

■ Poster of the film White Snake

Previously, a 20.8 million box office domination seemed unimaginable. The

1 王垂林：《戏曲电影 < 白蛇传 · 情 > 为何叫好又叫座 — 优秀传统文化 “ 双创 ” 的一次成功探索》，《中

■ Poster of the film White Snake

1 Hanfu ( 汉服 ), the traditional dress of the Han Chinese people.

■ Poster of the film White Snake

a young audience, whether in regards to the publicity strategy, content

1 See the official website of China Association of Performing Arts: http://www.capa.com.cn/news/

It is without question that film as a modern media led to traditional Cantonese

■ Poster of the film White Snake

Alternatively, when the art of traditional Cantonese Yueju integrates with

1 [ 波兰 ] 耶日 · 格洛托夫斯基：《迈向质朴戏剧》，北京：中国戏剧出版社 1984 年版，第 3 页。[Grotowski:

■ Poster of the film White Snake

Yueju’s presentation, a group of nostalgic audiences used Cantonese Yueju

■ Poster of the film White Snake

The aforementioned collective memory connects the story and Cantonese

Research on the Performances of

I. Transpacific travel and initial boom (1850-1930)

■ The interior of the Chinese

In the 1920s, immigration policies in the U.S. loosened restrictions on

■ The Greater China Theater,

II.The flourishing of amateur theatre societies（1970-2009）

The Minzhi Society mainly performed dramas at the beginning of its

In addition, there existed a few relatively active theater societies in San

III. The diversified road of the Cantonese Yueju as "Intangible

After the successful application of Cantonese Yueju as an "Intangible Cultural

schools. In order to make it more accessible to overseas audiences, many

Ultimately, since being included in the UNESCO’s "Representative List of

1 陈非侬口述、余慕云执笔 . 粤剧六十年［M］. 中国香港：香港中文大学出版社，2007:31.[ Dictated by

1　 Yam Kim-Fai or Ren Jianhui ( 任剑辉 ). [Translator’s note]

1 Au-Yeung Kim or Ou Yangjian ( 欧阳俭 ), Pak Sheut-Sin or Bai Xuexian ( 白雪仙 ), Chan Yim-Lung or

1　Lung Kim-Sang (Sabrina) or Long Jiansheng ( 龙剑笙 ). [Translator’s note]

1　Koi Ming-Fai (Joyce) or Gai Minghui ( 盖鸣晖 ). [Translator’s note]

1　Hanfu ( 汉服 ), the traditional dress of the Han Chinese people.

1　See the official website of China Association of Performing Arts: http://www.capa.com.cn/news/