The Most Popular Stories of Kun Opera
Kunqu opera stories attach great importance to literariness and artistry when selecting stories, pursuing tortuous plots, distinctive characters and sincere emotions.
The stories of Kun Opera not only have profound cultural connotations, but also reflect the Chinese traditional culture. I'd like to show you some popular stories of Kun Opera.
Peony Pavilion
The Peony Pavilion was made by Tang Xianzu, a great playwright, which is about the love story of Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei. Du Liniang, the daughter of a prefect, could not pursue love according to her heart. Later, she dreamed of the scholar Liu Mengmei. After waking up, she became lovesick and died of depression. The soul of Du Liniang found Liu Mengmei and the two got married between the yin and yang realms. Liu Mengmei opened the grave for love and Du Liniang came back to life because of love. Finally, they lived happily together.
The Story of the Jade Hairpin
The Story of the Jade Hairpin is set in the Southern Song Dynasty. When Pan Bizheng's father was an official, he had arranged for him to be engaged to Chen Miaochang. Later, the two sides lost contact. In the sixteenth year of the Jin Dynasty, as Miaochang's father died and she suffered from the chaos of the Jin troops' invasion to the south, she had no choice but to enter the Nunnery of Female Perfection outside Jinling City and became a Taoist nun. At that time, Pan Bizheng have failed in the metropolitan examinations in the capital, he was ashamed to go home and took shelter in the Nunnery of Female Perfection presided over by his aunt. Thus, he met Miaochang and they fell in love. After the abbess of the nunnery found out that they were dating, she was angry and forced Pan Bizheng to go to the capital to take the examinations again, attempting to separate them. Later, Pan Bizheng passed the imperial examinations and returned to his hometown in glory. Only then did he learn that his father had arranged a marriage for him long ago, and it turned out that the person was his beloved Chen Miaochang. So they got married at the end.
Leifeng Pagoda
Madam White Snake, who cultivated herself in the Linked Caves on Mount Emei. Because she envied the prosperity of the human world, she came to the West Lake in Hangzhou. By the lakeside, she fell in love with the young Xu Xian and they got married. Monk Fahai from the Jinshan Temple believed that she had violated the rules of Buddhism and repeatedly tried to break up her marriage with Xu Xian. Fahai lured Xu Xian to the Jinshan Temple and locked him up in the temple, which led to a direct conflict between Madam White Snake and Fahai. Eventually, Fahai defeated her and suppressed her under the Leifeng Pagoda.
Palace of Eternal Life
It has a complicated plot and vivid characters. Especially, the description of the love between Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Concubine Yang is delicate and moving. The lyrics are beautiful and full of poetic charm, and it has always been a frequently performed play on the Kun Opera stage. It depicts Emperor Xuanzong and Concubine Yang in the incident at Mawei Post, and the death of Concubine Yang. Their sincerity moved the heavens, and with the help of the Weaving Maid and others, they finally reunited in the Moon Palace.
Fifteen Strings of Coins
It is a legendary story made by Zhu Su, a great playwright, and it is still performed on the opera stage nowadays. It is about Xiong Youlan and Xiong Youhui, who were both wrongly accused and sentenced to death. On the eve of the execution, Kuang Zhong, the prefect of Suzhou, dreamed that two bears came to beg him for mercy. So he submitted a memorial to request a retrial and finally reversed the unjust verdicts.
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