Peking Opera Repertoires
The Drunken Beauty
The Emperor MING Huang of the Tang Dynasty has asked Lady Yang to spend the evening with him drinking at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion. When Lady YANG arrives at the pavilion, however, she is informed that the Emperor has gone to the Western Palace, ostensibly to spend the night with another royal concubine, her rival, Lady MEI. Deeply hurt, Lady YANG orders the eunuchs to serve the wine anyway. They bring her several bowls of wine, each with a different name. After drinking all the wine, Lady YANG sways about the pavilion, in a series of drunken dances, before being reminded that it is growing late. She takes her leave, singing sadly, "I return alone to the palace."
Female Warrior
This excerpt highlights the dance elements and symbolic gestures of Peking opera. The female warrior dons her military gear, checks to make sure her armour is tightly tied and well-fastened, before calling for her spear and going off to battle.
Murder of A Concubine
XAN Xi Jiao was born into a very poor family. In order to raise money for the funeral of her father, she was sold to SONG, a powerful outlaw, as his concubine. SONG buys a house for YAN and her mother. In spite of her new comfortable living arrangements, YAN feels no affection for her much older husband and often feels restless at home. Later, YAN acquires a secret lover, ZHANG San Lang.
This extract opens with YAN's mother strolling through town, when she suddenly sees SONG. She asks him to come back to her home for a visit, thinking that this will help improve the relationship between SONG and YAN. With much difficulty, YAN's mother pushes SONG and YAN upstairs into their bedroom, believing that their differences will be easily resolved after spending the night together. The two remain locked in the room until morning when SONG breaks out of the room and resolves to never return again. In his hurry, SONG drops a very important letter that reveals his outlaw identity. YAN finds this letter and uses it to blackmail SONG into divorcing her so that she may marry her true love, ZHANG. After SONG writes the divorce agreement, YAN decides to not return SONG's letter. Instead, she declares that she will present it to the authorities who will surely put SONG to death. SONG pleads, begs, and threatens YAN to no avail. Angry at YAN's ingratitude, and fearful for his own life, SONG murders his concubine.
The Red Maid
[synopsis to come]
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