Cultural Tourism Information: Northern Kunqu Traditional Culture Enters Macau Event Successfully Concluded (Photo)
China Times Chinese Network/China News Agency Beijing May 25 (Reporter Feng Ganyong) 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of Macau's return to the motherland. To promote traditional culture and inherit the spirit of Chinese culture, coinciding with the 23rd anniversary of Kunqu opera's inscription as an intangible cultural heritage, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre was invited to Macau to host the 'Fall in Love with Kunqu'—Traditional Culture Enters Macau series of events. The theatre carefully arranged performances of classic traditional plays and Kunqu lectures, showcasing the essence and charm of Kunqu art to Macau audiences in an all-round way. This allowed Macau citizens, especially the youth, to use Kunqu culture as a window to strengthen their understanding and knowledge of traditional Chinese culture, further inspiring the patriotic and pro-Macao spirit among Macau citizens and young people.
Before departure, Sun Minglei, Secretary of the Party General Branch of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, gave a mobilization speech. With the support of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre's seven-day 'Fall in Love with Kunqu' trip to Macau was a complete success, achieving both discipline and artistic excellence. Before departure, Secretary Sun Minglei required every party member to always keep in mind the Four Consciousnesses, clearly understand the importance of this performance mission, and the honor of not only showcasing their own talents but also spreading excellent traditional culture. They were to display their art on stage and maintain the image of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre off stage. He urged everyone to abide by local laws and regulations, respect local customs, and have a sense of collective honor.
Under the leadership of President Yang Fengyi of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, the members who went to Macau carefully formulated daily schedules and arrangements, promptly reviewed the work, or held small-scale coordination meetings. Everyone reported their safety via group check-in before 11 p.m. each night, with not a single instance of tardiness. Before the performance of 'The Legend of the White Snake,' President Yang Fengyi held a mobilization meeting, encouraging everyone to pay attention to safety on stage and perform normally. In the end, all actors successfully completed the performance.
This series of events included four lectures and one performance. With President Yang's brilliant narration and the actors' heartfelt performances, whether they were primary school students, secondary school students, or diplomats from the Macau Commissioner's Office, they were deeply attracted by the beauty of traditional art and developed a strong interest in Kunqu. The Macau trip successfully planted the seed of Kunqu, a traditional culture, among the Macau audience.
On May 14, the first stop of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre's Macau trip was at Sheng Kung Hui (Macau) Choi Kou High School, where a lecture kicked off the 'Fall in Love with Kunqu' series. During the lecture, President Yang Fengyi used simple language to vividly describe the 600-year development of Kunqu art, and eloquently explained its abstract, impressionistic, lyrical, and poetic artistic features.
Wei Chunrong, a Plum Blossom Award winner and national first-class actress, together with outstanding young actor Liu Daxin, performed a segment from 'The Peony Pavilion: The Garden Interlude' on site, prompting many students to eagerly go on stage and imitate the movements and singing styles with the teachers. President Yang said emotionally: 'As cultural workers, we have the responsibility and obligation to bring Kunqu art to schools and to the children, allowing them to experience the charm of excellent traditional Chinese culture up close.'
On the evening of May 15, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre's classic traditional play 'The Legend of the White Snake' was splendidly staged at the Broadway Theatre in Macau. Audiences arrived early at the theatre, and many opera fans came specially from the mainland or Hong Kong to see the Northern Kunqu performance. Before the show, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre also invited some audience members to enter the theatre and backstage early to experience the essence of Kunqu art through its role types, costumes, makeup, and props. This 'Legend of the White Snake' starred outstanding young actors of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre: Gao Peiyu, Zhao Yiduo, and Liu Zhan. The three young actors gave an excellent performance, excelling in both civil and martial roles, stunning the entire theatre. After the performance, local audiences excitedly said that the martial scenes in 'The Legend of the White Snake' were extremely thrilling, and they looked forward to seeing more wonderful performances from the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre in Macau!
Subsequently, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre was invited to the Commissioner's Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Macau Special Administrative Region to hold a unique Kunqu sharing event for diplomats stationed in Macau. As a representative of excellent traditional Chinese culture, Kunqu embodies rich philosophical thought, humanistic spirit, and moral concepts. Understanding the profound humanistic heritage of Kunqu art is of positive significance for exploring the resonance between traditional Chinese culture and the current era, and for enhancing the historical depth in foreign affairs.
During the sharing event, the diplomats stationed in Macau marveled at the reserved and gentle beauty of Kunqu art while joyfully imitating the actors' movements. At that moment, they seemed to transform from diplomats in a changing world into characters in the play. The diplomats all expressed that this lecture not only made them deeply feel the profoundness of Kunqu art and get a glimpse of the unique charm of Chinese traditional culture, but also believed that the reserved and deep characteristics of this traditional culture would have a far-reaching impact on diplomatic work. As diplomats, they could learn many ways to handle problems from it.
The Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Macau SAR highly praised the outstanding contributions of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre in promoting traditional culture, and expressed hope that such multi-dimensional and in-depth cultural exchange activities would continue. He also hoped that the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre would arrange more performances in Macau to meet the demands of more Macau compatriots for appreciating elegant traditional art.
Next, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre will continue to build 'Fall in Love with Kunqu' into a new IP that is well-known and widely spread both domestically and internationally, making new contributions to the inheritance of excellent traditional Chinese culture, empowering the creation of a capital of performing arts and new performance spaces, and making continuous contributions to promoting Chinese culture globally and enhancing national cultural influence! (Lu Lüxing)
