An Introduction to Kunqu Opera
Wang Hong
Soochow University
Major points:
1. Lead-in:
2.The History of Kunqu Opera
3.The Performing System
4.The Representative Masterpieces
5.The Translation of Flirting with the Zither
from The Jade Hairpin《玉簪记·琴挑》
1. Lead-in: about Kunqu Opera
600-year-old, known as the Mother of Chinese Opera.
An art form that uniquely blends poetic eloquence, musical
refinement and dramatics and leaves profound influence
on other forms of Chinese opera.
The first and foremost Chinese performing art proclaimed
by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and
Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
What is Special About Kunqu?

Musical Instruments 乐器
 Bamboo flute as the principal musical instrument
 Other wind and string instruments may be added to enhance the
beauty

Stage Setting 舞台
 Unrealistic, thus appeals to the audience's imagination

Movements 身段
 Performed with set conventions
 An ingenious combination of reality with the reality of arts

Tonal Patterns 曲牌
 Fixed. Kunqu poetry is written to fit a large number of fixed tonal
patterns embedded with Chinese language.
The Peony Pavilion: the Most Famous Kunqu Opera
It was written b y T a n g
Xianzu, the greatest poet
playwright of the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644), also
regarded as the “Chinese
Shakespeare ”. This play
was oftentimes referred to as
the Chinese Romeo and Juliet.
A Synopsis of An Amazing Dream
第十出 惊 梦
[旦]不到园林，怎知春色如许!
【皂罗袍】
原来姹紫嫣红开遍，
似这般都付与断井颓垣。
良辰美景奈何天，
赏心乐事谁家院!
Scene Ten An Amazing Dream
DU LINIANG:
If I had not come to the garden, how could I have tasted the
beauty of spring!
(To the tune of Zaoluopao)
The flowers glitter brightly in the air,
Around the wells and walls deserted here and there.
Where is the “pleasant day and pretty sight”?
Who can enjoy “contentment and delight”?
2.The History of Kunqu Opera
Kunqu Opera was born from the art form of chuanqi 传奇
(romance play) in ancient China. In history, the term chuanqi
underwent several changes in its connotations. For instance, the
classical Chinese short stories in the Tang Dynasty were also
called chuanqi. But in drama, this term was specified to mean a
long play with standardized literary patterns and regular musical
schemes. The scripts of chuanqi were often stories with intricate
and fantastic plots and detailed descriptions of emotions and
romances to achieve thrilling and dramatic effects.
The scripts of chuanqi were sung in diverse local tunes of
different regions. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the
beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the following four tunes were
prevalent in the south (the areas south of the Yangtze River).
They were the Yuyao tune(余姚腔), Haiyan tune(海盐腔),
Yiyang tune(弋阳腔) and Kunshan tune(昆山腔)—all were after
the names of the four areas.
The Kunshan tune was applied to singing chuanqi scripts and the
singers simply played their roles without wearing make-ups.
The Haiyan tune was sung in the official language, and its
elegance catered well for the scholar-officials and the literati
while the Yiyang tune was welcomed by the common people for
its sonorous liveliness accompanied by gongs and drums.
In the developmental process of Kunqu Opera, the reform of the
Kunshan tune was a key step. Carried out by Wei Liangfu(魏良
辅) , this reform covered three aspects.
The first was the improvement of its singing techniques. It
required that the modulation should abide by the rules of the
level, rising, falling and entering tones—the four tones of the
classical Chinese pronunciation and intonation.
The second was about the innovation of the original tune, and
treating the chanting with more elaboration to make it sound
softer and finer. That was the reason the refined tune was
referred to as the milling tune (as if being polished finely with a
water mill) by people at that time.
The third was concerned with incorporating more vigorous
elements into the Kunshan tune. A southern tune in origin, the
Kunshan tune used to be more gentle than strong. As a result, it
could not fully express ardent emotions. In the course of the
reform, this defect was compensated for by the dramatists’
efforts in drawing on many elements from northern dramas to
make the Kunshan tune more forceful and expressive.
From the perspective of musical accompaniment, Wei Liangfu
and other artists modified the traditional orchestra by picking the
essence out of the various zithers, wood and bamboo pipes,
drums and clappers from both the northern and southern dramas.
A new form of the accompanying band was introduced, with
string, wind, and percussion instruments. The reformed Kunshan
tune captured people’s attention with its clear, soft, pleasant and
harmonious effect, and soon became very popular. Thereafter,
the Kunshan tune became all the rage and soon developed from a
single tune into a nation-wide major opera form. People then
began to call the tune Kunqu or Kunqu opera.
Kunqu Opera ranks among the most splendid and miraculous
cultural art forms created by the Chinese people in their long
history. After it came into being at the district of Kunshan near
Suzhou during the late Yuan Dynasty in the mid-14th century,
Kunqu Opera was artistically refined over a period of 200 years
and stood out prominently among the various competing schools
of operas in China for its “delicate tunes and elegant melodies”.
With Suzhou as its base, Kunqu Opera soon became fashionable
both at home and abroad, forming, for hundreds of years, the
spectacular scene of “all operas taking Kunqu as their ancestor”.
After China entered the modern age, Kunqu Opera underwent a
gradual decline from its zenith, due to the rapid dramatic changes
in the Chinese society.
As time went by, Kunqu Opera lost favor with many of its
audiences and its popularity and social influence diminished year
after year. Fortunately, it survived and remained to be the most
influential traditional opera owing to the profound foundation it
accumulates in the area of script writing, performing art and
theoretical research. Not a single school of opera in China could
parallel it in status, let alone surpass it. There is no denying that
Kunqu Opera embodies the highest artistic achievements that the
traditional Chinese drama has ever accomplished and maintains a
unique position in the history of the world culture. A good case
in point is that Kunqu Opera was honored by UNESCO as one of
19 outstanding cultural forms of expression from different
regions of the world "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity” in May 2001.
3. The Performing System of Kunqu Opera
The performance of Kunqu opera gave the utmost importance to
singing. With the reforms of Wei Liangfu and others, the
techniques used in singing the Kunshan tune were greatly
enhanced. In addition, many important theoretical works on
drama composition and phonation appeared. Great books such as
Nine Music Notes and Thirteen Tunes of Nanxi 《南九宮十三调
曲谱 》and Guide for Singing in Drama《唱曲当知》 written
by Shen Jing 沈璟, Theories on Dramas 曲律》 by Wang Jide
王骥德, Guides for Composing Music in Dramas 《度曲须知》
by Shen Chongsui 沈宠绥, Yuefu Music《乐府传声》by Xu
Dachun 徐大椿, Yin Lu’s Talks on Drama Music 《螾庐曲谈》
by Wang Jilie 王 季 烈 were published. Gradually, a whole
framework of the theoretical system for Kunqu opera was
developed.
In terms of role types in Kunqu Opera, the original “five major role
types of sheng 生, dan 旦, jing 淨, mo 末, chou 丑” underwent
further specification. During the reigns of Emperor Qianlong and
Emperor Jiajing in the Qing Dynasty, the vogue for scholars’
families to perform opera scenes contributed greatly to the
specialization and particularity of the roles.
According to The History of Drama in Suzhou 《苏州戏曲志》,
the role types in modern Kunqu opera are divided into the
following types:
1) Sheng 生 (young male character):
Guansheng 冠生/官生(young male character
wearing a hat)
Jinsheng 巾生(young male actor with a head-covering and a fan in
hand such as Liu Mengmei in the Peony Pavilion)
Zhiweisheng雉尾生 (young male character with feathers on a hat
such as a sour scholar)
Wusheng 武生 (young male character good
at fighting)
2）Dan 旦 (female character):
Laodan 一旦/老旦(old female character)
Zhengdan 二旦/正旦(married, middle-aged female character)
Zuodan 三旦/作旦(little girl character)
Sidan 四旦 /刺杀旦 (shrewish female character)
Wudan 五旦/闺门旦(elegant young lady character
such as Du Liniang in the Peony Pavilion)
Liudan 六旦/贴旦(lively young lady character
such as Chunxiang in the Peony Pavilion)
3）Jing 淨 (male character with face makeup):
Hongjing 紅淨(character with red face makeup)
Heijing 黑淨(character with black face makeup)
Baijing 白淨 (character with white face makeup)
4）Mo 末 (middle-aged or old male character):
Laosheng 老生(middle-aged male character with high
social status, the leading role)
Laowai 老外 (elder character with experience of life, such
as high court officials)
Fumo 副末(middle-aged male character with low social
status, the supporting role)
5）Chou 丑 (comedy character):
Fuchou 付丑 (character of high social status with treacherous
personality)
Xiaochou 小丑 (character who was kind and funny, but of low
social status)
The specialization of characters led to the standardization of the
performance. The standardization in turn required better
portrayal of the characters’ dispositions described in the drama
scripts to make the performance more exciting. In the book
called Notes of Random Thoughts 《闲情偶記》 written by the
dramatist Li Yu 李渔 at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the
section “Performing Practices” elaborated on what he had
learned from the practice of performing. The book Origin of
Drama 《梨园原》 (also named Mirror of the Heart《明心鉴
》), spread by hand-copy during the reign of Emperor Qianlong
乾隆, also summarized what the actors thought about their
acting.
The thorough research gave a theoretical summary of Kunqu
Opera performance from various aspects, covering singing,
reciting, acting, dancing, hand gestures, eye movements, body
postures, techniques of maneuvering the body and gait.
There is actually another kind of roles of little importance in the
opera and therefore they are not taken as the main type of
characters in the opera. They are extras with no names or titles,
such as carters, boatmen, umbrella men, unimportant minor
officials, eunuchs, maids in the imperial palace, and utility men.
Generally speaking, a traditional Kunqu Opera troupe only needs
18 actors and actresses in total. Only in a few very big opera
troupes there are 27 performers. Normally a troupe that has ten
performers can give performances and other characters in need
can be replaced by those whose roles are the similar types. The
ten performers mentioned above are also called 'Ten Main Pillars'
of the troupe, and they are Jing, Guansheng, Jinsheng, Laosheng,
Mo, Zhengdan, Wudan, Liudan, Fuchou, and Xiaochou, and the
quality of the performance mainly depend on the acting of four
roles, including Jing, Guansheng, Zhengdan and Wudan.
Different types of the roles in Kunqu Opera have their own
special performing movements, languages, skills and procedures,
which play a very important part in portraying the personalities
and mental states of the characters as well as dramatizing the plot
and elevating the appeal of the opera. As a result, the intact and
unique performing system of Kunqu Opera has been formed.
Kunqu Opera also has a complete system of acting as well as its
own distinctive tunes. Its wide-ranging repertoire has many
delicate and elegant tunes. The orchestra consists of traditional
instruments such as
1) the dizi, a horizontal bamboo flute which plays the lead part;
2) the xiao, a vertical bamboo flute;
3) the sheng, a mouth organ;
4)the pipa, a plucked string instrument with a fretted finger
board.
Many Chinese local operas are greatly influenced by the tunes
and acting style of Kunqu Opera.
3. The Representative Masterpieces of Kunqu Opera
1) Snow in Summer 《窦娥冤》by Guan Hanqing（关汉卿）
Snow in Summer, also known as The Injustice Done to Dou E
Moves Heaven and Earth is a masterwork of Guan Hanqing. The
story is derived from the Legend of Yu Dingguo in the Book of
Han as well as the story of “The Filial Daughter-in-law in
Donghai” in The Story of Searching for the Divinity. Through the
depiction of the sufferings of the heroine Dou E, the play reveals
the dark side of the Yuan Dynasty society and criticizes the
horrible injustice of that unfair society. The playwright expresses
his deep sympathy for the heroine Dou E. As the play has such a
soul-stirring power, the famous Chinese scholar Wang Guowei
regards it as one of the great tragedies in the world.
2) The Eternal Palace 《长生殿》by Hong Sheng（洪升）
The Eternal Palace tells the story that Emperor Ming Huang doted on Lady
Yang Yuhuan and he spent all his time in seeking sensual pleasure. As a
result, he neglected affairs of the state and let Yang’s cousin Yang Guozhong
run the government. On the seventh day of the seventh moon, the Emperor and
Lady Yang pledged to be husband and wife forever in the Eternal Palace. But
before long, An Lushan rebelled as a result of his conflict with Yang
Guozhong. Emperor Ming Huang had to flee to Sichuan with his guards.
When they passed by Mawei Station, the indignant guards killed Yang
Guozhong and forced the Emperor to hang his lover Yang Yuhuan. Later,
General Guo Ziyi wiped out the rebels and escorted the emperor to return the
capital. After he came back, the emperor missed Yang Yuhuan so much so
that he ordered a sorcerer named Yang Tongyou to build a bridge with his
magic so that he could leave the human world and meet Lady Yang in the
moon palace to realize their vow of love.
3) The Legend of Leifeng Pagoda 《雷峰塔》by Fang Chengpei
（方成培）
This play is adapted from the legendary story The White Snake, widely
circulated among the folks. A female immortal Bai Suzhen, formerly a white
snake, lives an extremely simple life in a cave in the depth of Mount E’ mei.
She yearns for the earthly beautiful scenery, thus venturing on a journey to the
West Lake in Hangzhou. There she makes the acquaintance of Xiaoqing, a
green snake spirit practicing asceticism in the West Lake who promises to be
her maidservant. By the lakeside Bai Suzhen falls in love with a young man
Xu Xuan and they get married. However, the Zen Master Fa Hai at the Jinshan
Temple thinks that their marriage goes against the Buddhist doctrines.
Therefore, he tries again and again to dismantle their union.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, Bai Suzhen turns into a white snake again after
drinking wine by mistake. Witnessing all this, her husband Xu Xuan is
frightened to death. Fortunately he is later restored to life with the help of the
revitalizing grass from the Old Immortal Nanji who lives in Mount Song.
Unwilling to give up, Fa Hai lures Xu Xuan into the Jinshan Temple and
keeps him in captivity. This leads to a face-to-face confrontation between Bai
Suzhen and Fa Hai. Finally Bai Suzhen is defeated and imprisoned underneath
Leifeng Pagoda. The most noticeable achievement of the play lies in the
success in making a typical kind and virtuous Chinese woman out of Bai
Suzhen.
4) “Yearning for Earthly Delights” “思凡”in Evils in Man《孽
海记》
“Yearning for Earthly Delights” is the subtitle of Evils in Man whose author is
unknown. The story goes as follows:
Weak at birth and liable to illnesses, a young girl surnamed Zhao is sent to a
nunnery at an early age by her parents. She has her hair shaved and leads a life
of a Buddhist nun under the Buddhist name of Sekong. But she cannot put up
with the loneliness of her life. Deep in her heart she has a lust for worldly love
and for a happy family life. After much inner conflict she finally tears up her
robe and escapes from the nunnery when her abbess and sisters are away. In
this play we can see a young rebellious nun who ignores the taboos and
commandments for Buddhists and is bold enough to seek her own happiness.

5. The Translation of Kunqu Score
Qin Tiao (Flirting with the Zither
from The Jade Hairpin)
《玉簪记·琴挑》
[
琴
懒挑
The moon is clear, the clouds
are thin.
I lean on my pillow full of
worry,
,
Listening to the crickets
around the walls.
]
The flowers are profuse with
colors and dew.
欹
枕
愁
听
四
壁
蛩
。
月画
眉
明
云
淡
露
华
浓
Saddened by autumn,
Song Yu sings to the west
wind.
The falling leaves startle
my unfinished dream,
I count the flowers
on the ground.
闲
步
芳
尘
数
落
红
。
落
叶
惊
残
梦
，
伤
秋
宋
玉
赋
西
风
。
Thank you!