Peking University, Beijing, Mar. 12, 2010: As early as the beginning of the last century, famous Kunqu exports Wu Mei and Yu Pingbo, received invitation by Cai Yuanpei to offer lessons at Peking University. Starting March 11th of 2010, Kunqu, one of the ancient forms of traditional Chinese opera with more than 600 years of history, has entered PKU again as a public elective courses.
17:00 p.m.
"There will be no good seats if I don't come early."
Yesterday, Yan, a junior from the Guanghua School of Management, ran to the classroom of "Classic Kunqu Appreciation" at 5 o'clock in the afternoon skipping his supper. Although there was still another course ongoing in this room, a lot of students were already waiting at the door for the Kunqu course. Yan told the reporter, "This is the first lesson of ‘Classic Kunqu Appreciation', which will be given by Prof. Pai Hsien-yung. There will be no good seats if I don't come early."At 6 o'clock, hundreds of students rushed into the class room after the bell rang to grab a seat with a good view. Before the class began, the 300-seat classroom was full. There were more than 400 students present, including many standing to listen.
The course "Classic Kunqu Appreciation", the most popular public elective course in PKU's history, is an important part of the first five-years of the Kunqu Legacy Project which began in 2009. This is the first time PKU has chosen to open a college course on Kunqu.
19:00 p.m.
"I am teaching PKU students once again."
Prof. Pai Hsien-yung is 73-year old and has 29 years of teaching experience in the University of California, Santa Barbara. In recent years, he has been primarily devoted to promoting Kunqu. Although he has always given lectures in different places, it has been ten years since he taught in a classroom. Thus, this is the first time for Prof. Pai Hsien-yung to give lessons again since so many years.
The title of this lesson is "Tradition and Modernity–From 'The Peony Pavilion' of Tang Xianzu to 'The Peony Pavilion' of the Young Lovers' Edition". As the first lesson, Prof. Pai Hsien-yung spent nearly one hour to tell the story about the relation between Kunqu and PKU. However, all the students paid attentions to this kind old gentleman's speech patiently. At 8 o'clock sharp, Prof. Pai Hsien-yung started to teach the formal content of his lesson. He chose the most classic and important part of "The Peony Pavilion" –"Stroll in the Garden" to introduce Kunqu. He pointed out that "The Peony Pavilion" was also involved in the culture, history, philosophy, and politics of the late Ming Dynasty in addition to the story itself. Thus, he hoped that more and more students could become the volunteers to promote Kunqu so that it would be able to strike a chord with young viewers.
20:40 p.m.
"Welcom Du Liniang."
At forty past eight, the lesson was brought to its peak when Prof. Pai Hsien-yung said: "Welcom Du Liniang." As the words left his lips, Du Liniang appeared on the platform under the stage light wearing a pink cape. "How beautiful!", her appearance gained students' praises immediately. Prof. Pai Hsien-yung said proudly that Shen Fengying, the actress of Du Liniang, was selected by him. Then, the actresses showed some parts of the "Stroll in the Garden" which gained students' applause and high appreciation.
The lesson was originally planned to end at 9 o'clock, but was dragged on for another ten minutes. After the class, Prof. Pai Hsien-yung said: "I felt a little nervous before the class for I hadn't taught students for so many years. It is lucky that I had prepared the lesson in Taiwan previously. The PKU kids are really great that they can understand the beauty of Kunqu."
Further reading:
Prof. Ye Lang, Dean of PKU School of Arts, said that this course will be opened every spring semester for the undergraduates starting from this year. In addition to Prof. Pai Hsien-yung and Prof. Ye Lang, there are other teachers for this course, including Zhou Yingchen, Associate Professor of PKU School of Arts, Prof. Ye Changhai from Shanghai Theatre Academy China, Prof. Zou Hong from School of Chinese Language and Literature of Beijing Normal University, Zheng Peikai from Chinese Civilization Center of City University of Hong Kong, Prof. Hua Wei from Faculty of Arts of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prof. Xin Yiyun from Taipei National University of the Arts, Prof. Zhang Shuxiang from National Department of Chinese Literature of Taiwan University, Prof. Wang Tong form Taipei National University of the Arts, Kunqu exports Zhang Jiqing and Wang Shiyu, and Kunqu actors Shen Fengying, Yu Meilin, and Shen Guofang.
The "Pai Hsien-yung PKU Kunqu Legacy Project" was started on December 8, 2009. The plan for the first five-year are to protect the Kunqu culture, train new young actors for the Kunqu, and promote the development of traditional culture through opening public elective course at PKU, holding performances, exhibitions, and lectures, promoting the digital Kunqu project, and setting up a Kunqu Legacy Fund.
Edited by: Connie Chang
Translated by: Su Juan
