Xiqu

This is an excerpt from The Story of the Wooden Hairpin written by Ke Danqiu in the Yuan Dynasty. Although other theatre troupes seldom perform this piece, Yongkun insists on preserving it and staging it from time to time. Its storyline is simple but it conveys clearly the meaning of a common and easy to understand literary quotation: ‘Beating the maid, reflecting on her mistress’.

“Interrogating the Maid from The Story of the Wooden Hairpin”
Impressed by Wang Shipeng’s cleverness and eagerness to learn, tribute scholar Qian Liuxing betrothed his daughter Yulian to Wang. Wang and his mother lived in poverty, so she could only give Qian a wooden hairpin as the wedding gift. Later, Wang became the number one scholar in the imperial examination. The prime minister wanted to marry his daughter to him, but Wang refused. Wang wrote a letter to Yulian, but he did not know that the letter had been maliciously changed. After reading the fake letter, Yulian was heartbroken and jumped herself into a river. She was rescued by Qian Zaihe who adopted her as his daughter. In Interrogating the Maid, Qian Zaihe suspected Yulian and her maid Meixiang were hiding something important from him, so he interrogated Meixiang to find out the truth.

“On Seeing His Mother But Without His Wife from The Story of the Wooden Hairpin”
This is one of the signature works of Yongjia Kunqu. The actor who plays the xiaosheng (young male) role in this excerpt walks in ‘sparrow steps’ and shakes the wing-like attachments to his hat to show his bold and unrestrained character and his up-surging emotion. This performance is special for bringing three senior artists of Yongkun back on the stage together. Wang Shipeng’s letter to his family was changed. After reading the letter, his wife thought that Wang had married the prime minister’s daughter, so she jumped into the river to kill herself. Wang’s mother went to the capital city to find him. Wang was overjoyed to see his mother but was surprised that his wife was not with her. When his mother answered his questions evasively, Wang became suspicious. In the end, a piece of mourning string fell down from his mother’s sleeve. Wang then found out about his wife’s death, and was heartbroken.

“The Animal Sacrifice from Plucking the Laurel”
This is a special repertoire of Yongjia Kunqu. Completely different from the style of traditional Kunqu, this piece is straight forward and uninhibited, simple and unadorned, and plain and unassuming. Its grass-root character earns it great popularity among the village audience. Eighteen years ago, after being raped by her master, young maid Peizhi gave birth to a son. Her hard-hearted mistress took away her son and made her work in the kitchen. Eighteen years later, Peizhi’s son became the number one scholar in the imperial examination. Overjoyed, Peizhi thought that her son would not look down on her and would reunite with her. Unfortunately, even greater misfortune and misery awaited her.

“To the Banquet Armed”
This excerpt from Romance of the Three Kingdoms depicts vividly the brave, resourceful and daring character of Guan Yu. Through its unique style of singing and the stunning northern school martial arts, this performance by Yongkun projects the heroic image of Guan Yu to its fullest extent. Having borrowed Jingzhou from Sun Quan to station his troops, Liu Bei failed to return it. Sun’s chief military strategist Lu Su invited Liu Bei’s general and sworn brother Guan Yu to a feast. Armed with only one knife, Guan Yu went with his attendant Zhou Cang. Before the feast began, Lu Su demanded the return of Jingzhou. Guan Yu seized Lu Su and rebuked Lu for laying an ambush against him. Seeing that he is in Guan Yu’s hands, Lu Su was forced to give up. Guan Yu then set sail and returned to his camp.