The Peony Pavilion

The Peony Pavilion is a play written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty and first performed in 1598 at the Pavilion of Prince Teng. One of Tang's "Four Dreams", it has traditionally been performed as a Kunqu opera, but Chuan and Gan opera versions also exist. It is by far the most popular play of the Ming Dynasty, and is the primary showcase of the guimendan role type. All Kun theatre troupes include it in their repertoire. Recent adaptations have sought to inject new life into one of China's best-loved classical operas, though such efforts have met with opposition from the Kun opera traditionalists.

Story

The performance tradition has focused on the love story between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei , though in its original text , it has strong elements of dramatic warfare .

Du Liniang is the daughter of an important official. Her maid encourages her to abandon her dull studies and take a walk in the garden, where she falls asleep. She dreams of her lover Liu Mengmei, whom in real life she has never met, before being awoken by falling petals. Unable to recover the enchantment of her dream, she wastes away and dies.

In hell, the underworld judge determines that her marriage with Liu Mengmei is predestined, and that she cannot be retained. Instead, she is sent to haunt him, who now inhabits the garden where they had their dream. Recognising the girl he met in his dreams, he agrees to her. Du Liniang asks him to go to tell her father the news of her resurrection, but he treats Liu Mengmei as a grave robber and impostor. In the end, Liu Mengmei is only saved from death by torture by the announcement of the results of the . He has topped the list; the pardons all.

This is necessarily a very brief description of the plot of an opera which typically runs for 20 hours.

Analysis

Conventional in some ways, particularly the deus ex machina ending, ''The Peony Pavilion'' is distinguished by its beautiful and largely untranslatable poetry. "Travelling in the Garden" , "The Dream Interrupted" and "Searching for the Dream" are considered masterpieces of music and craft.

Famous performances

Mei Lanfang was famous for his sensitive portrayal of Du Liniang. The most famous actress of recent years is likely Zhang Jiqing's traditional approach out of Nanjing's Jiangsu Province Kun Opera. In Shanghai, Jennifer Hua Wenyi was very popular in the role, and has played the role abroad several times. Chen Shizheng's 20 hour version, with Qian Yi as Du Liniang, was perhaps the first full length staging in 300 years and spurred a renewed interest in the full opera beyond a few celebrated episodes.

Adaptations

Bai Xianyong / Hsien-yung Pai has used ''The Peony Pavilion'' as inspiration for a short story and a television script, besides also producing and co-adapting a "Young Lovers" version out of Suzhou, which toured China and Taiwan. The production made its US premiere, the first performance outside of Asia, at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, California, Sept 15-17, 2006.

Recently in 1998, ''The Peony Pavilion'' was made into opera by Tan Dun, and directed by both Peter Sellars and Chen Shizheng. It played primarily abroad, often winning critical success but offending Chinese traditionalists.

In 2001, a Hong Kong movie known as ''Yóuyuán Jīngmèng'' , starring Rie Miyazawa and Joey Wong , was called ''Peony Pavilion'' in English. Though only indirectly related in terms of plot, it used the music extensively.
A Taiwanese movie ''Wǒ de měilì yǔ āichōu'' 我的美麗與哀愁 directed by Chen Guofu, with cinematography by Christopher Doyle and starring Luo Ruoying shared the same English title.

In June 2008 the Suzhou Kunqu Opera company performed ''The Peony Pavilion'' at , London, the UK premiere. It was presented in 3 parts on consecutive evenings, each lasting 3 hours, though still much shorter than the original 20 hours.

In 2007 Lisa See's novel ''Peony in Love'' was published by Random House. The story's protagonist, Peony, falls in love with a young stranger, and her life loosely parallels that of Liniang's.

Citations