Art and Sports
"Realizing the hidden longing, only because it has already seeped into the bone."
A love myth that has lasted for over four hundred years, a lingering romance that transcends life and death.
This is The Peony Pavilion, the most renowned work by Tang Xianzu, a playwright from the Ming Dynasty.
Twenty years ago, the renowned writer Bai Xianyong collaborated with Suzhou Kunqu Opera, bringing together cultural and theatrical elites to create masterpieces. They skillfully simplified the complexity, presenting the enduring classic in a youthful and stunning form for the world to behold.
We are honored to invite Professor Cheng Pei-kai, a renowned expert in Chinese cultural studies, to accompany you on a journey through literature, music, and songwriting in this Lakeside Forum, giving you a glimpse of the intoxicating beauty of The Peony Pavilion.
Activity Information
Theme
The Cultural Enlightenment of The Peony Pavilion
Speaker
Prof. Pei-kai Cheng
Time
16:00-17:30, March 20th, 2024 (Wednesday)
Venue
Administration Building West Wing 201
Language
Chinese
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* Successful submission of the registration questionnaire will be taken as successful registration.
Warm Reminder
1. This event is only open to audiences aged 12 and above.
2. Entering the campus through the new South Gate of CUHK-Shenzhen is the closest to the activity venue.
3. Please present your ID Card and activity poster to the security guard when entering the university.
4. No parking spaces will be provided for this event.
5. Kindly refrain from smoking on campus.
Content
Tang Xianzu's The Peony Pavilion was written during the late Ming Dynasty and has been performed on the stage for over four hundred years. It has been presented in various theatrical forms and performance styles, demonstrating its enduring charm. The creation of the script for The Peony Pavilion showcased Tang Xianzu's forward-thinking cultural consciousness, evolving from the concept of "infant’s heart" in the philosophy of Wang Yangming to the affirmation of individual entity. It advocated the supremacy of love, the freedom of marriage and emphasized the awakening of female consciousness. It sounded the horn for pre-modern advocacy of the individual meaning of women's lives and provided significant cultural enlightenment for women's social status in modern times.
This lecture explores the literary classic status of The Peony Pavilion, the elegance of Kunqu and the aesthetic combination of stage singing and performance. It elucidates the historical process of Kunqu performance becoming a model of Chinese opera art and also points out the prospects of traditional performing arts in modern theatres.
Speaker
Prof. Pei-kai Cheng
Prof. Pei-kai Cheng graduated from Yale, Ph.D in history. He is Chairman of Hong Kong Branch of Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association, Academic Advisor to Our Hong Kong Foundation, President of Jigu Institute, University Professor at Fengjia University in Taiwan, and visiting professor at Zhejiang University. He founded the Chinese Civilization Center at City University of Hong Kong, served as Chairman of Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage Consultation Committee, and was awarded Merit of Honor by Hong Kong government in 2016. His research interests cover a wide spectrum of academic subjects on Chinese culture, such as late Ming culture and Tang Xianzu, transcultural aesthetics, tea culture, Chinese export porcelain, and English translation of Chinese classics. He has written and edited more than 100 books.
University Arts Centre
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