Volume 1, Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe Volume · Complete Collection of Selected Kunqu Opera Scores from China

Author: Kunqu Opera Troupe of Shanghai
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-09-01
Features: Kunqu Opera has a history of over 600 years and is an outstanding national cultural heritage of China. It is known as one of the world's three oldest theatrical traditions, alongside ancient Greek tragedy and Indian Sanskrit drama. Originally known as Kunqu, it originated in the late Yuan Dynasty in Kunshan and Suzhou areas of Jiangsu Province. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, the musical dramatist Wei Liangfu absorbed the essence of the three major vocal styles—Haiyan, Yuyao, and Yiyang—as well as the highlights of Southern and Northern tunes, and reformed Kunqu. Simultaneously, the dramatist Liang Bolong created The Ballad of the Washing Silk, composing it with the reformed Kunqu vocal style, which rapidly spread its influence across the land. Kunqu is the oldest theatrical form with a long history tradition in China and even the world, and almost all theatrical genres in the country have been nurtured to varying degrees by it, earning the reputation of "the ancestor of all dramas." Kunqu condenses various artistic elements of Chinese classical literature, dance, drama, as well as painting, acrobatics, and more. It can be regarded as a concentrated and vivid carrier of traditional Chinese culture, making it a true world-class cultural classic. To protect world cultural heritage, the Jingshuang Office of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) has listed the collection, editing, and publication of Kunqu opera scripts and scores as a key special task. In July 2003, a national Kunqu opera script and score publication symposium was held in Nanjing, and the "Kunqu Script Publication Editorial Committee" was established. In September of the same year, a national editorial meeting was held in Beijing to primarily study the specific publication plan for Kunqu scripts. Later that year, in November, a business meeting for script publication was also held in Kunshan, Jiangsu. As a result, the collection and organization of scripts by Kunqu opera troupes across the country gradually began. The Comprehensive Collection of Selected Kunqu Opera Scripts and Scores organized, edited, and published under the leadership of the Jingshuang Office of the CPPCC aims to preserve this "intangible cultural heritage of humanity" in written form, leaving it for future generations.