Five Generations of Artists Sustain Kunqu Opera in Zhejiang

The year 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Zhou Chuanying (1912-1988)， a Kunqu Opera master who played a major role in carrying on the beautiful genre when the opera was on the brink of extinction in the first half of the 20th century. The year 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of Kunqu Opera inscribed by UNESCO as World Intangible Cultural Heritage. Hangzhou will hold a series of events in honor of Zhou Chuanying and in celebration of the ancient opera that Zhou helped survive.

Kunqu Opera originated in Kunshan， a small county near Suzhou in southern Jiangsu Province in the 14th century. Some people might wonder why Hangzhou， a city in Zhejiang to the south of Jiangsu Province， celebrates Zhou Chuanying and Kunqu. The answer is， though Zhejiang has nothing to do with the birth of the opera， it has everything to do with its rebirth.

Kunqu Opera started in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1944) and soon became a national phenomenon. Its glory waned in the early years of the 20th century. In order to save the opera， a group of enthusiasts including Kunqu Opera artists and business tycoons set up a Kunqu Opera school in Suzhou in autumn of 1921. The school recruited about 60 youngsters at the age between 9 to 15. All these young disciples adopted the word 傳 (pronounced as chuan in pinyin) as the first character of their given names. Zhou Chuanying was one of the youngsters who studied at the training camp. The school dreamed of cultivating more crops of Kunqu Opera artists and even created a series of given words for future artists to adopt.

The young artists， a generation of Kunqu Opera artists all with chuan in their name， came to Shanghai in 1926. Their appearance became sensational and they helped sustain the Kunqu Opera in Shanghai， the biggest stage Kunqu Opera could find after Suzhou where the most prominent Kunqu Opera troupes fell apart in the early years of the 20th century under the impact of Peking Opera.

The new generation Kunqu Opera artists did inject blood into the ancient opera. Kunqu Opera saw a small renaissance in Shanghai and went through some difficulties. In 1937， Japan bombed Shanghai， dealing a fatal blow to Kunqu Opera. In a bombing， all the properties of Nixian Kunqu Opera Troupe were destroyed in fire. The artists scattered， trying to survive in the harrowing war years. In 1939， Zhou Chuanying and Wang Chuansong joined Guofeng Troupe. Though Kunqu Opera plays accounted only a small part of the troupe’s repertoire， Kunqu Opera managed to survive. Some more Kunqu Opera artists of the chuan generation later joined the troupe.

The troupe at first toured both southern Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province， but gradually Zhejiang became the only market. In the early 1950s， Guofeng was the only troupe in China that still staged Kunqu Opera plays. The government stepped in to save Kunqu Opera in the early 1950s. In 1955， six artists gathered to recreate the old play “Fifteen Strings of Copper Coins.” In 1956， Zhejiang Suzhou Opera and Kunqu Opera came into being， the predecessor of Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe. In the same year， Zhou Chuanying led the troupe to Beijing and staged the play. The state leaders such as Mao Zedong， Zhou Enlai， Liu Shaoqi and Zhu De watched the play. The play became a sensational phenomenon instantly. People’s Daily even published an editorial focused on how a play brought an opera genre back to life. Kunqu Opera as a genre staged a great comeback. After the success of the Fifteen Strings of Copper Coins， many Kunqu Opera troupes across China came into being.

In the difficult years， the artists of the chuan generation did more than keeping Kunqu Opera alive. They trained 26 artists， who all adopted 世 (pronounced as shi) as a character in their given names. The most famous of the 26 is probably Wang Shiyu， now the honorary director of Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe.

In order to enlarge the pool of talents for Kunqu Opera， Zhejiang Provincial Government took action riding on the success of Fifteen Strings of Copper Coins. In 1958 and 1959， altogether 60 youngsters were recruited from northern Zhejiang under the jurisdiction of Hangzhou， Jiaxing and Huzhou. They received training at Zhejiang Theater School. This group of 60 artists were called 盛 generation， though few of them actually adopted the word into their names. Unfortunately， they ran into a hard time. The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) saw Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe disorganized and Kunqu Opera artists scattered. When the troupe was revived in 1978， most of the artists of the sheng generation did not come back.

In 1978， 60 youngsters were recruited across the province for carrying on the torch for Kunqu Opera. They were the 秀 (xiu) generation. The new batch was lucky enough to have artists of the previous three generations to teach them and show them what is great about Kunqu Opera. In 1982， 13 of the young Kunqu Opera artists won prizes in a provincial new drama artist competition. They have won more than 70 awards and prizes at provincial and national level since then.

Now the fifth generation is in the making. Many people are eagerly looking forward to watch a play by a cast of Kunqu Opera artists of four generations.

Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe is not what it was in the 1940s and early 1950s. At present， the troupe has 82 artists， including many prizewinners at national and provincial level.