On the evening of August 22, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts Drama Theater, renowned performer Wang Peiyu starred in one of her favorite plays, The Vermilion Cinnabar Birthmark. The performance was met with continuous applause and cheers from the audience. At the curtain call, Wang Peiyu first took a DSLR camera from a table on stage to take photos of the audience. She then expressed her gratitude to the talented actors from the Beijing Peking Opera Theater who performed alongside her. Finally, holding the hand of 6-year-old child performer Niannian, who aspires to pursue a career in Peking Opera, she introduced this young Peking Opera successor to the audience.
The Vermilion Cinnabar Birthmark is a relatively rare example of an early Peking Opera script written and signed by a scholar. It was created by Yu Zhi, a late Qing Dynasty scholar. The play centers on Han Tingfeng, the governor of two prefectures, who, lacking an heir, marries a woman named Jiang. Through a series of virtuous deeds, he eventually finds his long-lost son. The story is filled with traditional Chinese virtues that encourage kindness and good deeds, which has made it beloved by audiences. The play is known for its singing, featuring lengthy, intricate, and melodious arias. In the 1920s, it was so popular that it became a famous scene in Peking Opera history, with people throughout the city eager to sing it. However, while the play was widely known a hundred years ago, it was on the verge of being lost fifty years ago. Wang Peiyu, after a long search, obtained the authentic version from Mr. Li Xixiang, a collector from the Tan and Yu lineage, in 2013, reviving it on stage. She has since been refining the play for over a decade, and this performance at the National Centre for the Performing Arts was especially prepared for the Beijing audience.
That evening, as soon as Wang Peiyu appeared on stage, she received overwhelming applause. Her voice was magnetic and powerful, and her rendition of the opera's arias conveyed the inner emotions of her character, Han Tingfeng, with great depth, making the character more vivid and three-dimensional. Beijing audiences were particularly delighted by the young actor who played Han Tingfeng's long-lost son, Han Yuyin. This role was performed by Zhu Yingqi, nicknamed Niannian, the youngest student of the Peking Opera training class at the Shanghai Yuyin Society. At just six years old and not yet in primary school, she has been studying opera for two years. Under Wang Peiyu's meticulous guidance, which involves teaching each word and tone personally, her debut performance amazed the audience. Her adorable appearance, steady stage presence, and confident singing and speaking won the crowd's admiration. Because of her small stature, her earnest attempts to sit on a chair that was too high for her whenever she "bowed to the audience" were both amusing and endearing, drawing laughter and applause from the audience. During the curtain call, Wang Peiyu held young Niannian's hand and told her, as she made her debut at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, "This is just the beginning; let's keep working hard!" The audience also cheered loudly, shouting "Good!" to encourage her.
Nan Hao, a senior opera enthusiast and program planner for the opera performances at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, gifted Wang Peiyu, who has been dedicated to studying the Yu style, an old recording of Yu Shuyan from a hundred years ago back in 2017. This time, he presented her with another vintage Yu Shuyan record as a gift, supporting her efforts to promote and expand the Yu style of opera. He joked, "We welcome Ms. Wang to perform in Beijing often, and I'll try to give her all eighteen and a half of the old records!"
On August 23, Wang Peiyu will join forces with Wang Yue and Tian Hui to co-star in a classic, enduring Peking Opera that has stood the test of time.
Translator: BAI Jing
Reviewer: DING Zhizhong
