Message from the Publisher

When UNESCO proclaimed in 2001 that Kunqu Opera was “a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”, Mr. Kenneth Pai (Pai Hsien-yung) thought it was high time the world should get re-introduced to this highly refined Chinese performing art. A well-known writer of modern fiction himself, he holds great admiration for “The Peony Pavilion”, a Kunqu masterpiece written some 400 years ago by the great Ming dynasty dramatist Tang Xianzu, and decided that he should use it as the launching pad for his plan to revitalize Kunqu. He called upon his friends in the academic and arts circles to help him accomplish his vision of adapting this timeless masterpiece to the modern stage.

More than two years of intensive teamwork put into it by numerous experts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait culminated in a new stage production of “The Peony Pavilion: Young Lovers’ Edition (“PPYL”)”, thus named so as to distinguish it from the traditional performances by old masters in the past. PPYL premiered in Taipei in 2004 amidst critical acclaim and subsequently took the Chinese opera world by storm. PPYL employs modern technology and know-how in stage production, lighting techniques, costume design and choreography while preserving the essence of traditional Kunqu in its singing and music, the performers’ stylized movements and stage performance. Mr. Pai also insisted that the script adaptation from 55 to 27 scenes remains faithful to the original work by Tang Xianzu.

In the past three years, under the artistic direction and oversight of Mr. Pai and the financial backing of his friends, the Suzhou Operatic Troupe took PPYL to over 25 university campuses all over China, Hong Kong and as far as California. It also performed publicly in many cities -- Beijing, Taipei, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen, etc. By early 2007, over 100 performances had been staged and the audience count had exceeded 150,000.

Mr. Kenneth Pai is convinced that Kunqu must be adapted to the modern stage and cater to a younger and broader audience in order to regain its former popularity and for it to perpetuate. His unstinting efforts in promoting Kunqu have touched many like-minded experts and scholars, who have joined his army of “Kunqu volunteers” and devoted their time, expertise and financial resources to this mission. Today, PPYL has become an important milestone in the historical development of Kunqu and its phenomenal success has changed the future course of Kunqu.

After countless rehearsals and revisions and 100 stage performances, PPYL has reached its prime maturity on stage. Mr. Pai therefore decided that the entire stage performance be recorded as a documentary for future reference and archival purposes. In the spring of 2007, he made arrangements for the specially staged video recording of PPYL at the Hangzhou Grand Theatre. The latest high-definition video recording technology was used to record the 9-hour on-stage performance over a period of 10 working days averaging 12 hours a day. The editing work was done afterwards by none other than the award-winning film director Mr. Wang Tong himself.

The results of all the hard work can be seen in this video album which I now have the pleasure of presenting to you. I fully support this worthwhile project and have pledged to donate all profits derived from the sale of the album to a Kunqu development trust. I sincerely hope that you will enjoy this video album and that the whole world, particularly our young people, gain a greater appreciation of Kunqu which exemplifies the elegance and beauty of Chinese culture and tradition.

My heartfelt gratitude goes to Mr. Kenneth Pai and all the performers and production crew of PPYL for the making of this beautifully produced video.

Gabriel Yu
Chairman of Digital Heritage Publishing Ltd, Hong Kong
Vice Chairman, The Preparatory Committee for the Research & Development Project on Kunqu,
The University of Hong Kong