Kunqu Opera "The Jade Hairpin" (Yu Zan Ji)

The legendary play "The Jade Hairpin" by Ming Dynasty playwright Gao Lian follows the love story between Pan Bizheng, a scholar who failed the imperial exams, and Chen Miaochang, a young lady from a fallen noble family residing in a Taoist nunnery. It depicts their moving journey from mutual appreciation to understanding, love, and finally, mutual trust and commitment. "The Jade Hairpin" challenges secular social codes with sincere lyrics and delicate emotions, making it especially moving when performed as Kunqu Opera. Since the 1985 performance by Yue Meiti and Hua Wenyi of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, the shortened version of "The Jade Hairpin" has become a widely beloved classic.

This performance is co-hosted by the Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences and the Art Center of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU). Director Yang Cheng-da of the NCKU Humanities Center has specially invited outstanding local Kunqu practitioners to perform together. The performance also integrates with the Performing Arts and Chinese Opera courses taught by Associate Professor Ma Wei-chien of the NCKU Graduate Institute of Arts and Master's Program in Drama. It features a planned micro-opening show that incorporates traditional Song Jiang Battle Array elements. Through the intersection of opera singing and movement with martial arts formations, it practices the fusion of teaching, research, and performance, leading the audience to understand the humanistic and artistic spirit of Kunqu from multiple perspectives, deepening the contemporary understanding and inheritance of classic culture.