MUZI MUZIChinese Matrix

Kunqu Opera

Six centuries of the water-mill tune

Introduction

An early opera form grown from the Kunshan tune, known for its refined 'water-mill' singing

Kunqu grew from southern drama (nanxi) that reached Kunshan in Jiangsu in the late Yuan and early Ming, where it merged with local speech and music as the Kunshan tune. In the Jiajing reign of the Ming, Wei Liangfu and others reworked it with elements of northern qu and the Haiyan and Yiyang tunes into the smooth 'water-mill' style, and Liang Chenyu brought it to the stage with The Girl Washing Silk (Huansha ji). It combines singing, recitation, acting and dance to bamboo-flute accompaniment, with finely divided role types; classic works include The Peony Pavilion and The Palace of Eternal Youth, and it shaped later forms such as Peking and Sichuan opera. Professional troupes perform it today in Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Beijing and Hunan.

Representative works

  1. The Peony PavilionTang Xianzu's chuanqi drama of 1598, kept alive on the Kunqu stage through scenes such as The Interrupted Dream
  2. The Palace of Eternal LifeHong Sheng's chuanqi of fifty scenes, drawn from the Song of Everlasting Regret and Rain on the Paulownia Tree
  3. The Peach Blossom FanKong Shangren's chuanqi in forty-four scenes, finished in 1699 after three drafts
  4. The Girl Washing SilkLiang Chenyu's chuanqi, the first to bring the refined Kun singing style onto the stage

Timeline

Late Yuan to present
1360 · OriginLate Yuan: southern drama blends with Kunshan speech and music; Gu Jian and others spread the Kunshan tune1550 · EvolutionJiajing reign: Wei Liangfu and others reform the tune into the 'water-mill' style, fixing the form1600 · ImpactAfter Liang Chenyu's Huansha ji Kunqu moves from concert singing to the stage and spreads nationwide in the Wanli reign
  1. 1360OriginLate Yuan: southern drama blends with Kunshan speech and music; Gu Jian and others spread the Kunshan tuneHistory › Gu Jian Advances Kunshan Tune
  2. 1550EvolutionJiajing reign: Wei Liangfu and others reform the tune into the 'water-mill' style, fixing the formHistory › Wei Liangfu Refines Kunshan Tune
  3. 1600ImpactAfter Liang Chenyu's Huansha ji Kunqu moves from concert singing to the stage and spreads nationwide in the Wanli reignLiterature › The Girl Washing Silk

Heritage Listings

  1. 2001UNESCO Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanityfirst proclamation
  2. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Chinafirst batch · traditional drama · Ⅳ-1
  3. 2008UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanityincorporated from the 2001 proclamation