Bulletin No. 1, 2013

50th Anniversary Distinguished Lectures 49  ‘ Kunqu Volunteer’ on New Aesthetics of a Classical Art Prof. Pai Hsien -yung Kenneth , Wei Lun Professor of Humanities, CUHK, was invited to present a lecture on ‘New Aesthetics of Kunqu : Tradition in the Modern Era’ on 18 April. Drawing from his experience in kunqu production, he demonstrated how to make breakthroughs with due respect for tradition, a n d h o w t o m o d e r n i z e a classical Chinese operatic art form without abusing it. Nicknamed ‘ Kunqu Volunteer’, P r o f e s s o r P a i h a s d e v o t e d himself to the promotion of the ar t during the pas t two decades since his retirement. H e i s t h e p r o du c e r o f t wo mo d e r n e d i t i o n s o f Ku n q u opera, The Peony Pavilion in 20 0 4 and T he St o r y o f t he Photo by Hsu Pei-hung J ade Ha ir p in in 20 09. He ha s p re s ented universit y lectures on kunqu for no fewer than a hundred times, and shared his love fo r t he cent u r i e s - o l d a r t w i t h t he s ame passion every time he faced a new audience, inspiring all with the beauty of this UNESCO- crowned heritage. At the lecture, Professor Pai showed excerpts f r om ‘ I n t e r r up t e d D r e am’ i n T he P e ony Pavilion , one played by maestri Mei Lanfang and Yu Zhenfei in the 1950s, and the other, the modern ‘young lovers’ edition’ starring Shen Fengy i ng and Yu J i u l i n . He t hen guided the audience to appreciate how the modern rendition succeeded in bringing the traditional opera to new heights by reforming the set, costumes, props and choreography. T he p r o fe s s o r a l s o c i t ed h i s p r oduc t i on o f T h e St o r y o f t h e J a d e Ha i r p i n a s an example of simplicit y in stage aesthetics. B y b o r r ow i n g m i n i ma l l y f r om Ch i n e s e calligraphy (below), and putting Bodhisattva a n d B u d d h a i c o n s o n t h e b a c kd r o p , a s ens e o f zen i s c r ea ted wh i ch enhance s the drama.