The Tang Xianzu Memorial Hall in Fuzhou is a comprehensive cultural venue built to commemorate Tang Xianzu, one of the world’s hundred great cultural figures and a master of Ming‑dynasty drama in China. It is also one of Jiangxi Province’s ten major memorial halls dedicated to historical luminaries.
Appreciation of a Fine Work | “Love Arises Without Knowing Its Source, Yet Deepens with Each Passing Day”: Tang Xianzu’s Dream of the Red Chamber in Jinling
Author:
Source:
Time:
2023-12-04
Love arises without one’s knowing.
Deep and unwavering
Tang Xianzu's
Dream of Jinling
Jiang Xuezi
During the Ming Dynasty, the renowned scholar‑poet Tang Xianzu, a man of deep feeling and unyielding sincerity, once came to Nanjing. Enamored of its landscapes, he cultivated a rich circle of friends and left behind numerous cultural achievements and literary works, composing a unique “Dream of Jinling” all his own.
01
Tang Xianzu Composes a Poem for Nanjing
▲Tang Xianzu
Mr. Xu Shuofang wrote in his “Critical Biography of Tang Xianzu”: “There is no place that Tang Xianzu loved more than Nanjing.”
At that time, Tang Xianzu traveled extensively through famous scenic spots and composed hundreds of poems for Nanjing. He ascended the Furong Pavilion on Xianhua Rock, penning the lines, “The lofty tombs face north, while the river’s myriad peaks lie to the west.” Following in the footsteps of Xie An and Li Bai, he wrote a poem for Xinlinpu: “Amid Lingyang Brook, wildflowers bloom; at dawn, cuckoos sing beneath the clear spring trees.” And when he came to Yuhua Terrace in the spring, he praised it thus: “If only I could know the celestial maidens’ realm, it would be as if I had encountered the lingering splendor of rain‑flower blossoms. How fitting to enter the fragrant pavilion with a smile, or emerge from the secluded path with a gentle frown.”
One year, two days after the Shangsi Festival, Tang Xianzu visited Youqi Temple in Nanjing and composed the poem “Two Days After Shangsi, a Visit to Youqi Temple”:
The hundred-day fast has just ended,
The green of early spring has already come in full.
Sleeping Buddha Cave in a robe,
The worn-out clogs reach the secluded retreat.
No doubt, in springtime, the secluded Yousi Temple, with its delicate threads of willow and lush greenery, must be breathtakingly beautiful, leaving Tang Xianzu lingering there, reluctant to depart.
▲Tianfei Palace
In the winter of the fourteenth year of the Wanli era (1586), after thoroughly touring the Tianfei Temple in Nanjing, Tang Xianzu composed a seven‑character regulated verse titled “Evening View from the Jade Emperor Pavilion at the Tianfei Temple”:
A jeweled canopy, a jeweled banner, and a jade‑adorned skirt,
Waving clouds come to pay homage to the Lord of the Celestial Palace.
Still following the ladder path, I look down upon the eastern pavilion,
Looking down with disdain as it soared past the Yifeng Gate.
Both the inner and outer cities are as fine as jade,
The lofty and lowly halls seem like a gathering of clouds.
Within this, the qi connects with the white river’s flow,
The mountains by the river are clear, with the harbor in view.
Evening glow and mountain hues veil the pine‑clad gate,
At dusk, the immortal pays homage to the sun’s radiance.
This poem vividly captures the majestic grandeur of the Tianfei Palace complex.
Meanwhile, Tang Xianzu accompanied Xie Jie, the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Rites, on a visit to the Tianfei Temple and composed “In Response to Minister Xie’s Stay at the Tianfei Temple upon His Northern Landing.” The poem includes a brief preface: “Minister Xie once served as an envoy to Ryūkyū and was moved by the divine light of the Goddess Tianfei, which brought salvation across the seas.” The opening couplet reads: “The Han envoy to the River Source seems but a weaver girl; you have received from the Goddess Tianfei a heavenly message.” At the close of that winter, Tang Xianzu lodged overnight at the temple and left behind the poem “A Wandering Monk from Wendeng Pays Homage to the Prince of Qi and Dines at the Tianfei Temple.”
02
Tang Xianzu’s Connection with Opera in Nanjing
During his time in Nanjing, Tang Xianzu not only collated two to three hundred Yuan‑dynasty zaju plays but also maintained close literary ties with the dramatists of the day. Zhang Fengyi (style name Boqi) composed the chuanqi “Hongfu Ji” around the age of twenty, and he had a younger brother, a scholar named Zhang Xianyi (style name Youyu). Tang Xianzu even penned a poem titled “Nanjing Ballad: A Farewell to Zhang Youyu, With Queries for Boqi.”
When Tang Xianzu served as a Doctor of the Imperial Academy in Nanjing, the dramatist Zang Maoxun was also teaching at the National Academy there, holding the same title of “Doctor.” In the thirteenth year of the Wanli era (1585), Zang Maoxun was impeached and removed from office for his licentious and extravagant conduct. Tang Xianzu composed a farewell poem titled “Sending Off Zang Jinshu, Exiled Back to Lakeside—On the Same Day, Tang Renqing, Demoted for Discussing Daoism, Also Departed Through the Pass (With a Message to Tu Changqing Beyond the River)”: “Changqing once erred by befriending the eastern neighbor of the Song; how could Jinshu fail to pity the young clerk of Zhou?” In this poem, Tang Xianzu openly alluded to Zang Maoxun’s scandalous reputation. Later, Qian Qianyi cited this poem in his “Brief Biographies of Poets of the Various Dynasties,” remarking: “Even today, connoisseurs of the arts still regard it as a delightful tale.”
Moreover, the parallel‑prose‑ornate‑style dramatist Mei Dingzuo of “Yu He Ji,” the author of “Shi Hou Ji” Wang Tingne, the theatrical theorist Pan Zhiheng, the creator of “Si Sheng Yuan” Xu Wei, and the author of “Cai Hao Ji” Tu Long were all both musical‑drama companions and literary friends of Tang Xianzu. Among them, Pan Zhiheng was perhaps the most ardent admirer of Tang’s plays. In the winter of the thirty-seventh year of the Wanli reign (1609), he even braved his illness on five occasions to attend performances of “The Peony Pavilion” staged by the Wu‑Yue family troupe in Nanjing.
In the “Four Dreams of Linchuan,” the first dream, “The Story of the Purple Hairpin,” was composed by Tang Xianzu in Nanjing, whereas “The Peony Pavilion” stands as his most celebrated masterpiece and a quintessential work of Romanticism in the history of Chinese opera. Indeed, even Tang Xianzu himself remarked: “Of my four dreams, only ‘The Peony Pavilion’ truly satisfies me.” In the play’s preface, he wrote: “As for Du Liniang, she may rightly be called a true lover. Love arises without knowing whence, yet it grows deep and unwavering. The living may die, and the dead may live again. But those who cannot part with death while alive, or who cannot be revived after death—such are not lovers at the height of their passion.”
Although “The Peony Pavilion” was not composed by Tang Xianzu in Nanjing, he sent the finished manuscript back to the city, where his Nanjing-based friends helped stage its premiere. Following the performance, the play became an instant sensation, catapulting “The Peony Pavilion” to the top of the Southern opera scene of the time.
03
The Development of Tang Xianzu’s “The Peony Pavilion” in Nanjing
▲ Still from The Peony Pavilion
In fact, The Peony Pavilion was originally composed by Tang Xianzu for the Yihuang opera style, yet it achieved its greatest acclaim in the Kunqu tradition. During the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, Ye Tang undertook a thorough revision of the gongche notation for The Four Dreams of Linchuan, further facilitating the widespread performance and dissemination of The Peony Pavilion. Following China’s victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1945, Mei Lanfang, who had grown a beard as a symbol of his resolve, returned to the stage, opening with his collaboration with Yu Zhenfei—The Peony Pavilion: “A Stroll in the Garden, A Startling Dream”—an event that sent shockwaves through Shanghai. According to records, Mei Lanfang performed a total of forty-seven excerpts from Kunqu operas throughout his career, with “A Stroll in the Garden, A Startling Dream” being the most frequently staged.
On May 18, 2001, Kunqu Opera was inscribed by UNESCO on the first list of “Representative Works of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” Today, there are seven Kunqu troupes nationwide: the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, the Kunqu Opera Troupe of the Jiangsu Provincial Performing Arts Group, the Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe, the Hunan Provincial Kunqu Opera Troupe, the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe of Jiangsu Province, and the Yongjia Kunqu Opera Troupe. Among them, the Kunqu Opera Troupe of the Jiangsu Provincial Performing Arts Group is located on the former site of the Jiangning Prefectural Academy at Chaotian Palace in Nanjing, and its honorary director is Zhang Jiqing, renowned as the “Queen of Kunqu Opera.” Throughout her artistic career, Zhang Jiqing’s most celebrated performances include “The Peony Pavilion: A Garden Stroll—A Dream,” “The Peony Pavilion: Seeking a Dream,” and “The Mountain of Lánkē: A Mad Dream.” For her masterful renditions of these three iconic scenes, she has earned the affectionate nickname “Zhang Sanmeng” (“Zhang of the Three Dreams”).
04
Tang Xianzu’s “The Peony Pavilion”
With the Former Residence of Gan Xi and the descendants of the Gan family
▲Ganxi Former Residence, photographed by Song Yaosheng
In modern and contemporary times, when discussing Kunqu opera in Nanjing, one cannot fail to mention the former residence of Gan Xi and his descendants. The Gan Xi Residence, also known as the Gan Family Compound, is popularly called “Ninety-Nine and a Half Rooms.” It was here that the renowned Kunqu artist Gan Gongsan was born.
From an early age, Gan Gong devoted himself to the study of poetry, calligraphy, and Go; he was particularly fond of opera and music. A renowned composer of modern times, he earned the reputation of “the King of the Dizi in Jiangnan.” He not only taught Kunqu opera at school, dedicating himself to the preservation and promotion of this art form, but also encouraged and guided his children, grandchildren, and great‑grandchildren to learn Kunqu, inviting such distinguished masters as Shi Guilin, You Caiyun (an artist from the Quanfu Troupe), and dizi player Li Jinshou to his home to instruct them in singing. His three sons—Gan Nanxuan, Gan Tao, and Gan Lüzhi—and his two daughters, Gan Changhua and Gan Wenxuan, along with his son‑in‑law Wang Jianyun, were all accomplished performers of both Beijing opera and Kunqu. For this reason, the Gan family has long been known as a “dynasty of opera.”
▲In 1981, Gan Wenxuan and Ai Xin Yuqi performed “The Peony Pavilion: A Stroll in the Garden.”
As the most iconic work of Kunqu opera, Tang Xianzu’s “The Peony Pavilion” has also long been closely linked with the descendants of the Gan family of Jinling. In 1952, when a Hungarian cultural delegation visited Nanjing, Mayor Ke Qingshi specially invited Wang Jianyun and Gan Wenxuan to perform the Kunqu piece “The Peony Pavilion: A Dream in the Garden” at the Nanjing Auditorium, engaging in artistic exchanges with the distinguished guests. In December 1954, the Nanjing Kunqu Society was officially established. Under the leadership of figures such as Gan Gongsan, Gan Nanxuan, Ai Xin Yuqi, and Wang Xiaodan, the society endured numerous challenges yet consistently upheld its time-honored traditions, which have been passed down to this day. In 1981, the Nanjing Kunqu Society hosted a classical music concert, one of whose highlights was a performance of “The Peony Pavilion: A Dream in the Garden” by Gan Wenxuan and Ai Xin Yuqi. In December 1998, the society held a commemorative event marking the 400th anniversary of the premiere of “The Peony Pavilion.” On October 11, 2013, Professor Cai Mengzhen of Taiwan Normal University traveled to Nanjing and cordially invited Wang Xiaodan, president of the Nanjing Kunqu Society, to join her in a joint performance of “The Peony Pavilion: A Dream in the Garden.”
▲In December 1998, the Nanjing Kunqu Opera Society held a commemorative performance marking the 400th anniversary of the premiere of “The Peony Pavilion.”
Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Nanjing Kunqu Opera Society. According to its president, Teacher Wang Xiaodan, the society continues, as always, to uphold and carry forward the traditions and spirit of Kunqu opera. Whether it be Kunqu symposiums, Qingqu concerts, or boat rides along the Qinhuai River at the Confucius Temple—where “the painted boat glides into the misty pavilion, heralding the rise of the tide and a solemn, crisp breeze, while spray flies high and white gulls alight near the crossing”—all these events will keep alive in Jinling the poetry and romance of Tang Xianzu’s The Peony Pavilion.
Copyright © Tang Xianzu Memorial Hall of Fuzhou City (Fuzhou Tang Xianzu Culture and Art Center) Technical Support:China Enterprise Dynamics-Nanchangvertical strokeSEO
