A locust tree

Hiding a kingdom

Today, the Dream-Chasing Group arrived beneath an ancient locust tree.

Du Mengmeng looked up for a long while,

I didn’t notice anything special either.

Lin Xiaochuan, however, crouched down and pushed aside the fallen leaves beside the tree roots:

“Don’t just look up—this time, the dream is right beneath the tree.”

The top scholar, Huang, immediately leaned in,

I kept staring at a line of ants carrying things.

The husband smiled:

“Don’t underestimate this anthill. There was once a man who served as an official there, started a family, and lived a life of great splendor for most of his days.”

Lin Xiaochuan opened the “Fuzhou Treasures Catalogue”—

Today’s “guest in my dreams,”

It is precisely Tang Xianzu’s… “The Record of the Southern Bough.”

One

Drunk in Huai’an

My name is “The Southern Dream.”

My protagonist, Chunyu Fen, is a heavy drinker and headstrong, and his career has likewise been far from successful.

One day, he passed out drunk beneath the locust tree in his yard,

In a daze, two messengers came to greet him and led him to a place he had never seen before—

Huai’an Kingdom.

Here there are city walls, palaces, and also sovereigns, ministers, and common people.

Just moments before, Chunyu Fen had been drunk and sprawled beneath a tree; now he had become a distinguished guest of the Kingdom of Huai’an.

He still doesn’t know,

This locust tree will hold a chapter of my life to come.

Two

The Governor of Nanke

Upon entering the Kingdom of Huai’an, Chunyu Fen’s life took an abrupt turn.

He married a princess and was then appointed as… The Governor of Nanke,

And so it went on for many years.

In Nanke County, he governed the region with the people’s support, and his reputation gradually grew.

The identity and position that one has not attained in reality, It’s all here.

But later, the princess passed away, the war turned to defeat, and her circumstances changed accordingly,

The former glory is gradually fading away,

In the end, Chunyu Fen was sent out of the Kingdom of Huai’an.

When I arrived, someone came to greet me,
When I left, the splendor had already faded.

And what surprised him even more came only after he awoke from his dream.

Three

Where is the kingdom?

Chunyu Fen opened his eyes,

Before my eyes stands that same locust tree.

There is no palace,
Without city walls,
Nor did he have the Southern Luo Commandery where he had lived for many years.

He followed the memories from his dream, searching beneath the locust tree.

In the end, it turned out—

Beneath the tree root, there is a massive ant colony.

The Kingdom of Huai’an in my dream unexpectedly corresponded to this underground world before my eyes.

Du Mengmeng couldn’t help but ask:

“So, such a vast kingdom—did it all end up right here?”

Lin Xiaochuan also crouched down,

Watching the ants bustling among the tree roots.

This is perhaps the most remarkable touch in “The Story of the Southern Bough.”

It did not allow the Kingdom of Huai’an to vanish completely with the awakening from the dream,
Instead, it has been given a real-world counterpart.

A world in dreams large enough to hold an entire lifetime,
Upon waking, I was gathered beneath a locust tree.

Four

Big and Small

Why did Tang Xianzu turn an entire kingdom,

Finally ending up in an ant nest?

The interesting part,

It lies precisely in the contrast between “big” and “small” in this set.

While in the Kingdom of Huai’an,
The official post is real, and life is real,

Joy and sorrow are real, too.

For Chunyu Fen at that time,
That is his entire world.

But when he returned beneath the locust tree, everything suddenly seemed to have shifted in scale.

The grand city walls recede into the roots of the trees,
A distinguished status lingers in my dreams,
Things that once filled my life,

It has also taken on another form.

Tang Xianzu did not rush to tell us what constitutes success,

He simply took a world that once mattered immensely to someone and suddenly shrunk it, placing it right before their eyes:

When we step back and look at it from a different perspective,
Will what seems like the biggest problem today still feel that big tomorrow?

Awakening Beneath the Tree

The wind blows through the locust trees.

A few ants are still scurrying back and forth among the tree roots.

The top scholar, Huang, lay prone beside him and watched for a long while,

Just as I was about to reach out with my paw,

She was gently carried back by Lin Xiaochuan.

Du Mengmeng looked up at the tree:

“If he had never awakened, Chunyu Fen would probably have truly believed that the Kingdom of Huai’an was the entire world.”

Lin Xiaochuan closed the “Fuzhou Baby Directory.”

When a person is in it,
Everything before my eyes is enough to fill my entire mind.

You can step back a bit and take another look,

A kingdom can be hidden within the roots of a tree;
A lifetime, too, can fit inside a single dream.

This is the lingering aftertaste that “The Story of the Southern Bough” leaves for those who come after.

The world has not grown smaller,
What changes is the scale at which we view it.

Visiting Tips

1. To learn more about “The Story of the Southern Bough,” you can visit Tang Xianzu Memorial Hall , beginning with Tang Xianzu’s life and the “Four Dreams of Linchuan,” we will explore the creative context of this work.

2. If you’d like to experience the theatrical culture of Tang Xianzu, you can head to… Wenchangli Historical and Cultural District Take a stroll. This is the birthplace, formative home, literary creative hub, and final resting place of Tang Xianzu, as well as an important venue for showcasing Tang Xianzu’s cultural legacy in present-day Fuzhou.

3. If you’d like to see stage productions related to “The Southern Dream,” please follow the official announcements released by Fuzhou. Drama Performances and the Tang Xianzu International Drama Exchange Event For information, the specific program titles and schedules are subject to the current program guide.