After 17 years of training, Hsiao Yang-lin (蕭揚玲) feels like she is finally about to step into the perfect role for her, playing the lead in this weekend's production of "Mon Li-jun," a Chinese Honan opera.
"It's amazing, she exclaims. "A play that is designed for me.
Whether it was designed for her or has been tailored by her is a moot point. Clearly, Hsiao's strengths are going to be accentuated by the script, which reflects her interpretation of the character, she says.
"It is also a challenging role because I am playing a man in five of the six acts," says Hsiao.
Mon Li-jun is well known among Taiwanese opera fans, but this is the first time in 10 years that it's being performed in Mandarin as a Chinese opera.
The story of the fabled Mon Li-jun is enchanting. She was a brave and talented woman whose cunning saved her from persecution at the hands of the government, which had accused her father of being a traitor. To protect herself, Mon Li-jun dons the disguise of a man and flees her hometown, leaving behind a self-portrait for her fiance, Shao-hua.
Shao-hua is a military official who has successfully defended the country from intruders, thereby earning the praise and gratitude of the emperor, who decides to give him a woman from the royal family for his bride. But Shao-hua refuses the emperor and insists on waiting for Mon Li-jun to reappear. To settle the dispute, the premier steps in and negotiates a delay of 100 days before the wedding will occur.
Then by chance Shao-hua discovers that the premier is actually his fiance in disguise. Mon Li-jun asks him not to reveal her identity, but instead wait the 100 days so that she can win the friendship and support of the emperor's wife. After her true identity is discovered, the tension increases when the emperor decides to take Mon Li-jun as his concubine. But Mon proves clever, getting the emperor's wife and officials to speak for her. The ending is testament to her talents as a political player.
Hsiao, in playing Mon Li-jun, has reached maturity as a performer in taking on this role of such a well-known female figure in Taiwanese folklore.
Hsiao's mentor, Wang Hai-lin (王海玲), aka the Queen of Honan Opera, strongly recommends her protege for her brilliant and solid acting. Wang will be supporting Hsiao by playing the role of the emperor. For Hsiao, the role is the reward for a lifetime of hard work and tireless devotion.
"I have always wanted to act, since I was a child," said Hsiao, who was born in Kaohsiung and began attending the local experimental school of the Kuo-kuang Chinese Opera Company at the age of 11. "When I started at 11, I knew nothing about Honan opera. Now I am totally enthralled. It sets me free. I can let go of all kinds of emotions on stage that I have to hide sometimes in real life."
Honan is a province in central China. Honan opera is spoken and sung in Mandarin but with a Honan accent. It is easy for Mandarin speakers to understand the words, according to the troupe's publicist and researcher Alice Lin. This time the troupe adopted a story that is familiar to local opera fans in an effort to expand its audience base. The troupe also wanted to be innovative, so it spent four months creating, preparing and rehearsing the new version of the play.
"Honan opera is a lot more friendly than Beijing opera," Lin said. "It tailors itself to the general public. Most people go to Beijing opera, in which the performers speak and act in a very polished and elaborate style. Honan opera is considered more natural and straightforward.
The weekend show, according to Hsiao, is different from other performances based on the same story in that it focuses more on the interaction of Mon Li-jun, Shao-hua and the emperor. The performance will last for about two hours with an intermission after the first 80 minutes.
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s North District (北區), the garden features more than 700 plant species, many of which are labeled in Chinese but not in English. Since its establishment in 1999, the site’s managers have done their best to replicate a number of native ecosystems, dividing the site into eight areas. The name of the Coral Atoll Zone might
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
On Monday morning, in quick succession, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) released statements announcing “that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) have invited KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to lead a delegation on a visit to the mainland” as the KMT’s press release worded it. The KMT’s press release added “Chairwoman Cheng expressed her gratitude for the invitation and has gladly accepted it.” Beijing’s official Xinhua news release described Song Tao (宋濤), head of the Taiwan Work Office of the CCP Central Committee, as
RSS