Cultural values and themes in Beijing Opera Kuo, Spring, 2013

Cultural values and themes in Peking Opera During the time when Beijing opera was the most popular entertainment in China, it was also considered as an important instrument of socialization. Traditional cultural values, such as, loyalty (忠)、filial piety(孝) 、chastity/integrity (節) 、chivalry(義) are likely to be carried in the plot and themes so as to fulfill the goal of social education. In addition to the fact that moral lessens are taught through the dramatic plot, the relationships and interaction patterns also manifestation of cultural values.

Primary sources of story and plot in Chinese Opera Many Peking opera derive its plot from the four well-known Chinese classic novels: 1) The Journey to the West (西遊記)—”Monkey king” 2) The Romance of the Three Kingdom (三國演義)—”Borrow the east wind”(借東風) 3) The 108 Bandits in the Swamp (水滸傳) 4) The Romance of Red Chamber (紅樓夢) There are other plays have their original roots from folk legends, such as, The legends of Shei and Tang Dynasty (隋唐演義)、Marvel Tales (古今奇觀) etc.

Core Values in Chinese Opera Loyalty(忠)、filial piety(孝)、integrity(節)、chivalry(義) are the four primary moral themes appear in Peking opera most frequently. 1) loyalty—to the king, a nation, or master. 托兆碰碑(楊家將的故事)，九更天(義僕救主)， 2) filial piety– to parents. 目連救母，青風亭(天雷打死不孝子)，四郎探母

Core Values in Chinese Opera 3)integrity— upright males stick to principles, chaste females stick to marital vow. 武家坡(王寶釧苦守寒窯18年)， 烏龍院 (unfaithful woman is bound to have tragic ending)，大劈棺 (Chopping the coffin)。 Show video: 1.Chopping the coffin 2. Mr. Goodman Dumps his wife. 4) chivalry(義)---following the social norms and sacrifice own welfare for others. The Orphan of Zhao (趙氏孤兒), 秦香蓮

Mr. Goodman Dumps his wife Plot: Mr. Goodman’s wife returned home from a visit to her mother. On her way back, she was caught in the downpour rain and had to take shelter in a pavilion. Meanwhile, a young scholar also came stayed in the same pavilion for shelter. The two stayed decent without even talking to each other through the whole night. They left for each one’s destination next morning when the rain stopped. Mr. Goodman learned about his wife staying in the same pavilion with another man alone for one night. He became suspicious and sent her back to her parents home with a divorce letter. Later when he realized that his wife and the young scholar did not do anything wrong to bring disgrace to him, he went to apologize to his wife and begged her to come back.

Mr. Goodman Dumps his wife The traditional version: The wife was happy and reunited with the husband when the husband came to apologize and win her back. The contemporary version: Peeping into the wife’s inner heart to reveal her thoughts from a different angel. The wife indeed felt good when she knew that a young man was peeping at her and appreciating her beauty, Her inner self enjoyed the vanity of being watched closely be another man, but her behavior stayed decent and pretended un-responsive.

Discussion and Reflections Compare the cultural values in Beijing opera and that in Western opera.