2006 Princess Changping

Also known as "The Floral Princess" or "The Flower Princess"

(Pinyin: di nu hua)
帝女花
Dai Nui Fa
Script by Tong Tik Sang
Artistic Director: Pak Suet Sin

Starring:
LUNG KIM SANG
龍劍笙 as . . . . . . . .
Princess Changping’s prince consort, scholar Chou Shil Hsien
周世顯
MUI SUET SEE
梅雪詩 as . . . . . . . .
Princess Changping
長平公主 Changping gung zyu
YIU SING PO
尤聲普 as . . . . . . . .
Government official of the Ming dynasty, Minister Chou Chung
周鐘
YAM BING YI
任冰兒 as . . . . . . . .
Chou Chung’s daughter, Chou Seoi Laan
周瑞蘭
YUEN SIU FAI
阮兆輝 as . . . . . . . .
The last emperor of the Ming dynasty,
崇禎帝 Sung Jing Dai
LIU KWOK SUM
廖國森 as . . . . . . . .
The Qing emperor,
清帝 Ching Dai
PANG CHI KEUN
彭熾權 as . . . . . . . .
Chou Chung’s son, the Ming's military commander Chou Bou Lun
周寶倫

With supporting performance from the ensemble of Chor Fung Ming Opera Troupe
雛鳳鳴劇團
* Performed in Cantonese with traditional Chinese subtitles

On the occasion to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of establishing Sin Fung Ming Opera Troupe (1956-2006) , a complete full-length Cantonese opera “Princess Changping” graced the stage for a series of sold-out returning to stage performance and delighted the audience with the storytelling of a classic star-crossed Chinese love story setting during the historical end of Ming dynasty (明朝, 1368-1644 AD).

*~*~*

DISCLAIMER: Below scenes recap was written to the best of my Cantonese Chinese comprehension ability based on the live recording performance that I have seen on DVDs and the accompanied script book that I have read. The poor translation/description is mostly due to my Cantonese listening skill, which is a bit choppy at time and that my Chinese reading proficiency is not even worth mentioning (70% loss, 30% gain). Thus, feel free to comment on any corrections and/or provide with suggestions for improvement to stay close to Mr. Tong Tik Sang’s original work of "Princess Changping".

Prologue

Scene 1. 第一場 Oath Under the Twins Tree [帝女花之樹盟] syu mang
Princess Changping meets her future husband, prince consort Chou Shil Hsien, for the first time outside of Yuet Wah Palace.

She seems pleased after their exchanges in getting to know each other; especially recognizing Shil Hsien’s eloquently displaying of his sincerity and mutual respect.


Scene 2. 第二場 Princess' Suffering [帝女花之香劫] hoeng gip
The Ming emperor and empresses are happy to learn of their eldest daughter, Princess Changping, taking favor of Chou Shil Hsien.

Though the Emperor would rather have a military man as his future son-in-law than a scholar given the current situation of the Ming dynasty - facing rebellion from the eunuchs and the rise of the Manchu at the time, he comes to accept Shil Hsien as Princess Changping’s prince consort.

The not yet started celebration was quickly shortened as the news of the rebellion is closing in at the Imperial gate.

Realizing that the Ming dynasty had come to the tragic end, the Emperor ordered death to the empresses and princesses to protect the female members of the royal family from being harmed by the enemies.

After the two empresses received the red scarves from the Emperor, Princess Changping was called in front of the Imperial Court to learn of the Emperor’s order.

Having loved and cherished Princess Changping for fifteen years of her life, the Emperor couldn’t come to tell her of his decision; thus, leaving it to Chou Shil Hsien. However, being the princess’ newly crowned prince consort together with his deep love for her, Shil Hsien’s couldn’t come to tell Princess Changping of the Emperor’s order either. Finally, government official, Minister Chou Chung had to tell the princess himself that she is to say her goodbye to the prince consort and then to receive the death order from the Emperor.

In the mist of chaos, Princess Changping and Chou Shil Hsien got separated.

Determined, the Emperor 'injured' Princess Changping with his sword. Believing that she had died, the Emperor went on his way to kill himself to show loyalty to his subjects.

Among the dead bodies on the Imperial ground, Minister Chou Chung found Princess Changping's. She, who had not died, is still breathing and alive, just being unconscious from the sword injury. The Minister then brought the princess back to his residence.


Scene 3. 第三場 Begging for Princess' Corpse [帝女花之乞屍] hat si
While recuperating from injury at the Minister Chou Chung’s residence, Princess Changping befriended with the Minister’s daughter, Chou Seoi Laan. They quickly became close, like sisters.

One day, Princess Changping and Seoi Laan overheard Seoi Laan’s elder brother, Chou Bou Lun, suggested with the Minister to hand the princess over to the now ruling Qing emperor in exchange for wealth and the father’s and son’s government official ranks.

Upon hearing, Princess Changping would rather die than being handed over to the 'enemy' Qing who had caused such a tragic end to her family as well as the Ming. However, the good-heart Seoi Laan advised the princess otherwise. She arranged for the princess to go into hiding at Seoi Lan’s late mother's residence, the Purple Mansion.

In with the plan, the princess wrote a handwritten suicide note letting Seoi Laan's father and brother into believing that she had killed herself by disfiguring her face and drowning.

In the mean time, Chou Shil Hsien might have heard that it was the Minister who had retrieved the princess’ dead body from the Imperial ground. And after much searching, he finally found his way to the Minister’s residence, begging to see the princess' grave in order to burn her joss sticks and pray for her spirit.

Shil Hsien soon found out Princess Changping had not died on that chaos day. Yet, she just recently died from suicide by drowning. Saddened by the disheartening news, Shil Hsien wishes to die following the princess himself.

Quick thinking, Seoi Laan reminded Shil Hsien that fate will definitely bring them together even at dead. Else, if there is no fate, they’ll never bind to meet. It’s her hint to Shil Hsien to stay alive since she knew too well that the princess is at a safe place.


Scene 4. 第四場 Reunion at the Nunnery [帝女花之庵遇] am jyu
Approximately one year later, Princess Changping is now taking on a life of a nun at the nearby temple, 10 miles away from the Purple Mansion.

She lives, but still grieving for her parents who had died without a proper burial and that her younger brother, the prince, was held imprisoned by the Qing. It was not to mention the loving for her prince consort, Chou Shil Hsien.

Coincidentally, Shil Hsien happened to pass by the temple one day and saw the back of a nun who looks pretty much like Princess Changping. Remembering what Seoi Laan had to tell him, he was determined to ask the nun for a meeting.

Princess Changping recognized her beloved prince consort upon meeting Chou Shil Hsien face-to-face, but she couldn’t come to reveal her identity and to acknowledge him, afraid in bringing both Shil Hsien and herself more trouble and heartache. Thus, she denied him.

Persisted, Shil Hsien kept on pressing and testing the princess. He finally had to threat killing himself rather than begging for love. Only then, the princess slipped up on her identity and came to acknowledge him.

Their reunion was short because soon thereafter the Minister and his servants were already at the temple ground as one of the servants spotted Princess Changping, the nun, earlier and reported it back to Chou Chung.

Princess Changping and Chou Shil Hsien had to part once again. Yet, they agreed to meet each other at the Purple Mansion.

Minister Chou Chung tried to persuade Shil Hsien into discussing the matter over with the princess, asking her to return to the Imperial Court, so that Princess Changping and Shil Hsien can both marry each other and live happily in marriage.

Upon that thought, Shil Hsien came up with a plan and pretended to go along with the Minister's suggestion.


Scene 5. 第五場 Welcome Princess [帝女花之迎鳳] jing fung
Arrived at the Purple Mansion with Minister Chou Chung and the imperial maidservants, who brought along the princess crown and gown, Chou Shih Hsien was there to meet Princess Changping and to welcome the princess' return to the Imperial Court.

Disappointed at the way Shih Hsien was acting, Princess Changping came to believe that she had misjudged Shih Hsien for a good man since he made known of his disloyalty to the fallen Ming by disclosing his ambitious desire to submit to the empowered Qing, just as the ruling government had now changed 'hand'.

Little the princess knows at the time is that Shih Hsien was only tried to act in making Chou Chung and those following him from doubting Shih Hsien's submissive devotion to the Qing emperor. For that reason, Shih Hsien couldn’t let Princess Changping in the know.

Not until the Minister and others leaving the couple alone to talk it over, Shih Hsien had the opportunity to explain to the princess; thus, cleared up on the misunderstanding.

Princess Changping and Chou Shih Hsien were aware of the Qing emperor’s true intention. The Emperor didn’t just genuinely asking them to return to the Imperial Court in with the plan to hold their wedding at the Imperial Palace. Rather, he did so to appease the Ming loyals in order to justify his ruling and as a way to suppress thoughts of rebellion.

Understood the situation, Princess Changping and Shih Hsien agreed to go along with what the Qing emperor had planned, but not without conditions.

To fulfill the filial duty to her parents, Princess Changping wrote petitions asking the Qing emperor to order a proper burial for the late Ming emperor and empresses and to immediately release her younger brother prince from prison. Only then, she would agree to return to the Imperial Court.

Meanwhile, Princess Changping and her prince consort, Chou Shih Hsien, secretly planned to drink poisoned wine to each other on their wedding night so they can die a fragrant dead to remain loyal to the Ming.


Scene 6. 第六場 Negotiating with the Qing emperor [帝女花之上表] soeng biu
Shih Hsien presented Princess Changping’s written requests to the Qing emperor.

To the Emperor’s surprise, he then knew Princess Changping had seen through his plan. The Qing emperor had no choice, but to agree to the princess’ conditions in order to get at his way.

Once the Qing emperor gave out his orders in accord to what had been requested, Princess Changping asked the Emperor to also allow her and Shil Hsien holding their wedding outside of Yuet Wah Palace, where they first met each other.


Scene 7. 第七場 Fragrant Sacrifice [帝女花之香夭] hoeng jiu
According to plan, Princess Changping and Chou Shih Hsien drank poisoned wine on the night of their wedding.

Their dead are testament to their loyalty to one’s nation, filial duty to one’s parents and love to one another.


*~*~*

Performance Impression
"Princess Changping" is the first ever truly Cantonese opera I had the chance to watch and fall completely in love with it.

It is a very well scripted opera, providing a well balanced presentation of historical events and love stories.

Led by Lung Kim Sang and Mui Suet See, the ensemble cast is amazing. Their performance is mesmerizing and captivating.

Every scene is memorable in each own special way. Due to a tight plot, there is not a scene that should be missed. Listed below selection only highlighted a few...

Mei’s Picks
  • Best song: It's a hand down to the song in the last scene, Fragrant Sacrifice 帝女花之香夭.

  • Best scene: Reunion at the Nunnery 帝女花之庵遇.

  • Best artistic performance: Negotiating with the Qing emperor 帝女花之上表.

The song in 'Fragrant Sacrifice' is a classic! Its verses are well-known by many Cantonese Opera lovers. For that reason and moreover, the emotional and powerful ending of the 'Fragrant Sacrifice' scene made it most famous performed excerpt from "Princess Changping" to date.

In a way, the 'Reunion at the Nunnery' is a very romantic scene. Both Lung Kim Sang and Mui Suet See’s charm and cuteness in their portrayal of Chou Shil Hsien and Princess Changping shined through. They basically carried and stole the scene with their lovingly dramedy performance.

With Lung as Shil Hsien presenting Princess Changping’s written petitions to the Qing emperor and Mui as Princess Changping returning to the Imperial Court, both artists’ performance are topnotch in their expressive acting and dialogue exchanging in 'Negotiating with the Qing Emperor'. Watching those artists’ artistic performance in this particular scene gave much aesthetic appreciation for the art form of Cantonese Opera.

A note on the media product and/or its technical aspects...
The limited 4-DVD set edition recording of the live performance together with the accompanying script booklet come pre-packaged by Crown Records in an elegant oversized jelwery-like box.

As with the 2005 Dream of the West Chamber, the DVDs' picture and sound quality are exceptionally great. Though there are traditional Chinese subtitles, it is still without the extra feature of English subtitles.

Also, wondering why didn't Crown Records include any of the behind-the-scenes production footages as with the 2004 Zhong Pi Ni Chang Ge Bian Che release?

Anyway, I’m very happy and satisfied with my purchase of "Princess Changping" DVD and CD set capturing the performance in its entirety.

Speaking of the CD set, it is a 4 disc audio recording of the live performance complementing the aforementioned DVD set. So, for those who like to collect and/or those who simply want to listen to "Princess Changping" Cantonese opera, you might be interested in knowing that there is such CD audio recording made available.

Where to buy
Note: This is for information only. My Abido is not responsible for the content of external websites!

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