Kunqu

Abstract

This chapter discusses the ways contemporary kunqu practitioners pragmatically inherit and develop kunqu as an earthly heritage, selectively tell the genre’s history, and creatively stage its shows for targeted audience. Contemporary kunqu developments reflect and are shaped by the nation’s historical memories and present needs. The kunqu history that Chinese scholars tell is not merely a narrative about the genre’s ebb and flow in the past, but also a reminder that kunqu is a resource for understanding historical Chinese lives and dreams as guides for the future. It is no accident that contemporary China creatively stages kunqu for aesthetic and practical goals, a phenomenon that this chapter examines and illustrates with analyses of several contrasting productions of the “Strolling; Dreaming” (“Youyuan jingmeng”) scene from Tang Xianzu’s (1550-1616) Peony Pavilion .