| dc.description.abstract | “Story of the Jade Hairpin” was written by Gao Lian in Ming Dynasty. However, since there was no record of Gao Lian in the official history record, we could only study about his life from his father’’s epitaph. Gao Lian’s works included “Story of the Jade Hairpin,””Jie Xiao Ji,” “Fang Zhi Qi Ci,” and “Zun Sheng Ba Jian,” and more. Most of the scholars in the past believed that the “Story of the Jade Hairpin” originated from “Gu Jin Nui Shi”, but when examined more closely, “Story of the Jade Hairpin” actually resembled more to the work of “Nui Zheng Nunnery”. Since “Story of the Jade Hairpin” was widely spread, there were many versions available during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Today, the most popular version is the one from Nanjing during Wanli era in Ming dynasty.
This particular version of the play vividly portrayed the love story between the young scholar, Pan Bi-Zheng, and the young nun, Chen Miao-Chang. It was a story intertwined with conflicts of human love, social morality, and scholar honor.
Over the past 400 years, fragments of this play such as “Tea Party”, “Flirting with Strings” ,“Visiting the Patient”, “Stealing the Poem”, “Aunt’s Block”, “Break an Appointment”, “Urging to Exam”, and “Autumn River” have been performed extensively . Moreover, with the addition of new elements from different time periods, the “Story of the Jade Hairpin” has evolved even until the present days. For example, based on the presentation and new arrangements from the famous Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe since 1985, “Story of the Jade Hairpin” now contains sophisticated tunes, delicate dialogues, and elegant movements appropriate to the cultures nowadays. All in all, the “Story of the Jade Hairpin” has been one of the most popular and defining plays in the history Kunqu opera.
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