Say Goodbye to the Year of Jiawu!

I saw the Legend of the White Snake in Peking Opera with Toastmaster Kate Hsu and Gina Fu at GuoGuang Theater Saturday afternoon, February 7th. Being the final show of the year, it attracted a full house, including those on portable seats. I knew I was going to see my last and best Peking Opera in the year of the horse!

Kate and I met for lunch at 12 noon. We found a small cafe' in the neighborhood. Kate picked up a corner with two highback chairs for two facing each other by the window. Both of us ordered Korean Bibimbap and coffee latte'. Kate had a blue cup with "Pourvous", mine is pink with "Friendly". I was curious about the word on the red cup of our next neighbor. It was faithful.

I can't thank Kate enough for inviting me to see the Legand of the White Snake featuring four groups of protagonists (white snake, green snake, and Xu Xian). The final show of the year was very entertaining, sining, acting, martial arts, costumes. Sitting at the second row, I could feel the heartbeats of the performers on stage. No wonder Kate loves to see Peking Opera Live.

During the intermission, I ran into an old colleague from the Department of Health. It has been more than two decades since I last saw him. We chatted at the front gate enjoying colorful camillia blossom at both sides, red, white, pink and white. When I returned to my seat, I was happy to see the huge tapestry of 10 camillia flowers as the main backgroud on stage.

During the show, I observed carefully the blocking of the actors and actresses, the body movements, the layout of simple furnitures, the props, and the costumes. I was counting how many times Xu Xian would be unfaithful to Lady White Snake. I was hoping for three, but I only saw two, when Xu Xian asked Lady White Snake to drink realgar wine and when Xu Xian sought for a shelter at Jinshan Temple.

It was a long and rewarding show, the first half for 75 minutes, intermission for 15 minutes, and the second half for 105 minutes. After the show, I hang around to take photos of young opera singers. I admire their hardwork to excel on stage to give the audience their best. I thank all the performers on stage to give the audience a wonderful afternoon, and interprete a beautiful story of love in Chinese literature. It is about time I added a few more Peking Opera libretto other than just "Arrest Susan 蘇三起解" in my pocket.

The Legend of the White Snake is one of China's Four Great Folktales, along with Lady Meng Jiang, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid.

At the Broken Bridge (斷橋) near the West Lake in Hangzhou, Xu Xian (許仙) met Lady White Snake and servant Green Snake in the rain. Xu Xian lent his umbrella to two ladies and their fates became intertwined. Xu Xian and Lady White Snake fell in love and got married. They moved to Zhenjiang, where they opened a medicine shop. Lady White Snake got preganant!

The Buddhist monk Fahai (法海) tried to break up Xu Xian and Lady White Snake. He told Xu Xian to give realgar wine to Lady White Snake on Dragon Boat Festival. Lady White Snake revealed her true form as a large white snake. Xu Xian almost died of shock after seeing that his snake wife. Lady White Snake went to Mount Emei to steal a magical herb to save Xu Xian.

After coming back to life, Xu Xian kept his vow for Lady White Snake despite of knowing her true identity. Fahai tried to separate them by convincing Xu Xian to seek for a shelter at Jinshan Temple (金山寺). White and Green snakes fought with Fahai to rescue Xu Xian. Being preganant with with Xu Xian's child, Lady White Snake failed to save Xu Xian. Xu Xian later managed to escape from Jinshan Temple and reunited with his wife in Hangzhou, where Bai Suzhen gives birth to their son. Fahai tracked them down at the broken bridge, defeated Lady White Snake and imprisoned her in Leifeng Pagoda.

The Legend of the White Snake is a story of good and evil. The Buddhist monk Fahai set out to save Xu Xian's soul from the white snake spirit, an evil demon. The Legend of the White Snake is also a story of love. Lady White Snake and Xu Xian were genuinely in love with each other even though their relationship is forbidden by the laws of nature. Love conquers All!

PS: I saw the movie "The Sorcerer and the White Snake", a 2011 film directed by Ching Siu-tung and starring Jet Li Tuesday afternoon, February 10th. It was another interpretation of the Legend of the White Snake in 3-D. The friendship between the Green Snake and the batman, the disciple of Fahai was absurb, but entertaining!