The Burden of the Golden Cangue

Upon Kate Hsu's invitation, I saw a modern Peking opera "The Golden Cangue" with a dozen of toastmasters at the Metropolitan Hall Saturday evening, the 3rd of May.

It was the third time the National Guoguang Opera Company adapted Eileen Chang's classic novella "Jinsuo Ji", one of the most important fictions of Chang's about everyday life in early 20th century China. "The Golden Cangue" is a story of Cao Chi-chiao, a woman of a poor family, married an ill man of a rich extended family. She grew mad after years of suffering, but eventually obtained wealth and independence after the death of her husband. She then sought redemption from everyone near her, even from her own children.

Eileen Chang has become a household name in Taiwan since "Lust and Caution" was adapted on the big screen by Ang Lee last year. Eileen's stories of women in loveless marriages caught tears from the readers. Her books have been reprinted copies after copies recently. The older I get, the more I admire Eileen for her talents in writing. And I salute her for documenting the tragic ironies of human experience in early 20th century in China. Eileen published "Jinsuo Ji" in Chinese in 1943 when she was 23 years old. She translated it into "The Golden Cangue" in English by herself in the 50's.

The opera virtuoso Wei Hai-min, the leading female performer of the Golden Cangue, won a full house of applause at the end of the show. She portrayed Cao Chi-chiao from youth till old age with superb singing and graceful body movements. Her eyes talked, her hands talked, her feet talked, her body talked. Her interpretation of a wicked woman was second to none.

For an avant-garde Chinese opera, the costumes design, the stage design, and the lighting effect were very impressive, especially the play mahjong and smoke opium scenes transcended the audience to the old and decadent Chinese society successfully. The music was arranged to reflect the mental states of protagonists. A cello was incorporated wisely to create a gloomy state, in addition to the traditional Chinese music instruments.

After the show, most toastmasters stayed for the second party at a tea shop in the neighborhood. Everyone felt grateful that Kate introduced to us a great modern Chinese opera. Most female toastmasters felt fortunate not being born in ancient China. We shared our thoughts about how to free ourselves from the invisible golden cangue which keeps us from being happy and independent. The one and a half hours tabletopics session was extremely soothing after seeing a heartbreaking destiny of a poor woman in a golden cangue in an old Chinese society.