C
京剧《锁麟囊》讲述了善良的富家小姐薛湘灵,在出嫁时将装满珠宝的锁麟囊赠予贫寒女子赵守贞的故事。后来薛湘灵遭遇水灾落难,流落至富户卢家当保姆,发现卢家主母正是当年的贫寒女子赵守贞。赵守贞得知后待其为上宾并与其结为姐妹。
Traditional Chinese culture is always fascinating for many Westerners like myself. As China entered the Year of the Rabbit during the 2023 Spring Festival, a Chinese co-worker of mine took me to see a Beijing opera classic The Jewelry Purse.
Set in ancient China, the story of The Jewelry Purse tells of a chance meeting between a rich woman Xue Xiangling and a poor woman Zhao Shouzhen—who both happen to meet on the same wedding day. Although they do not see each other from their covered sedans, Xue hands Zhao a purse filled with priceless jewels to help stop her crying. Years later, through a series of unfortunate events, Xue is separated from her family and becomes a poor maidservant in the house of a rich official named Lu Shengchou. The wife of the official turns out to be none other than Zhao Shouzhen and the two women become reunited. Finally, Zhao helps Xue to reunite with her family and returns the jewelry purse.
By watching The Jewelry Purse, I was really able to immerse myself in a major aspect of traditional Chinese and Beijing culture. In the performance, I could see the fine dresses dating back hundreds of years and the traditional instruments used in the orchestra, like the erhu and pipa. All of these elements made me feel attracted by this unique culture.
Like many Western operas, Beijing opera not only shows off beautiful voices, but also excellent performance skills. For example, Beijing opera performers have to sustain such long notes while also projecting their voices to the large opera hall and keeping pace with the orchestra—all the while making delicate movements and gestures with their hands and sleeves.
For anyone who wants to get a rich taste of traditional Chinese culture, I can't think of a better way than to spend a night at the opera house.
WORD BOX ＞＞
| sedan | [sɪ'dæn] | n. 轿子 | unfortunate | [ʌn'fɔːtʃənət] | adj. 不幸的 |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| maidservant | ['meɪdsɜːvənt] | n. 女仆 | reunite | [riːju'naɪt] | vt. 重聚 |
| immerse | [ɪ'mɜːs] | vt. 沉浸在 | project | [prə'dʒekt] | vt. 发送,抛射 |
| delicate | ['delɪkət] | adj. 精致的 | | | |
COMPREHENSION CHECK UP ＞＞
Choose the best answer according to the passage.
(
A
) 1. What is the story of The Jewelry Purse mainly about?
A. A favour returned.
B. A lasting friendship.
C. An exchange of lives.
D. A poor woman's struggle.
(
C
) 2. What did the author think of the performance?
A. It still had room for improvement.
B. It was difficult for him to understand.
C. It deepened his interest in Chinese culture.
D. It inspired him to learn more about Beijing opera.
(
C
) 3. What do Western operas and Beijing opera have in common according to the author?
A. A vivid description of social reality.
B. An emphasis on elaborate costumes.
C. A mix of beautiful voices and performance skills.
D. A brilliant use of traditional instruments.
