In Kunqu: A Classical Opera of Twenty-First-Century China, Joseph S. C. Lam introduces kunqu to an English readership “as both a performance and a discourse of Chinese lives and dreams” (p. xiii). Lam claims to present kunqu in a unique way: “holistically” (p. 1). He organizes his 209-page text into ten chapters, constructing kunqu from temporal, spatial, personal, performative, musical, cultural and intercultural perspectives. After stating his goal for a holistic presentation (chapter one) and introducing current kunqu institutions, practitioners, vocabulary and theories (chapter two), Lam investigates the aesthetic, historical and cultural roots in the lasting appeal of kunqu, which he describes as being both “heavenly” and “earthly” (chapters three and four); reviews the individuals that kunqu has been created by, for, and of, as characters inside the plays and people in real life (chapter five); examines kunqu from the perspective of what he refers to as “yuescape” (that is, the dynamics between kunqu music/performance [yue] and various agents within the sites of performance) (chapter six); and analyses the continuous development of kunqu in performance, music and culture (chapters seven, eight and nine). The monograph ends with “Kunqu at a crossroads” (chapter ten).
Lam is keenly aware of the challenges in presenting such a “multifaceted and multivalent” subject of kunqu (p. 9). Kunqu is a centuries-old, multidimensional, living tradition of China. As one of the oldest extant xiqu (Chinese theatre) forms, kunqu synthesizes literature, music and performance, each of which has developed into a subject of study and appreciation in its own right. The 2001 UNESCO designation of kunqu as an Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) has led to changes in its production, self-projection and reception by globalized audiences. Lam is of the opinion that prior kunqu publications had limitations: those works were either structured in a “single, linear” pattern along the course of kunqu development or approached from a disciplinary perspective (p. 9). Lam chooses to follow neither of these well-travelled paths. Nor does he focus on a certain composition by integrating a number of disciplinary studies together. Lam sets out to present kunqu to a wider group of readers in his own way, and he certainly achieves his goal.
Lam's holistic construction of kunqu is informed by his specific strengths – his background in Chinese language and culture, international scholarly training, intercultural academic achievements, and experiences of studying, researching, teaching and producing kunqu. He provides the reader with insiders’ accounts from the point of view of Chinese kunqu practitioners while maintaining his observation through an international and intercultural lens. Lam constructs a narrative of kunqu in the 21st century with methods and theories from across the study of humanities – inter-disciplinarily and multi-disciplinarily. He presents a comparative study methodology, closely connecting the separate aspects through comparison and contrast – past vs. present China; kunqu vs. other xiqu forms; Chinese kunqu vs. “non-Chinese” ICH masterpieces; and kunqu productions at home vs. abroad with Chinese vs. international audiences as well as different interpretations of the same kunqu play/piece in different times by different artists. The comparisons and contrasts are reinforced with detailed case studies, in some cases aria by aria (see specifically “The ‘Zither Seduction’,” pp. 134–144), from production to production (see pp. 167–169). Finally, Lam's Kunqu offers a comprehensive, complete, up-to-date (2022) collection of research data on kunqu and current kunqu scholarship in multiple formats in the book's text and appendices (especially works published after 2001).
Like any other work of cross-cultural scholarship, Lam's book invites further discussion, reconsideration and, at certain points, correction. Take, for example, Lam's proposition of a qingchun dianya (literally, “youthful” [and] “refined”) paradigm for kunqu performance in discussing China and Chinese people (see p. 209). Lam argues that “qingchun dianya fugui (literally, ‘wealthy [and] noble’) kunqu characters are emblematic” of Chinese men and women that are “beautiful, young and productive and are making China a twenty-first-century superpower” (p. 22). Kunqu does embrace “youthful and refined” characteristics; yet there needs to be more substantiation for the legitimacy of qingchun dianya as the paradigm for kunqu performance and discourse. Another instance is Lam's discussion of “flowery women (huadan)” in his summary of kunqu female role (dan) subcategories (p. 37). Generally, the primary kunqu dan subcategory for unmarried elegant young ladies and newly wedded female royalty is guimendan (literally, “boudoir” dan). Guimendan encompasses all leading female characters discussed in this monograph – Du Liniang (The Peony Pavilion), Li Xiangjun (The Peach Blossom Fan), Chen Miaochang (The Jade Hairpin), and the imperial concubine Yang Yuhuan (The Palace of Eternal Youth). Elsewhere, Lam's translation of the qupai (“tune pattern”) “Lanhuamei” as “lazy bird” (p. 141) is misleading: it has nothing to do with huamei, a type of singing thrush, but rather derives its title from earlier classical Chinese poems, in which a lonely beautiful young lady had no intention (lan, “lazy”) to paint (hua) her eyebrows (mei) in the absence of her sweetheart.
Unfortunately, this monograph is marred by frequent typographical errors – Immaneul (correctly, Immanuel) Hsu, Vera Schwarz (Schwarcz), Li Xiangju (Xiangjun), In Heritance (Inheritance), 朱賣(買)臣 and Shocking New (News), to name a few (pp. 59n5, 59n6, 125, 214, 250, 274). Though minor, they impair the book's credibility as an authoritative scholarly work.
Quibbles aside, Kunqu: A Classical Opera of Twenty-First-Century China by Joseph S. C. Lam is an enthusiastic endeavour to introduce kunqu – as a theatre art, a music tradition and a continuing memory of Chinese culture – to readers interested in these aspects. I greatly look forward to future works by Lam and other scholars to expand and explore the research along the path that this book has already marked.
