On October 14th, the 181st Luojia Reading Square on the topic “The Way of Learning Kun Opera” was held in the main hall of the Wuhan University library. Scores of students gathered there, looking forward to learning the profound knowledge unfamiliar to them.
Lecturer Zhang Shu, President of Wuhan Kun Opera Club
Speaker Zhang Shu, President of Wuhan Kun Opera Club and a postgraduate in History in Chinese University of Hong Kong, is a master of various Chinese traditional instruments. She has received dozens of awards in cultural competitions. Some of her art works are even collected by major art museums across the country.
With a famous piece from Yang Yinliu, an experienced musician of Kunqu, audiences were gradually guided into the mysterious world of Kun Opera. Zhang Shu introduced how beginners could better appreciate and learn Kun Opera with specific illustrations for Gong Che notation, different ways organs move in articulation and the rhythm features in lines. She quoted one sentence from Yang Yinliu that “Chinese characters contain the attributes of music and Chinese traditional poems are made to be sung”.
Zhang Shu, performing Kun Opera
In the end, Zhang Shu performed a classical piece of Kunqu, which received a round of applause. The enthusiastic students also invited Zhang to teach the particular singing style of Kun Opera to them. They learned carefully and one girl even bravely performed for the first time in front of other students.
After the activity, students were deeply impressed by the charm of Chinese traditional music style and learned a lot about Kunqu. Besides students from Wuhan University, the Reading Square also welcomed lovers of Kun Opera from different walks of life. One audience explained that she was not a student but was always attracted by Wuhan University’s activities relating to Chinese traditional culture. It turns out that the activity is a success for it not only broadens the horizons of students, but also arouses people’ s attention to preserving Chinese traditional culture.
Photo by Wang Zhuo
Edited by Wang wei, Hu Yue & Hu Sijia
