Original Kunqu Opera Show "A Story of Wushi" to Tour 15 Cities Nationwide

Recently, an original Kunqu Opera show "A Story of Wushi" completed its pre-tour review performance at the Classical Theater of the Hunan Kunqu Opera Troupe. As a funded project for communication, exchange, and promotion of the 2026 China National Arts Fund, the production will tour 15 cities across the country, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Ningbo, Nanchang, and Nanjing, from July to August, with the first stop scheduled for early July.

Kunqu Opera was listed as one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO. As an important branch of Kunqu Opera in Hunan, Xiangkun Opera has become the province's core calling card for cultural exchanges. The Xiangkun Opera Troupe, established in 1960, is the only professional Kunqu Opera troupe in the central and southern regions of China.

The show "A Story of Wushi" is based on the true story of Liu Zhan, a virtuous chancellor of the Tang Dynasty, and his wife Li Ruoshui. It is an original anti-corruption play developed by the Xiangkun Opera Troupe in recent years. In the play, Liu Zhan, a scholar from Chenzhou, swears to the Wushi Rock alongside the Chenjiang Rive to be a good public servant. In poverty or prosperity, the couple always carry several black stones with them to remind themselves of this pledge. Playwright Yu Miaolan adopts Li Ruoshui's narrative perspective, with national first-grade director Wang Xiaoying serving as chief director. Set designer Ji Qiao employs a minimalist Chinese aesthetic of "one mountain, one river, one shadow" to construct the stage. The touring cast features the elite performers of Xiangkun Opera, with national first-class actress Liu Jie, also a representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage as the leading role of Li Ruoshui, with Lu Hongkai as Liu Zhan, and Wang Xiang, Fan Jiawei, and others joining the show. 

The production has been staged at the 7th China Kunqu Opera Arts Festival and the 6th Hunan Arts Festival, and won the Tianhan Award, the Tianhan Music Award, and the "Silk Road Cultural Contribution Award" at the 6th Silk Road International Arts Festival. Wang Shoudong, head of the Hunan Kunqu Opera Troupe, noted that this tour spanning 15 cities is not only a showcase of Xiangkun Opera Troupe's achievements as "one of the eight major professional Kunqu Opera troupes nationwide," but also an important window for telling Chenzhou's cultural stories through the show and promoting the regional culture of southern Hunan.

Chinese source: Chinanews