Appreciation of Chinese Literature

BlossomingAspirations

March2025

68.00 （CNY）

This book is a collection of novellas created by writer Wen Qingli with the theme of Kunqu Opera，amasterpiece of humanoraland intangible heritage.With elegantandrichwords，clearandpoeticstyle，anddelicateandexpressive characterdescriptions，the beauty.of Kunqu Opera and the persistence and inheritanceof traditional operaartbyKunqu Operaperformersisconveyed， reflectingChinesecharacteristics，grandeur，and style.

Blossoming Aspirations

Wen Qingli

WenQingli istheeditor-in-chiefand deputyeditorofPeople'sLiberationArmy LiteratureandArt.Hegraduatedfromthe LiteratureDepartmentof the People's LiberationArmyAcademyofArts.

Asthemusicbegan，MiYayawas abouttosteponstage，butLiu Yunyi whisperedtoher，“Holdon.Atrue starmakestheaudienceyearnforher entrance.AttheNine-Dragon Point， pause， then turn left elegantly. Do notmakeyourwaist swaytoomuch， or it will lose its charm.\"

Herhusband cast her a meaningful glance，andshehushedatonce.\"Go on，\"shemurmured.\"You'rethestar now.Holdyourheadhigh，likethe worldisbeneathyou.\"

On stage， Mi Yaya performed ThePeonyPavilion：Seekingthe Dream，whileiuunyi，drdin flowing water sleeves，mirrored her movements from thewings.

Mi Yaya had been performing flawlessly，and thetheaterdirector and Liu Yunyi， standing inthe wings，graduallyletoutthebreath they'dbeenholding.Shewasclearly outperformingeveryonewho had comebefore her.But justasMi Yaya reached the line“the gloomy rains of the plum season，\" she suddenly faltered.Her voicecutout，and she froze on the spot.Without hesitation， Liu Yunyi strode onto the stage， singingloudly asshemoved into position.Sheworeonlyherwater sleeves，with nomakeup，hairpinsor adornments.Under the stage lights， herhair shimmeredsilver-white， whether from age or the glare， no one could tell.Theaudiencewasstunned. Murmurs rippled through the crowd. What’s going on？ Since when did ThePeonyPavilion：Seekingthe Dream feature twoyoungmistresses singing？

Backstage，Ye Zhihong，who had just been instructing a student on how to tossa prop spear， exclaimed urgently， “Suchatheatermaniac！\"Hewas abouttocall forthecurtainto be drawnwhenthetheaterdirector， standingnearby，wavedhimoff.

Liu Yunyi continued singing and dancingherwaytowardtheside of thestage，whileMi Yaya moved forwardwithrenewedconfidence. Inaninstant，herfearvanished， hermovementsgrewfluid，and hervoiceperfectlyinrhythm.Two Du Liniangs now danced and sang acrossthestage，leavingtheaudience utterlybewildered.Noonehadever seen two Du Liniangs seeking their dreamsbefore.

The actress playing Chunxiang， who had been waiting in the wings to escort the young mistress offstage， stood frozeninconfusion.Which \"Du Liniang\"was she supposed to assist now？ Just then， Gao Minggang barked，\"Quick！The fog！\"

As if snapping out of a daze， the theater director echoed urgently， \"Yes， yes -fog， now！\"

Amid theswirlingmist，the two DuLiniangsseemed likedual reflections ofa single soul-one radiantwith youth， theothersteeped innoblegrace-moving inperfect synchrony， their voices entwined in the same verses. After singing theline“waitingwhereplumroots meet，\"LiuYunyiflashedMiYaya a knowingsmile.Witha final， exquisite pivot，herfiguredissolved into thehaze likea wisp of a dream. Asthe fogdissipated，only one youthful and radiant Du Liniang remained，leaninggracefullyagainst the plum tree. Chunxiang stepped onto the stage.

Theaudienceerupted intothunderous applause，bothon andoff the stage.

The judging committee praised the performance as a bold reimagining ofThePeonyPavilion：Seekingthe Dream. The two Du Liniangs， one representingthedreamversion，the otherthe reality;Oneunrestrained， theother melancholic，had brought thecharactertolifewithan unparalleledvitality.Theproduction wasdeemedworthyofthefirst prize.YetwhenLiuYunyilearned ofthenews，shedismissed itasa mistake.\"I forgot we were onstage，\"

Appreciation of Chinese Literature 1 sheadmitted.\"Ithoughtitwas still rehearsal.\"She evenrequested disciplinaryaction from the troupe. Andforthisveryreason，manycame to admire her even more.

On a golden autumn afternoon twenty years later，at the Beijing Plum Blossom Awards ceremony， renowned Kunqu opera artist Mi Yaya reminisced about that unforgettableperformance from two decades ago during her acceptance speech. Had her teacher not stepped onto the stage that night， she truly wouldn’t have known how to salvage the performance. During the line \"the gloomy rains of the plum season，\" she had attempted an exceptionally demanding\"lyingfish” pose，a move meant to showcase DuLiniang'sdespair in deathand wowthe judges.Butassherose，her movements proved'too forceful. Her right foot caught on the hem of her skirt. Miraculously， she didn't trip. Yettheominousrip of tearing fabric sent a cold shiver down her spine. Had the skirt torn？“How I regret not listening to my teacher's advice！” She thought bitterly.\"Always craving attention， exaggerating my movements.And now I've madea spectacle of myself.\" The moment this realization struck， her body frozemid-pose.Even thenext line of lyrics slipped from her mind. Four or five minutes of the performance still remained. Panic set in. The stage， once a place of beauty， now felt like a battlefield. Every step fraught with peril. She willed herself toward center stage，but her legs refused to wrong with her. All she wanted was for the curtain to fall， to never singoperaagain.\"Myparents，my teachers，myclassmates，theymust all be watching this humiliation on TV.\" Even her once-graceful water sleevesnow hung heavyas if soaked impossible to lift. Just then，her teacher，herbeloved，mother-like mentor Liu Yunyi， took the stage like a celestial beingdescending from the heavens. The moment her graceful teacher appeared， Mi Yaya truly understood. This was Du Liniang. She had always believed innovation was paramount， yet her teacher's portrayal remained eternally elegant， suffused with poetic refinement，nomatterhowmany storms she weathered. Why was this performance endlessly captivating？ Why had no one surpassed it？ Because her teacher never sought fame， she simply became Du Liniang. In that instant， Mi Yaya realized：Agreatactor's essence lies in their soul， a soul reflected in their gaze， expressed through their fingertips， embodied in their footsteps，and etched into their heart. Eventhe embroidered robesseemed alive with the character'sspirit， though she'd never noticed before. With her teacher beside her， Mi Yaya found her anchor. Through the fog，she mirrored every movement， nowunafraidtowalkthrough fireor scale mountains.A miracle unfolded， under her teacher's guidance， and every forgotten lyric and movement returned toher. It wasas if she’d grown wings; even her water sleeves floated weightlessly again. Then， with invisible grace， Teacher Liu retreated behind her like a shadow， guiding，nudgingher forward into the spotlight， into the audience's rapt attention， toward the glittering stage of the Plum Blossom Awards， the highesttheatricalaward in China. \"Without Teacher Liu， Iwouldn’t behere today，\"Mi Yaya reflected. “Yet my greatest dream remains to surpassher.Hermasteryof gaze， controlled yet effortless，carries not justamaiden'sdemureness，but an immortal’s ethereality. Her stage presence balances dignity with classical elegance; Her singing voice， sweetasglutinousrice，melts into theairwith tenderallure.Even her stagewalksare perfection.Her skirts remain undisturbed as if gliding on hidden wheels，and every step a portrait of grace. Not long ago， I sharedthestagewith her once more Though TeacherLiu was now in her sixties，her portrayal of Du Liniang still brimmed with youthful vitality. Duringthecurtaincall， theaudience showered her with so many bouquets shecould scarcelyhold them all， while not a single flower came to me. In that moment， I understood： Tosurpassmy teacher，Imust achieve her effortless mastery where every sung note， spoken word，and gesture flows like drifting clouds and running water， wholly embodying the character'ssoul. Only then did I truly grasp the profound meaning behind those two costumes she gifted me twenty years ago，before my very first performance in The Interrupted Dream.\"