Cadet Killian Buckley's Blog

Chinese Opera Presentation

On Thursday, October 30th,  Dr. Peng Xu gave a lecture titled “Chinese Opera and Chinese Language.  Dr. Peng Xu is an assistant professor of modern languages and cultures.  She is an “award-winning Chinese opera singer”.  She also has studied the art and linguistics of Chinese opera.  In her lecture, she described the differences between Western/European Opera and Chinese Opera.  She also connected and explained the linguistic reasons behind the difference.  In Chinese opera, pronunciation of words is far more important that the melody of the song.  This is extremely different from Western Opera.  She stressed that this was due to the “tone” of the Chinese language.  Her description was complicated for someone like me, who has no background in the Chinese language.  However, nevertheless, the topic was extremely interesting.

Her talk also covered the cultural aspect that Chinese opera plays.  In Chinese, one would say “I am going to go listen to the theater”.  While, in opposition to this, those of a western culture would say, “I am going to go watch theater”.  This is due to the fact the songs are much more important than the scenery.  The scenery is  precise and beautiful, however, it is all very scripted.  The songs and the pronunciation of the story is far more relevant and important to the audience.  Also, another reason is that, traditionally, theaters were tea houses in which the audience would be socializing while the play was occurring.

Overall, there are various differences between Chinese opera and Western opera.  Prior to Dr. Peng Xu’s lecture, I did not even know that Chinese opera existed or its cultural significance.  Now, after the lecture, I have a greater appreciation for it. Dr. Peng Xu’s lecture was excellent; interactive and engaging.  She even sang for the audience.   As an artist, she portrayed her enthusiasm for the subject matter.  If I was granted more time as an undergraduate student, a class in Chinese or about Chinese art would be attractive to add to my course load.