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Romance
of
Lychee
Mirror
When
Chen Buoqing (nicknamed San or Third son), scion of a wealthy Quanzhou
family, accompanied his elder brother and sister-in-law to take Office in
Guangzhou, passing through the town of Chaozhou on the night of the
Lantern Festival (mid-January on the Lunar Calendar), he saw and fell in
love with Huang Biju (nicknamed Wuniang or 5th Daughter), cherished
daughter of the Huang family there.
On his way back and once more passing through Chaozhou, he saw his
beloved and her personal maid, Yichun enjoying the cooling lychee fruit on
a balcony.
Wuniang saw her beloved below and threw down a sprig of lychee as a
token of her love, which Chen San picked up and treasured it.
Chen San then braved the humiliation of assuming a humble guise and
entered the Huang household as a mirror polisher, whereupon he broke the
family’s
prized mirror, and indentured himself for three years by way of repaying
his debt.
Little did he know that Wuniang had already been betrothed to the
Lin family.
The lovers yearned for each other in secret, and their love and
despair rose to fever pitch.
Fortunately Yichun was a clever girl and sought to ease their pain.
On the eve before the Lin family were to come fetch Wuniang, Chen
San and the two young women made a quick escape to Quanzhou by night.
After much frustration and many setbacks, the lovers were
eventually happily united as man and wife.
<<Romance of The Lychee Mirror>> has been a lovers’
favorite for centuries.
n
NIGHTINGALE
WARBLING IN SPRING
(Admiring the Lantern,
Tossing the Lychee, Picking Up the Lychee)
Poem:
Peach leaves begin covering the earth,
red lychee have already broken boughs,
Take this loving thought
dispatched to my beloved
Introduction:
As Chen San strolls through the market streets of Chaozhou, he comes
upon Wuniang and her handmaid Yichun leaning against the balcony railing
under the lanterns. He is instantly captivated heart and soul.
Wuniang tosses a branch of lychee which Chen San picks up for
keepsake. Overjoyed, he
resolves to meet her. Pretending
to be a mirror-polisher he sells himself into their household.
Music:
Qingfeng song
(Ode to Pure Breeze)
Lingyun cao
(Lofty Clouds)
Guishan cao
(Turtle Mountain)
n
SHADOW
OF TWIN WILD GEESE (Enjoying Flowers)
Poem:
Spring swallows play early tunes
Cuckoos compete in the Dawn Chorus
And thrush forget to pause their song
Expressing sorrow as they sing of love
Introduction:
Wuniang feels an awakening of love in her heart, captivated by Chen San’s
handsome and refined demeanor. But
she is afraid to confess her feelings and secretly suffers the pangs of
budding passion unreleased. Yichun
uses the occasion of a garden walk, citing the attitudes of birds and bees
to describe Chen San’s
ardor, and manages to pry out Wuniang’s
secret longing.
Melody:
Chaoyang chun
(Springtime in Chaoyang)
Lyrics:
Strolling at leisure admiring the scenery
gazing at red blossoms and green willows
where wasps and butterflies suckle the flowers’
heart
coming and going in busy confusion
The nightingale sings well, the nightingale, sings well
Avian cacophony blasts the ears, as
willows, without strength, are blown
this way and that in the wind.
Music:
Yangguan sandie weisheng
[Instrumental piece]
n
MAGPIE
DANCING ON THE BRANCH
(Keeping Back the Umbrella)
Poem:
Months fly by with the wind and light
Red sleeves for gossamer garment
mincing steps upon spring dew
for a glimpse of the beloved
Introduction:
Chen
San has indentured himself over to the Huang household for two years but
Wuniang seems so near and yet so far.
Thinking her cold and distant, and all his longing for her
resulting in naught, Chen San decides to pack up and return to his native
home. Maid Yichun pleads for
him to stay on, and tells him of Wuniang’s
deep feelings for him, warning him not to give up in such haste.
Melody:
Mantou
(Slow Start)
Lyrics:
My lady won’t requite my crazed love, I’ll
bear the pain and pack for home.
Music:
Feng baiwei
(Phoenix swishing her tail)
Melody:
Jinchao yangchun
Lyrics:
[Chen
San]
For long years I’ve
worked here like a slave, but now in pain and anguish I’ll
pack for
a return my ancestral home. Alas,
fair lady, you have no heart, and mistake me for a
one
without accomplishment. I’ve
suffered hardship here for two years, and now
say farewell to thee, fair one.
Tomorrow early I’ll
hurry home. Once more bidding
you adieu, my beloved, I’ll
hasten my homeward journey.
[Chorus]
Please, Chen San, relax your resolve to leave and tarry a while . .
.
Music:
Zheguti (Partridge cry)
[Instrumental piece]
n
BIRD-CRIES
IN THE NIGHT (Lesser
Ennui, Greater Ennui, The Tryst)
Poem:
Sitting alone in my embroidery chamber,
I stop my work again and again in confusion.
Bird-cries in Springtime contain much sorrow,
how can one not feel the longing?
Introduction:
Chen San, in order to pay for breaking the mirror, indentures himself to
the Huang family for three years. Not
having won his fair lady he finds it impossible either to proceed or to
retreat. Wuniang begins to be
love-sick for Chen San, but keeps her love locked up in her heart and sits
secluded in her chambers in sorrow and yearning.
Yichun tries desperately and without success to bring the two
lovers together. Eventually
she arranges a private tryst between them, where they swear mutual and
eternal loyalty, deep as the mountains and the oceans.
Melody:
Changchao Yangchun - Luowang
wuxiang (Lesser Ennui)
Lyrics:
[Yichun]
I hear a dove calling out to the moon.
My lady stops her needle and, rising comes hither,
the moon round and mirror-bright yet by floating clouds is put in
shadow. The night is deeply
still, crickets are chirping; there’s
the sound of someone in the Western chamber, plying plaints about
one’s
fate. Could it be the Gentleman
enjoying Springtime remembering the love born of the tossed lychee-cluster?
Bringing the lychee to profess
his love, we should not let him strive for nothing. Bringing the lychee to profess his love, we should not let
him strive for nothing.
Melody:
Chaodie
(Greater Ennui)
Lyrics:
[Wuniang]
Love sickness gradually eating into the heart, softly crying,
softly crying for fear of being heard. Fearing their rebuke, fearing outsiders’
judgment, would that we could become united, united as a couple among
couples. How could I’ve
known I’d
be alone without my mate, dwelling in solitude?
Locked in my chamber at night with my unheard plaints, locked in my
chamber at night with my empty dreams.
Daytimes I’m
upstairs, daytimes I’m upstairs, gazing at distant mountains amid
clouds, gazing at distant mountains amid clouds.
Melody: Manwei
(Slow Coda)
Lyrics:
[Wuniang]
Thin of flesh, endless sorrow, endless ennui, I fear falling ill,
becoming a haunted spirit, and fear
the departure of my love, that I’ll
see my Lord no more. I worry,
distracted to death, without
finding my beloved, I’ll
have nowhere to find my Lord.
Melody:
Shuichege (Water Wheel or The Tryst)
Lyrics:
[Wuniang]
For my Lord I’ll
keep our promise, for my love
I’ll
keep our oath. We’ll
wait for night when they all sleep. If
I don’t
come with you, as Heaven is my witness, if I fail
you let me, Wuniang, die an early death.
[Chen
San]
Thank you my
Lady. Indeed Thou has true
heart.
[Wuniang]
I knew full well Thou came in worker’s
guise to be near me and I scolded you a few
times - in order to fool my parents.
[Chen
San]
Hearing these words my heart has melted soft as cotton.
[Wuniang]
Blast that Lin Da, how I hate the blasted robber Big-Nose Lin,
coming to force our
family each day for marriage ties!
Let you die an early death!
[Chen
San]
Now I’m
escaping, facing life-threatening dangers; I must calm my heart and soul.
I must stay calm and not forsake the love of “A-niang”!
[Wuniang]
I must not forsake the love of San!
n
ZHEGU
FEI
(Elopement)
Poem:
Meeting amidst lanterns under the moon,
tying the lychee-mirror karmic bond,
with pure love to repay my Lord’s
earnest heart,
once united we’ll
be happy as if in Heaven.
Introduction:
With the Lin Family’s
unrelenting pressure for an early marriage date, Wuniang procrastinates
without a good alternative plan. Thanks to Yichun’s
various intrigues and influences, Wuniang liberates herself and packs up
her belongings, choosing freedom and love. The three escaped on the 14th of the seventh moon to Chen San’s
hometown of Quanzhou, stopping mid-way to swear a three-way oath of
fidelity, to maintain the lychee-mirror bond.
Melody:
Youdiao Zui Penglai Luojinchao
Lyrics:
[Wuniang]
Suddenly the Tower above the City gate drums out the time.
Alarm! Ai!, I’m
startled out of my wits.
[Chorus]
I’ve
given myself totally to following my Lord to his native home, entirely
throwing myself into danger. High are the mountains, yet never reaching
the skies. [Wuniang]
My feet blister, I must let loose.
I must loosen my foot-bindings.
[Chorus]
Leaving my home for distant lands, laughing off the Lin Family
marriage, Alas you’re
too dense!! Ai!
Big-nose Lin, your heart is too tiresome, thinkest Thou to marry me?
Go wait for another lifetime!
[Wuniang]
This creature having gotten free of the golden fishhook, shaking
head and tail refuses to succumb.
[Chorus]
Shaking head and tail refuses to succumb.
-
Instrumental Interlude -
Melody:
Chaoyang
chunluo sanjiaochao
Lyrics:
[Wuniang]
Swearing on the same day, I’ll
offer incense and swear today. Going
out of my family gate, caring not for the Lin Family’s
opinions or protests. Caring
not for the Lin Family’s opinions or protests.
[Chorus]
On the third watch of the 14th of the seventh moon, the moon shines
and the winds are still: it is a good time.
[Wuniang]
If A-niang desires,
[Chorus]
if my San so desires, I’ll
with Thee agree. Choosing
this night at the Third Watch to follow
Thee.
[Yichun]
Bringing some silver on our person, to buy fruits along the way,
and for travel expenses.
-
Instrumental Interlude -
[Wuniang]
Picking up my gossamer garments,
[Chorus]
picking up the gossamer garments, I arrange my hair into the
cloud-knot and fringe,
[Wuniang]
step into my tiny shoes,
and take light steps for our escape.
[Chen
San]
My lady’s
hair-pin, [Chorus]
my lady’s
hair-pin is properly fixed upright without fault.
[Wuniang]
Moonlight of the 14th,
[Chorus]
under moonlight of the night of the 14th, reflecting our forms, I’ll
follow you.
[Chorus]
Only the three of us, will remain together without separation.
[Wuniang]
We will reach Quanzhou,
[Chorus]
we will reach Quanzhou,
[Wuniang]
no matter how high the mountains, how treacherous the paths, we’ll
forward under cover of the stars and
moon, lest they uncover our plot.
[Chorus]
Under over of the stars and moon, lest they uncover our plot.
-
Instrumental Interlude -
Music:
Feng baiwei (Phoenix Swishing
her Tail)
Production
Staff
Artistic
Director
CHEN,
Mei-o
Artistic
Advisor WANG,
Chi-Mei / LIN, Keh-Hua
Choreography
CHEN Mei-O / HSIAO Ho-wen
Set
& Lighting Designer
LIN, Keh-ua
Costume
Designer
YIP, Kam Tim
Lighting
Design Assistant
LIAO,
Chung-Jung
Liyuan
Dance Instructors WU,
Ming Seng / TSENG, Jing Ping / CIA, Yazhi
Stage
Manager
HUANG, Johnny
Rehearsal
Director
HSIAO Ho-wen
Technical
Director
SI, Chien-hua
Managing
Director
CHEN Shou-chun
Production
Manager
WANG,
Joanna
Wardrobe
WU,
Pi-Jung
Hair
Dresser
EROS
Hair Styling / Chun-Lin Hair
Dressing Co.
Make-up LIEN
Ching
Costume
Tailor
SONG,
Si-Ying
Props
Win-Chance
Antique Furniture
Publicity
CHANG,
Shio-lin (Lau-Lin Studio)
Calligrapher
Wang,
Jen-JayPhotograhper
Photographer
HO, Kuo-huei / Lee, Ming-Hsun
Translator
Joan
Stanley-Baker
Graphic
Design
Freeimage
Design
Musician
& Dancer
Dancer
Chen
San
TU, Pei-Chun / PENG, Chun-Kan
Wuniang
WANG,
Tzu-Jung / WANG, Hsin-I
Yichun
HSIAO,
Ho-Wen / WANG, Chang-Ying
Musician
Narrator,
Solo, Pipa
CHEN,
Mei-O
Erh-hsien
TSENG,
Chia Yang (Guest
Artists)
San-hsien
Xiao, Pei Ling (Guest
Artists)
Percussion
CHEN,
Lun-Chieh
Tung-hsiao
KAO, Chin-Chin
Chorus
SHU, Hsu-Hui
‾ The
Feast of Han Xizai
‾ Le Jardin
des Delices
‾
Lirenxing
( Beauties at Stroll )
‾
Yangexing (
Summptous Feasting Song )
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