NEW YORK—The story of Yue Fei is widely known in Chinese households. New Tang Dynasty's (NTDTV) Holiday Wonders Show in New York City brings this story to life. The music and dance illustrating the tale of Yue Fei's "loyal dedication to his country" appealed to both Western and Eastern theater-goers.
The dance opens with Yue Fei and his brothers practicing martial arts to the lyrical Man Jiang Hong melody[1]. Amidst green plains and lush farm crops, smoke suddenly begins to rise in the distance—a sign of Jin Wushu's soldiers marching through the central plains of China [2] As his heart is pulled to join the soldiers, Yue Fei expresses an inner conflict between serving his country, and concern that, with his absence, no one would care for his mother.
The choice is made clear as Yue's mother tattoos the words—"Loyally dedicated to the country" on Yue Fei's back, encouraging her son to protect homes and guard the country. The emotional intensity between Yue Fei and his mother is exceptionally moving when they realize they must part. Composer, Tan Junyi, masterfully employs the erhu, (a two-string Chinese fiddle) and the guzheng (a Chinese zither) to express the inner affections of the characters. As she etches her message, the mother's heart aches with the sight of blood on her son's back. Yet, Yue Fei encourages her to go on as he bites down on a white, sweat soaked towel. "There has been a lot of feedback from the audience in the past few days," says Wang Xuejun, the actor playing Yue Fei. "The comments were all of very favorable. Some people said that when they first saw Yue's mother come out, and the smoke rising they were moved to tears."
In regards to portraying this beloved historical figure, Wang Xuejun explains, "Yue Fei excels both as a scholar and a martial artist—wise as well as courageous. I use that as the inner temperament for my character to embody."
Some Westerners were also moved by the loyalty displayed in the dramatic dance. Denise, a 50 year-old American, took his mother of nearly 80 years to see the performance. He explained that normally his mother would sleep through the shows he brought her to; however, she was deeply absorbed in this production from start to finish. Denise confessed that seeing Yue's mother's graying hair as she encouraged her son to leave and join the army, made him think about his own mother. He was noticeably touched by the performance.
In The Biography of Yue Fei's "History of the Song Dynasty," Yue Fei is honored for being both well-versed in literature and a master of martial arts, but he is also revered for his humanity and wisdom. Demonstrating immense courage, Yue Fei often rode into enemy encampment alone and killed the generals of the enemy among millions of soldiers. As a military strategist, Yue Fei was able to break Jin Wushu's cavalry of 100,000 men with only 500 soldiers. In the area of literature, he penned the beloved classic Chinese poem, Man Jiang Hong. In the aspect of humane kindness, he once disobeyed Gao Zong's[3] orders to massacre a city, sparing hundreds of thousands of civilian lives. Because of his great virtue, the peasants built Yue Fei an ancestral mausoleum in his honor. Throughout Chinese history, in courage, wisdom, literature, and character, no one can match Yue Fei.
The Epoch Times is proud to join with New Tang Dynasty T.V. and Sound of Hope Radio in co-sponsoring NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular . This article is one of a series meant to introduce this unique and important event.
Notes:
[1] Man Jiang Hong (poem) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Jiang_Hong
[2] Jin Wushu: Wu Shu (? – 1148) Surname Wan Yan, Han surname Wang, named Zongbi (called Jin Wushu amongst the common people). The fourth son of Jin ancestor Wanyanaguda.
[3] Gao Zong: Song Gaozong (1107 – 1187) named Zhao Gou, Southern Song Dynasty founding emperor, the ninth son of Northern Song Dynasty Emperor Song Huizon. Once dubbed as "the peaceful king".
