Chinese melodies sail across oceans,

Drums and gongs echo in distant lands;

Water sleeves paint rainbows in motion,

Feathered crowns gleam on foreign sands.

Chinese opera’s voyage has unfolded a moving chapter in cultural exchange.

Over a century’s journey, this art form, rooted in China’s fertile soil, has now merged irresistibly into the vast currents of global artistry, responding to the gaze and interpretations from diverse civilizations. This "otherness"-driven perspective is an inevitable sign of our times, yet it offers us a precious prism revealing meaningful cultural parallax.

The unfamiliar light refracted through this cross-cultural lens draws our focus inward, renewing our appreciation for opera’s essence, the wisdom of its performance traditions, and the uniqueness of its cultural DNA. Here, the fabric of cross-civilization dialogue unfolds, exposing intricate complexities. Within seemingly divergent collisions and "misreadings", a more fundamental possibility shines through: the universal power of artistic expression that transcends language barriers, resonating in the depths of human emotion—a testament to our shared humanity.

In the 14th lecture of this course, we will join Professor Jiang Ji to experience the charm of Chinese opera and explore the possibilities of multicultural exchange.  

Lecturer Introduction

Jiang Ji is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor in the School of Liberal Arts at Renmin University of China, a Wuyuzhang Young Scholar, Vice President of the Chinese Nuo Opera Society, and a leading figure in the Innovative Teaching and Research Studio for Young Teachers in Beijing Universities. She has published monographs such as Through the "Dragon's Eye": The Art of Chinese Opera in Cross-Cultural Dialogue (1919 - 1937) and Yangko Opera and Rural Women, as well as compiled and published the documentary collection Mei Lanfang in Japan. She has published more than 50 papers in journals such as Literary Review and Studies in Art.  

Lecture Introduction

Despite today’s frequent cultural exchanges and countless reports of Chinese opera "going global", you might still wonder: How do foreign audiences perceive these performances? Can they truly understand them? Such questions are not new. For over a century, this ancient art form has irresistibly merged into the vast currents of world culture, undergoing multifaceted scrutiny through cross-cultural lenses. This outside perspective—shaped by our times—offers a revealing "parallax", allowing us to reexamine long-held assumptions about opera’s artistic traits. While this unfamiliar viewpoint highlights the complexity of cross-civilization dialogue, it simultaneously unveils a profound possibility: the shared human psyche across oceans, where East and West meet in artistic resonance.

Course Information  

Time: 14:00 - 15:30, Wednesday, June 4th, 2025  

Venue: Room 503, Lide Building  

Pre-reading Materials  

Stark Young, Mei Lan-fang, Theatre Arts Monthly, 1930, V14N4 (Stark Young: Mei Lanfang, Theatre Arts Monthly, Volume 14, Number 4, 1930).