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北京大学英语新闻网/Peking University News
―There will be no good seats if I don‘t come early.‖
Yesterday, Yan, a junior from the Guanghua School of Management, ran to the
classroom of ―Classic Kunqu Appreciation‖ at 5 o'clock in the afternoon skipping his
supper. Although there was still another course ongoing in this room, a lot of
students were already waiting at the door for the Kunqu course. Yan told the
reporter, ―This is the first lesson of ‗Classic Kunqu Appreciation‘, which will be given
by Prof. Pai Hsien-yung. There will be no good seats if I don‘t come early. ―At 6
o‘clock, hundreds of students rushed into the class room after the bell rang to grab a
seat with a good view. Before the class began, the 300-seat classroom was full.
There were more than 400 students present, including many standing to listen.
The course ―Classic Kunqu Appreciation‖, the most popular public elective course at
PKU‘s history, is an important part of the first five-years of the Kunqu Legacy Project
which began in 2009. This is the first time PKU has chosen to open a college course
on Kunqu.
19:00 p.m.
―I am teaching PKU students once again.‖
Prof. Pai Hsien-yung is 73-year old and has 29 years of teaching experience in the
University of California, Santa Barbara. In recent years, he has been primarily
devoted to promoting Kunqu. Although he has always given lectures in different
places, it has been ten years since he taught in a classroom. Thus, this is the first
time for Prof. Pai Hsien-yung to give lessons again since so many years.
The title of this lesson is ―Tradition and Modernity—From "The Peony Pavilion" of
Tang Xianzu to "The Peony Pavilion" of the Young Lovers' Edition‖. As the first
lesson, Prof. Pai Hsien-yung spent nearly one hour to tell the story about the relation
between Kunqu and PKU. However, all the students paid attentions to this kind old
gentleman‘s speech patiently. At 8 o‘clock sharp, Prof. Pai Hsien-yung started to
teach the formal content of his lesson. He chose the most classic and important part
of "The Peony Pavilion" —―Stroll in the Garden‖ to introduce Kunqu. He pointed out
that "The Peony Pavilion" was also involved in the culture, history, philosophy, and
politics of the late Ming Dynasty in addition to the story itself. Thus, he hoped that
more and more students could become the volunteers to promote Kunqu so that it
would be able to strike a chord with young viewers.
20:40 p.m.
―Welcom Du Liniang.‖
At forty past eight, the lesson was brought to its peak when Prof. Pai Hsien-yung
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