Xiqu

MULIAN OPERA EXCERPTS:
Praying for His Parents’ Longevity

It is New Year time, Esquire Fu’s son Luobu asks the servants to clean up the house to prepare to pray for his parents’ longevity.

A Lesson on Karma

Esquire Fu is a charitable man who gives alms generously. He invites the Buddhist and Taoist monks to pray and impart a lesson on karma about the three different types of people in the society.

Trial at Purgatory

Liu is brought to trial at the Hall of Hell where she explains to the King of Hell her three difficulties. The King is moved and releases her from the hall.

The Little Cowherd

A naughty cowherd takes his black buffalo to eat the wheat of another farm but the buffalo refuses. At last he brings it home helplessly.

Ditty: What Good Deeds Can Do

As the Fu family is giving alms, beggars come to the house to sing ditties on good deeds the other way round and get rewards from Luobu.

Ditty: The Ten Sins of Mortals

After settling the fight among the beggars on the bridge, the head beggar arrives at the Fu mansion to join the celebration and offers to sing a ditty, The Ten Sins of Mortals. He returns to the temple happily after collecting the reward.

Alms for a Disabled Couple

A short man and his crazy wife come to the Fu mansion to beg for alms by singing a ditty on filial piety.

The Miracle in the Bitter Bamboo Grove

Twenty-four robbers rob the Fu family and pass by the bitter bamboo grove. The white horse they stole carrying gold and silver suddenly refuses to proceed and starts to talk miraculously. The robbers are deeply touched. The ringleader asks his men to repent and beg for forgiveness from the Fu family and lead a proper life thereafter.