Xiqu

Winner of Award for Outstanding Work, 2nd Zijin Elites of Peking Opera and Kunqu Arts Festival
In the year 1682, during the reign of the Kangxi emperor, Gu Yanwu feels the urge to return home to Kunshan from Shanxi Province. He is weak due to his old age, and falls from his horse. In his final moments, his life flashes before him: In the final throes of the Ming dynasty, his mother is fasting in order to die with her country and makes her son swear never to work for the Qing; later, because of his position as a Ming loyalist, Gu is imprisoned by the literary inquisition. Because of his masterpieces The Characteristics of Each Province in the Empire and Records of Regional Geography were not finished he did not give up his life. Although he was determined to be a Ming loyalist, he sent his only disciple to the newly started civil service examinations under the Qing.