Jiangnan Elegance in Hong Kong: A Day of Pingtan and Kunqu

Event Overview

Presented as part of The 2nd HKU Libraries and Chamber of Young Snow Culture Festival, Jiangnan Elegance in Hong Kong: A Day of Pingtan and Kunqu brings together two major Jiangnan performing traditions, inviting audiences to experience their artistry through technique, literature, music and staged performance.

Event Details

• Date｜Saturday, 7 November 2026
• Venue｜Yuet Ming Auditorium, 5/F, Chong Yuet Ming Cultural Centre, HKU
• Language｜Putonghua
• Programme｜Performance

Programme Schedule

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm｜Zhang Jun

“Conveying emotion through water-polished tune and dance” — Kunqu’s “Telling Stories through Song and Dance”, Part I

Kunqu’s beauty lies in the seamless fusion of song and movement, where technique becomes storytelling. Song gives it lyrical resonance; movement gives it visible form. Voice reveals inner feelings, while gestures bring character to life. Moving from technical analysis to stage expression, this workshop introduces Kunqu’s core systems of vocal expression and physical movement through vivid examples and hands-on learning. It explores how Kunqu is sung and performed, and how song and movement shape emotion on stage. Conceived as an immersive public masterclass, the workshop offers audiences a deeper understanding of the art form and prepares them to appreciate the evening performance with fresh insight.

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm｜Wu Xiaoyun and Gu Juntao

Jiangnan Soundscape: Eileen Chang and the Pingtan Music of Half a Lifelong Romance

Centered on how pingtan interprets Eileen Chang through the sounds of Jiangnan, this programme brings pingtan appreciation into a reading of Half a Lifelong Romance. Through vocal colour, narrative voice, and stage aesthetics, it reveals pingtan’s distinctive power to translate literature into performance. Selected excerpts from the work will be performed, inviting audiences to experience Chang’s aesthetics of desolation, beauty, and enduring regret.

8:00 pm｜Zhang Jun

“Conveying emotion through water-polished tune and dance” — Kunqu’s “Telling Stories through Song and Dance”, Part II 

A full-stage orthodox Kunqu performance, presented in complete costume and makeup. Building on the daytime workshop, the evening brings Kunqu technique fully to life through two contrasting excerpts: the gentle young scholar in The Peony Pavilion and the grieving emperor in The Palace of Eternal Life. Together, they show how voice and movement shape character, emotion, story, and atmosphere.

Guest Artists

Zhang Jun

Zhang Jun is the principal of the Affiliated School of Shanghai Theatre Academy, UNESCO Artist for Peace, winner of China’s Plum Blossom and Magnolia awards. Nicknamed the “Prince of Kunqu.”

Wu Xiaoyun

Wu Xiaoyun, one of the Shanghai Pingtan Troupe’s “Five Golden Flowers”, is known for her sweet voice, graceful stage presence, and mastery of the Yu tune, Nü Jiang tune and Qi tune.  

Gu Juntao

Gu Juntao is an outstanding young performer of the Shanghai Pingtan Troupe, a fourth-generation heir of the Yang school, and first-prize winner of the 2025 inaugural “Yashi Cup” Young Performer Competition.