"We should know (from an extensive national survey) how many artists there are, how many of them are good teachers and how many Kunqu Opera plays each of them can perform," Cai Zhengren, head of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe and a famous Kunqu Opera artist, said during a national forum on the revival of Kunqu Opera, which was held last month.

"Only by knowing all of this can we open high-quality training courses to better preserve, inherit, innovate and develop this ancient art."

Cai said good artists were not always good teachers and good teachers may not be good performers. "On the one hand, we need well-known artists to attract students. On the other hand, we need excellent teachers no matter if they are famous or not," he said. "That's why we need to conduct a thorough survey to find the quality teachers."

The six Kunqu troupes are the North Kunqu Opera Troupe in Beijing, Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, Suzhou (city) Kunqu Opera Troupe and Jiangsu (provincial) Kunqu Opera Troupe in Jiangsu Province, Hunan Kunqu Opera Troupe in Hunan Province and Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe in Zhejiang Province.

Cai Shaohua, head of the Suzhou troupe, said the teachers will be invited to provide training courses not only to students, but to other Kunqu Opera artists.

The artistic directors from the six troupes as well as Culture Ministry officials hope they will be able to open national training courses in autumn after they select the teachers and most valuable plays.

A performance contest for the students may be held next year to evaluate the training courses.

Kunqu Opera, which dates back to the late Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) and early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), originated in Kunshan, known today as Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province. It is one of the oldest operatic forms in China and has deep roots in Chinese traditional culture. It is known as "the mother of all Chinese traditional operas" and occupies an important place in the history of drama, literature and music.

In its golden age, Kunqu Opera was sung and loved by almost everyone in southern China. In Suzhou, it was performed almost every night in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The most shining Kunqu Opera plays were written by Tang Xianzu (1550-1616), who is regarded as China's Shakespeare. One of his most famous masterpieces is The Peony Pavilion, a fanciful love-conquers-all story that has taken permanent place in the Chinese cultural landscape.

Yet, Kunqu has been suffering a severe decline in popularity over the past two centuries.

"Perhaps it is because it is too elegant and difficult to understand and has lost contact with reality. So its audience size has gradually reduced," explained Cai Zhengren.

According to him, serious rescue work has been carried out since 1921 when a famous training school was established. The teachers at the school were all experienced performers.

After New China was founded in 1949, a new Kunqu Opera school, with more than 10 teachers from the old school, was set up in Shanghai. "Many of today's well-known Kunqu Opera artists were students of that school," Cai Zhengren said.

In 2001, UNESCO proclaimed Kunqu Opera as "a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity." In December of the same year, the Chinese Ministry of Culture announced a decade-long plan for the preservation and restoration of Kunqu Opera, making it the first theatre art in China under protection from the government.

(China Daily February 10, 2003)