Just like the City of Troy inspired Homer, the ancient city of Xi'an acts as a muse for drama director Chen Xinyi. As one of China's most prominent directors of drama and traditional opera, the 65-year-old, who has worked in both Xi'an and Beijing, is the creative force behind many resounding plays. Five years ago, she moved to Shanghai and her local works have gone from strength to strength.

Now two of her creations, the drama Shang Yang and Peking Opera The Prosperity of Zhenguan, are among the 30 candidates in the government-financed Elite Stage Arts Project -- 50 top critics and professionals will select 10 "elite stage productions" nationwide in August. Shanghai has four works in consideration, two by Chen.

Before the two works were nominated earlier this year, both were already highly regarded and achieved a rare combination of critical and commercial success.

Shang Yang revolves around an eponymous 4th century BC radical reformer while the Peking Opera Prosperity occurs during the reign of emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

The critics say that Chen, in two works, succeeded in bringing out the different nuances of the two periods, which were hundreds of years apart.

Though the two stories are unconnected, they are both set in the city of Xi'an.

In Shang Yang, protagonist Shang starts the reform process by turning the slavery system to the feudal system with the ancestor of Emperor Qin Shihuang -- the first feudal ruler of China, who orders the construction of the terra-cotta warriors. Meanwhile, Xi'an is the capital of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), when the story of Prosperity occurred.

For Chen, Xi'an is not only her birthplace and home for dozens of years before moving to Beijing in the mid-1980s, but also a life-long source of inspiration.

Chen's mother was an actress and her father an official. After 10-plus years of living temporarily in Sichuan and Anhui provinces, her family finally settled down in Xi'an. Little Chen was fascinated by acting and movies and entered a local qinqiang (a traditional drama originating in Shaanxi Province and known for its high-pitched arias) opera troupe at 13.

"I was a very terrible qinqiang actress," says Chen, also the creator of the prize-winning Yueju Opera Dream of Red Mansion and Anhui Opera Women of Huizhou. "I can't speak the dialect correctly and often went out of tune."

Chen admits that the experience was the most frustrating and depressing in her life but it did help her get some insight into traditional operas. Four years later, she found her true passion lies in drama.

"I said to myself, 'This is what I can do,"' she says. "I knew I could act if I didn't have to sing."

Indeed. She became a drama actress and appeared in a few films until the beginning of the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) -- a period full of personal frustration for Chen. It was not until 1978 that the 40-year-old was able to sit for the college entrance examination and become a directing major in the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing.

After graduation, Chen became a director at the Xi'an Drama Troupe. The ancient city used to be the capital of several dynasties and "was a big shelf" for Chen to explore the rich history and absorb the very essence of Chinese culture.

"When I was in Xi'an, I took a stroll every day and would almost always bump into a historic site," Chen recalls.

Chen says she would gaze at the terra-cotta warriors, feel the age-old city wall or read words on tombs to taste the historic stories that coincided with the rise and fall of every dynasty. The living history not only lent humanism and perspective to Chen's work, but also fostered her unique approach to directing.

Once she was directing an opera about Zhang Qian, the Chinese explorer who trailblazed the Silk Road in his trip to Central Asia that began in 138 BC, the actor playing the title role could not emote the ambition and idealism of the explorer. To help find the exact feeling, Chen asked the whole cast to rehearse by the ancient city walls where Zhang's emperor expressed his wish to explore the outside world.

Her directing is sometimes very "cruel," says 30-something actress Zhou Xiaoqian, who plays Shang Yang's mother in the drama. "She said I didn't act like a slave's mother and asked me to take off my earrings. Still, she was not satisfied. Then she told me to shoulder a three-step prop and walk the rehearsal room for many rounds. Finally, she even told an actor to whip me. I dogged and burst out growling 'I quit.' But she shouted back 'read your lines now.'"

Zhou says this moment was mesmerizing and she performed with an energy she never knew she possessed.

Chen has directed 40 plays, all before being employed by a Beijing-based national performing troupe, eventually becoming the troupe's head. She is often invited by performing groups around China as guest director. Her portfolio covers drama, Western opera and traditional Chinese operas.

In 1998, at age 60, she retired and moved to Shanghai. Upon retirement, she received an invitation from a southern Chinese city, which promised to offer a good remuneration, but she says she prefers the variety of performing groups and creative professionals in Shanghai. "In the next few years, I will concentrate my work in Shanghai, because the city provides a 'stage' big enough for me," she notes.

That is true. This autumn, Chen will once again step into the spotlight, directing a drama named Family -- adapted from literature giant Ba Jin's novel. The play will invite first-notch actors from around China, as a celebration for Ba's 100th birthday.

(Eastday.com July 3, 2003)