Ｌｏｃａｌ Ｄｒａｍａ Ｐｒｏｍｏｔｅｓ Ｈｏｎｅｓｔ Ｇｏｖｅｒｎｍｅｎｔ， Ｔｅｌｌｓ Ｈｉｓｔｏｒｙ

Ｄａｉ　Ｍｅｎｇ

In Shaoxing, Zhejiang, the One-Coin Prefecture Chief Liu Chong is a household name even today. The prefecture chief of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) ruled with honesty, wisdom, and efficiency. His political career went into history and can be read today. A few years ago, Shaoxing Little Hundred Flowers Yueju Opera Troupe proposed to create a play based on the honest prefecture chief.

Liu Chong ruled here honestly, wisely and fruitfully for three years before he was promoted and transferred to a higher post in the capital. When money was offered to him by local residents seeing him off, the chief took only a coin symbolically. When he was about to leave the border, he threw the coin into the river, a symbolic gesture that meant to say he would never take anything from the prefecture. Thats why he is locally known as a one-coin prefecture chief.

The local government responded favorably when the proposal of the local troupe came in. Honest officials have been a tradition and virtue in Chinese history. The government is pushing for honest administration. County Chief Feng Jianrong said that it could be made into an excellent play.

However, the play should never be about moralizing and preaching for concepts about being honest. Troupe director Chen Jingao observed that the Yueju Opera whose most actors are women gives priority to emotional expressions.

With all these ideas in mind, the creative work began. It took three playwrights and nearly two years to dramatize a brief historical passage and local folklore. Yan Quanyi, a PhD from the Central Theater Academy, rewrote the play six times. It took about another year to translate the script into a stage drama and let local audiences see how the historical story fared on the stage. During these creative phases that spanned about three years, experts and audiences were consulted repeatedly for advice and comments and the script was further polished and the presentation was improved and perfected.

The drama about honest government at last took shape thanks to combined efforts of the stage artists and experts, general public and the government.

The “One-Coin Prefecture Chief” made its public debut on April 10th, 2008. It was a huge sensation. It ran more than 30 performances within a short period of time.

In the evening of February 26, 2009, the drama was staged in Mei Lanfang Grand Theater in Beijing. Among the audience were high-ranking CPC leaders. After the show, the high-ranking CPC officials came onstage and congratulated the artists from Shaoxing. The drama was highly hailed by audiences and critics as valuable. It is educational for honest government practices, it is popular entertainment and it highlights the features of our time.

Another consideration that has gong into the dramatization of the historical prefecture chief is that the cast includes young-generation Yueju opera artists. The troupe has accomplished masters. But in order to cultivate new artists for future, the troupe cast younger artists. They have done well.

Experts say that the “One-Coin Prefecture Chief” has made a breakthrough in characterization and expression in Yueju Opera. It has also pioneered a path for new interpretation of historical figures. The troupe will surely polish the play further and bring it to greater success. □