昭君出塞 Lady Glory’s Trek to the North
昭君出塞
〈昭君出塞〉根據元代劇作家馬致遠的名著《漢宮秋》改編而成。內容寫漢元帝時，奸臣毛延壽挑唆番王強索元帝妃子王昭君為妻。漢朝君臣畏懼北番強大，強迫昭君屈辱和番。一路上，昭君滿懷悲憤，對祖國河山依依不捨，既痛恨奸臣賣國求榮，又埋怨漢朝君臣軟弱無能。
全折充滿愛國戀鄉的感情。在表演上，歌舞並重，舞蹈身段優美動人，唱腔回腸蕩氣。除了唱做表演之外，演員還須具備相當的武功底子，才能把這出戲的藝術特色表現出來。所以俗語說：“唱死昭君，做死王龍，翻死馬童。”是崑曲中文武並重的大軸戲。
Lady Glory’s Trek to the North
Inspired by Autumn at the Han Palace, a masterpiece of poetic drama written by Ma Zhiyuan of the Yuan dynasty (1280-1368), Lady Glory’s Trek to the North is a Kunqu theater replete with sophisticated singing, dexterous acting and dancing, which makes it a popular but most demanding work.
A great beauty, Lady Glory was a court lady-in-waiting in the Han dynasty (206 B.C-221 A.D.) at a time when the dynasty was dangereously threatened by the military strength of the Huns to the north. Much to her misfortune, Lady Glory fell prey to the plot of a traitorous and perfidious minister, Mao Yanshou, who suggested to the chief of the Huns that he demand her hand from the emperor of the Han dynasty. Out of cowardice and fear, the emperor agreed to the marriage proposal and Lady Glory was promptly sent on an arduous journey to the land of the northern barbarians.
The sadness suffered by the ill-fated Lady Glory and the hardships of the trek, made worse by the severe cold, join forces to heighten the dramatic power of the opera. In the classical Chinese theater, there is a famous saying regarding this scene, which is a comment on its great performing challenges on the performers of Lady Glory’s Trek to the North: Lady Glory’s challenge in singing the extended arias, Wang Long’s challenge in comic acting, and the stable boy’s challenge in acrobatic stunts.
