News | Volume 2

Opera Bridges Cultures: the 9^th Traditional Chinese Opera Festival in Paris Opens a New Chapter of “Beauty Shared in Harmony and Diversity”

Li Huayi

中文

        The 9^th Traditional Chinese Opera Festival in Paris (Paris Festival des opéras traditionnels chinois), co-hosted by the China Cultural Center in Paris (Centre Culturel de Chine à Paris) and the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts (NACTA), was successfully held from November 6 to 10. This year, the festival presented a rich program of 16 events, including four performances from classic Chinese xiqu repertoire, four screenings of opera films, two stage design exhibitions, four cultural lectures, and one artistic seminar.

        The festival attracted more than 3,000 attendees in total, with each event achieving over 90% seat occupancy. As the largest Chinese opera celebration in France in the past six years, the festival showcased the beauty and depth of traditional Chinese performing arts while offering a vibrant platform for cultural exchange between China and France. Each event offered a vivid snapshot of cross-cultural dialogue and mutual appreciation, reaffirming the power of the arts to bring people together.

        In 2003, the China Cultural Center in Paris launched the Traditional Chinese Opera Festival. Over the past two decades, the festival has grown into a prominent cultural platform, featuring artists from more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across China. It has presented nearly 30 different regional opera genres and over 40 plays. The festival has not only become a signature cultural brand of the China Cultural Center in Paris, but also serves as a vital stage for promoting Chinese opera abroad. It stands as a cultural bridge that deepens mutual understanding and emotional connection between the peoples of China and France.

        The year 2024 coincides with the 60^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France and the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, lending special cultural significance to the 9^th Traditional Chinese Opera Festival. As a key program under “the China-France years” (Les Années Chine-France) initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the festival of this year is jointly organized by the China Cultural Center in Paris and NACTA.

        The opening ceremony was held on the evening of November 6, drawing over 280 distinguished guests from both China and France to witness this momentous cultural occasion. Among the prominent attendees were Lu Shaye, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to France; Josiane Gaude, First Deputy Mayor of the 7^th arrondissement of Paris and representative of the French Ministry of Culture; Yin Xiaodong, President of NACTA and Chinese Co-Chair of the Festival Committee; Jean-Pierre Wurtz, Honorary Inspector General of Theatre at the French Ministry of Culture and French Co-Chair of the Festival Organizing Committee; Thomas Lam, Member of the French National Assembly; Jamel Oubéchou, Chief of Staff and representative of the Director of the Guimet Museum; Liu Hongge, Director of the China Cultural Center in Paris and Executive Chair of the Festival Organizing Committee; Wang Yin, Cultural Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in France; Yan Ming, Bureau Chief of Xinhua News Agency’s Paris office; Tian Ling, Deputy Mayor of Aubervilliers; and Zhong Cheng, President of Guanghua Culture and Media Group and President of European Times (Nouvelles d’Europe). 

        At the opening ceremony, Mr. Lu Shaye remarked that as representatives of Eastern and Western civilizations, both China and France place great importance on the preservation, development, and exchange of culture, which has long served as a vital bond between the two nations. The Traditional Chinese Opera Festival was launched by the China Cultural Center in Paris in 2003. Since then, the festival has, through years of dedication, continuously introduced traditional Chinese opera to French audiences, helping bridge the cultural gap and bringing the French public closer to China’s rich operatic heritage. Today, the festival established itself as a not-to-be-missed event for enthusiasts of Chinese opera.

        The 9^th Traditional Opera Festival in Paris has provided a valuable model for addressing the real-world challenge of “exporting” Chinese opera. The festival was organized by NACTA, in collaboration with the Wenzhou Ouju Art Research Institute, Minjiang Teachers College, and the Guangdong Chao Opera Theatre. These institutions presented a diverse array of performances, including Peking Opera The Orphan of Zhao, Ou Opera Top Graduate Zhang Xie, Min Opera The Story of the Red Skirt, and Chao Opera The Butterfly Lovers at the Guimet Museum. These performances, selected from four distinct opera genres, offered the audience a vibrant visual and auditory feast.

        In addition to showcasing traditional Chinese opera, this year’s festival made a groundbreaking move by setting aside a designated space for Chinese opera film showings. The film lineup includes four adaptations of classic opera works, namely, The Jewelry Purse, Havoc in Heaven, White Snake, and The Female Generals of the Yang Family. These films were meticulously translated and subtitled in French, so that French audiences, with a better understand the lyrics, speech, and plot, come to appreciate the charm of theatrical language, the cultural significance and values embedded in these works. A unique feature of this film series was the addition of commentary sessions. The films were introduced by teachers from NACTA—Li Huayi, Zhang Wei, Yao Zhiqiang — and French-based Peking Opera artist Zheng Ziru, who provided insights into the plots, with a focus on the humanistic spirit and artistic characteristics of the stories.

        "The Splendor of National Opera" stage art exhibition and the "Radiance of Costumes" traditional opera costume exhibition were also among the highlights of this year’s traditional Chinese opera festival. The two exhibitions were held respectively at the the China Cultural Center and Center Events Paris (3 Rue du Dr Lancereaux, 75008 Paris, France). Organized by the Stage Design Department of NACTA and co-presented by the Wenzhou Ouju Art Research Institute, the First Troupe of the Guangdong Chao Opera Theatre, and Minjiang Teachers College, the exhibitions showcased nearly 200 items. These included traditional Chinese opera costumes, headdresses, painted facial masks, stage design models, digital stage performance design videos, opera-themed animations, and cultural creative products. In addition, regional handicrafts such as Ou embroidery, Ou ceramics, as well as musical instruments used in Chao and Min operas were also on display. With their timeless aesthetic appeal and exquisite craftsmanship, these opera costumes and artifacts enriched the cultural dimension of the festival and deepened the dialogue between French and Chinese civilizations.

        This year’s Traditional Chinese Opera Festival placed particular emphasis on intercultural dialogue and exchange. On November 7, a Franco-Chinese artists’ salon was held successfully at the China Cultural Center in Prais. The event brought together leading figures from both countries, including Yin Xiaodong, Vice Chairman of the China Theatre Association, President of NACTA, and Chair of the 9th Festival Committee; Liu Hongge, Director of the Centre Culturel de Chine à Paris and Executive Chair of the Festival; Jean-Pierre Wurtz, Honorary Director of Theatre at the French Ministry of Culture and Chair of the French Organizing Committee of the Festival; Jean-Marie Fégly, sinologist and member of the jury; Vincent Colin, Director and former head of the Indian Ocean Theatre Centre; and Wu Gang, Chinese Theatre Association member, photographer based in France, and jury member of the Festival.

        These Franco-Chinese artists engaged in in-depth discussions on the ecology of theatre arts in both countries, intercultural artistic exchange, and the global dissemination of Chinese opera. Through a shared global perspective and diverse experiences, they offered thoughtful insights and creative proposals to foster artistic cooperation between China and France. Their exchange went beyond artistic practices and extended into academic discourse, resulting in a deeper mutual understanding and a broad consensus on future collaboration.

        The organizers of the festival presented special events, a series of four lectures given by scholars and practitioners in the field of traditional operas. The distinguished speakers are: Li Yanyan, Associate Professor in the Jingju (Peking Opera) and Kunqu Department of NACTA; Jiang Liuqing, Party Secretary of Minjiang Teachers College; Fang Rujiang, renowned master of Ou Opera; and Lin Yanyun, celebrated artist of Chao Opera. The events drew a large number of French attendees who came to listen and engage with the rich traditions of Chinese opera.

        At the closing ceremony, leading artists from the Paris Opera—including a principal violinist, a tenor, a soprano, and a mezzo-soprano—delivered an impassioned performance of celebrated arias from Thaïs, Lakmé, The Pearl Fishers, Carmen, and Rigoletto, accompanied by cello and piano. As the iconic melody of “Nessun Dorma” (None Shall Sleep) from Puccini’s Turandot filled the venue, the 9^th Traditional Chinese Opera Festival concluded in resounding success. After deliberations among the jury composed of Chinese and French artists, the closing and award ceremony has unveiled the ten award winners. The Peking opera The Orphan of Zhao was awarded the festival’s highest honor, the “Grand Prix de Seine.” Qiu Shi, a student in the seventh “Youth Training Program” who portrayed Cheng Ying in the production, received the award for Best Actor (Prix D’Interprétation Masculine). The Ou opera Top Graduate Zhang Xie won the Jury’s Special Prize. The Best Actress award was presented to Wang Meifang of the First Troupe of the Guangdong Chao Opera Theatre for her portrayal of Zhu Yingtai in The Butterfly Lovers. Wu Limin, from Minjiang Teachers College, received the Best Supporting Performance award for her role as Madam Liu in the Min opera The Story of the Red Skirt. The China Cultural Center in Paris was granted the Best Organization Award in recognition of its outstanding contributions to this year’s festival. In the category of opera films, the Peking opera films The Jewelry Purse and Havoc in Heaven, the Cantonese opera film White Snake, and the Peking opera digital film The Female Generals of the Yang Family were each honored with the “Lumière de Seine” Award.

        “Art is the finest medium of communication.” The broad dialogue, interaction, and convergence among diverse artistic forms represent not only the trend of global cultural prosperity, but also a shared aspiration of humanity. From “appreciating one’s own beauty” to “appreciating the beauty of others,” it is only through the ideal of “beauty is shared in harmony and diversity” that we can cultivate a flourishing garden of world civilizations, rich in color and vitality.

        As Chairman Yin Xiaodong has expressed, it is our hope that the Traditional Chinese Opera Festival in Paris will remain an open gateway—one through which Chinese opera continues to shine brightly on the world stage. May it serve as a space where people from different nations and cultural backgrounds encounter and understand one another through the medium of art, collectively bearing witness to, and contributing to, the diversity and prosperity of human civilization.

        With the sustained commitment of China and France, the ancient charm of Chinese opera will surely set sail once more, resonating with a new symphony of “beauty is shared in harmony and diversity” in the grand narrative of human civilization.

(Written by Li Huayi, Deputy Director of the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation, Associate Researcher at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts)

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