Cixi and Imperial Consort Zhen
The new historical Henan Opera "Cixi and Imperial Consort Zhen" was the grand play of the troupe in 2007, with Henan Opera Queen Wang Hailing as Cixi and Xiao Yangling as Consort Zhen. The story is about a struggle between two women inside the Forbidden City.
Consort Zhen was the favorite consort of the Guangxu Emperor. She married the Emperor one year after entering the Forbidden City in 1889, and was granted the title of "Concubine Zhen." At the beginning, Empress Dowager Cixi very much appreciated Consort Zhen's talents, and hired China's top artisans to teach her painting and playing musical instruments. However, Consort Zhen urged the Emperor to be "strong and independent," and encouraged his attempts to reform and to learn foreign languages. It was also said that Consort Zhen liked photography and invited westerners into the Forbidden City to learn more about it. This explains the extensive photograph collection of Consort Zhen, an unusual occurrence for an Imperial Consort. Her association with foreign customs, in addition to her peculiar habit of dressing in men's clothes, inspired even more disdain from Empress Dowager Cixi. Once, in response to her arrogant attitude, Empress Dowager Cixi teased Consort Zhen by calling her "Grandma Zhen." However, after her cooperation with Emperor Guangxu to stage a military coup attempting to force Empress Dowager Cixi giving up her power, Consort Zhen was imprisoned.
During the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, the Imperial Court fled from the Forbidden City to Xi'an. Cixi ordered Consort Zhen to be taken out of the prison and brought in front of her. Realizing that Empress Dowager Cixi meant to order her commit suicide, Consort Zhen begged Empress Dowager Cixi to allow the Emperor to stay in Beijing and negotiate with the foreign powers. Infuriated with her, Empress Dowager Cixi finally ordered Consort Zhen to be thrown into a well behind the Ningxia Palace in the north-eastern part of the Forbidden City.
One side is the powerful Empress Dowager, while the other is the puny imperial consort; one's character is twisted, the other is suppressed and injured; one excludes dissidents for her power by any means, the other stands out for morality and justice, hoping to fulfill the good wishes of national strength and peace. It is their positions that lead to different choices in the extreme and brutal conditions of life for their own purposes that start the conflict of humanity. The soul of a tragedy is to show the eternal of beauty by the destruction of it. This play profoundly reveals the unpredictable complexity and variety of history and the connotation of human nature, asking us to consider these themes in a new light.
By Liu Fang
