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Beijing People's Art Theatre, Rickshaw Boy

Updated: 2016-04-26 17:12:49

( meetinbeijing.org.cn )

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The Capital Theatre, April 29 - May 9, 2016.

Rickshaw Boy or Camel Xiangzi is a novel by the Chinese author Lao She about the life of a fictional Beijing rickshaw man. It is considered a classic of 20th-century Chinese literature.The novel was began in spring, 1936, and was published in installments in the magazine Yuzhou feng ("Cosmic Wind") beginning in January, 1937.

The major subject matter of Rickshaw Boy is the way in which the hero makes his living pulling a rickshaw, the options he faces and choices he makes, and especially the fundamental issues of whether to work independently or as a servant to a family, and whether to rent or own a rickshaw.

An important theme of the book is the economic precariousness of the hero's life. Further, the book explores personality characteristics and their relationship to economic existence, especially tolerance for risk, tolerance for hard work, and assertiveness, and personal standards of human dignity.

Isolation and individualism are important themes in the book. "His life might well be ruined by his own hands but he wasn't about to sacrifice anything for anybody. He who works for himself knows how to destroy himself. These are the two starting points of Individualism."

After being adapted into stage dramas, a movie, a TV drama and an animated TV series, Rickshaw Boy is now being turned into an opera. As one highlight of the Meet in Beijing Performance Series, the opera will premiere at the Capital Theatre from 29th April to 9th May.

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