Tian Haojiang in Le Cid. [Photo provided to China Daily]

An emerging self

In playing the great master, Tian says he has been transformed.

"I have seen a new self emerging after playing it."

Various aspects of Jianzhen's character, including his tenacity and the power of his conviction, all shaped his performance, he says.

"For me this has been a unique and invaluable experience. ... Every moment in your life counts, particularly those that are packed with so much meaning."

And yet rehearsals for Monk Jianzhen Sailing to the East gave Tian little reason to be optimistic about how things would turn out. As the date for the premiere approached he was ill, and he became hamstrung on how exactly to portray the character. In fact, he even became disenchanted with the way he was singing and considered throwing in the towel.

Then one night something astonishing happened. He was wandering along a street in Nanjing. It was dark, it was cold and it was raining, Tian says.

Out of the shadows loomed a barber's shop and Tian pondered whether he should take the plunge: dispense with the hair and mustache that serve him so well in other operas and swap them for the bald head of a monk, something that would serve him well in the role as Jianzhen.

After wrestling with the decision for a short while he walked into the barbers and commanded that all his hair be lopped off.

"It was only when I lost that hair and my mustache that I finally felt right to play Jianzhen," Tian says. "From then on, everything seemed to go so smoothly. I became well again, and everything clicked as I worked with the whole team."

Eager to see more deeply into Jianzhen's soul, he went to Daming Temple in Yangzhou, where the monk was born.