WRITER Pai Hsien-yung made his name with best-selling books but has devoted his later career to championing China's fading opera style, Xu Wei reports.Martial arts and acrobatic fighting involving backflips and twist-kicks used to be nearly all that foreign audiences knew about traditional Chinese opera. But these stereotypes are changing owing to the unrelenting efforts of Pai Hsien-yung, the famous Taiwanese writer who has promoted Kunqu Opera domestically and overseas for three decades.

The 70-something Pai was recently invited by Fudan Institute for Advanced Study in Social Science to give a lecture about the artistry of this 600-year-old art form and its new possibilities of revival in modern times.

"Kunqu Opera was in a sharp decline in the late 20th century," Pai said. "Even today it is facing many problems during its recent revival period. I hope I can really help to preserve this graceful art which has tremendous aesthetic value."

Born into an illustrious military family, Pai experienced a traditionally strict Chinese education in areas covering ancient poetry and history.

In 1952, Pai and his family resettled in Taiwan from where he went abroad in 1963 to study literary theory and creative writing. After earning his M.A. degree, he became a professor of Chinese literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The writer has established his worldwide literary reputation through his own great works including "Jade Love," "The Last Night of Madam Chin," "Crystal Boys," "Fallen Immortals" and "Taipei People."

Writing was an integral part of Pai's life until one day he realized his deep love and responsibility for supporting the fading traditional Chinese opera.

Love for opera since childhood"Under no circumstances should China lose its cultural identity. The 21st century is a good time for our nation to redefine and revive its cultural values.""I will never forget the experience when my mother took me to the Majestic Theater for the first time to watch the Kunqu Opera classic 'The Peony Pavilion' starring masters Mei Lanfang and Yu Zhenfei," Pai said. "I was only nine years old but the scene often recurs in my memory and its pure joy and fun have accompanied me throughout my life."

The beautiful melody of "The Peony Pavilion," considered the oriental version of "Romeo and Juliet," inspired him to add its arias and dialogue to a short story titled "Waking from a Dream." This was later turned into a stage play, but there was still an unsatisfied desire in his heart.

In 2004, Pai decided to revise the play and spent five months condensing the original 55-scene script to a 27-scene version which catered better to the tastes of a modern audience. He later made a bold attempt to stage the nine-hour performance in theaters throughout the United States and Europe.

It was a tremendous success and when staged in prestigious colleges in the United States it garnered long, thundering, standing ovations from the audience.

Many Western people regard Kunqu Opera as the best theater form they'd ever seen because of its elegant dance movements, costumes, inherent Oriental philosophy and beautiful poetry-like verse.

Some even compared Pai's successful tours of the United States and Europe as a culture shock in their academic circles equating to the 1930 US tour of master Mei, who introduced traditional Chinese opera to the world for the first time. Soon after Pai's tour performances, the University of California, Berkeley, launched a comprehensive curriculum on Kunqu Opera.

"In London, a city so proud of its own Shakespeare's plays, the show was hailed by even the harshest critics, which boosted my confidence about Kunqu Opera's charm being able to transcend the boundaries of time and space," Pai added.

So far Pai's newly revised "The Peony Pavilion" has had 184 performances around the world. Audiences today are moved by its romantic and poetic love story between Du Liniang, daughter of an important official, and poor young scholar Liu Mengmei.

Pai calls it destiny that his relationship to the play has lasted almost a whole lifetime, from his childhood to retirement years. He always feels that he is getting closer to the spirit of Kunqu Opera as time passes.

One of the oldest forms of opera in existence in China, Kunqu Opera originated in Jiangsu Province and is regarded as the mother of China's local operas, due to its huge influence on other Chinese theater forms, including Peking Opera.

The opera is a blend of drama, singing, poetic recital, dancing and martial arts. In 2001, it was listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Though some people say that traditional art must go through an evolution from success to decline, Pai disagrees. He believes that with proper protection the supreme achievement of Chinese opera can retain its vigor.

"Our nation has produced so many great arts and cultures such as the beautiful poems of the Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties," Pai said. "However, I deeply regret seeing some of the cultural heritage vanishing. For instance, the musical scores of Song Dynasty poems have disappeared. There is no reason why we can't diligently preserve them."

In Pai's eyes, globalization is a two-edged sword as the country's young people may be excessively influenced by Western cultures and civilization and abandon the essence of their own.

"Under no circumstances should China lose its cultural identity," he added. "The 21st century is a good time for our nation to redefine and revive its cultural values."

Pai has launched a Kunqu Opera revival program jointly with Peking University and Fudan University. Courses, lectures and performances will be provided over five years for students to foster their interest in this art form.

Additionally, he never misses a chance to bring vitality to classic shows so they attract younger audiences. He recently staged a new version of the Kunqu Opera classic "The Story of the Jade Hairpin" at Shanghai Oriental Art Center.

Although much of Pai's leisure time is occupied by Kunqu Opera, he still considers writing a basic and important pursuit for him.

He is optimistic that a lot more great young Chinese writers will emerge if the country can include more humanities and traditional culture classes in its current eduction system.