Title: Beihang Aesthetic Education Lecture Series: The Beauty of Kunqu Opera

Speaker: Wang Jin

Time: Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 14:00–16:00 (Admission from 13:30, half an hour in advance)

Venue: Yongman Theater, Shahe Campus

Hosted by: Aesthetic Education Center of Beihang University

Registration:

Students: Please register via the Boya platform.

Faculty and Staff: Please scan the QR code to register.

Abstract:

Having endured several rises and falls over centuries, Kunqu Opera still radiates brilliant artistic splendor. Its enduring appeal lies in its delicate performance techniques, exquisite costume and makeup design, and distinctive melodic expressions, all of which endow Kunqu with extraordinary artistic and ornamental value.

Its performance is unique and graceful: through sung passages, facial expressions, eye movements, body gestures, footwork, and in combination with the perfect costume, makeup, and props, performers vividly portray the characters' personalities and emotions from outward demeanour to inner sentiment.

Each character has their own distinct performance style and characteristics. Performers need to conduct in-depth, detailed, and multi-faceted analysis of the portrayed role to display their psychological and emotional world, pursuing the realm of "dressing in their garments, borrowing their voice, and conveying their spirit," attaining artistic excellence through both physical and spiritual resemblance.

About the Speaker:

Wang Jin, National First-Class Actress of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, Member of the China Theatre Association, Master of Arts from the Chinese National Academy of Arts, and a Kunqu inheritor of intangible cultural heritage in Xicheng District, known as the leading Huadan actress of Northern Kunqu Opera. She has won the Shanghai Magnolia Stage Performance Award, and her frequently performed repertoire includes The Romance of the Western Chamber, The Kite Mistake, The Peony Pavilion, and The Legend of the White Snake, among others.

She has performed and lectured in countries and regions including the United States, France, Germany, Japan, India, Vietnam, Finland and Australia, highly acclaimed by audiences at home and abroad.

She teaches Kunqu Opera at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and has given numerous Kunqu lectures at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mei Lanfang Theatre, Jixiang Theatre, National Library of China, Peking University, China Conservatory of Music, Communication University of China and other institutions.

Editor: Liu Tingting