Tangjiawan marks centennial of famed playwright's birth

The 100th birthday of Tang Disheng, renowned scriptwriter of the famous Cantonese Opera Princess Cheung Ping was marked in Tangjiawan Town on June 18 in a celebration of local culture.

Residents of Tangjiawan were invited to join the ceremony at Xuejing Hall, a well-preserved century-old residence now used for local cultural exhibitions. Another site was the indigenous-cuisine Tangjia Song restaurant located in a renovated building of old architecture. In addition, live broadcast was made on the Sina website, which is operated by leading dotcom Sina Corp. The cumulative number of viewers was 634,000. 

100th birthday of Tang Disheng celebrated [Photo by Wu Changfu / Zhuhai Daily] 

Tang had written a total of 400 Cantonese operas over two decades. In the 1950s, an opera troupe was established with members including Tang Disheng, Ren Jianhui, Bai Xuexian, and Liang Xingbo. Tang’s original screenplays of Princess Cheung Ping, Story of Violet Hairpin, The Reincarnation of Lady Plum Blossom, and The Peony Pavilion -- Interrupted Dream have become well-known after being performed by his three troupe colleagues.

In 1959, Ren Jianhui and Bai Xuexian premiered Tang’s new work of The Reincarnation of Lady Plum Blossom with Tang Disheng in attendance. When the fourth act was played, Tang had a heart attack and died at age 43.

According to Duan Fei, president of the Phoenix Hill Tourism Culture Promotion Center Association, Tangjia Bay is the cradle of local Zhuhai culture with plenty of tourism and culture resources. Because the ancient architecture of Tangjia Old Town is well-preserved, tourism development there hasn’t followed the commercial paths of Yangshuo and Lijiang old towns. Instead, Tangjia has integrated tourism development with residents’ daily lives, calling for harmonious development with slow life. Traditional snack shops, gold jewelry stores, and training stadiums of Wing Chun Kung Fu were opened in Tangjia Old Town.

As scheduled, pedestrian streets and ancient city walls restoring the high street scenes of more than 100 years ago will be constructed in two to three years, Duan revealed.