Hi everyone,
Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is the 55th episode — The Royal Groom 女驸马。
It was recorded yesterday. All parts are performed by me.
The song is from Huangmei Opera, a form of rural folksong and dance from Anhui Province that has been in existence for the last 200 years. It is one of the most famous and mainstream opera in China. You can read more about Huangmei Opera here.
The song in the recording is one of the best known pieces from a famous opera called 《女驸马》premiered in 1959. It is very difficult to translate this title. 驸马 (fù mǎ) is an old word and a title only used for the son-in-law of the Chinese emperors. 女 (nǚ) means female.
The widely known version of this story is about a young woman name Feng Suzhen who wanted to marry her true love instead of the man with whom her parents arranged a marriage. Suzhen saw the only way to convince her parents to change their mind was to have an order from the emperor.
She was from an educated family. She decided to dress like a man to go to the capital to take the annual national exam. If she did well, she could be given an official position working for the emperor. She ended up become number one of the country from the exam result. The rule was that the champion of the national exam must marry the daughter of the emperor.
However, Suzhen would be executed by the emperor if he found out the truth. She didn’t know what to do but to show up to her wedding with the princess. On the wedding night, Suzhen (dressed like a royal groom) confessed to the princess why she lied to the emperor. The princess was moved by Suzhen’s bravery, intelligence and determination to be with her true love. The princess asked a pardon for Suzhen from the emperor. Suzhen was let go free and return to her hometown with the emperor’s command to marry the man she loved.
You can watch the 1959 original opera production on this YouTube link. The main character was played by the most renown Hui Opera singer Ms. Yan Fengying 严凤英.
Lyrics：
为救李郎离家园， 谁料皇榜中状元
中状元着红袍，头戴宫花好哇好新鲜哪。
我也曾赴过琼林宴， 我也曾打马御街前。
人人夸我潘安貌， 头戴官花好啊好新鲜哪。
我考状元不为把名显， 我考状元不为做高官
为了多情的李公子， 夫妻恩爱花好月儿圆哪！
This is the cover art of this opera’s DVD production. This is the main character —Feng Suzhen 冯素珍 dressing in a man’s opera robe。
