Qingxi opera of Va people staged in SW Yunnan

An’an Sends Rice to Mom, an episode in traditional Qingxi opera of the Va/Wa ethnic group, was staged April 1 in Ganzhezhai village, southwest Yunnan’s Tengchong county.

The episode tells an ancient Chinese story of filial piety, where the poor boy An’an sent food to his wronged mother sheltered in a nunnery.

Qingxi opera was first introduced into Tengchong via merchants from central China’s Hubei province. Back to the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1922), they conducted business along the southern silk that linked up southwest China, the Indo-China peninsular, and the south Asian sub-continent.

The Va opera was listed as a national cultural heritage in 2008. Now villagers perform the art during festivals, and inheritors also taught Qingxi to local pupils.

Source: Xinhua; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue and Wang Qing