THE PEACOCK PRINCESS SYNOPSIS
The Peacock Princess Opera is based on a Dai Minority fairy tale from China’s Yunnan Province. The story starts with seven beautiful maidens clothed in magical feathers at the Golden Lake. The seven maidens are Princesses from the Mengbanjia nation happens to be hunting near the lake and unexpectedly comes upon the youngest Princess, Nanuona . The two falls in love at first sight and exchange gifts as tokens of their love. The Prince then brings Nanuona to the castle to meet his father, the king.
The annual Water Splashing Festival is being celebrated in Mengbanjia . During the festival, a contest is held to choose a bride for the Prince. The Premier of Mengbanjia , Daxina , who is also an evil wizard, has design on the king’s throne. He plans for his daughter, Nanxinsha , to become the Prince’s bride in order to solidify his own powers. He discovers, to his dismay, from a servant that the future bride of the Prince, the Peacock Princess has been brought to the castle to awaits the wedding ceremony. In order to succeed his aim, he creates discord and war between Mengbanjia and the neighboring country.
Daxina persuades the king to have the Prince, Zhaoshutun , lead the army in the battle, thus separating the Prince from Nanuana . He then casts his black magic spell over the land of Mengbanjia to create chaos. He distorts the truth by telling the King and the people that Nunuona is a witch and has caused all the trouble. She is the reason that the Prince is in danger and surrounded by the enemy on the battlefield. The Peacock Princess must be executed. Nanuona, with no other alternatives, doesn’t her magic peacock feathers and escapes upon the wind.
Meanwhile, the Prince wins the battle and returns to find Nanuona missing, Heartbroken, he leaves the castle in search of his love. For three years, he wanders all over the land looking for Nanuona , suffering many hardships. Daxina and his daughter Nanxinsha , are finally able to ambush the Prince and wound him with a poison arrow. The Prince continues to fight bravely, forcing Daxina and Nanxinsha to escape through a cloud of white smoke.
Nanuona falls ill from heartache and fails to recover. Fortunately, Zhaoshutun is found by the other six Peacock Princesses, Nanuona ‘s sisters bring him to the Peacock Palace. The two lovers are finally reunited. The entire nation rejoices, and they all live happily ever after.
This is an opera based on a touching folk myth from the Yunnan border in China.
The golden clouds are reflected in the golden lake, and the flowers are in full bloom beside the golden lake. Seven fairies (princesses of the Peacock Kingdom) wearing peacock feathers are scattering flowers and falling from the sky… Prince Zhao Shutun of Mengbanjia is hunting by the lake and meets the seventh princess Nunuo. Na, the two fell in love and exchanged tokens. The prince brought the Peacock Princess to meet his father.
During the annual Water Splashing Festival in Mengbanjia, a grand beauty pageant is being held in the palace. The king wants to select a concubine for Prince Zhaoshutun. The wizard Da Xina is the Prime Minister of the Allied Powers. He conspires to usurp the throne and wants to marry his daughter Nan Xinsha to the prince. Suddenly, he received a report from his subordinates, and Zhao Shutun brought Princess Peacock back to the palace. In order to conspire with her, he did not hesitate to use tricks, create disputes, and provoke war with neighboring countries. He took the opportunity to encourage the king to send Prince Zhao Shutun to lead an army to fight and kill a newly married couple. Lovers-Nan Nuona and Zhao Shutun were separated alive.
Da Xina then used witchcraft to make the sky and the earth darken in Mengban, and took the opportunity to falsely accuse Nuona in front of the king: Nuona was a goblin, causing the prince to be surrounded on the battlefield, and she must be killed and rescued. Nuona had no choice but to put on her peacock feathers, danced sadly, and rode the wind away…
Zhaoshu Tun Banner was launched and he returned to the court in victory, but his beloved wife was nowhere to be seen, so he left the palace to look for her. In the past three years, he traveled through harsh mountains and rivers and experienced countless dangers. In the end, he was plotted against by Da Xina and Nuan Xinsha, and was wounded by poisonous arrows.
Nuona was so sad that she fell ill. Suddenly she heard her sister tell her, and she was overjoyed to reunite with Zhaoshutun, who had been rescued by her sister. The whole country rejoiced, and peacocks flew, spreading happiness to the whole world.
