Beijing Opera · 京剧
Twenty-eight translated introductions to the most celebrated plays of the Peking Opera stage — from founding myths and Tang-dynasty romance to the stratagems of the Three Kingdoms and the modern revolutionary stage. Each entry explains the story, its artistic character, and why it matters.
The plays below are grouped by theme. Pick any card to read a full, translated introduction — the story, the artistry, and a note on why the piece endures. New translations are added as the series grows.
Begin your journey into Jingju
Gods, demons and serpent spirits
Love, loss and the price of devotion
Xiang Yu's last night
Yang Guifei's tipsy grace
Cheng Yanqiu's artistic independence
A courtesan betrayed
A family crushed by war and tax
The princess who married beyond the frontier
Strategy, loyalty and the sword
Zhao Yun's lone stand
Zhuge Liang's bluff
The feasting of the Three Kingdoms
Shan Xiongxin's last defiance
Mi Heng's insult to Cao Cao
A founding general's family tragedy
When the women of the Yang clan take the field
Acrobatics, wordplay and household storms
A wordless night-fight in the dark
The rescue of an innocent general
A teahouse girl's martial comedy
A royal marital squabble
A crooked body, an upright heart
Peking Opera rewrites the modern age
A small man in a time of revolution
Yang Zirong goes undercover
The secret code passed through three generations
The Anti-Japanese hero who would not yield
Lao She's tragic puller of Beiping