'Dream of the Red Mansion' shadow puppet play premieres in Beijing

A shadow puppet play based on a captivating segment from the classic Chinese novel "Dream of the Red Mansion" recently made its debut in Beijing, pioneering the way with multiple language versions.

Titled "When Baoyu and Daiyu Shared the Pages of the Western Chamber," this innovative production has been translated into both English and French, thanks to the support of the Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Lin Zhonghua, who oversees shadow puppetry at the China Folk Literature and Art Association, praised recent innovations in the art form. He noted that the multilingual production of "Baoyu and Daiyu Shared the Pages of the Western Chamber" not only opens new channels for overseas performance and cultural exchange, but also addresses the long-standing gap in the traditional shadow puppet repertoire by adapting a theme from "Dream of the Red Mansion."

Students and teachers from Beijing Foreign Studies University also performed an English-dubbed version of the play. Participants said the multilingual performance was challenging due to translation and dubbing difficulties, but described it as a culturally rewarding experience.

Yu Peili, deputy director of the Haidian District Cultural Development Promotion Center, said she hoped the medium of shadow puppetry would make the classic Chinese novel more accessible to young people and help them approach it from new angles.