Introduction
In 1974, Chung Sun Sing Opera Troupe, founded earlier by Lam Kar-sing and Yuen Yiu-hung, staged their new production The Priceless Jade in Tai Ping Theatre. The idea for the opera was born during a visit to the Great Wall of China by Lam Kar-sing, Lee Siu-wan (screenwriter) and Ng Kwan-lai (renowned Cantonese opera performer), and Lee Siu-wan eventually created The Priceless Jade based on the Peking opera The Reconciliation Between a General and the Chief Minister.
King Zhaoxiang of Qin offered the King of Zhao fifteen walled-cities in exchange for the invaluable Heshibi jade. As Qin was powerful and Zhao was weak, the King of Zhao and the ministers all reckoned that Zhaoxiang might not keep his promise, and Zhao would lose both the jade and the territories. The King delegated the brilliant Lun Sheung-yue to undertake the mission to deliver the jade to Qin. Before the departure, fearing his young son would be orphaned and lack a good upbringing if the mission failed, Sheung-yue wanted to tattoo the word “country” on his son’s arm, to remind him to follow his father’s step to serve the country. The story has a happy ending when Sheung-yue came home safe. He used his wit to return the jade to Zhao and was promoted to become the chief minister.
The Priceless Jade epitomizes the genre of Cantonese opera librettos. Using a historical episode as a plot, the librettist enriched the story with moral and ethical values, which are conveyed to the public through the idealization of the characters and their demeanor, and expressed in a folk performing art form.