Portrait of an Empress

Kit Chan's Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress is once again playing at the Esplanade. Kit Chan's voice is one of my favourites. I remember playing her songs to African American friends and they, too, were totally mesmerised even though they had no clue what "xin1 tong4" was about. My Indian American roommate only complained once after I set the song on replay mode on my PC, forgot about it and went off for 3 hours to do my 5 weeks' worth of laundry so that I would not have to wear PJs to class.

Of all the Empress Dowagers in the Chinese history, Cixi was probably one of the most well-known, remembered mostly for her appetite for power, and her role in the Qing dynasty's downfall. In Kit Chan's musical, American artist Kate Carl goes all the way to Beijing to paint a portrait for Cixi.

But my all-time favourite is still Xiao Zhuang, best known as Grand Empress Dowager Xiao Zhuang Wen, Emperor Kang Xi's grandmother. Much to my annoyance, official history never had comprehensive records of women of the time. However according to most written articles on Xiao Zhuang, she was a highly intelligent lady and an important behind-the-scenes political force that influenced at least 3 generations of Qing rulers. She mediated political struggles and helped the dynasty avoid military upheaval. She managed to protect her young son Shun Zhi and grandson Kang Xi's reigns from scheming princes and generals. Most remarkably, she achieved all of that without undermining the emperor (and hence the stability of the dynasty), unlike Cixi who resorted to putting her emperor on house arrest, and according to some, had a hand in the death of her own son and her fellow Empress Dowager Ci'an.

Of course, one school of thought was that, Xiao Zhuang was only able to control the affairs of the Qing court because of her relationship with Prince Dorgon, her late husband's brother and her son's regent, and possibly the most powerful military leader of the time. Historians seem divided as to whether Xiao Zhuang ended up marrying Prince Dorgon. But there appears to be no doubt that the duo shared a special relationship.

Xiao Zhuang was reportedly the most beautiful maiden of her time in Horqin, Mongolia, where she came from. Unfortunately there was no Kodak in those days, and the court paintings I found portrayed her as a slightly plump, middle-aged woman. I wonder what she looked like in her youth.

This probably does her no justice at all. It was a rather strange few evenings painting the imaginery Xiao Zhuang, with the canvas set at eye-level on the easel. At one point it felt as if I was applying eye shadow for her face-to-face. (If you feel creeped out, it was really not that creepy... I was just having a nice chat with her about her Prince Dorgon.... Ok. Just kidding.)

Personally, it was a rather slow and enjoyable journey, imagining the imprint she made in the sands of time in the then-glorious Qing dynasty. I suppose I am just a sucker for stories of great women in history.

Dancing in the Rain

Two of the handicapped dancers performed The Butterfly Lovers with such grace and beauty.

If it does not ring a bell... The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend about the tragic romance of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, set in the Eastern Jin dynasty. Zhu disguises herself as a man so that she could study at the school, where she meets Liang. And, you guessed right, they fall in love with each other. Liang later discovers that Zhu was a woman, and was crushed when he found out that she was already betrothed to someone else. Liang later dies. On Zhu's wedding day, strong gushes of wind and storm prevented her from walking past Liang's grave. Liang's grave miraculously cracks open, Zhu jumps in, dies, and the duo transforms into a pair of butterflies that always flew around each other.

I have never seen butterflies fly around in the rain. Not that we get to see butterflies often in the first place, even with all the trees and flowers in this green city. I suppose when Liang and Zhu morphed into butterflies, the stormy skies would have suddenly changed its mood and brightened up with a great big rainbow. Maybe with fireworks in the distant sky. (OK I guess I am not cut out to be a movie director. I can hear you screaming stop! argh!)

But I did wonder whether butterflies could fly around in the rain. I mean, could their wings take the beating from the raindrops?

Of course, like any other netizen, I googled for the answer. So apparently butterflies do not fly in the rain. In the wild, they would hold onto trees or bushes just in case they get hit by the rain and get stuck to the ground.

I suppose the weight of the water would weigh them down. I mean, imagine someone up there constantly emptying multiple buckets of water onto your head while you are trying to run away. And the howling winds are so strong that you are constantly swung off your intended path.

Sometimes the butterflies don't run, er fly, fast enough to avoid the rain, and if they do get wet, they simply have to hide somewhere dry and wait until the water evaporates off.

I remember getting caught in the rain when I was a kid, as we came home from the market. Well... actually, Dad, bro and I went out to drench ourselves in the rain. Mom thought we were nuts because we would get sick -- actually I think bro or I did :) But dancing in the rain remains one of the most beautiful memories of my childhood. So thank you, Dad.

Perhaps, just perhaps, some butterflies might like dancing in the rain too.