Musical dreams

The celebrated Jiangsu Kunqu Opera House will perform Floating Dreams, one of the most popular Kunqu operas, from Aug 17 to 23 at the prestigious cultural heritage site, the former residence of Qing Dynasty Prince Gong.

The 600-year-old Kunqu Opera is the fountain of China's opera tradition, from which derive the country's many local varieties of opera, including Peking Opera.

Floating Dreams was adapted from Six Chapters of Floating Life by Shen Fu (1763-1825), a renowned literary figure of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The six dreams portrayed in this work cover all the emotions and feelings of a usual life. A line from the last chapter, "life is just like a dream", concludes the theme of Shen's story.