183 Beijing Operas - Ben Wu - Number 195

Ben Wu

Beijing Opera - "Longing for the Secular"

Ben Wu with a clown-monk face plays a leading role in "Longing for the Secular," adapted from the "Only Extant Copy of the Poetic Dramas of Yuan and Ming." A young girl has lived in a convent on a mountain since childhood. One day, no longer able to bear the loneliness of a nun's life, she runs away. On her way down the mountain, she meets a young monk called Ben Wu who has also renounced his monkhood. They fall in love and return to the secular world together.