183 Beijing Operas - Kang Jinlong - Number 222

Kang Jinlong

Beijing Opera - "Pipa Cave"

Kang Jinlong, or Kang the Golden Dragon, with a black symbolic face plays a celestial creature in the opera "Pipa Cave." The monk Sanzang is captured by a scorpion she-monster who lives in Pipa Cave. She wants the monk to marry her. Sanzang's disciples Monkey and Pigsy fight the scorpion and are badly stung. Finally, calling on the help of Ang'ri Ji, a celestial rooster, and King Jinlong, a dragon, they subdue the scorpion and rescue Sanzang.

This opera is adapted from an episode in "Pilgrimage in the West." a novel by Wu Cheng'en (1510 ?-1182?) of the Ming Dynasty that is based on popular tales, poetic dramas, and storyteller's scripts about Monk Sanzang's pilgrimage to India in quest of Buddhist scriptures. Written in the style of Chinese romantic literature, the novel is rich in imagination, humorous in language, and full of intriguing events. It has provided an inexhaustible supply of source material for Chines operas and other performing arts.