"The Mountain Gate" is an exhilarating Kunqu play of comedy and actions. Because of the great demands made on the actor playing the lead in singing, acting, recitativo, and, most important, in martial art dances, only the best trained actors would dare to tackle the part. Any opportunity to see it performed is thus much anticipated and appreciated by the audience in and out of China.

          The story of "The Mountain Gate" is as follows. Having killed some corrupt official, Lu Zhishen, a lusty, heedless, but chivalrous warrior of the Song dynasty (960-1279), fled and hid in a mountain Buddhist temple where he aspired to be a monk. Instead of becoming calm and spiritual, however, he became increasingly agitated, as he came to find his new life of rigid abstinence quite unendurable. He spent most of his time brooding over this and reminiscing the good old days of wines and meats. 

          It is in this mood and state of mind that Lu Zhishen takes a stroll in the woods outside the temple on the day our play starts. As his luck would have it, he comes across a wine peddler carrying a full stock of fine wine. The rich bouquet is such that Lu, forgetting all rules governing the life of a monk, promptly asks the peddler for a drink. The peddler refuses, as he has been told by the abbot of the temple not to sell his wine to any monk. 

          Pleadings soon turn to threatening demands. Before long Lu pushes the peddler onto the ground, siezes the wine barrels, and down goes all the wine. Furthermore, Lu teases the mortified wine peddler by refusing payment. But in the end Lu happily settles his drinking bill, and reveals his name, at which the peddler is both surprised and honored. The two then bid each other farewell, with the peddler promising to bring Lu more wine the following day. 
 
 

Prepared by Ben Wang
3/97