To the American Conference on Chinese Oral and Performing Literature

CHINOPERL Papers No. 27 (2007)©2007 by the Association for Chinese Oral and Performing Literature, Inc. TO THE AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON CHINESE ORAL AND PERFORMING LITERATURE: When I learned that CHINOPERL plans to publish a special issue for Qingzhao (aka Kate)1 I, too, in spite of my long illness, wished to contribute a few words. I am especially fond of Kate and deeply admire her dedication to carrying out research. When she learned to sing Beijing drum song (Jingyun dagu 京韻大鼓) she was even faster than many of my Chinese students in mastering the first, second, third, and fourth beats. Furthermore, some of the artistic touches she added to her drum song performance are much more appealing than I could ever have imagined. Everyone says her performance of the “The Slopes of Changban” episode captures the flavor of my singing style.2 That is the fruit of her dedication and effort. I feel especially proud to have such a distinguished foreign disciple. Sun Shujun January 15, 2006 Facsimile from Beijing Xiqu yanjiusuo [Institute for Drama Research] 1 Sun Shujun uses Kate Stevens’s Chinese alias, Shi Qingzhao. 2 This drum song is based on an episode from the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” (Sanguozhi yanyi). ...