China's first poem-opera, The Hegemon's Farewell: Xiang Yu and His Beauty Yu, after its premiere on May 8 in Xi'an, China, debuted on May 15th at China Night 2025 of the 78th Cannes Film Festival.
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The Hegemon King with his Beauty Yu, walking on red carpet in Cannes with ZHOU Hongqiao.
The story depicts the decisive battle at Gaixia between the armies of Chu and Han from December 203 BC to January 202 BC. The Han forces laid a ten-sided ambush, trapping the Chu troops in a desperate situation marked by the haunting melodies of "Songs of Chu from All Sides".
In this life-and-death extremity, Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Chu, and his beloved Beauty Yu co-created an eternal tragedy: Beauty Yu committed suicide with Xiang Yu's sword, sacrificing herself for love and loyalty. Xiang Yu, refusing to cross the Wu River to retreat, chose death withlove and courage, embodying the archetype of a tragic hero defying unjust fate.
The five-act poetic drama is written by ZHOU Hongqiao, a renowned poet, playwright, and innovation course professor at Peking University, Fudan University, and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. Mr. Zhou said: "Xiang Yu and his Beauty Yu their love-unto-death tragedy, interwoven with warrior's ethics, valor, and free will versus fate has resonated across millennia. It parallels Achilles' choice at Troy or Dido's pyre in the Aeneid, yet remains uniquely rooted in Chinese tradition."
The operatic part is composed by Dr. WANG Xinyang, first-prize winner of Toru Takemitsu Composition Award (2020) and Guggenheim Fellowship (2025). The performance features conductor HOU Jie leading a symphony orchestra composed entirely of professors from Xi'an Conservatory of Music. CHEN Jiongran, First Prize Winner in 2021 Tiziano Rossetti International Voice Competition, acted as Xiang Yu. FANG Yuan, the Runner-Up of 2016 China's Super Girl National Finals, acted as Beauty Yu.
Mr. ZHOU added: "By innovating neoclassical poem-drama, I aim to extend the Chinese lyric poetry tradition into a new category of dramatic poetry. By transforming it into music and opera, I call it poemusic and poem-opera, I aim to pioneer new pathways for Chinese culture's global reach."
At the beginning of the night, the presenter mentioned the 1993 film Farewell My Concubine, who won the 46th Palme d'Or.
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