Peking Opera: Farewell My Concubine 京劇: 霸王别姬

The item, "Peking opera" was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.

Peking opera is a performance art incorporating singing, reciting, acting, martial arts.

Although widely practised throughout China, its performance centres on Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.

These ones are modern/ current era costumes of Peking Opera. From my recent trip to Shanghai.

The lady is a well-known Chinese actress.

The makeup artiste and costumer is also a well-known opera actor very active in the fashion world and has appeared in GQ fashion magazines.

Photo Concept is to mimic those old China posters and calendars from the early 1980s…

Starring 奥黛麗佳 as 虞姬

Makeup and costumes by 方林飛

Consort Yu (虞姬; died 202 BC), also known as "Yu the Beauty" (虞美人), was the wife of the warlord Xiang Yu, who competed with Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, for supremacy over China during the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC).

Consort Yu's full name and birth date are not recorded in history, although there are two differing accounts on her origin. The first claimed that she was from Yanji Town (顏集鎮) in Shuyang County, while the second mentioned that she was from Suzhou; both accounts agreed that she was born in present-day Jiangsu.

In 209 BC, when Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang started a rebellion to overthrow the Qin dynasty, Consort Yu's brother, Yu Ziqi (虞子期), joined their rebel group. During this time, Consort Yu met Xiang Yu and became his consort, and had accompanied him whenever he went to battle ever since then.

In 202 BC, Xiang Yu came under attack by his rival Liu Bang (the King of Han) during the Battle of Gaixia. The Han soldiers started singing folk songs from the Chu lands to evoke feelings of nostalgia among Xiang Yu's troops, who were mostly from Chu, and create the false impression that many of Xiang Yu's men had surrendered and joined the Han forces. The morale of Xiang Yu's forces plummeted and several of his men deserted. In despair, Xiang Yu consumed alcohol and sang the "Song of Gaixia" to express his sorrow. Consort Yu also performed a sword dance and sang a song in return, expressing her willingness to die with him. Xiang Yu ultimately made a last stand against Liu Bang's forces and took his own life when he was overwhelmed by the enemy. Although Consort Yu's eventual fate was not recorded in history, cultural works commonly depict her committing suicide by slitting her throat with Xiang Yu's sword shortly after she had sung her song.

A Consort Yu Tomb stands in present-day Lingbi County, Anhui.

The Hegemon-King Bids His Lady Farewell, also known as Farewell My Concubine, is a traditional Chinese opera. It was initially performed by Yang Xiaolou and Shang Xiaoyun in 1918 in Beijing. Though usually associated with Peking opera, it is also performed in other genres such as Cantonese opera.

The opera tells the story of Xiang Yu, the self-styled "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" who battled for the unification of China with Liu Bang, the eventual founder of the Han dynasty. In the play, Xiang Yu is surrounded by Liu Bang's forces and on the verge of total defeat, so he calls forth his horse and begs it to run away for the sake of its own safety. The horse refuses, against his wishes. He then calls for the company of his wife Consort Yu. Realizing the dire situation that has befallen them, she begs to die alongside her master, but he strongly refuses this wish. Afterwards, as he is distracted, Yu commits suicide with Xiang Yu's sword.

The novel Farewell My Concubine by Lilian Lee and its film adaptation of the same name use the play as part of their stories.