Lunar New Year Celebration, Feb.14, Athenaeum

A celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year: Year of the Rooster, featuring a performance by the Chinese Kwun Opera Society, has been planned for Monday, Feb. 14 at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum. The public portion of the event begins at 6:45 p.m.
The Society will present Mischief at Class, an episode from the opera The Peony Pavilion, written by Tang Xianzu in 1598, detailing the story of Lady Du Li-Niang and Liu Mong-Mei, and how the power of their love surpassed life and death.
Kwun, the progenitor of the Chinese opera tradition, developed during the 16th century and is characterized by gentle melodies, use of the bamboo flute as its lead instrument, and stylized movement. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recognized the enduring value of Kwun as a "masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity."
The Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in history, dating from 2600 B.C., when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac. Like its Western counterpart, the Chinese Lunar Calendar is yearly andbecause its start is based on the cycles of the mooncan begin anywhere between late January and mid-February. This year it falls on Feb. 9.
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