A Traditional Play in the Traditional Manner: Chinese Opera and the Politics of Diplomacy, 1946–1958

The author offers an overview of the political machinations that brought the performance of Chinese opera to London for the first time in the twentieth century. He explores its importance in asserting identity and nation to the wider international community in a time of Chinese political and social upheaval. In the context of the Cold War, British concern over the future of Hong Kong following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the PRC and Taiwan jockeying for recognition as the ‘true’ China, as well as the Communist Party of Great Britain’s (CPGB) own interest in maintaining relations with the communist bloc, the arrival of Peking opera troupes in London created a flurry of diplomatic activity. The author documents the objections voiced by the British government to CPGB involvement in the visits, as well as PRC objections to a visit by a troupe from Taiwan. Such criticism highlights the significance of Chinese opera to assertions of nation, identity and statehood.