"The Story of Huansha" is a legendary script created by the Ming Dynasty dramatist Liang Chenyu. It is also the first literary legend sung in Kunshan accent. It is a milestone in the history of Chinese opera. The whole play is based on the struggle for hegemony between Wu and Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period, and revolves around the love tragedy between Fan Li and Xi Shi. Fan Li, a doctor from the State of Yue, met Xi Shi, a girl with ruffled hair, by the Ruoye River, and the two fell in love. After the Yue Kingdom was defeated, Fan Li reluctantly dedicated Xi Shi to King Wu Fu Chai in order to restore the country. Xi Shi had a deep understanding of righteousness, used her beauty to seduce Fu Chai, and helped King Gou Jian of Yue to suffer hardships and eventually destroy Wu. After the success, Fan Li and Xi Shi could have been reunited, but they were forced to separate due to political suspicion and ended up rafting across the five lakes. Through the conflict between "emotion" and "loyalty", Liang Chenyu created a complex image of Xi Shi, who has both family and country feelings and personal emotions. In the play, "Ji Zi" and "Pan Hu" have beautiful diction and precise melody, which fully demonstrate the artistic characteristics of Kun Opera's "Shui Mo Diao". "Huan Sha Ji" combines historical romance with love legend, creating a creative paradigm of Ming and Qing legends "using the feelings of separation and union to describe the feeling of rise and fall", and has a profound influence on later masterpieces such as "The Peach Blossom Fan" and "The Palace of Eternal Life".
