Protagonist: From Silkworm Farmer to Yue Opera Empress

Whether it’s The Butterfly Lovers or The Romance of the Western Chamber, life is a great stage, and you are its one and only protagonist!…

Her parents expected her to raise silkworms at home to earn money and marry early. They thought singing opera was “making a living with your mouth,” a lowly occupation. From childhood, Zhou Lijun practiced singing to the spring silkworms in the mulberry grove. The rustle of silkworms eating mulberry leaves was her first accompaniment. Her uncle, Hu Sanxian, brought her to the student class of the Sheng County Yue Opera Troupe, and from then on she set out on the path of Yue opera. Quiet and reserved, she struggled to socialize, but onstage she shone…