Face-Changing: The Sichuan Opera Signature Act

Face-Changing is a novel exploring the conflict and fusion of traditional art and modern culture. It opens with Lu Linchuan, a top-tier star and internet celebrity, tearing up an endorsement contract worth three million during a livestream, sparking heated discussion online. He does not act on a whim: a sudden rush of memories has made him realize the importance of Sichuan opera's face-changing art. The memories belong to Lu Yunting, a Sichuan opera performer in the 1930s and Lu Linchuan's great-grandfather. Holding fast to the belief that “the opera is greater than heaven,” he passed down the art of face-changing amid the ravages of war.

Lu Linchuan's agent, Sister Wang, is devastated by his decision, but he remains resolute because of a promise in his memories. After a livestream, he meets Chen Qingshan, Lu Yunting's senior apprentice, who brings a camphorwood chest containing old Sichuan opera costumes, notebooks, and a finely crafted set of face-changing masks. The topmost mask is blank, symbolizing the highest realm of the art: “formlessness.”

Through Lu Linchuan's perspective, the novel depicts how a modern performer chooses between the temptations of capital and the inheritance of culture, and how he uses his influence and golden finger, the legacy of his ancestors' memories, to revive traditional Sichuan opera. The story not only reveals the conflict between the modern and the traditional, but also explores the responsibility and mission of individuals in passing down culture.

As the story unfolds, Lu Linchuan faces more challenges, including being sidelined by his company and enduring doubt and mockery from the entire internet. But with genuine skill and guidance from his ancestral master, he turns the tables against all odds. The novel delves into the heart of a Sichuan opera family, showing the complex emotions and conflicts among three generations whose eras and beliefs differ, before ultimately bringing them to understanding and inheritance.