Ever since Cantonese Opera was inscribed onto UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009, it has gradually picked up a larger audience from diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds. Translating Cantonese opera into English provides reference for foreigners, which fosters the internationalization of Cantonese opera as well as attracts visitors and English-speaking locals for promoting cultural tourism in Hong Kong. Academically, the English translations serve as the reference materials for teaching the topics about Cantonese opera in tertiary institutions (including overseas institutions), which upgrades the academic standing of Cantonese opera.

Since 2006, the Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research (CACLER) of the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong (HKU), has been working together with partnering schools, under the HKU Cantonese Opera Education and Research Project, to integrate Cantonese opera into the secondary school curriculum and on related researches. Mr. Yip Shiu Tak is a Cantonese opera playwright in Hong Kong and his works are the assets of local Cantonese opera. In 2009, the Cantonese Opera Development Fund funded the research team led by Dr. Dorothy Ng, Assistant Professor of the Faculty, to implement the Translation and Bilingual (Chinese and English) Publication Project of Yip Shiu Tak’s Cantonese Opera Manuscripts. The publication contains Islandof Farewell, Zhu Bian Returns to Court, Fifteen Strings of Cash, Farewell My Concubine, and Li The Later Ruler, with English translation by veteran translators. It also includes the research data and appreciation guidance of the five operas, which makes the publication a valuable literature for the study of Cantonese opera. 

The publication project is funded by Cantonese Opera Development Fund

For details of the publication, please visit:

https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/tc/misc.html#tab_1_0