Moss Sutra

Discover the Opera

A world where gods and humans still share one existence.

The Moss Sutra is a new opera by Chinese opera performer, composer, and poet Qian Yi.

Inspired by ancient epic traditions, the opera imagines a forgotten moment when the gods offered humanity a different kind of journey—not toward conquest, but toward discovering a different way of being..

Structured like a sutra, the work unfolds through a series of mythical, historical, and symbolic fragments. Beneath these discontinuous narratives lies a hidden voice guiding an inward journey through transformation, suffering, awakening, and humility.

At the center of the opera is the moss: a humble presence that appears first as three voices lost upon a snow-capped mountain and ultimately awakens within an expansive garden. Through this journey, the moss discovers a forgotten wisdom—that humility is not a limitation, but a way of seeing one's place within the whole.

music

The score draws from diverse traditions of chanting from East and West, Chinese traditional music theater, oratorio, Western contemporary opera, and minimalism.