The Patriarch of Antioch and the Bishop of China come to Emperor Kang-xi, both of them proclaim the will of the Vatican and inform Kang-xi that he has lost the lawsuit brought against him 60 years ago. Which he, however, knew nothing about. He and all Chinese, according to the Vatican, must begin their transition to Christianity, otherwise Kang-xi faces excommunication. It is on these historical and philosophical conversations between Christians and the Chinese Emperor with his son that the entire play is built. The most unusual thing for us is that two completely different worlds collide. The Chinese Emperor has little understanding of what the Bishop of China, whom he barely knows, wants from him. For the Chinese, their faith is natural and noble, but the demands of Christians are strange, just as the threat of excommunication of the Chinese Emperor from the church looks ridiculous, which, according to the clergy, is a terrible punishment. It is on this dialogue between two cultures, one self-sufficient, in its place and the second, active, trying to conquer the first, that the conflict of the play is built. Peter Hacks is a German playwright, poet and essayist. In the 60s he became the founder of socialist classicism and was considered one of the most significant playwrights of the GDR. For a long time, Hax was the only modern writer whose works were staged on the theatrical stage not only in the GDR, but also in the Federal Republic of Germany. Hax gained worldwide fame from his play “A Conversation in the Stein Family about the Absent Herr von Goethe.” Translation: Ella Vengerova