''Inside The Forbidden City'' is a

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Huangmei opera Huangmei or Huangmei tone ( or , pinyin: or ) originated as a form of rural folk song and dance that has been in existence for the last 200 years and possibly longer. Huangmei opera is one of the most famous and mainstream opera in China (others ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

. Depicted is the famous tale known as "Civet for

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

" which allegedly took place in China's

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

Synopsis

While passing through the town of Caoqiao, the famous

official

Bao Zheng Bao Zheng (; 5 March 999 – 3 July 1062), commonly known as Bao Gong (), was a Chinese politician during the reign of Emperor Renzong in China's Song Dynasty. During his twenty-five years in civil service, Bao consistently demonstrated extr ...

is stopped by a villager on behalf of his blind mother. Bao discovers that the blind woman was Consort Li, a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

of the late

Emperor Zhenzong Emperor Zhenzong of Song (23 December 968 – 23 March 1022), personal name Zhao Heng, was the third emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 997 to his death in 1022. His personal name was originally Zhao Dechang, but was change ...

. Twenty years ago, right after Li gave birth to a son, a jealous rival Consort Liu conspired with

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

Guo Huai to have the infant swapped with a dead

civet A civet () is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term civet applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species diversity ...

. She then ordered her maid

Kou Zhu Kou Zhu (寇珠, also translated as "Pearl") is a fictional Song dynasty palace maid popular in legends related to Emperor Renzong of Song, Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Concubine Li and Empress Liu. In the 19th-century novel ''The Seven Heroes an ...

to throw the baby into the river. At the Jinshui Bridge, a hesitant Kou was approached by eunuch Chen Lin. Chen was able to carry the infant to Eighth Imperial Prince, one of Zhenzong's brothers, who raised the baby as one of his own. Eventually the baby became

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

as Zhenzong had no other sons. As a result of giving birth to a monster, Li was banished to Yu Chen Palace, while Liu was elevated to the status of Empress. One day, the 10-year-old crown prince wandered to the forbidden palace and met Li. Liu came upon them and became suspicious. She convinced Zhenzong that Li was cursed and needed to be burned to death along with her palace. Kou ran off to warn Li and was

interrogated Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...

harshly when she returned. After Kou killed herself by slamming into a pillar, Guo and the soldiers went to Yu Chen Palace to carry out the burning order, when they saw a

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

body with Li's clothing. Unbeknownst to them, eunuch Yu Zhong had sacrificed himself, allowing Li to escape. The crown prince had become Emperor Renzong, and Bao uses the

Lantern Festival The Lantern Festival ( zh, t=元宵節, s=元宵节, first=t, hp=Yuánxiāo jié), also called Shangyuan Festival ( zh, t=上元節, s=上元节, first=t, hp=Shàngyuán jié), is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth d ...

for an opportunity to tell him the story. Then, Bao tricks Guo to the

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

court but Guo stubbornly refuses to confess. Playing on Guo's fear of the supernatural, Bao invokes the "Ghost of Kou Zhu" to finally get a confession. Liu is ordered to commit suicide while Renzong welcomes his mother back to the palace.

Cast

Ivy Ling Po Huang Yu-chun (born 16 November 1939 in Shantou, Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China), known by her final stage name Ivy Ling Po, is a retired Hong Kong actress and Chinese opera singer. She is best known for a number of mega-hit H ...

* Cheng Miu as

* Go Bo-shu as Consort Liu *

Ouyang Sha-fei Qian Shunying ( zh, t=錢舜英, w=Chien Shun-ying; September 9, 1924 – March 8, 2010), better known by her stage name Ouyang Sha-fei ( zh, t=歐陽莎菲, s=欧阳莎菲, first=t, j=Auyeung Sa-fay, links=no), was a Hong Kong actress. She is ...

as Consort Li * Chan Yau-san as Guo Huai * Goo Man-chung as Chen Lin * Chin Feng as

Emperor Zhenzong of Song Emperor Zhenzong of Song (23 December 968 – 23 March 1022), personal name Zhao Heng, was the third emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 997 to his death in 1022. His personal name was originally Zhao Dechang, but was changed ...

Emperor Renzong of Song Emperor Renzong of Song (30 May 1010 – 30 April 1063), personal name Zhao Zhen, was the fourth emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned for about 41 years from 1022 to his death in 1063, and was the longest reigning Song dynasty empe ...

* Yeung Chi-hing as

Eighth Prince Zhao Yuanyan (), officially the Prince Gongsu of Zhou (周恭肅王) (985 – 13 February 1044), was an imperial prince of the Chinese Song Dynasty, known for his virtues. He was the 8th son of Emperor Taizong and a younger brother of Emperor Zhe ...

* Chan Wan-ma as Princess Di *

Tien Feng Tien Feng (born Tien Yu-kun, 4 June 1928 – 22 October 2015) was a Chinese actor, who appeared in hundreds of films in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He has acted with Bruce Lee in '' Fist of Fury'' (1972) and with Jackie Chan in '' Little Tiger of Can ...

Pang Ji Pang Ji (died 202), courtesy name Yuantu, was a Chinese politician serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Pang Ji was criticised by Cao Cao's advisor Xun Yu as "brave but heedless of other's opinions ...

* Fan Dan as Bao Xing * Fung Ngai as Wang Chao * Kwan Yan as Ma Han * Tsui Kwan-sang as Zhang Long * Wong Nin as Zhao Hu * Fuk Yan-cheng as Qin Feng *

Lee Ching Li Ching, also spelled ''Lee Ching'' (; 8 November 1948 – 22 February 2018), was a Hong Kong actress. Early life Li Ching was born in Shanghai as Li Guoying (), and was raised in British Hong Kong after finishing secondary school and an acti ...

as Ghost of

Huangmei opera dubbing

* Tsui Ping as Consort Li * Kiang Hung as

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Inside The Forbidden City (1965 Film) 1965 films 1960s Mandarin-language films Fictional depictions of Bao Zheng in film Hong Kong films Shaw Brothers Studio films 1965 musical films Gong'an fiction Films based on The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants Huangmei opera films Films directed by Kao Li