''Raid on the White Tiger Regiment'' (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

: 奇袭白虎团) is a Chinese revolutionary opera and one of the eight "model plays" permitted during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

. Set during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, it depicts a victory of the Chinese and Korean communists over South Korean and American forces.

Production

Music for ''Raid on the White Tiger Regiment'' was composed and arranged by Gong Guotai (born 1946), incorporating some aspects of

Korean folk music Korea refers to music from the Korean peninsula ranging from prehistoric times to the division of Korea into South and North in 1945. It includes court music, folk music, poetic songs, and religious music used in shamanistic and Buddhist traditi ...

; the script was collaboratively written in 1957 by four members of Shandong Provincial Peking Opera Troupe, and was first performed by members of the People's Volunteer Army. It received its first major staging in 1964 at a national Peking opera festival; it was revised under

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

's instructions in 1965–66. ''The Cambridge History of China'' noted that continuous revision of the model operas tended to remove any "shades of grey" from the moral depictions of the heroes and villains, and to remove any trace of "

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

" behaviour from the heroes.

Synopsis

July 1953: during the

, Yang Yucai leads a

People's Volunteer Army The People's Volunteer Army (PVA) was the armed expeditionary forces deployed by the People's Republic of China during the Korean War. Although all units in the PVA were actually transferred from the People's Liberation Army under the order ...

raid against the White Tiger Regiment of the South Korean

Capital Mechanized Infantry Division The Capital Mechanized Infantry Division ( ko, 수도기계화보병사단, hanja: 首都機械化步兵師團), also known as Fierce Tiger Division ( ko, 맹호부대, hanja: 猛虎部隊), is currently one of the six mechanized infantry divisio ...

, who are planning to sabotage peace talks by invading the North. With the help of a Korean girl, Sister Choi, the Chinese troops destroy Tiger Regiment HQ and set the conditions for a successful counterattack, in cooperation with the Korean People's Army.

Performance

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...

refused to watch ''Raid on the White Tiger Regiment'' in 1964, instead insisting on a performance of ''Sisters Exchange Bridegrooms'', perceived as a slight on the

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

. In 1972, it was made into a film by the Changchun Film Studio.

References

External links

* {{Cultural Revolution, state=collapsed Revolutionary operas Korean War fiction Fiction set in 1953