''The Legend of the Red Lantern'' () is one of the
Eight model plays
In People's Republic of China (1949–), revolutionary operas or model operas (Simplified Chinese: ''yangban xi'', 样板戏) were a series of shows planned and engineered during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) by Jiang Qing, the wife o ...
, the only operas and ballets 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 goa ...
in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. The official version was that of a
Beijing Opera
Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...
. It was additionally adapted to a piano-accompanied
cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.
The meaning o ...
by pianist
Yin Chengzong
Yin Chengzong (, Hokkien: ''Un Seng Chong'') (born 1941 in Gulangyu Island, Xiamen, Fujian) is a Chinese pianist and composer.
Biography
Born on the "Piano Island" of Gulangyu Island in Xiamen, Fujian, in the People's Republic of China. Altho ...
, formed by a cycle of arias extracted from the opera itself.
The play is based on a movie titled ''There Will be Followers'' () made in 1963, which is based a novel titled ''There Will be Followers of Revolution'' () by Qian Daoyuan () first published in 1958. The novel in turn is based on a true story of
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
undercover agents working at a Huicui () railway station in
Hulin
Hulin () is a county-level city on the Muling River in southeastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. With a population of around 200,000, it is under the administration of Jixi. Nearby are Lake Xingkai, to the southwest, the ...
, fighting Japanese invaders during the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...
.
According to Lu Xing, the '
class enemies' in all of the model operas were depicted as 'cruel' and 'oppressive'.
Summary
The play concentrated on the exploits of the communist underground activities under Japanese occupation in 1939, though history traces back to the 1920s.
When Li Yuhe, a railroad worker who was engaging in underground work, is taken away by special agents, and Grandma Li has a premonition of being arrested. Grandma tells the protagonist, Li Tiemei, the true story about her family. Grandma Li tells Li Tiemei how her parents have sacrificed their lives in the revolutionary struggle. Li Yuhe has taken up the unfulfilled task of the martyrs. After hearing the heroic story of her family, Li Tiemei is determined to follow the example of her father and carry the revolution through to the end.
All three of the young female protagonists in the story express "extreme anger and hatred toward their enemies," according to Lu Xing's analysis, along with "a fierce determination to join the revolutionary force." These emotions intensified through the course of the opera as the music and singing became more passionate.
Anthologies
An English version was included in the 2010 anthology ''
'', with editing by Xiaomei Chen.
[Mazzilli, Mary.]
The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Drama
(book review). ''The China Quarterly
''The China Quarterly'' (CQ) is a British double-blind peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1960 on contemporary China and Taiwan.
It is considered the most important research journal about China in the world and is published by the Cam ...
'', , 06/2011, Volume 206, Issue 206, start p. 449 - Cited: p. 450.
References
Revolutionary operas
{{China-stub