LI Bao-Chun on Traditional Chinese Operas
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12/11
At Port Jiu-Jiang
It was a time of wars. The emperor of North Han, Chen You-Liang, and the King of Wu, Zhang Shi-Cheng, forged a bond through marriage of their children, and would join force in September to take down Zhu Yuan-Zhang.
Chen You-Liang sent Hu Lan to welcome his future son-in-law. Yet on their way back, they were captured by Zhu Yuan-Zhang. Hu Lan was turned by Liu Bo-Wen, so he traveled back with Hua Yun-Long, a young general of Zhu’s who disguised as the groom-to-be.
Once Hua Yun-Long and Hu Lan entered Chen’s camp, he changed the date of joining forces to August 15th. Marshal Zhang Ding-Bian didn’t trust this “groom-to-be”, but he couldn’t make his emperor see the truth. After interrogating Hu Lan, Zhang rushed to capture Hua Yun-Long. Hu Lan killed himself. Zhang failed to gain his emperor’s trust. Instead he got his title removed after he took Hua Yun-Long from the wedding banquet.
On August 15th, Emperor Chen You-Liang sent out his troop as pledged and got ambushed. Fortunately, he was rescued by Zhang Ding-Bian and his eight hundred men, disguised as fishermen and stationed near the port of Jiu-Jiang.
12/18 The Six-meter Alley
In Tong, two families were at odds about a wall they shared. The mayor of Tong gave permission to the Premier to enlarge his garden. Meanwhile, he declined a similar application for enlarging their garden, submitted by the Premier’s neighbor, the Wu’s.
Lady Wu was the mayor’s sister. She came to her brother for assistance and, with the help of her sister in-law, took away the permission with the help of her sister in-law. The mayor was unable to solve this dilemma.
The Premier, learning about this impasse, wrote home to order his family to move the garden wall three meters backward. Lady Wu was touched by the Premier’s generosity, so the Wu’s also moved their wall three meters backward. The alley between the two houses was thus named The Six-meter Alley.
12/25 Granny Liu
Granny Liu on her donkey set off to visit her daughter. She found her daughter and son-in-law were so poor they had to fight over the only pair of proper pants in the house. Granny Liu decided to seek help from their wealthy and powerful relatives, the Jia’s, and she traveled a long way to Jinling where she was given twenty silvers from Lady Feng for her wit. With the silvers, Granny Liu’s daughter’s family prospered. Later when the Jia’s declined, Granny Liu rushed to Jinling alone and rescued Lady Feng’s daughter from being enslaved.
