The Legend of the Red Lantern

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The Legend of the Red Lantern (simplified Chinese: 红灯记; pinyin: hóng dēng jì) is one of the Eight model plays, the only operas and ballets permitted during the Cultural Revolution in China. The official version was that of a Beijing Opera. It was additionally adapted to a piano-accompanied cantata by pianist Yin Chengzong, formed by a cycle of arias extracted from the opera itself. Written during a time of political upheaval in China, the play has strong political overtones reflecting the times it was written in, it has nonetheless managed to remain popular to this day.

The play is based on a movie titled There Will be Followers (自有后来人) made in 1963, which is based a novel titled There Will be Followers of Revolution (革命自有后来人) by Mr. Qian Daoyuan (钱道源) first published in 1958. The novel in turn, is based on the true story of communist undercover agents working at a Huicui (辉崔) railway station in Hulin fighting the Japanese invaders during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

[edit] Summary

The play concentrated on the exploits of the communist underground activities under Japanese occupation in 1939, though history traces back in the 1920's. When Li Yuhe, a railroad worker who was engaging in underground work, was taken away by special agents and Grandma Li has a premonition of being arrested, Grandma tells Tiemei the true story about her family; she expects the girl to be a strong-willed person just like her father. Grandma Li then tells 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 about her family, Li Tiemei is determined to follow the example of her father and carry the revolution through to the end.