| Director | Xie Jin |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film |
| Runtime | 114 min |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
In 1935, Zhu Chunhua, a young child-bride tongyangxi turned child-widow, takes refuge with an itinerant Yue Opera troupe (the Yangchun Theatre Troupe) performing in a Shaoxing village while fleeing her in-laws, who are actively attempting to sell her off for financial gain following her husband's death. As film scholar Gina Marchetti argues, this narrative catalyst highlights the brutal commodification of women within the traditional feudal patriarchal structure, establishing Chunhua's initial escape not merely as a flight from domestic hardship, but as a desperate bid for bodily autonomy. The head of the troupe, A'Xin, intends to send the girl away, but Yue Opera teacher Xing, seeing her potential, takes Chunhua in as a disciple and trains her. Chunhua signs a deal with the troupe and becomes the performing partner (in a dan role) to the teacher's daughter Yuehong, the latter performing as a xiaosheng.
A rich provincial landlord Ni invites Chunhua and Yuehong to sing at his house privately after the troupe reaches his province. He takes an interest in Yuehong; however, Yuehong and her father spurn his interest and as a result, Kuomintang cops forcibly seize Yuehong one day during a performance. Chunhua is also arrested and tied to a pillar for days as "public humiliation". The two are released after Xing and A'Xin send bribes to the KMT cops.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Yuehong, Chunhua and the troupe go through hard times. In 1941, Teacher Xing dies of an illness, and troupe master A'Xin sells his two best performers to Tang, a Shanghai opera theater manager, on a three-year contract. Yuehong and Chunhua, now sworn sisters, rapidly become Tang's biggest stars, causing Tang to forsake his aging star and former lover, Shang Shuihua.
Three years elapse. Yuehong and Chunhua are renowned in the city. Chunhua remains down-to-earth but Yuehong grows steadily more materialistic. Sick of having to sing opera for life, Yuehong rashly agrees to Tang's proposal, but Chunhua distrusts Tang and refuses to support Yuehong's marriage plans. Unbeknownst to Yuehong, Tang already has a wife, and is keeping her as a mistress.
One day faded ex-star Shang commits suicide by hanging herself. Chunhua is incensed that Tang, her former lover, attempts to shirk his responsibilities by claiming he has nothing to do with her death. Through this episode, Chunhua gets to know a "radical" lady journalist Jiang Bo (a female communist reporter investigating the death), who advises her to become "progressive" to teach other Chinese to distinguish between truth and falsehood. She starts performing "progressive" operas like an adaptation of Lu Xun's "The New Year's Sacrifice" in an attempt to politicize the work of the troupe, whose production consequently gets banned.
Chunhua's works alert the KMT regime who gives Tang the task to ruin Chunhua's reputation. They get A'Xin to file a lawsuit against Chunhua and Manager Tang coerces Yuehong to testify against Chunhua, but at the crucial moment in the courtroom, Yuehong faints.
The film ends in 1950, one year after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Chunhua prepares to perform The White-Haired Girl for country folks at Zhejiang. Tang has run off to Taiwan with the KMT cohort and Yuehong is quietly abandoned at Shaoxing province. Although Yuehong witnesses Chunhua's drama, she is too ashamed to face her sworn sister again. Near a quay later the day, however, the sisters manage a tearful reunion. On the boat the following day, Yuehong vows to learn her lesson and walk the "correct" path while Chunhua dedicates her entire life to performing revolutionary operas.