The eight model plays are the Peking Opera "Wisdom Takes the Tiger Mountain", "Harbor", "The Story of the Red Lanterns", "Shajiabang", "The Strange Attack on the White Tiger Regiment", "Ode to the Dragon River", and the Ballet "The Red Detachment of Women" and "The White-haired Girl".
The Tale of the Red Lanterns was one of the eight model operas during the Cultural Revolution, and was filmed by the Bayi Film Studio in 1970. Based on a live performance by the Chinese Peking Opera Troupe, the movie tells the heroic story of Li Yuhe, a three-generation family of underground workers of the Party, who fought indefatigably against the Japanese invaders in order to transmit secret codes to the guerrillas during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
"Ode to Longjiang" tells the story of the spring of 1963, a place on the southeast coast (Longhai, Fujian Province) encountered a huge drought, Longjiang brigade party branch secretary Jiang Shui-ying returned from a meeting in the county, conveyed to the members of the county party committee's instructions, introduced the drought-stricken area of the disaster. The county party committee decided to block the river outside the embankment of the Longjiang brigade to fight the drought.
The Jiujiang River is low and the drought area is high, so if a dam is built to block the upstream current and force the river to divert, water can be sent to the drought area.
"The Red Detachment of Women" is a proud milestone in the history of Chinese ballet, which unprecedentedly shaped the image of the valiant "wearing pointe shoes" of the Chinese Women's Soldiers, combining the techniques of Western ballet with the expressive methods of Chinese folk dance, creating the century's finest of national ballet and accomplishing a perfect fusion of Chinese and Western cultures in the field of ballet art in the world.
In terms of music creation, the music of "Song of the Company of the Red Maiden Scouts" and "The Water of Wanquan River is Clear and Clear" has been enduring for decades, and is y rooted in people's hearts. The ballet The Red Detachment of Women, based on the movie of the same name, was proposed by Premier Zhou Enlai in 1963, and was successfully premiered by the National Ballet of China in 1964.