What's the story of Farewell My Concubine?

The allusion in Farewell My Concubine tells the story of Xiang Yu, the overlord of the western Chu Dynasty, who defeated Liu Bang and left his concubine for life and death, and shows the epic love between Xiang Yu and his concubine.

In the peasant uprising in the late Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu led the Chu army to defeat Qin Jun in the Battle of Julu, which led to the demise of the Qin Dynasty. Since then, Xiang Yu has become the leader of the rebel army. He relied on his own strength and became the overlord of the place of Chu. And the state of Qin was enfeoffed to the princes and Liu Bang was named Hanwang. Liu Bang's ambition is not satisfied with Xiao Hanwang.

He accumulated strength in his fief, recruited talents and became stronger and stronger. Finally found the right time to attack Xiang Yu. This war is also called the Chu-Han War. The Chu-Han War lasted for four or five years. Liu Bang is a man of great mind. He has many advisers under his command, and joined hands with other governors to encircle Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu was headstrong, arrogant, did not listen to advice, and acted arbitrarily, and there were no resourceful people around him.

After Liu Bang and others were incited by spies and thieves, they took the initiative to attack and headed for Gaixia. Xiang Yu just waited for him to trap himself and win it in one fell swoop. So Xiang Yu was trapped and failed to break through several times. Many people under Liu Bang can sing Chu songs, so let people sing Chu songs to shake the morale of the Chu army. When the soldiers of Chu army heard the songs in their surrounding hometown, they mistakenly thought that Liu Bang had occupied his hometown and began to lose heart and flee everywhere.

Seeing that Xiang Yu was trapped, the tide was gone and there was nothing he could do. He was very sad. Thinking that Yu Ji and her own expedition were trapped here, she told Yu Ji sadly about her difficulties. Yu Ji has followed Xiang Yu for many years and has never seen her husband so miserable and depressed. I also know that my luck is running out and time is running out. I want to break through, and I don't want to drag my husband down, so I will commit suicide.

Xiang Yu was heartbroken and had to bury concubine hastily. Finally, we successfully broke through with a few soldiers. Being chased by Liu Bang to Wujiang River, Xiang Yu felt ashamed to see his elders in Jiangdong, gave up his escape and committed suicide in Wujiang River.

Extended data

Overlord and concubine. Heartbreaking love stories have left countless sighs and regrets for future generations, which have been repeated by literati for thousands of years. Farewell My Concubine is an eternal swan song in the history of China. It is also a classic theme of artistic creation, among which Peking Opera Farewell My Concubine is particularly popular.

However, compared with the previous works of the same theme, the dance drama Farewell My Concubine has been greatly lengthened, turning a ten-fold drama in Beijing Opera into a complete dance drama of one and a half hours. Through rich dance vocabulary, it depicts Xiang Yu's simple character of "not taking the emperor as a hero", Yu Ji's persistent friendship of "being a beauty all his life", and Liu Bang's inner transformation from brotherhood to facing the state of putting on airs.

There are not only war scenes filled with smoke, but also warm and lingering love, and there is a personality collision between men.

The whole drama consists of two acts and five scenes, starting from Xiang Yu's rebellion against Qin, and reaching its climax after cross the rubicon, banquet at Hongmen, boundary gorge, ambush on all sides and siege. This elegy of love, which is interpreted by dance, is not only touching, but also refreshing.

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