The Qing Ding Pearl () is a Chinese play. It dates to the Song dynasty and is still performed in adapted forms in the Beijing Opera.The Longman anthology of drama and theater: a global perspective Michael L. Greenwald, Roger Schultz, Roberto Darío Pomo - 2002 -p571 "It is best known as The Qing Ding Pearl (pronounced "chin deen"), a reference to the engagement pearl that Chinese maidens wear on the crown of their bridal headpieces."
The play is known by other titles:They sing theatre: the aural performance of Beijing opera Elizabeth Wichmann University of Hawaii, 1983 p554 Two sections (折 zhe) of the main play are sometimes performed separately as The Fisherman's Revenge or A Fisherman Kills a Family () also Collecting the Fishing Tax ().
Plot The play tells the story of Xiao En (whose real identity is Ruan Xiaoqi from Water Margin), a poor fisherman and his daughter who seeks bloody revenge after their livelihoods are taxed away by the overbearing Squire Ding. Squire Ding sends tax collectors and boxers to Xiao's fishing vessel but the fisherman refuses because the tax is illegal and the river had run dry. Therefore, there is no fish for him to be taxed on. Two swashbucklers named Li Jun and Ni Rong help Xiao En. The now bloodied Boxers escape and report to Squire Ding. For his transgression, Xiao is whipped. Angered, he and his daughter go to Squire Ding's residence – The Ding Mansion. They sneak in, his daughter wearing the Qing Ding Pearl to masquerade as a noble. Inside, the pair slays everyone inside.
Music The play is a play.
History The twentieth-century Chinese actor Mei Lanfang frequently performed the role of the fisherman's daughter to great acclaim.
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