Three Drops of Blood

Introduction

Fan Zidong's Qinqiang opera for the Yisu Society, first staged in 1918 and built around a blood test of kinship

The Qinqiang opera Three Drops of Blood was written by Fan Zidong, a playwright of the Yisu Society in Shaanxi, who took the story from Notes from the Thatched Cottage of Close Scrutiny. It was first staged by the society in 1918, and its plot turns on an attempt to prove kinship by mingling drops of blood. Its characters, from the playful Jia Lianxiang and the sincere Li Wanchun to the muddled and stubborn Jin Xinshu, are familiar to audiences, and many of its arias are known in almost every household. The play has stayed in the repertoire for more than a century. It was later made into a 3D film, the first time Qinqiang opera used that technique.