Striking the Golden Bough

Introduction

Striking the Golden Bough is a traditional play of Jin opera, the Shanxi form also called Central Shanxi bangzi, whose regular repertoire runs to more than two hundred plays. On the birthday of Guo Ziyi, Prince of Fenyang in the Tang, Princess Shengping stands on her rank and refuses to come and pay her respects, and her husband Guo Ai strikes her in anger. The princess complains to the emperor and empress, Guo Ziyi brings his son bound to court to beg pardon, and the emperor and empress instead talk the young couple round until they are reconciled. In 1955 Ding Guoxian, Niu Guiying, Guo Fengying and Ji Ping played it together, and the Changchun Film Studio filmed it as the first stage documentary of Jin opera. Ding Guoxian led the first generation of actresses in Jin opera, whose arrival took the form to a new level. Jin opera was placed on the first national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2006.