The Women Generals of the Yang Family

Introduction

A Peking opera by Fan Junhong and Lü Ruiming, first staged in 1960

The Women Generals of the Yang Family is a Peking opera written by Fan Junhong and Lü Ruiming in 1959, adapted from the Yangju opera Centenarian Takes Command and drawing on the Yang family legend Twelve Widows March West. Young performers of the fourth troupe of the China Peking Opera Theatre first staged it in 1960, and the same year the Beijing Film Studio made it into a colour opera film, which won the Hundred Flowers award for best opera film in 1962. The Birthday Hall and The Contest were taken from Centenarian Takes Command, The Court Debate was rewritten by the authors, and Asking for Command, Presenting the Horse and Scouting the Valley are scenes they added. Qinqiang companies stage it too, among them the Xiyan Youth Troupe, whose youth edition opened at the Yisu Grand Theatre in April 2022.

A work in copyright: facts only.

Parts

1. The Birthday HallLike The Contest, taken from the Yangju Centenarian Takes Command
2. The ContestLike The Birthday Hall, taken from the Yangju Centenarian Takes Command
3. The Court DebateA scene rewritten by the authors
4. Asking for CommandAdded by the authors, like Presenting the Horse and Scouting the Valley
5. Presenting the HorseAdded by the authors, like Asking for Command and Scouting the Valley
6. Scouting the ValleyAdded by the authors, like Asking for Command and Presenting the Horse