272 Beijing Opera Performers - Jiang Ping - Number 97

Jiang Ping

Beijing Opera - "The Bonze Net Line"

Jiang Ping with the warrior-clown face stars in the list-opera "The Bonze Net Line," adapted from an episode in the novel The Three Chivalrous and Five Righteous. Zhao Jue, Prince of Xiangyang, plots to seize the throne of the Song Dynasty. He builds for himself a castle protected by a line of fortifications called the Bonze Net Line. When Yan Chasan an inspector-general, is sent by the emperor to Xiangyang, Zhao Jue steals his official seal and throws it into a pond within his fortifications, Bai Yutang, the inspector-general's bodyguard, tries to enter the prince's castle to recover the seal and is killed in the attempt. Jiang Ping, a friend of Bai Yutang's, comes to Xiangyang and one night Bai's ghost appears before him in a dream and beseeches him to avenge his death. The next day Jiang Ping steals through the Bronze Net Line, dives into the pool, and recovers the seal.