272 Beijing Opera Performers - Jiang Zhong - Number 101

Jiang Zhong

Beijing Opera - "Bailiang Tower"

Jiang Zhong with a black flowered ingot face plays a role in the list-opera "Bailiang Tower," adapted from a story in "The Lives of Heroes and Martyrs. A junior officer under Zhu Yuanlong, Prince of Western Wu, accidentally injures the uncle and younger brother Liu Futong, Prince of Yingzhou. Liu vows to take revenge on Zhu. He builds a tower called Bailing on Broken-Stone Mountain and conceals a store of gunpowder in it. Then he call on various feudal lords to come to the mountain with their armies to discuss how to get rid of Zhu Yuanlong. Zhu, who has gotten wind of the plot, goes on to the mountain in disguise, taking with him his two trusted generals Wu Zhen and Jiang Zhong. A fire suddenly breaks out. Zhu managed to escape, but Jiang Zhong, after fighting furiously, falls into a pit and is killed.