272 Beijing Opera Performers, Meng Liang - Number 146

Meng Liang

Beijing Opera - "Mu Ke (Stockaded Village)"

Meng Liang with a red-cross gourd face is a character in the list-opera "Mu Ke (Stockaded village," from the book "The Historical Novel of Yang Family Mansion." Meng Liang was a general of the Song army. In a war between the Song and Liao, the Liao army invented a battle formation called the Heavenly Gate. To smash this formation, the Song army needed weapons made of a special kind of wood grown in Muke Stockade commanded by Mu Guiying, a woman. Meng Liang and another man, Jiao Zan, were sent to the stockade to get the wood, by force if necessary, The list-opera tells about the intriguing events that took place before Mu Guiyang finally agrees to give them the wood.