272 Beijing Opera Performers - Wanyan Long - Number 200

Wanyan Long

Beijing Opera - "A String of Dragon Pearls"

Wanyan Long with a red broken-flower face plays a leading role in the list-opera "A String of Dragon Pearls," based on a story of the late Yuan dynasty. Wanyan Long was the Prince of Lu, a feudal lord and monster who plundered and pillaged the people. According to the story, he and his henchmen used to go out hunting, and each time they would trample over and destroy large tracts of good farmland. Once when a village head tried to reason with him, he had the man flogged and shackled as a lesson for the masses. At the suggestion of his wicked caretaker, he robbed a man of a precious string of dragon pearls and accused the owner of having stolen it. He murdered woman and children at will, and once to amuse himself hacked off a woman's left hand. Finally, Xu Da the magistrate of Xuzhou, unable to put up with such wickedness, revolted, killed the tyrant and fled to Haozhou to join Zhu Yuanzhang, who later founded the Ming Dynasty.