183 Beijing Operas - Yao Qi - Number 71

Yao Qi

Beijing Opera - "Grass-Bridge Pass"

Yao Qi with an old black-cross face is the leading character in "Grass-Bridge Pass." They adapted this opera from an episode in "Popular Romance of the Western Han," a novel by Xie Zhao of the Ming Dynasty. The novel begins with the establishment in AD 9 of Wang Mang's death in 167 of Emperor Huandi of the Eastern Han. Yao Qi was garrison commander of Grass-Bridge Pass. Because his son, Yao Gang, had killed the emperor's grand tutor, he had his whole family, including Yao Qi, bound and taken before the emperor to be punished. It happened, however, that Ma Wu, another Han general, had just returned from the front to obtain recruits and he interceded with the emperor for Yao Qi and his family. Instead of punishing them, Emperor Guangwu sent Yao Qi and his son to the front to fight and atone for their crime.