183 Beijing Operas - Yuchi Baolin - Number 97

Yuchi Baolin

Beijing Opera - "Bailiang Pass"

Yuchi Baolin with a flowered black-cross face is a character of the opera "Bailiang Pass", from the book "The biography of Luo Tong who Cleaned out the North." Yuchi Baolin was a son of Yuchi Gong, who became a great general of the Tang Dynasty. In this opera Yuchi Gong leads a punitive expedition against Bailing Pass and there meets his long-lost son Yuchi Baolin, whom he recognized by the steel rod the young men used as a weapon. Together the father and son capture the pass and kill a long-time enemy. Because of their chance meeting, the opera is also called "Reunion of Father and Son."