183 Beijing Operas - Han Zhang - Number 137

Han Zhang

Beijing Opera - "Three Chivalrous and the Five Righteous"

Han Zhang with the blue three-tile face stars in the opera "Three Chivalrous and the Five Righteous," an opera based on the novel with the same title. The first part of the novel tells how Han Zhang and four others, who were sworn bothers and knights errant, assisted a good judge Boa Zhen in righting the wrongs of the people and fighting corrupt officials. The second contains stories of how these knight errant themselves killed tyrants and saved innocent people. The themes of many Chinese operas are taken from this novel.