183 Beijing Operas - Lu Fang - Number 139

Lu Fang

Beijing Opera - "Three Chivalrous and the Five Righteous"

Lu Fang with an old pink three-tile face plays the part in the opera "Three Chivalrous and the Five Righteous," an opera based on the novel with the same title. Lu Fang is the eldest of the five sworn brothers.

The first part of the novel tells how Lu Fang 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.