183 Beijing Operas - Tang Long - Number 155

Tang Long

Beijing Opera - "The Wild-Goose Plume Armor"

Tang Long with a yellow broken-flower face plays a part in the opera "The Wild-Goose Plume Armor." When the Liangshan outlaws are defeated by the Song army's chained-horse formation, Tang Long, one of the outlaws, tells their chief, Song Jiang, that the only way to smash the formation is to use a weapon called a hook spear, and that his cousin Xu Ning can teach them how to use it. To get him to come to Liangshan, Tang Long sends a man to Xu Ning's house to steal his wild-goose-plume armor, a valuable heirloom. When Xu Ning gives chase, he falls into a trap and is taken to Liangshan.