272 Beijing Opera Masks, Meng Liang Number 117

Meng Liang

Opera "Mu Ke (Stockaded Village)"

Meng Liang with a red-cross gourd face is a character in the opera "Mu Ke (Stockaded village," from the book "The Historical Novel of Yang Family Mansion." Meng Liang was a general of the Song army. In a war between the Song and Liao, the Liao army invented a battle formation called the Heavenly Gate. To smash this formation, the Song army needed weapons made of a special kind of wood grown in Muke Stockade commanded by Mu Guiying, a woman. Meng Liang and another man, Jiao Zan, were sent to the stockade to get the wood, by force if necessary, The opera tells about the intriguing events that took place before Mu Guiyang finally agrees to give them the wood.