One of the best-known Model Modern Revolutionary Peking Operas, The Red Lantern was produced in 1964, under the aegis of Jiang Qing, Chairman Mao’s fourth wife. Formerly a play actress, Madame Mao tried to realize her political ambitions by controlling media and propaganda. Like the other two dozen or so Revolutionary Peking Operas produced during those tumultuous years, The Red Lantern fulfilled Mao’s mandate that “art must serve the people” through a story about the Chinese Communist guerrilla war against Japan in the early 1940s in Manchuria. Adopting the sanctified doctrine of “combining revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism,” the play was built on the traditional form of aria in Peking opera and the techniques of Western ballet. A Red classic, this play served as a lethal weapon of propaganda in Madame Mao’s power struggle during the Cultural Revolution.
The Red Lantern: A Revolutionary Peking Opera in Eleven Acts (excerpt)
[The opera presents a page from the Chinese Communist guerrilla war against Japan in the early 1940s in northern China. In Acts I–IV, a Communist revolutionary railroad worker LI YÜ-HO lives with GRANDMA, who has accepted Li as her son, and a young girl, T’IEH-MEI, who calls him her father. All three of them work together to aid the guerrillas. An underground messenger jumps a train to deliver a secret codebook to Li, who is to transmit it to a guerrilla unit. A spineless comrade, WANG, when threatened by the Japanese, betrays Li. Still unaware of the crucial turn of events, Li returns home after an unsuccessful attempt to deliver the codebook, as the curtain rises on Act V. The original libretto contains instructions for singing in various beats, which have been omitted in this excerpt.]
Act V: Relating the Story of a Revolutionary Family
Evening, at LI’s house. The audience can see both the living room and the area outside the door to the house. As the curtain rises, GRANDMA LI is in the room waiting for LI Yü-HO
GRANDMA: (Sings)
The time grows late
And Yü-ho has not yet returned.
(T’IEH-MEI comes out of the back room. A siren sounds)
T’IEH-MEI: (Sings)
There’s so much commotion in the streets,
I worry about my father.
(LI Yü-HO enters holding his lunch box and a signal lantern. He knocks on the door)
LI: (Offstage) T’ieh-mei!
T’IEH-MEI: Daddy is home.
GRANDMA: Hurry up, open the door.
T’IEH-MEI: (Opens the door) Daddy!
GRANDMA: Yü-ho!
LI: Mother!
GRANDMA: You’re back. Did you make the connection? (Takes his lunch box and the lantern)
LI: No. (Takes off his coat)
GRANDMA: What happened?
LI: Mother! (Sings)
At the porridge stall, as I contacted the knife-sharpener,
Police car sirens sounded, and Japanese swarmed out to search.
But the knife-sharpener covered me by luring away the wolves.
Seizing the chance, I opened the lunch box and hid the secret code.
I hid it at the bottom of the porridge where it can’t be found. . . .
T’IEH-MEI: Uncle Knife-Sharpener was wonderful!
GRANDMA: Yü-ho, so where is the secret code?
LI: Mother! (Confiding in her, he continues singing) To prevent any slip, I’ve stored it in a safer place.
T’IEH-MEI: Daddy, you really are resourceful.
LI: T’ieh-mei, now you know all about it. It is more important than our lives. We would rather have our heads cut off than reveal the secret. You understand?
T’IEH-MEI: Of course I understand.
LI: So you do understand. Just look at this good child!
T’IEH-MEI: Oh, Daddy . . .
LI: Ah . . .
(It gradually gets dark. GRANDMA LI brings over a kerosene lamp)
GRANDMA: Ah . . . look at you two.
LI: Mother, I have something to do. I have to go out again.
GRANDMA: All right. Be careful! Come back quickly.
LI: Okay. Don’t worry.
T’IEH-MEI: Daddy, put this scarf around you. (She puts a scarf around his neck) Daddy, be sure you come back early.
LI: (Lovingly) Don’t you worry. (He goes out the door, exits)
(T’IEH-MEI closes the door. GRANDMA LI polishes the signal lantern with great care as T’IEH-MEI gazes at her intently)
GRANDMA: Come, T’ieh-mei. Let me tell you the story about this red lantern.
T’IEH-MEI: Ai. (Very happily, she goes over to the table and sits down)
GRANDMA: (Seriously) This red lantern has, for many years, lighted the paths upon which we poor people have trod. It has lighted the paths for us workers. In the past, your grandpa held it. Now your father holds it. My child, you already know what happened last night. At crucial junctures, we cannot part with it. You must remember: this red lantern is our family’s treasured heirloom.
T’IEH-MEI: Oh, the red lantern is our family’s treasured heirloom?
(GRANDMA LI looks at T’IEH-MEI with confidence and trust, then she walks into the back room. T’IEH-MEI picks up the lantern, examines it carefully, and ponders it)
T’IEH-MEI: (Sings)
I heard Grandma tell
About the red lantern,
Her words were few, but their meaning, profound.
Why don’t my father and uncles
Fear any danger?
Because they want to save China, save the poor, and defeat the Japanese devils.
I think: what they do everyone should try to do;
What they are we all should try to be.
Oh, T’ieh-mei!
You are seventeen, and no longer young.
Why don’t you help Father to lighten his worries?
For instance, if Father carries a thousand-catty load,
You, T’ieh-mei, should bear eight hundred.
(GRANDMA LI comes out of the back room)
GRANDMA: T’ieh-mei, T’ieh-mei!
T’IEH-MEI: Grandma!
GRANDMA: My child, what are you thinking about?
T’IEH-MEI: Nothing.
(A child’s cry is heard from the neighbor’s house)
GRANDMA: (Sighs) Ai! They have nothing to eat again. We still have some cornmeal left. Hurry and take it over to them.
T’IEH-MEI: Yes, Grandma. (She puts the cornmeal into a container)
(HUI-LIEN enters and knocks at the door)
HUI-LIEN: Grandma Li!
T’IEH-MEI: Cousin Hui-lien is here.
GRANDMA: Hurry up, open the door for her.
T’IEH-MEI: Yes, Grandma. (She opens the door. HUI-LIEN enters)
GRANDMA: (With concern) Oh, Hui-lien, how is the baby?
HUI-LIEN: (Sighs) How can I afford to take the child to a doctor? These days, fewer and fewer people send me clothes for mending or washing. In our house we’ve been living from meal to meal, but now there’s nothing left, nothing at all.
T’IEH-MEI: Cousin Hui-lien, here, take this. (She hands her the cornmeal)
HUI-LIEN: (Extremely touched) . . .
GRANDMA: Go ahead, take it. I was just sending T’ieh-mei to bring it over to you.
HUI-LIEN: (Accepting the cornmeal) You are so kind to us!
GRANDMA: Don’t say that. The wall is the only thing separating us—otherwise we would be one family.
T’IEH-MEI: Grandma, we are one family even if we don’t tear the wall down.
GRANDMA: T’ieh-mei is right.
(The child cries again)
AUNTIE T’IEN: (Calling from offstage) Hui-lien, Hui-lien!
(AUNTIE T’IEN enters)
T’IEH-MEI: Hi, Auntie.
GRANDMA: Auntie, come here and sit down.
AUNTIE T’IEN: I can’t. The child is crying again. Hui-lien, go home and look after the child.
(Seeing the cornmeal in HUI-LIEN’s hand, she is very touched)
GRANDMA: Make some food for the child first.
AUNTIE T’IEN: But you yourselves don’t have enough to eat.
GRANDMA: Ai! (Warmly) Between our two families, whatever is ours is also yours. So don’t even think of it.
AUNTIE T’IEN: We have to get back.
GRANDMA: Don’t worry. Take care!
(AUNTIE T’IEN and HUI-LIEN exit)
T’IEH-MEI: (Closing the door) Grandma, Cousin Hui-lien and her family have suffered too much!
GRANDMA: Yes. In the past, her father was a porter working on the railroad. He was crushed to death by a train. The Japanese devils not only didn’t give them any compensation, they even seized her husband to work for them without pay. T’ieh-mei, our two families are working people sharing the same hatred and bitterness. We must take good care of them.
(FAKE LIAISON MAN, an enemy agent in disguise, enters, knocks at the door)
T’IEH-MEI: Who is it?
FAKE LIAISON MAN: Does Li Yü-ho live here?
T’IEH-MEI: Someone looking for Daddy.
GRANDMA: Open the door.
T’IEH-MEI: All right! (She opens the door)
(FAKE LIAISON MAN enters the room and hurriedly closes the door behind him)
GRANDMA: You are . . .
FAKE LIAISON MAN: I sell wooden combs.
GRANDMA: Do you have one made of peachwood?
FAKE LIAISON MAN: Yes, I do, but I want cash.
T’IEH-MEI: All right. Wait.
(FAKE LIAISON MAN puts his pack down and turns around. T’IEH-MEI is about to get the signal lantern. GRANDMA LI stops her. Instead, she picks up the kerosene lamp to test the man. T’IEH-MEI suddenly understands)
FAKE LIAISON MAN: (Turns back, sees the lamp) So I finally found you, thank Heavens. It wasn’t easy, believe me!
(T’IEH-MEI’s surprise turns to anger; she is unable to control herself)
GRANDMA: (Realizes the plot, very calmly) All right, my man. Come on, show us your wooden combs so we can choose one.
FAKE LIAISON MAN: What are you talking about, old lady? I came here to get the secret code.
GRANDMA: Child, what is he talking about?
FAKE LIAISON MAN: Don’t interrupt, Grandma. The secret code is a very important document of the Communist Party. It has a great deal to do with the future of the revolution. Come on, give it to me, hurry up.
T’IEH-MEI: (Angrily chasing him out) Don’t talk nonsense here. Get out.
FAKE LIAISON MAN: Don’t, don’t . . .
T’IEH-MEI: Get out!
(T’IEH-MEI pushes the man out of the door, throws his pack at him, and slams the door with a bang)
T’IEH-MEI: Oh, Grandma!
(GRANDMA quickly stops T’IEH-MEI from talking. FAKE LIAISON MAN calls two plainclothes agents over to watch LI’s house, and then exits)
T’IEH-MEI: Grandma, I almost fell into his trap.
GRANDMA: My child, there must be someone who has turned traitor and betrayed us.
T’IEH-MEI: In that case, what shall we do?
GRANDMA: (Whispers) Hurry, tear off the signal.
T’IEH-MEI: What signal?
GRANDMA: That red butterfly on the window.
T’IEH-MEI: (Understands) Oh. (About to tear it off)
GRANDMA: T’ieh-mei, open the door and use it to block the light. You tear the signal off, I’ll sweep the ground to cover you. Hurry, hurry!
(T’IEH-MEI opens the door, and LI Yü-HO enters in haste. He closes the door. T’IEH-MEI is frightened and GRANDMA LI drops her broom to the ground)
LI: (Sensing something wrong) Mother, has something happened?
GRANDMA: There are “dogs” outside.
(LI Yü-HO shows no fear. He quickly arrives at a conclusion about the enemy situation)
GRANDMA: Oh, my son, my son!
LI: Mother, it is possible that I’ll be arrested. (Instructs his mother very cautiously) The secret code is hidden under the stone tablet by the old locust tree on the western bank of the river. You must try your best to deliver it to the knife-sharpener. The password remains the same.
GRANDMA: The password remains the same.
LI: Right! You must be very careful.
GRANDMA: Don’t you worry, son.
T’IEH-MEI: Daddy . . .
(Auxiliary warrant officer HOU of the Japanese military police enters, knocks on the door)
HOU: Is Li Shih-fu* home?
LI: Mother, they’re here.
T’IEH-MEI: Daddy, you . . .
LI: T’ieh-mei, open the door.
T’IEH-MEI: Yes, Daddy.
HOU: Open the door!
(T’IEH-MEI opens the door, seizing that moment of activity to tear off the red butterfly)
HOU: (Entering) Oh, you must be Li Shih-fu.
LI: Yes, I am.
HOU: Captain Hatoyama invites you to a party. (He hands the “invitation” over)
LI: Oh? Captain Hatoyama invites me to a banquet?
HOU: Correct.
LI: My goodness! What an honor! (Scornfully he throws the invitation on the table)
HOU: To make friends. Li Shih-fu, shall we?
LI: After you, please. (To his mother, firmly and solemnly) Mother, take care of yourself! I am going now.
GRANDMA: Just a minute. T’ieh-mei, bring some wine here.
T’IEH-MEI: Yes, Grandma. (She goes to the back room to get wine)
HOU: Hey! Old lady, there’s lots of wine at the banquet, more than enough for him to drink.
GRANDMA: Ah . . . poor people are used to drinking their own wine, because drop by drop it soaks deep into their hearts. (She takes the wine T’IEH-MEI has brought in and bids LI Yü-HO farewell, dignified yet emotional) Now, my son, this bowl of wine . . . you, you, you drink it down.
LI: (Solemnly receives the wine) Mother, with this wine at the bottom of my heart, I can cope with whatever wine they may offer me. (Drinks it up in a gulp) Mother, thank you, thank you, thank you! (Heroically sings)
Upon parting I drink a bowl of Mother’s wine,
Courage fills this whole body of mine.
“To make friends with me”? Hatoyama invites me to dine;
I can handle him now, whatever his line.
Time is awry, storms descend without warning—Mother,
You must always be mindful of the changing weather.
T’IEH-MEI: Daddy! (She throws herself onto the bosom of LI Yü-HO, sobbing)
LI: (Continues singing his covert message, with intense affection and feeling)
Little T’ieh-mei, watch the weather when going out to sell.
“Accounts,” coming in and going out, you should remember well.
When tired, watch the door, beware of stray dogs roaming free;
When depressed, wait for the magpies to sing on the tree.
You should take over the family affairs
And share with Grandma her concerns and her cares.
T’IEH-MEI: Daddy! (Sobs on her father’s bosom)
HOU: Li Shih-fu, shall we go?
LI: (To T’IEH-MEI) My child, don’t cry. From now on, listen to your grandma.
T’IEH-MEI: Yes, Daddy.
GRANDMA: T’ieh-mei, open the door. Let your father go to the “banquet”!
LI: Mother, I am leaving now.
(LI holds his mother’s hands tightly, and each encourages the other to keep struggling. T’IEH-MEI opens the door. A cold wind blows in. In heroic and majestic stride with head held high, LI goes out against the wind. HOU follows)
(T’IEH-MEI picks up the scarf, chases her father, shouting, “Daddy!” ENEMY AGENT A, B, and C rush in, stopping T’IEH-MEI)
AGENT A: Stop. Get back!
(He forces T’IEH-MEI back. The agents enter the house)
T’IEH-MEI: Oh, Grandma . . .
AGENT A: Search! Don’t move!
(The agents search and mess up the household. One of them finds a copy of an almanac, opens it up, and then throws it away)
AGENT A: Let’s go.
(Exit the AGENTS)
T’IEH-MEI: (Closes the door, pulls down the window curtain, looks about) Grandma! (She throws herself into her grandma’s arms and sobs. A little while later) Grandma, my daddy . . . will he return?
GRANDMA: Your father . . .
T’IEH-MEI: Oh, Daddy! . . .
GRANDMA: T’ieh-mei, your tears cannot save your father. Don’t cry. Our family . . . It is time you should know about your family.
T’IEH-MEI: Know what?
GRANDMA: Sit down, child. Let Grandma tell you.
(GRANDMA gazes at the scarf, and all the past revolutionary events come back to her. Old hatred and new hatred bubble up in her mind. T’IEH-MEI moves a tiny stool and sits by her grandmother)
GRANDMA: Child, your father . . . is he nice?
T’IEH-MEI: Daddy is nice.
GRANDMA: But your daddy is not your real father!
T’IEH-MEI: (Shocked) Ah? What did you say, Grandma?
GRANDMA: I am not your real grandmother either!
T’IEH-MEI: Ah? Grandma, Grandma, you must be crazy.
GRANDMA: No, I am not. My child, we three generations are not from one family. (Stands up) Your family name is Ch’en, mine is Li, and your father’s is Chang. (Sings)
These past seventeen years have been stormy times, and I’m afraid to talk about the past.
I fear that you are too young and your will is not strong.
Several times I have tried but I just couldn’t open my mouth.
T’IEH-MEI: Grandma, tell me. I won’t cry.
GRANDMA: (Sings)
It looks as though your dad will never come home again this time.
And I, your grandmother, will be arrested and put in jail.
I see the heavy burden of the revolution soon falling on your shoulders.
I’ve told you the truth. Oh, T’ieh-mei!
Don’t you cry, don’t be sad!
You must stand firm, you must be strong!
Learn from your father, to have a red, loyal heart and a will as strong as steel.
T’IEH-MEI: Grandma, please sit down and tell me everything slowly.
(T’IEH-MEI helps her grandmother sit down)
GRANDMA: (Sighs) Hai! It is a long, long tale! In those early years, your grandfather worked as a repairman in the locomotive shop on the riverbanks in Hankow. He had two apprentices. One was your real father, Ch’en Chih-hsing.
T’IEH-MEI: My real father, Ch’en Chih-hsing?
GRANDMA: One was your present father, Chang Yü-ho.
T’IEH-MEI: Oh? Chang Yü-ho?
GRANDMA: At that time, the warlords fought each other and the whole country was in turmoil. Later (She stands up), Chairman Mao and the Communist Party led the people to revolt. In February of 1923, the railroad workers organized an all-China union at Chengchow. Wu P’ei-fu, that running dog of foreign devils, would not permit them to form a union. So the union headquarters called a strike; all the workers of that line walked off their jobs. More than ten thousand workers along the riverbanks marched in demonstration. That evening, the weather was just as cold and the sky just as dark as today. I worried about your grandfather. I could neither sit still nor sleep. By the lamplight I mended old clothes. Suddenly I heard someone knocking at the door, shouting, “Mother Li, open the door, hurry!” So I quickly opened the door, and a man rushed in.
T’IEH-MEI: Who was he?
GRANDMA: He was your dad.
T’IEH-MEI: My dad?
GRANDMA: Your present dad. I saw he was wounded all over, holding this signal lantern in his left hand.
T’IEH-MEI: Signal lantern?
GRANDMA: He held a child in his right arm.
T’IEH-MEI: A child . . .
GRANDMA: A baby not quite a year old . . .
T’IEH-MEI: That child . . .
GRANDMA: It was no one else . . .
T’IEH-MEI: Who?
GRANDMA: It was you!
T’IEH-MEI: Me?
GRANDMA: Your daddy held you tightly in his arm; with tears in his eyes, he stood in front of me and cried, “Mother Li, Mother Li!” Then he just stared at me, unable to utter any words. I was so upset I urged him to speak up, fast! He . . . he . . . he said, “My Shih-fu and my brother Ch’en . . . they . . . they all sacrificed their lives. This child is the only heir of my brother Ch’en . . . a second generation of the revolution. I must raise her so that she can continue with the revolution!” Then he repeatedly called out, “Mother Li, Mother Li! From now on, I will be your own son, and this child will be your own granddaughter.” At that moment, I . . . I . . . I took you over and held you tightly in my arms!
T’IEH-MEI: Oh, Grandma! (She rushes to her grandmother’s bosom)
GRANDMA: Now, stand up, and stand straight! Listen to your grandma. (Sings)
During a labor strike your parents’ blood the devils’ hands did stain;
Since then Li Yü-ho has worked hard so the revolution may obtain;
He’s vowed to carry on for those martyrs that the red lantern may shine again;
He wiped the blood off, buried the dead, and went back to the fire line.
Now the Japanese bandits have come to loot, kill, and burn;
You’ve watched your father taken to jail, never to return.
Note this “account” of blood and tears, note it down well,
You must set a heroic goal, steel your will, get even with the foe,
For a blood debt can only be with blood redeemed.
T’IEH-MEI: (Sings)
Hearing Grandma talk about revolution, oh, how sad yet heroic!
I now realize I’ve grown up in the midst of these storms.
Oh, Grandma, for seventeen years of rearing the debt I owe you is deep as the ocean.
From now on I’ll aim high and keep my eyes clear.
I’ll demand an eye for an eye; I must carry on the task left by the martyrs.
Now I raise the red lantern, let its light brighten all four corners. Daddy!
My father’s will is, like the tall pine, unbending and strong.
A brave Communist he is, a pillar between the earth and the sky.
Daddy, I shall follow you forward without any hesitation.
Now the red lantern is raised high, its light, bright as day.
For my father to slaughter those beasts, it will light up the way.
Generation after generation, in the battlefield we shall remain
Until all the vicious wolves have been slain.
(T’IEH-MEI and GRANDMA raise the red lantern high, striking a dramatic stance. The lantern shines bright.)
(Stage dims)
(Curtain)
(Translated by Richard F. S. Yang)
* “Master” in Chinese.