Wu Song Slaying His Sister-in-law
“Wu Song Slaying His Sister-in-law” is a production passed down from Mr. Sun Gai, father of the 2015 Taipei Culture Awards, Sun Rong-hui. He and his father witnessed the sensation the show created while touring Southeast Asia. In 2014, The revised version was brought to the stage in the “The Here-Comes-Signature-Shows-Again ” organized by the National Center of Traditional Arts.
In 2019, just before the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Yi-Shin Taiwanese Opera Troupe, the head of the troupe, Mr. Sun Rong-hui decided to build a broader vision and passed the torch to his daughters, Shi-yong and Shi-pei. The three of them played the same character – Wu Song in three different ages, using the show to connect the bonds of the three generations. It is indeed the best example of passing down the torch!
Pan Jin-lian came from poverty and had no one to depend on after both of her parents had died. She was sold to be a slave to the Zhang family. Mr. Zhang longed for her beauty, which made his wife jealous. Hence, Mrs. Zhang forced Jin-lian to marry Wu Da. Wu Da was very short and sold baked rolls for a living. Pan Jin-lian was sad about her poor fate. The tiger-killing hero of Jingyang Mountain was Wu Song, Wu Da’s little brother, whose handsome looks made Pan Jin-lian fall for him. She confessed her love to him but was rejected by Wu Song. The lady-killer, Ximen Qing, was astonished by Pan Jin-lian’s beauty in an accidental encounter. Thus, he turned to Wang Po, who considered money meaning everything to her, for help. Wang Po, then, set up a trap that tricked Pan Jin-lian into committing adultery. She eventually worked with Ximen Qing to poison Wu Da. Thereafter, Wu Song was determined to kill his sister-in-law and Ximen Qing to avenge his big brother’s death.