Kwai Tsing Theatre | Changgan Ballad by HKSPCO - Sha Tin Town Hall Venue Partnership Scheme

Description

In the third year of Zhonghe in the Tang Dynasty (883 AD), the rebellion led by Huang Chao threw the country into turmoil. Nanjing Changganli (the area from today's Qinhuai River to Yuhuatai) was also attacked by rebels, causing the dispersal of many people. After another uprising by the warlords eight years later, Du Xiyang and Du Zikuai became orphans, while Fan Su and Fan Heng fled to Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou) with their mother. Wang Chengfeng, meanwhile, relocated to Huayang (modern-day Jurong) with Du Xiyang, Du Zikuai, and his own twin children, Wang Chang and Wang Shuang. Their private tutor, Gao Yuncheng, decided to seek an official post. Six years later, the Wang family had settled into a stable life, running a business that purchased raw silk. Wang Chengfeng traveled to Qiantang with his children and the Du siblings to buy silk, where Du Xiyang unintentionally purchased a jade bangle that had been stolen and resold to a jewelry merchant. They also encountered Fan Su and her brother, who were struggling to make a living, and Du Xiyang gave Fan Su the jade bangle as a token of their love. However, out of jealousy, Wang Chang and Wang Shuang conspired with a Hu merchant named Afanti to frame Du Xiyang, Du Zikuai, Fan Su, and Fan Heng. The four were forced to part ways, with Du Xiyang mistakenly believing that Fan Su had married Afanti out of desperation. Yin Fan and Yin Shan, a pair of siblings, filed a complaint against Afanti with the Chief Justice, claiming that he lacked a Tang Dynasty-era travel permit ('guosuo'). This led to the reunion of the four wronged individuals and their encounter with Gao Yuncheng, who had become a minor official. Unfortunately, due to his low rank, Gao was forced to sentence Du Xiyang to a thousand-mile exile for stealing and selling tribute items.