Resisting against Japan in wartime, the New Fourth Army fights in different parts of the South, attacks the enemy. In Autumn of 1939, a unit of our troops on the lakeside shift upon instruction, leave 18 the wounded. The county Party committee assigns to the underground messenger, Mrs. A Qing (portrayed by Zhao Yanxia), shielding the wounded. Her open job is teahouse owner. At the critical moment of Japanese invaders that "mop up", Mrs. A Qing and local common persons conceal the wounded in the reed marshes. Japanese invaders have searched for three day and nights, do not obtain at all, and collude the puppet "Salvation Army" commandant Hu ChuanKui (portrayed by Zhou Hetong) and his chief of staff Diao Deyi (portrayed by Ma Changli) in continuation to hunt the wounded. Diao Deyi is a sinister and cunning spy, a local villain. He is suspicious of Mrs. Aqing's connection with the communist New Fourth Army and the wounded hid into the reed marshes. Then a sharp and complicated fight has begun. Mrs. A Qing is having a battle of wits with the enemy...

8 Model Plays

The so-called eight model plays were officially formed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). They were the only plays performed at that time. Materials were from the communist activities or related subjects. Actually the then staged modern plays were not just limited to eight. They are the "The Legend of Red Lantern", "Sha Jia Bang", "The Harbor", "Takeover of Wei-Hu Mountain", "Hymn of Dragon River", "Battle on the Plain", "The Du-Juan Mountain", "Sweeping the White Tiger Regiment", "Pan-Shi-Wan" and "Red Woman Detachment". The model plays were then " translated" into other local operas. Usually that means adopting the play scripts as they were and changing the music accordingly.

Modern plays can be understood as a trial of reform to this grand old art. Traditional plays feature the stories of ancient or pre-modern Chinese history. There are certain forms for the costumes, the character face paintings, stage properties, musical melodies and stage actions. But most of these are not applicable to the modern plays. For example, modern weapons, such as pistols and rifles, are used on the stage in stead of pears and swords. Therefore new perforating forms were developed. The most famous change in the modern plays is the use of a huge orchestra including violins, piano etc instead of the usually small musical group, producing the most beautiful sounding effect. Stage setting was also enriched. Painted or light projected scenes were adopted. Costumes were different from the traditional plays. There were hardly any makeup applied. Therefore there was no face painted in the plays although some of the roles were still classified as painted faces.