She is the niece-in-law of ZHANG Ying’s family in Tongcheng, having married into the family from Jiangning. In Tongcheng, she takes charge of the household affairs and is respectfully known as Madam Qingning.
The ZHANG family in Tongcheng begins construction of a new residence, intending it as a retirement home for Grand Secretary ZHANG Ying when he eventually leaves the imperial court in Beijing. Unexpectedly, the local authorities order construction to stop after receiving a complaint accusing the ZHANG family of encroaching on neighbouring land.
Their neighbour, the WU family, has taken the ZHANG family to court, claiming that the ZHANG family has occupied three chi (about one meter) of their land. Only when the ZHANGs appear before the authorities do they discover that the complaint has been filed by their long-standing neighbours, the WUs. The ZHANG family produces a land deed as evidence of ownership, but to their surprise, the WUs produce a deed of their own. The two deeds overlap by three chi of land.
Realising the seriousness of the matter—for the law, for the family’s honour, and for the principles by which the household is governed—Madam Qingning negotiates with the WUs while writing to ZHANG Ying to report the dispute.
Through an unexpected turn of events, what arrives is a “family letter” from the ZHANG Ying addressed to the local authorities—and construction on the ZHANG residence is allowed to resume.
But Madam Qingning senses that something is amiss. Convinced that there must have been a mistake, she does everything she can to prevent construction from restarting, fearing that the affair could damage ZHANG Ying’s reputation. The ZHANG family, however, is furious and insists that construction must continue. Just as tensions reach a breaking point, a handwritten letter from ZHANG Ying finally arrives.
The letter reads:
“Since the WU family holds a legitimate land deed issued by the Qing government, the land should rightfully belong to them. As the ancients said, ‘It is better to settle a quarrel than to let it become a lasting feud.’ Yet I believe our family should publicly apologise, put the past behind us, and restore our good relations with our neighbours.”
He instructs his family to yield three chi of land and apologise to the WU family. At the end of the letter is a poem:
The letter is written only because of a wall;
Why not yield them three chi of land?
The Great Wall still stands after all these years,
Yet where is the First Emperor of Qin?
Creative
Producer: HAN Zaifen
Supervisors: DING Fei, SHEN Hua
Overall Coordination: JIANG Yuanyuan, ZHANG Peipei
Creative Concept & Planning: HAN Zaifen
Playwright: NIE Shengzhe
Director: MAO Junhui
Composer: CHEN Rutian
Orchestrator: DONG Runhuai
Set & Scenic Designer: HAN Sheng
Lighting Designer: HE Yilun
Costume Designer: SHI Yanqin
Styling Designer: LEI Cimei
Props Designer: WAN Yusheng
Sound Designer: LI Xiaolong
Assistant Director: HE Pei
Music Production: Xiaodong Music Studio
MIDI Production: MA Hengfei
Assistant Directors: CHENG Zechuan, NING Zongbao
Assistant Set & Scenic Designers: LIU Pengcheng, WANG Shan
Stage Manager: XU Yi
Presenters: Anhui Zaifen Huangmei Opera Arts Theatre, Huangmei Opera Arts Academy, Anqing Normal University
Cast
Madam Qingning: HAN Zaifen
WU Youli: MA Zijun
HE Xini: DING Fei
Steward CHENG: PAN Wei
Clan Elder: MA Ding
LI Ren: XIE Jun
Adviser TAO: ZHANG Yinwang
Attendant GUI: CHEN Mingyou
HAN Mending: NING Baolong
ZHU Yongyin: LIU Lei
HUANG Zhitang: ZHOU Haifeng
He Xiang: WANG Chenchen
WANG Cai: ZHANG Heng
LIU Qianya: WEI Guang
The Mass: LI Ping, YONG Lijuan, WANG Yijia, LIU Yuxuan, XIONG Dongxu, ZHANG Sichen, LI Wei, JIANG Lihui, MA Teng, YANG Yang, HE Pei, HU Xiang
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