Farewell My Concubine tells the mournful and tragic story of Cheng Dieyi, Duan Xiaolou and Ju Xian.

Farewell My Concubine is a full-length novel first published in June 1985 by contemporary writer Li Bihua. Set in Beijing from the 1920s to the 1980s, the novel tells the mournful and tragic story of Cheng Dieyi, Duan Xiaolou and Ju Xian. The author uses the broader context of the era of regime change and national misfortunes to interpret the emotional entanglements of the minor characters' obsessions and betrayals.

At the same time, with the complexity and splendor of traditional Peking Opera, the author recounts the true destiny of the underclass characters in the turbulent times and historical events such as the Cultural Revolution, with historical and social, aesthetic and philosophical meanings.

The movie "Farewell My Concubine", based on the novel, was directed by Chen Kaige, and starred Leslie Cheung, and was screened in Hong Kong and other regions of China in 1993.

Writer Li Bihua wrote the novel Farewell My Concubine based on the story of the Peking Opera Farewell My Concubine, and adapted it into a screenplay on two separate occasions.In 1981, director Luo Qirui made a 2-episode TV series out of writer Li Bihua's screenplay Farewell My Concubine, and the screenplay was rewritten as a novel and published in 1985.In February 1992, the film Farewell My Concubine was launched in Beijing.

The movie script was adapted by Li Bihua with the participation of screenwriter Reed, and the two of them revised the script repeatedly for nearly a year. Afterward, Li Bihua wrote a brand-new "Farewell My Concubine" novel based on the script, doubling the original 200 pages.

Citation and explanation

1. When Xiang Yu was defeated and trapped at the end of the Qin Dynasty, he sang a song of sadness and sorrow, bidding farewell to his concubine Yu Ji and his favorite horse. The story of Xiang Yu's farewell to his concubine Yu Ji and his beloved horse. Volume VII. Xiang Yu Chronicle". Later, it describes a hero who is at the end of the road, and is generous and sad. It is also known as "The King's Sad Song", "Sobbing Farewell to Yu Ji", "Farewell to Yu Ge", and "Farewell to Yu Ji".

2. Opera repertoire. Qin dynasty story play. Narrative of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, who agreed to stop their armies at the boundary of the Honggou. Han Xin used a trick to make Xiang Yu to advance his troops, and then laid an ambush on the Ten Mile Mountain, trapping Xiang Yu in Gaixia. Xiang Yu heard the Han army singing Chu songs in all directions and thought that the Chu army had surrendered to the Han, so he drank wine with his concubine Yu Ji to say goodbye. After Yu Ji cut her own throat, Xiang Yu killed himself, and when he came to Wujiang River, he was ashamed to see his father and mother in Jiangdong again, so he cut his own throat and died.