The plot of the movie Farewell My Concubine:

Cheng Dieyi was sold to a Beijing opera troupe to learn how to sing in a blue dress, and was confused about his identity as a man or a woman. Duan Xiaolou, his older brother, is very close to him, with Duan singing flower face and Cheng singing green. The two became famous for their joint performance of "Farewell My Concubine", and became very popular in the capital. Unexpectedly, Xiaolou married the prostitute Juxian as his wife first, and after the brothers betrayed each other during the Cultural Revolution, Dieyi felt lost in his lifelong pursuit of art, and finally cut his own throat on stage while rehearsing his first play with Xiaolou again.

Farewell My Concubine is a literary film produced by Tomson Films Ltd. It is adapted from the novel of the same name by Li Bihua, directed by Chen Kaige, with a screenplay by Li Bihua and Reed, and starring Leslie Cheung, Gong Li, and Zhang Fengyi in the lead roles.

The film centers on two Peking Opera actresses' half-century of sadness and joy, showing their thoughts and understanding of traditional culture, human existence, and human nature.

The film was released in 1993 in Mainland China and Hong Kong, and has since been screened in many countries and regions around the world, and has broken the box office record for a Mainland Chinese literary film in the U.S.

The film is based on the novel by Li Bihua, directed by Chen Kaige and written by Reed.