1. In the winter of 1924, nine-year-old Xiaodouzi enters the Guan family theater troupe to learn opera after her prostitute mother cuts off the deformed finger on her left hand. The only person in the troupe who sympathized with Little Douzi was his senior brother, Little Stone. Ten years later, under the strict and cruel guidance of Master Guan, the two brothers quickly improved their acting skills, and Douzi took the stage name Cheng Dieyi (played by Leslie Cheung) to play the Dan role, while Little Stone took the stage name Duan Xiaolou (played by Zhang Fengyi) to play the Sheng role. The two co-starred in "Farewell My Concubine", which was well received in the capital, and the two brothers also became very popular. The two agreed to co-star in "Farewell My Concubine" for the rest of their lives.

2. Duan Xiaolou marries a prostitute, Juxian (played by Gong Li), and Dieyi, who is attached to his brother, comes to his brother's place with a heavy heart, and gives Xiaolou the valuable sword that he traded with his brother in exchange for humiliation, and decides that he will no longer co-star with Xiaolou in Farewell My Concubine. At Master Guan's beck and call, the two brothers work together again.

3. After the end of the war, the two were forced to sing for a group of undisciplined and unqualified soldiers of the National Army. Duan Xiaolou clashed with the soldiers, and in the confusion, Juxian suffered a miscarriage, while some soldiers later captured Dieyi for the crime of being a traitor. Duan Xiaolou tries his best to rescue Dieyi by begging Yuan Shiqing (Ge You), a bureaucrat who used to toy with Dieyi. Juxian asks Dieyi to lie and beg for her release, and shows Dieyi a note that Xiaolou will no longer sing with her. But Dieyi is rescued by a high ranking Kuomintang official because of her skills. After the liberation, the two of them were not valued for their skills. Cheng Dieyi, who tasted opium by mistake, had a poor voice and broke it in a performance, determined to get clean, and finally regained his strength after the torture of drug addiction with the help of Duan Xiaolou's husband and wife, but was framed by Xiao Si, a child who was kind enough to be adopted by him, who pushed to take his place in Yu Ji's position to perform with Duan Xiaolou, and Duan Xiaolou went on strike in spite of the consequences, and Juxian persuaded him to perform in order to save the greater good. Duan Xiaolou finally performed. Dieyi was heartbroken and has since broken off relations with Duan Xiaolou.

4. During the Cultural Revolution, Duan Xiaolou was framed by Xiao Si and forced to frame Dieyi. Duan Xiaolou refused to do so and was dragged to the street, at which time Dieyi appeared out of nowhere, dressed as Yu Ji and willing to be humiliated with Duan Xiaolou. But when Duan Xiaolou sees that the one he hates, Juxian, is now pitying and helping him, he vents all his anger on Juxian and reveals that Juxian used to be a prostitute, and Duan Xiaolou is forced to make a clean break with Juxian and says that he has never loved her.

5. After the downfall of the Gang of Four, the two brothers performed Farewell My Concubine for the last time on the stage after 22 years of separation, Yu Ji sang the last line and cut her own throat with the sword he gave to the king, which was full of his feelings and fantasies. The first time I saw him, I saw him in his arms, and I saw him in the arms of Xiaolou.