Cover of Peking Opera Cats: Wu Song Fights the Tiger
Peking Opera Cats: Wu Song Fights the Tiger Synopsis
In this story, the Peking Opera Cats have formed a professional troupe. Today, they’re performing an excerpt from the classic martial arts play “Wu Song Fights the Tiger.” Before the show even begins, a disturbance arises. First, Wu Song Cat is late. As he rushes in, he bumps into Tiger Cat, who’s already furious and nearly comes to blows. How can the show continue in this situation?
What? The fight started before the action scene even started?
“Datai Cangcang
“Deng Beng Cang Cai Cang Beng Du Kuang Cai Kuang Cai…” As the gongs and drums sounded, the curtain opened and the actors came on stage!
The Peking Opera “Wu Song Fights the Tiger” depicts the hero Wu Song, returning home to visit his brother. Passing through Yanggu County, he stops at a tavern at the foot of Jingyang Ridge to imbibe a strong drink. Seeing Wu Song’s intoxication and the late hour, the innkeeper tells him that a ferocious tiger has roamed the mountain and urges him to rest and continue his journey the next day. However, the hero, knowing full well that a tiger is lurking in the mountains, staggers towards the hill.
Wu Song Lying Drunk on the Bluestone
The tiger is coming, Wu Song is coming!
On Jingyang Ridge, Wu Song lay drunkenly on a bluestone. Suddenly, a fierce wind blew, and a tiger pounced. Wu Song dodged, raising his club and striking the tiger. Man and tiger, fighting for their lives, the battle raged, the sky darkening, the earth lurching with danger. Wu Song broke his club, and with his bare hands, he seized the tiger and struck it with all his might. After a fierce struggle, he finally killed the tiger, ridding the people of this evil.
He killed a tiger in the mountains with his powerful fists and became famous all over the world!
On stage, Wu Song Cat and Tiger Cat collaborated seamlessly, performing a spectacular tiger-fighting spectacle. Tiger Cat’s ferocity and Wu Song’s prowess drew applause and cheers. The two actors enthusiastically shared their secrets: despite their realistic combat, they never touched each other. Their masterful acting and rapport were truly remarkable! Tiger Cat even revealed that his pre-performance “tantrum” was simply to invigorate the tiger’s ferocity.
Haha, it turns out that everyone has their own unique skills.
Finally, this pair of good partners on stage and good friends off stage, walked home hand in hand.
【Storyteller Ajiayun】
Compared to Peking Opera Cats’ “Changbanpo,” the Peking Opera in the picture book “Wu Song Fighting the Tiger” is much simpler. Children often choose this one if they have to choose between them. Recently, after repeated readings, elementary school students were able to pinpoint a minor flaw in the work’s structure (the order of the pictures). Their expertise is truly impressive! I won’t discuss the flaw for now; you can find it yourself.
The martial arts scenes depicted in this book are well-known, and the plot is simple, so the stage rhythm is clearer and more familiar to readers. It reminds me not only of Wu Song in Peking Opera, but also of “The Foolish and the Unhappy,” written by Mr. Ren Yongrong and later adapted into an animated film. When I first read the beginning of the story, I thought the tiger cat also had the style of “Unhappy”, but it turns out not to be the case! The subsequent part where the two actors talk about the play is very rare and wonderful, it is simply a living “Peking Opera basics textbook”. Here I have found some “teaching materials” for you, which are absolutely excellent — a clip of Wu Song fighting the tiger, starring Mr. Gai Jiaotian, the “living Wu Song”. This is probably the best Peking Opera “Wu Song Fighting the Tiger” we can see today:
Take your children to see more plays when you have the chance, and make life slower:)
