Bursting with Mountain Songs: Gender Resistance and Class Struggle in Liu Sanjie

Abstract

The creation of the classic 1960s film Liu Sanjie was a complex process, and the intentions and meanings quite varied. In essence, the localized, marginalized, and decentralized folk legend about Liu Sanjie was discovered and transformed into a representation of the Guangxi area and even of China proper—a product of its era’s emphasis on folk culture and state-sponsored policies in the 1950s concerning the production of art and literature. Liu Sanjie underwent a series of adaptations from folk legend to Guangxi caidiao opera, music and dance opera, and finally to film. It was not just a product made under those policies, but also Liu Sanjie became a model for later revolutionary operas. This paper applies a textual narrative strategy to examine how artists, guided by the literature and art policies, incorporated, adapted, and reiterated the legend of Liu Sanjie to express gender awareness and class struggle.