Who Doesn't Long for Jiangnan?

One is a powerful military man in Republican-era China. One is a rising star of the Peking opera stage. One is a progressive-minded female teacher, betrothed since childhood to a scion of an old family. And one is an earnest tutor at a private school. As one act ends and another begins, Lin Ruochu takes the stage. Her performance of The Peony Pavilion dazzles all of Beiping, drawing crowds so vast that the streets fall quiet and the theater is packed to the rafters. This celebrated performance draws two people into its spell, until they gradually lose themselves. This is a story of her loving him, him loving him, and him loving him too.