The Soul of the Blade focuses on ordinary people’s resistance against Japan after the fall of Northeast China in the 1930s. It tells the story of Peking opera troupe leader Zhang Mingchun, his apprentice Ling Feng, and his daughter Su Wan, from their flight to their use of theatrical skills to fight the invaders. Each puts their talents to work: Zhang Mingchun strategizes, applying his mastery of Peking opera to combat; Ling Feng uses his skills in the martial clown role to infiltrate and assassinate; and Su Wan, in her leading-lady costumes, gathers intelligence and lays traps. They turn costumes, spear props, and other theatrical tools into weapons, using stage magic to carry out their operations. From their first clashes to joining forces with other groups, they ultimately plan a deadly ambush on the opera stage to take on the Japanese army. Though they pay a terrible price, their courage gives voice to the patriotism of performers from the lowest walks of life and tells a legendary tale of resistance in which art becomes a blade and the spirit never dies.
