The picture above is of Qiao's Compound, the place where Zhang Yimou filmed Raise the Red Lantern (1991) just two years after the events in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Here is the BBC's article on these events: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/4/newsid_2496000/2496277.stmBelow is a map that will show you where Pingyao, the site of Qiao's Compound, actually is.
For more information about Pingyao, see this link: http://wikitravel.org/en/Pingyao
Our study guide for the final begins with this film. It is based on Su Tong's 1990 novella Wives and Concubines. Zhang Yimou has also directed the historical films Red Sorghum and To Live as well as The House of Flying Daggers, a more action-oriented film. In Raise the Red Lantern, university student Songlian (played by Gong Li) travels to northern China to become the fourth wife (or Fourth Mistress) of Chen. She lives in a compound with Chen's other wives although each woman has her own house. This compound is in the country, but we do not see much of the countryside, except in the very beginning of the film as Songlian walks to the compound. The other wives are the older and psychologically distant First Mistress, mother of Chen's older son; Zhouyan, the second wife who appears to be very friendly and cheerful but is plotting against the others; and Meishan, a former opera singer who is the mother of Chen's younger son as well as the mistress of Doctor Gao. Raise the Red Lantern takes place in the 1920s, a time of unrest throughout China although the Chinese Civil War did not begin until 1927. The scene pictured above is of the lighting of the red lanterns, which signifies the house where Chen will spend the night. In the film, it is a family tradition; therefore, Chen does not wish to question it. Above Songlian is shown with her maid, Yang, who had had hopes of becoming the Fourth Mistress and, as we see, has hung red lanterns in her room. (Or has Chen hung them there?) After Songlian's ruse to feign pregnancy is discovered, and she betrays both Yang and Meishan, acts that result in their deaths, Songlian has a breakdown. In the next to last scene, she is observed by Chen's new bride, the Fifth Mistress.
What did you make of the ending to Raise the Red Lantern?
Is Songlian a tragic heroine? If so, what is her flaw? Or is she a victim of larger forces?
I am also going to link to my entry on Raise the Red Lantern as well:
http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/17/Raise_the_Red_Lantern
There you will find reviews of the film as well as some scholarly essays and background information.
If you would like to watch an example of Chinese opera, this is the YouTube video that I showed you:
http://xxiaojoex.multiply.com/video/item/1/Chinese_Peking_Opera?replies_read=1
Here is a link to a video of one of the best actresses in Chinese opera today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC6Ecc1LztY&feature=related
Plus there is singing! You may compare her performance with Meishan's.
We also read Eileen Chang's "Stale Mate," a story that was originally written in English. Eileen Chang's "Stale Mate," on the other hand, is a twentieth-century short story set at about the time of Raise the Red Lantern. Whereas Su Tong's novella and Zhang Yimou's film date from the 1990s, Eileen Chang's story was written during the 1950s after she had immigrated to the US. This story is also set in a more Westernized although not urban setting (whereas Raise the Red Lantern is set in rural Northern China--although we see mostly Chen's compound). In "Stale Mate," Luo, a high school teacher, pursues Miss Fan, a student, even though he is married to a woman who lives at his family's farm. Luo divorces his wife despite his family's protests, but the divorce does not come through quickly enough for him to marry Miss Fan--or so he thinks. Out of pique, Miss Fan pursues a marriage that her family is arranging for her (she is after all in her mid-twenties 
), and Luo marries Miss Wang. Miss Fan's marriage falls through, and a few years later she meets Luo again. Luo then divorces his second wife to marry Miss Fan. However, as it turns out, he is convinced to ask his two ex-wives to live with him and his current wife...and so, despite his desires to be modern, he is more or less in the same situation as Master Chen in his compound! Interestingly, he and the former Miss Fan have less money than his ex-wives do.For information about Eileen Chang, see the following entry:
http://worldlit2.multiply.com/journal/item/48/Eileen_Chang_Stale_Mates
It is easier to find Shanghai on a map.
Here is a picture of Shanghai today:
Does it make a difference that "Stale Mate" was written by a woman and Raise the Red Lantern was directed by a man? Or that "Stale Mate" was written in English and Raise the Red Lantern was filmed in Chinese?
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