Clear River Bridge
'Clear River Bridge'
Pingdu, Shandong, NS
modern reprint of early 20th century image
This story is about Zhuangwang, King of Chu during the Warring States period. At one point Zhuangwang was faced with a rebellion and the two sides were on the brink of a battle that would result in great loss of life. In order to avert this tragedy the rebel leader agreed to a duel and was defeated by Zhuangwang’s general. The bridge where this took place was thus named ‘Requesting Peace Bridge’ (Qingheqiao), but over the ages the name was altered to the homophonic ‘Clear River Bridge’ (Qingheqiao). Of course Zhuangwang was human, but this picture represents all the characters as monkeys. This represents a popular form of entertainment involving trained macaques, but it also shows how normal dramas were performed with both actors and musicians occupying the stage. See ‘Theatre Scene’ for another view of a how theatre was performed in a higher class establishment.
