History,Literature And Politics In The Revolutionary Era

With the outbreak of the Korean civil war on June 25,1950 and Mao Zedong's strategic decision to "resist the United States and aid the DPRK to defend the country",the Chinese People's Volunteers crossed the Yalu River to enter the war on the Korean Peninsula.The Battle of Jincheng began in July,1953 and on July 14,Yang Yucai,disguised as an American advisor,led a "Huaxiban" to sneakily attack the "ace regiment" of Lee Seung-nam's capital division,the "White Tiger Regiment",laying a foundation for No.203 Volunteer Division to successfully complete the first task of the Battle of Jincheng,which was the prototype of the story of raiding on the "White Tiger Regiment" widely spread in later generations.Wang Chengyuan,a field correspondent keenly discovered this battle story and made an in-depth field interview,so that the story of raiding on the "White Tiger Regiment"began to spread.Based on the story,he wrote a reportage literary work—Surprise Attack(QiXi)which was included in the Volunteer Army Heroes published by People's Literature Publishing House in 1956.Fang Rongxiang,the main actor of the Peking Opera Troupe of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army,learned about the story—raiding on the "White Tiger Troupe" and adapted it into a Peking Opera.From the year of 1955,the Peking opera "Raid on the White-Tiger Regiment" began to be performed on the stage and over the next 20 years or so,it gradually grew from a small opera to a well-known model opera.In 1964,the Peking Opera Troupe of Shandong Province brought "Raid on the White-Tiger Regiment" to Beijing to participate in the National Modern Peking Opera Performance Exhibition and performed it to Mao Zedong,thus making the "Raid on the White-Tiger Regiment" so famous that it was rated as an excellent play at that time.Since then,Jiang Qing began the full intervention of the opera,which led to a dramatic change of its fate.In 1967,the sixth issue of Red Flag magazine published an editorial entitled "Hailing the Great Victory of the Peking Opera Revolution",in which four Peking Operas——"Raid on the White-Tiger Regiment","On the Docks","The Red Lantern","Shajiabang" and "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy",were established as"excellent models of Peking Opera",announcing arrival of the "model opera" era"Raid on White-Tiger Regiment",as a model opera,reached its peak.The government gave policy priority.For example,a crew was organized especially for it.Compared with ordinary crews,the "model crew" held the most advantageous resources——human,physical and financial.In 1972,the color film "Raid on White-Tiger Regiment"was released by Changchun film studio and quickly swept the whole nation,which marked the climax in the spread history of the story of Raiding on "White-Tiger Regiment".With the cooperation of the state propaganda apparatus,the Peking opera"Raid on White-Tiger Regiment" was disseminated throughout the country through various media,and the strong ideological overtones beneath it permeated the spiritual world of the people in every way.With the end of the Cultural Revolution,the model Peking Opera "Raid on the White-Tiger Regiment" that was one of the symbols of the Cultural Revolution,also came down from the altar,but the story of the Chinese People's Volunteers'surprise attack on the White-Tiger Regiment has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts.When future generations comment on the merits and demerits of the "White-Tiger Regiment",they should see both the weakening of its operatic character under political interference and its penetration into every corner of the society under political impetus.