The Tale of Su Liu Niang (蘇六娘傳說) is a Teochew tragic love story set in Leipu Village (雷浦村), Jieyang during the Ming dynasty. The tale is widely circulated among Teochew speakers in the form of songs, operas and stories. The tale has several versions, which mostly differ in their endings, including being sunk in the river (immersed in a pig cage, 浸豬籠), throwing herself into the river (投江) and eloped (私奔).
Early versions.
In 1956, the famous Peking opera artists Mei Lanfang (梅蘭芳) and Ouyang Yuqian (歐陽予倩) were given two Ming Dynasty engraved copies of Teochew operas when they visited Japan. Both copies were published during the Wanli period (萬歷年間) of the Ming Dynasty and collected by the Institute of Oriental Literature (東洋文學研究所) of the University of Tokyo. The titles of the copies are "Ten Complete Collection of Golden Flower Girls in Teochew Tune" (摘錦潮調金花女十全) and the "Ancient Edition of Su Liu Niang" (古版蘇六娘).
A Qing dynasty Jieyang scholar, Xie Bu (謝錬, 1830-1876), courtesy name Chaoyun (巢雲) wrote a poem to summarize the tale:
Modern versions.
Su Liu Niang was made into a black and white film by Hongtu Pictures Company (鴻圖影業) in Hong Kong in 1957, and was made into color film in December 1959. At the end of the film, when Liu Niang is about to throw herself into the river, the maid Peach Blossom (桃花) and the ferryman (渡伯) rescue her and help her to leave with her cousin.
Plot.
During the Hongzhi period (弘治年間) of the Ming Dynasty, Gentry Su (蘇員外) in Leipu, Jieyang had a young and beautiful daughter named Liu Niang (六娘). She lived and studied at her uncle's house in Xilu (西臚), Chaoyang, and she and her cousin Guo Jichun (郭繼春) were childhood sweethearts. They fell in love with each other and privately became engaged without parental consent (私訂終身). Gentry Su was a gannet-like (趨炎附勢) person, and he betrothed Liu Niang to Yang Ziliang (楊子良), the son of Adviser Yang (楊師爺) to the Raoping Prefectural Governor (饒平府衙) in Chaozhou. Liu Niang refused to marry Yang Ziliang. Adviser Yang exerted pressure through the clan leader, resulting Liu Niang to commit suicide by throwing herself into the river (投江殉情).