The Qing Ding Pearl

It dates to the Song dynasty and is still performed in adapted forms in the Beijing Opera.

[1] The play is known by other titles:[2] Two sections (折 zhe) of the main play are sometimes performed separately as The Fisherman's Revenge《漁夫恨》 or A Fisherman Kills a Family (《打漁殺家》, simplified 打渔杀家 dayu sha jia)[3] also Collecting the Fishing Tax (《討漁稅》 taoyushui).

The play tells the story of Xiao En (whose real identity is Ruan Xiaoqi from Water Margin), a poor fisherman and his daughter who seeks bloody revenge after their livelihoods are taxed away by the overbearing Squire Ding.

They sneak in, his daughter wearing the Qing Ding Pearl to masquerade as a noble.

The twentieth-century Chinese actor Mei Lanfang frequently performed the role of the fisherman's daughter to great acclaim.