Wu Qinghua is one of the primary characters in the Chinese 1964 ballet The Red Detachment of Women. The ballet, adapted from a novel set during the Chinese Civil War, is a classic of modern Chinese dance, and one of the Eight Model Plays, the only theatrical works allowed to be performed during the Cultural Revolution. In the ballet, Wu is the daughter of a peasant on Hainan Island, ruled by the tyrannical landlord Nanbatian. She is rescued by Hong Changqing, Commissar of The Red Detachment of Women. He trains her to fight and they lead the detachment in a war against Nanbatian. Hong is captured in battle and burned alive by the tyrant before the Red Army reach Nanbatian's lair. The tyrant is killed, and Hong is mourned as a martyr. Wu succeeds him as Commissar and pledges her life to the Revolution.
In the West, The Red Detachment of Women is best known as the ballet performed for Richard Nixon during his 1972 visit to China. It forms the basis of a crucial scene in John Adams' 1987 opera Nixon in China (which provides some of the music for the soundtrack to Civilization IV, incidentally)
In the West, The Red Detachment of Women is best known as the ballet performed for Richard Nixon during his 1972 visit to China. It forms the basis of a crucial scene in John Adams' 1987 opera Nixon in China (which provides some of the music for the soundtrack to Civilization IV, incidentally)
