What's the story of The Purple Hairpin written by Tang Xianzu?

The Story of Purple Hairpin is the work of Tang Xianzu, a great dramatist in Ming Dynasty. It tells the story of Li Yi, a gifted scholar, and Huo Xiaoyu who went through hardships and finally reconciled.

Li Yiyuan, a gifted scholar, had a midnight snack and met Huo Xiaoyu, who was both talented and attractive. They fell in love at first sight, and then got married with a purple hairpin that Xiaoyu mistakenly hung on the top of the plum tree as a token.

Soon, Li Yi won the top prize in high school, but he was sent to join the army outside Yumenguan because he offended Lu Taiwei who wanted to recruit him as his husband. Li Yi and Xiaoyu Baqiao broke up. Later, Lu Taiwei replaced Li Yi with Meng Men to join the army, and even after returning to North Korea, he put Li Yi under house arrest in Lufu.

Xiaoyu doesn't understand and hates Li Yi's ingratitude. The generosity of the Yellow Shirts brought them back together. So the truth came out and the heart was reconciled. The play enthusiastically eulogizes the sincerity and persistence of love and profoundly exposes the corruption and ugliness of power.

Extended data

The Purple Hairpin was written in Tang Xianzu's Nanjing period. The whole play is fifty-three. It retains the main characters and plots of Jiang Fang's legendary novel Biography of Huo Xiaoyu in the Tang Dynasty, reproduces the images of the hero and heroine, and makes a unique interpretation of the love story between Li Yi and Huo Xiaoyu.

The Story of Purple Hairpin inherits the realistic spirit of Biography of Huo Xiaoyu, and also embodies Tang Xianzu's concept of "extreme love", which can be called the first dream of "Linchuan Four Dreams".

The other three dreams: Peony Pavilion, Handan Ji and Conan Ji.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Zichai (Tang Xianzu's Opera Works)