''Red Crag'' or ''Red Rock'' () was a 1961 novel based partly on fact by

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

authors Luo Guangbin and Yang Yiyan, who were former inmates in a

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

prison in

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

. It was set in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

in 1949, and featured underground

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

agents under the command of

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

fighting an espionage battle against the Kuomintang. The main protagonist Jiang Xueqin, or "Sister Jiang" (), is based on the Communist revolutionary

Jiang Zhuyun Jiang Zhuyun (; 20 August 1920 – 14 November 1949) was a Chinese communist revolutionary.Spymaster: Dai Li and the Chinese Secret Service - Page 166 Frederic E. Wakeman - 2003 "Occasionally, but only very seldom, was a woman able to shame her ...

(1920–1949). The novel contains a major scene in which Sister Jiang and fellow prisoners learn embroider the national flag together upon learning of the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The novel contained a highly negative portrayal for the Sino-American Cooperative Organization, as responsible for the running prisons jailing communists and other political dissidents, although in reality they were actually run by the KMT secret police service BIS, and had no American involvement. Xujun Eberlein wrote in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' that "The novel played a critical role in the heroism culture of the Mao era."Eberlein, Eberlein.
Another Kind of American History in Chongqing, 1: Prologue

Archive
. ''

''. January 31, 2011. Retrieved on December 20, 2015. The book includes a poem that was attributed to, but was not written by, the revolutionary "martyr" Chen Ran (陈然, 1923－1949).

Adaptations

The 1964 Chinese-language western-style opera titled ''Sister Jiang'' is based on the novel.East Asian History - Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University, 1998 p134-137 The opera was composed by Yang Ming and Jiang Chunyang, musicians of the art bureau of the

Chinese Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

. In 1965, a feature film adaptation directed by Shui Hua was released; titled '' Eternity in Flames'' (), it starred

Yu Lan Yu Lan (; 3 June 1921 – 28 June 2020) was a Chinese film actress. In 1961, Yu won the award for Best Actress at the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival for her performance in '' A Revolutionary Family''. Her youngest son is Chinese directo ...

and

Zhao Dan Zhao Dan (June 27, 1915 – October 10, 1980) was a Chinese film actor. Career Zhao became famous working in the Mingxing Film Company in the 1930s including playing opposite Zhou Xuan in '' Street Angel'' (1937). After the Sino-Japanese War ...

. In 2002, at the invitation of the German World Art Festival, director Zhang Yuan presented a

Peking opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became ...

(also titled ''Sister Jiang''), with Zhang Huoding in the title role, at the Cologne Grand Theater - the first major presentation of a revolutionary opera in Europe. Zhang Yuan made a film version of the production in 2003. In 2004, a Peking opera titled ''Hua Ziliang'' was produced by Tianjin Chinese Opera Theater for DVD in 2004 with Wang Pin in the title role.Tianjin Statistical Yearbook 2004 Page 31 7503743220 2004 The city performed Peking opera "Hua Ziliang", ballet opera "Jingwei" and drama "Applause for you" . Hua Ziliang is a character from the novel. A 2010

CCTV-1 CCTV-1 (CCTV General Channel) is the primary channel of CCTV, the national flagship terrestrial television network of the People's Republic of China. It broadcasts a range of programs from CCTV Headquarters at East 3rd Ring Road in Beijing and ...

TV series also titled ''Sister Jiang'' is also based on this novel.

References

{{reflist 1961 novels 20th-century Chinese novels Fiction set in 1949 Chinese novels adapted into plays Chinese novels adapted into television series Novels set in Chongqing Works set during the Chinese Civil War