A few years back, a singer from China came to town. The singer must be fifty something and the buzz around town was it was Liu San Jie or Third Sister Liu. Of course, Liu San Jie or Third Sister Liu was just the name of a popular 1961 Chinese movie from Mainland China. The movie contains many popular folk songs of Guangxi Zhuang minority from southwest Guangzi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The movie was supposed to be based on the local tale about the beautiful and talented Liu San Jie who was born in a village along the Liujiang River of Guangxi in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). At the age of 17, Liu San Jie who was adept in singing folk songs, fell in love with a handsome young man who was also a good folk singer. The pair of lovers swore never to separate. Unfortunately, a village hooligan was interested in Liu and on a moonlight night, tried to take her by force. Liu and her lover who were sitting on a big rock at the riverside to enjoy the beauty of the moon was suddenly surrounded by a gang of hooligans. Having no way of escaping, the lovers, hand in hand and with no hesitation, jumped into the roaring Liujiang River. Nowadays, on March 3, local people will gather along the riverside of the Liujiang River and organizea folk-song competition to mourn Liu San Jie. The teenager playing Liu San Jie in the movie, Liu Shi Long, at fifty something still amazes fans but what should amaze more perhaps is the thought that Chinese lovers from the Tang Era could just laze around and stare at the moon. That, I think, is terribly romantic!Liu San Jie, the movie (excerpts)...
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