Adaptations from Classic Literature

A Beautiful Corpse Comes to Life

Dir/Scr: Lee Sun-fung
Orig Story: Tang Xianzu’s The Peony Pavilion
Prod Co: Union Film
Cast: Cheung Wood-yau, Pak Yin, Yung Siu-yi, Chu Kea, Lee Yuet-ching
1956 | B&W | Digital File | Cantonese | 102min

The Chinese literary classic The Peony Pavilion, written during the Ming dynasty and originally intended for staging as kunqu opera, tells a tale of love and resurrection. This film adaptation shifts the setting to the early Republican era of China, where Mengmei (Cheung Wood-yau) falls deeply in love with Du Liniang (Pak Yin) after a chance encounter, and the two even meet in their dreams. However, Liniang’s father forces her into an arranged marriage, which devastates her, causing her to fall ill and die. Her spirit continues to haunt the family mansion, and Mengmei only learns of her passing when he arrives at her home. He stays in the mansion, encountering her ghost night after night. Eventually, her corpse comes to life, and the couple are finally reunited.

Director and screenwriter Lee Sun-fung masterfully blends folk beliefs and spectral elements into this adaptation, preserving the poignancy of The Peony Pavilion while offering a critique of feudal and patriarchal traditions. As with other productions from Union Film—co-founded by Lee Sun-fung, Cheung Wood-yau, Pak Yin, and other leading figures in the then film industry—A Beautiful Corpse Comes to Life upholds the company's commitment to high production standards and strong moral themes, setting it apart from other adaptations of Chinese literary classics in early Hong Kong cinema.

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