History under a new light

A trilogy of historical drama presents situations seemingly remote from our daily lives but with haunting resonance.

There is a gallery of assassins in Records of the Grand Historian, China's best-known history book, which is over 2,000 years old. Playwright Xu Ying did not pick Jing Ke, the most often retold of them all, but "the most extreme one" in his eyes.

Yu Rang, a member of Minister Zhi Bo's coterie in the Kingdom of Jin, sets as his mission to kill Zhao Xiangzi because Zhao has killed Zhi during a military campaign. Yu is repeatedly thwarted in his plot against Zhao but set free by Zhao who appreciates his loyalty to his slain employer. Loyalty drives revenge, but what is the fundamental cause for Yu's loyalty?