AllMovie

A young scholar who has traveled to the capitol in order to take the highest imperial examination falls in love with the daughter of the Prime Minister during his stay at a local temple in director Hou Yao's adaptation of the famous play by Wang Shifu. Zhang Sheng has prepared himself to take the ultimate test, but when a group of bandits besiege the royal family beautiful Cui Yingyang's desperate mother pledges to marry her daughter off to any man who successfully rescues her. Though Zhang eventually succeeds in the task, Cui's mother subsequently reneges on her promise citing that there is no way she will allow her daughter to wed an impoverished scholar. As a result the bond between Zhang and Cui only strengthens, and with a little assistance from Cui's loyal maid Hong Niang the couple is eventually able to shatter the traditional societal barriers that bind them.