AllMovie

A wandering beggar narrates this erotic and violent saga of a region in China that slipped into decadence, eventually leading to crushing military defeat. A young wife seduces her brother-in-law who is the leader of the royal guards. She engages in a series of tawdry affairs as she willingly becomes a concubine. The downward spiral of moral decay continues until the pleasures of the flesh render the troops and the government ineffective.