A wandering poet and the woman he left behind.
A noble who lost his memory with a wife who can’t forget.
And the enlightened boatman who connects them all.
Welcome to the Gold Jade Way.
SYNOPSIS
Factions fight for power. Men are sent to battle while women mourn. And yet, poetry and art proliferate. Buddhism and Taoism beckon seekers into the mountains to discover a higher calling, a deeper truth.
Our story begins as JIANG SHOU acquires a simple boat from GUANYIN, a mystical being in disguise.
Ready for a change, LUREN sneaks aboard with as much wine as he can carry. He leaves behind FENG MIAN, a florist who loves him and laments his abandonment. She finds solace, though, in her employer YING YUE, a noblewoman who longs for the return of her husband forced many moons ago to join the fight.
The two women meet along the Yellow River while, far away, LUREN crashes the home of farmer ZHANG DENGLAI. A farmer who, we learn, is YING YUE’s long-lost husband. But it’s a truth he does not know, for a battle plunged him into the river and wiped his memory clean. The only fragment of his past is a bone hair pin he was clutching in his hand.
Separated by distance, the men and the women bond over wine. But when FENG MIAN hears JIANG SHOU singing on the river, something inside of her stirs. A flash of lightning in a summer cloud and the otherworldly chanting of GUANYIN, NUNS and MONKS summon her to a distant temple. She says goodbye to YING YUE, who adorns her with yellow cassia, then FENG MIAN climbs aboard JIANG SHOU’s boat.
When FENG MIAN lands again, she comes face-to-face with LUREN as he proclaims love to several other women. She freezes. Will she follow the way of the nuns or fall prey again to agony and despair? It is at this moment ZHANG DENGLAI sees the yellow cassia YING YUE had placed in FENG MIAN’s hair. And he remembers…
In Act II, GUANYIN convinces FENG MIAN to study with the NUNS, where she excels. ZHANG DENGLAI gives his hut to LUREN, says farewell and hops aboard JIANG SHOU’s boat to return to his wife. But a storm comes, and ZHANG DENGLAI is cast into the river. His body washes up on the shore he’d just left.
FENG MIAN finds his remains and leads a ceremony in ZHANG DENGLAI‘s honor, then returns to YING YUE and shares the news. Stricken with anguish, YING YUE hurls herself into the river to join him.
LUREN grieves his friend as FENG MIAN offers guidance to the remaining WOMEN of the court.
Seeing FENG MIAN’s education complete, GUANYIN appears for the final lesson as YING YUE and ZHANG DENGLAI rise from the river and fly away together. LUREN and JIANG SHOU say their goodbyes, then JIANG SHOU continues down the river while LUREN returns to his spiritual practice.
Having fully transcended as a Bodhisattva, FENG MIAN is given control of the earthly sphere by GUANYIN, who ascends to the heavens.