Romance of the White Haired Maiden (1999)

Romance of the White Haired Maiden 1999 / 白髮俠女 1999 / 白发魔女 , Báifà Mónǚ , Yidai Xianü , 一代俠女 , 白发侠女

The story begins in the 43rd year of the reign of the Wanli Emperor during Ming Dynasty. Zhuo Yihang of the Wudang Sect falls in love with the legendary heroine Lian Nichang, disregarding his lover's past feud with his sect. The treacherous eunuch Wei Zhongxian secretly murders the Taichang Emperor and replaces him with the young Tianqi Emperor, who is effectively a puppet ruler under Wei's control. Wei schemes with the Manchu leader Nurhachi to seize control of China. Lian Nichang's senior, Murong Chong, is actually a spy working for the Manchus. In order to achieve his ambition of dominating the wulin (martial artists' community), he uses a trick to turn Lian and Zhuo Yihang against each other. Lian falsely believes that Zhuo has betrayed her love and her hair turns white overnight. She leaves Zhuo in anger and travels to the remote regions of northern China. Zhuo is unwilling to give up on Lian and he finally resolves his misunderstanding with her after experiencing hardships. Zhuo and Lian rally a group of martial artists to help them deal with the Manchu invaders. The heroes defeat the Manchu army at Shanhai Pass and temporarily halt the invasion. By then, the Tianqi Emperor had died and is succeeded by the Chongzhen Emperor. Chongzhen believes slanderous rumours and puts the patriotic general Yuan Chonghuan to death. Without Yuan to defend Shanhai Pass, Zhuo and Lian foresee that Ming China will eventually fall to the Manchus. They decide to permanently retire from the jianghu and lead reclusive lives. (Source: Wikipedia) ~~ Adapted from the novel series ‟Baifa Monv Zhuan‟ (白髮魔女傳) by Liang Yu Sheng (梁羽生).