ACT I<br >Fanshen is an accurate historical record of what once happened in<br >one village four hundred miles south-west of Peking.<br > Eve~ revolution creates new words. The Chinese revolution<br >created a whole new vocabulary. A most important word in this<br >vocabulaD was fanshen . Literally it means to turn the body or "to<br >turn over . To China s hundreds of millions of landless and land-poor<br >peasants it meant to stand up， to throw off the landlord yoke， to gain<br >land， stock， implements and houses. But it meant much more than<br >this. It meant to enter a new world. That is why the book is called<br >Fanshen. It is the story of how the peasants of Long Bow built a<br >new world.<br > This version of William Hinton s book should be played with<br >about nine actors taking the thirty or so parts. There are no sets， and<br >no lighting cues. It should be performed using authentic props and<br >costumes. At one end of the acting area is a small raised platform on<br >which certain scenes are played. The rest of the acting area thrusts<br >forward into the audience.<br > SECTION ONE<br >When the audience are in， the actors appear one by one with a piece<br >of injbrmation. Then they begzn to work on stage at their land， or<br >washing， or begging， or watching until they form a whole picture of<br >the village.<br >CH UNG-LAI S WIFE; The village of Long Bow is situated four<br > hundred miles south-west of Peking. One thousand people<br > live there. In I946 nearly all the people lived off the land.<br > Landlords claimed from fifty to seventy per cent of their<br > tenants crop in rent. The rate of interest on loans went as<br > high as one hundred per cent every twenty days. I am<br > Ch ung-lai s wife. I have no land.<br >