# Guerrillas on the Plain
**Guerrillas on the Plain** (*Ping yuan you ji dui*, 平原游击队) is a 1955 Chinese black-and-white war film directed by Su Li (苏里) and Wu Zhaodi (武兆堤) at Changchun Film Studio, in which a Communist guerrilla commander leads resistance against occupying Japanese forces on the North China plain in 1943.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2009551/) • [2](https://www.mct.gov.cn/gtb/index.jsp?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mct.gov.cn%2Fwhzx%2Fbnsj%2Fzcfgs_bnsj%2F201509%2Ft20150906_821977.html) It became one of the most influential early films of the People's Republic of China, and its hero Li Xiangyang (李向阳), played by Guo Zhenqing (郭振清), remained a household figure for decades.[3](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/ccws/202101/3297185.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 平原游击队 (Ping yuan you ji dui)[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2009551/) |
| Production | Changchun Film Studio, black and white, Mandarin, mono sound[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2009551/) |
| Directors and writers | Directed by Su Li and Wu Zhaodi; screenplay by Xing Ye (邢野) and Yu Shan (羽山)[4](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/guerrillasontheplain/EBVMmBcLrYmNfISqS7YLM5/credits/) |
| Release | January 1955 in China; Hungary July 11, 1957; East Germany January 3, 1958[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2009551/releaseinfo/) |
| Lead cast | Guo Zhenqing as Li Xiangyang; Fang Hua (方化) as the Japanese captain Matsui[6](https://manifold.umn.edu/read/chinese-film/section/d9a80d96-5e56-46ad-b29b-70f2b5a78b8a) |
| Award | Third prize, Ministry of Culture 1949–1955 excellent films awards (1957)[7](https://xinwen.bjd.com.cn/content/s682955fee4b0380e186c4c1a.html) |
| Remakes | A 1974 color remake and a 1974 revolutionary model opera film, *Fighting on the Plain* (平原作战)[6](https://manifold.umn.edu/read/chinese-film/section/d9a80d96-5e56-46ad-b29b-70f2b5a78b8a) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story is set in the autumn of 1943, during the Japanese "mopping-up" campaign against the Communist base areas in North China. The military sub-district commander orders the guerrilla leader Li Xiangyang to take his unit behind enemy lines to a [county town](https://www.edgepedia.org/county-town), pin down the Japanese garrison under Captain Matsui so that it cannot reinforce the mountains, and protect several hundred thousand jin of public grain hidden near Li village.[2](https://www.mct.gov.cn/gtb/index.jsp?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mct.gov.cn%2Fwhzx%2Fbnsj%2Fzcfgs_bnsj%2F201509%2Ft20150906_821977.html)
Li Xiangyang splits his force in two to confuse the enemy. While the grain is being moved, the landlord Yang Laozong spots the activity and informs Matsui, who marches to Li village; Li has already moved the villagers and the grain into tunnels. Matsui digs and finds a tunnel entrance, and Li's feints, including burning a nearby blockhouse and blowing up an ammunition train in the town, fail to draw him away for long. Matsui doubles back to the village and kills villagers who refuse to reveal the grain's location, including the elder Old Qin and the boy Xiaobaozi. Li raids the town twice more, burning Japanese grain stores and executing the collaborating Yang father and son, and finally lures Matsui's entire force into an ambush at Li village, where it is annihilated.[2](https://www.mct.gov.cn/gtb/index.jsp?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mct.gov.cn%2Fwhzx%2Fbnsj%2Fzcfgs_bnsj%2F201509%2Ft20150906_821977.html)
## Production
The film originated in a stage play, *Guerrilla Leader* (游击队长), written by Xing Ye, a writer who had worked in resistance-era drama troupes and completed the play in 1952 while at the Central Literature Research Institute. The writer [Ding Ling](https://www.edgepedia.org/ding-ling) read it and brought it to the attention of Chen Huangmei, head of the film bureau of the Ministry of Culture, who had Xing transferred to the film bureau in 1953 or 1954 to adapt it with the professional screenwriter Yu Shan.[8](https://wyb.chinawriter.com.cn/content/202109/29/content61855.html) In late 1954 Chen Huangmei gave the script to Su Li, then an unproven director who had worked only as an assistant, because Su had served in an [Eighth Route Army](https://www.edgepedia.org/eighth-route-army) armed work team behind enemy lines during the war; Wu Zhaodi, who also had guerrilla warfare experience, joined as co-director.[7](https://xinwen.bjd.com.cn/content/s682955fee4b0380e186c4c1a.html)
In 1954 the cast and crew, including Guo Zhenqing, Ge Cunzhuang, and other actors, traveled to Ranzhuang in Qingyuan county, Hebei, a village known for its tunnel warfare against the Japanese, where they lived and worked with villagers to gather material for the characters.[9](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E5%B9%B3%E5%8E%9F%E6%B8%B8%E5%87%BB%E9%98%9F/15101) Guo Zhenqing, a former Tianjin tram conductor who had entered film with *Gate Number Six*, built the role through interviews with veterans and contact with a militia leader who had run tunnel warfare in the village.[7](https://xinwen.bjd.com.cn/content/s682955fee4b0380e186c4c1a.html) The Li Xiangyang character was said to be based on the real guerrilla commander Zhen Fengshan (甄凤山) of Ding county, Hebei, giving the film a relatively direct claim to historical reference.[6](https://manifold.umn.edu/read/chinese-film/section/d9a80d96-5e56-46ad-b29b-70f2b5a78b8a)
The film was shot quickly, reportedly in under half a year, and the production team decided at Su Li's suggestion to make it in the suspense-driven "thriller" style rather than as a straightforward battle picture.[10](https://m.hswh.org.cn/index.php/wzzx/llyd/ls/2026-05-21/98739.html) Sources differ on the finished length: IMDb lists a runtime of 100 minutes,[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2009551/) while a Chinese film database records a print length of 78 minutes, 2,733 meters, in ten reels.[11](https://www.kkuan.com/movie/%E5%B9%B3%E5%8E%9F%E6%B8%B8%E5%87%BB%E9%98%9F%281955%29)
## Characters and reception
The film's lasting reputation rests on its two leads. Li Xiangyang, the "double-pistol" guerrilla commander, combined the traits of the classical Chinese outlaw hero with echoes of legendary figures such as [Robin Hood](https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-hood) and Chapayev, and his line "Don't move, I am Li Xiangyang!" entered everyday speech.[12](https://politics.people.com.cn/n/2015/0820/c1001-27491060.html) • [8](https://wyb.chinawriter.com.cn/content/202109/29/content61855.html) Fang Hua's Japanese captain Matsui, cunning and ruthless, became a template villain; the pair were described as the classic hero-villain combination of New China's screen, and audiences came to identify the actors with their roles.[3](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/ccws/202101/3297185.html) The film's score, including the "Japanese entering the village" cue, remained widely remembered long after release.[13](https://www.99csw.com/book/204/9780.htm)
The film won a third prize in the Ministry of Culture's awards for excellent films of 1949–1955, announced in 1957.[7](https://xinwen.bjd.com.cn/content/s682955fee4b0380e186c4c1a.html) Film historians credit it as the first relatively successful depiction of guerrilla warfare during the War of Resistance and as a template that shaped later films of the type.[14](https://image.chinawriter.com.cn/61/2015/0904/U3875P843T61D1477F786DT20150904065729.pdf) A scholar of PRC war cinema places it in the "realist typification" phase of the depiction of Japanese soldiers, 1954–1962.[15](https://www.grdspublishing.org/index.php/people/article/view/3289) One study of Chinese war-film genre notes that its ending, with villagers seeing the mounted guerrillas off across a wide landscape, resembles the denouement of classical Hollywood westerns.[16](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00094633.2015.1214514)
## Remakes and afterlife
[Jiang Qing](https://www.edgepedia.org/jiang-qing) identified the black-and-white film as suitable material for [Peking opera](https://www.edgepedia.org/peking-opera) adaptation as early as 1965; librettists including Weng Ouhong and A Jia conducted fieldwork in the story's region and the China Peking Opera Theatre began rehearsals in early 1966, but the project stalled when the [Cultural Revolution](https://www.edgepedia.org/cultural-revolution) began and the writers came under Red Guard attack.[17](https://chinaheritage.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Chinese-Cultural-Revolution-A-History-Paul...-Z-Library.pdf) Xing Ye, the original co-writer, was later enlisted to work on the adaptations.[6](https://manifold.umn.edu/read/chinese-film/section/d9a80d96-5e56-46ad-b29b-70f2b5a78b8a)
In 1974 the story was remade twice: as a color fiction film in the same classical mode as the original, directed by Wu Zhaodi with Chang Zhenhua, and as a revolutionary model opera film under the title *Fighting on the Plain* (平原作战), directed by Cui Wei and Chen Huai'ai.[6](https://manifold.umn.edu/read/chinese-film/section/d9a80d96-5e56-46ad-b29b-70f2b5a78b8a) The 1974 color film kept Fang Hua as Matsui but replaced every other performer; it was released in February 1975.[18](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%B9%B3%E5%8E%9F%E6%B8%B8%E5%87%BB%E9%98%9F/10465984?fromModule=lemma_inlink) According to one history of the period, the remake required "major surgery," in Jiang Qing's phrase, to emphasize the ties between the guerrillas, the regular army, and the militia, and the story never entered the canonical group of Cultural Revolution model Peking operas.[17](https://chinaheritage.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Chinese-Cultural-Revolution-A-History-Paul...-Z-Library.pdf) The 1955 original remained the better-remembered version.[10](https://m.hswh.org.cn/index.php/wzzx/llyd/ls/2026-05-21/98739.html)
The film has remained in circulation. It was among five restored [Changchun](https://www.edgepedia.org/changchun) classics toured nationally in 2025 for the 80th anniversary of the end of the war,[19](https://www.jfdaily.com/wx/detail.do?id=990466) and a 4K restoration was released for streaming.[20](https://www.chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20260507/202605070305022944.pdf)
## References
1. [Guerrillas on the Plain (1955), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2009551/)
2. [《平原游击队》故事梗概, 文化部改革发展动态第393期](https://www.mct.gov.cn/gtb/index.jsp?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mct.gov.cn%2Fwhzx%2Fbnsj%2Fzcfgs_bnsj%2F201509%2Ft20150906_821977.html)
3. [《平原游击队》与经典银幕形象李向阳, 中国吉林网](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/ccws/202101/3297185.html)
4. [Guerrillas on the Plain Cast & Crew, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/guerrillasontheplain/EBVMmBcLrYmNfISqS7YLM5/credits/)
5. [Guerrillas on the Plain Release Info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2009551/releaseinfo/)
6. [Jason McGrath, *Chinese Film: Realism and Convention from the Silent Era to the Digital Age*, ch. 5, University of Minnesota Press](https://manifold.umn.edu/read/chinese-film/section/d9a80d96-5e56-46ad-b29b-70f2b5a78b8a)
7. [威武帅气"双枪李向阳"，百看不厌《平原游击队》, 北京日报客户端](https://xinwen.bjd.com.cn/content/s682955fee4b0380e186c4c1a.html)
8. [邢野与《平原游击队》, 中国作家网](https://wyb.chinawriter.com.cn/content/202109/29/content61855.html)
9. [平原游击队（1955年郭振清主演的战争电影）, 百度百科](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E5%B9%B3%E5%8E%9F%E6%B8%B8%E5%87%BB%E9%98%9F/15101)
10. [邢野和脍炙人口的电影《平原游击队》, 红色文化网](https://m.hswh.org.cn/index.php/wzzx/llyd/ls/2026-05-21/98739.html)
11. [平原游击队(1955), 宽宽光影](https://www.kkuan.com/movie/%E5%B9%B3%E5%8E%9F%E6%B8%B8%E5%87%BB%E9%98%9F%281955%29)
12. [新中国抗战电影三大主题, 人民网](https://politics.people.com.cn/n/2015/0820/c1001-27491060.html)
13. [中国电影幕后故事1905-2005：新老"李向阳"同在一起](https://www.99csw.com/book/204/9780.htm)
14. [新中国抗战电影发展历程, 中国作家网资料](https://image.chinawriter.com.cn/61/2015/0904/U3875P843T61D1477F786DT20150904065729.pdf)
15. [Wei Jiang, "From Monolith to Multiplicity: Refiguring the 'Japanese Devil' in PRC War Cinema, 1949–1966," PEOPLE: International Journal of Social Sciences](https://www.grdspublishing.org/index.php/people/article/view/3289)
16. ["Genre, war, ideology: Anti-Japanese war films in Taiwan and Mainland China," Chinese Studies in History 49(4)](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00094633.2015.1214514)
17. [Paul Clark, *The Chinese Cultural Revolution: A History*, section "Spreading the New Models"](https://chinaheritage.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Chinese-Cultural-Revolution-A-History-Paul...-Z-Library.pdf)
18. [平原游击队（1975年武兆堤、常甄华执导的战争电影）, 百度百科](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%B9%B3%E5%8E%9F%E6%B8%B8%E5%87%BB%E9%98%9F/10465984?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
19. [五部经典修复，"致敬英雄·礼赞祖国"经典红色电影巡展启动, 上观新闻](https://www.jfdaily.com/wx/detail.do?id=990466)
20. [中国电影报：经典影片胶片修复工程](https://www.chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20260507/202605070305022944.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › War action and adventure › War action films released through 1999 › Released 1934 to 1962*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license