Legend of Tianyun Mountain 1980

In the early 1950s, two female fresh graduates, Song Wei, Wang Fuli, and Feng Qinglan, Shi Jianlan, join the Tianyun Mountain Exploration Team, beginning a journey that blends ambition, love, and political pressure. Song Wei quickly becomes involved with Luo Qun, the newly appointed political commissar, and their romance becomes a central arc of the story, with Luo Qun played by Shi Weijian. In spring 1957, Song is sent to study at the Party school and formally joins the CCP, deepening her commitment to the cause even as her personal life grows more complicated.

As the couple plans to marry, the Anti-Rightist Movement erupts, and Luo is branded a “rightist,” losing his post and facing severe repercussions. Wu Yao, who leads the political campaign in Tianyun Mountain, pushes Song to sever ties with Luo, wielding the authority of the moment. Under this pressure, Song writes a farewell letter to Luo and ultimately marries Wu, while Luo is dispatched to menial work in a rural village. Feng, who has long kept hidden her love for Luo, leaves the exploration team and later joins Luo, choosing a life of hardship but shared purpose; they marry and drift into an impoverished yet content existence together.

Two decades pass, and with the fall of the Gang of Four, Wu rises to vice Party chief and heads the region’s organization department, while Song attains a vice director position in the same department—yet real power remains elusive for her. The story takes a turn when Zhou Yuzhen, a young girl, Hong Xuemin, recounts to Song a chance encounter with Luo Qun on Tianyun Mountain and reveals that he remains a non-rehabilitated rightist. Touched by guilt and a renewed sense of justice, Song resolves to rectify Luo’s fate herself, even as her husband Wu fiercely resists her efforts.

Undeterred, Song appeals to higher-ranking officers, and Luo’s case is eventually cleared. Yet victory comes at a steep personal cost: Feng’s long, arduous struggle ends in tragedy, extinguishing her life. The film closes with a quiet, piercing moment as Song watches Luo stand in silent tribute before Feng’s grave, a somber testament to the era’s unresolved tensions and the personal sacrifices it demanded.