In The Realms of Joy (1990)

Cheng Ho Village is an isolated town and the villagers living there lead a quiet and peaceful life. However, generations after generations, they are very superstitious and tend to overreact to whatever happens. It has not rained for a long time and one of the villagers, a grocer, CHIN KUNG SUM, leads a procession along the streets sprinkling water all around, hoping to bring rain. The water damages the paper goods made by KOON YAU CHOI and the two have a fierce quarrel. CHOI curses that the son born to SUM will be an idiot. SUM got very maddened by this.

LINGTUNG is born into CHOI's family and is named CHEUNG SANG. His mother soon passes away and he is brought up by his father CHOI. The temple keeper, CHEUNG, picks up an abandoned. child and thinks that she is god-given. He names her YUET SIN and sends her to the West to be educated. Time flies, SANG and YIN have grown up. SANG has totally forgotten his past but has a feeling that he is endowed with some magic power. Besides, he has a burning passion to look for his destined lover. Since childhood, SANG has been on intimate terms wi.th YIP SIU FUK and SUM's son CHIN BUT WOON. Both FUK and, WOON are deeply attracted by YIN's beauty. Hiding his feelings, SANG also develops good impression toward YIN wondering whether she is his destined lover or not. In order to raise fund for renovating the temple, CHEUNG organizes an auction for a bottle of 'Holy Water'. WOON misunderstands SUM's instruction and puts the highest bid, a house.… ...

Both SUM and his wife are eager to drink the whole bottle of 'Holy Water'. However, WOON is careless and spills it all. Instead he refills the bottle with some dirty water which is then drunk by his parents. In the end, they both suffer diarrhoea. FUK, attracted to SIN, finds chance to express his admiration to her. Yet, he is discovered by CHEUNG who scolds him for being imprudent. NGAN YU PO and her mother arrive in Cheng Ho Village. They start making a. living there by performing. PO meets SANG but they fall out with each other because of some misunderstanding. One day, PO is wrongly accused of shoplifting but SIN comes to her rescue and they both become intimate friends. JO KWAN discovers that LOJO secretly relegates LITUNG to the human world and intends to disclose his crime. However, LOJO threatens him saying that he will also reveals his misdeed. In the, end, KWAN is forced to keep his mouth shut over that.

PO's mother is liberal-minded and her behaviour is not well-accepted by the villagers. One day, a crime is discovered and for no reason and without evidence, the villagers insist that PO and her mother are to blame. However, CHOI does his best to ferret out the real wrong-doer and proves their innocence. SUM is attracted to PO's mother but he is very much afraid of his fierce wife. On the other hand, CHOI also develops good impression towards her. Seeing that his son SANG has grown up, CHOI really has the' intention of getting a second wife. SANG also supports that idea.

Once, CHOI is accidentally injured , PO's mother offers help to cure him and this arouse s gossip among the villagers . SUM has all along eyed on the position of being the village head. He makes plots to scramble for the place but time and again SANG interferes and spoils his plans. In the end, CHEUNG decides to seek the will of god. By mere luck, CHOI becomes the village head and SUM grows furious over that. The misunderstanding between PO and SANG gradually melts and the two become close friends. In fact, PO is the PAKYUK Fairy Maiden. When she is born into the human world, she loses all her memory. Though she has' an intimate feeling towards SANG, she cannot recognize SANG as LINGTUNG. Yet her love for SANG grows and she resorts to fortune-telling hoping to learn about their future. Much to her delight, she learns that she and SANG will be happily married.… ...

to SIN. FUK and WOON are angry to find SANG secretly courting SIN. They scold him and SANG feeling very depressed, turns to PO for consolation. Another celestial being, WOWAI TAIKWAN, is eager to help PO and SANG revive their past memory and be united. Time and again his effort is in vain. In the end, he sends down a clue but is misinterpreted by the villagers as a sign that SIN is to be married to a chosen boy. In order to select the chosen boy, CHEUNG organizes a contest. SANG joins the contest and PO is sad to learn of his affection for SIN.

In the end, SANG is selected to be the chosen boy. He and SIN will soon be married. PO greatly grieves over this. Though selected to be the chosen boy, SANG does not feel too happy as he has to be tied down to learn from CHEUNG. WOON is often ridiculed by the villagers. Feeling sad, he turns to PO for consolation.

For his love life, CHOI is sad to learn that PO and her mother have decided to leave Cheung Ho Village seeing him so anxious, .his sister promises to make the two of them stay. On the other hand, SUM also tries to stop them from leaving the village by burning their properties hoping later to win her heart. CHOI misunderstood that this is done by her sister. Hence, feeling guilty, CHOI offers PO and her mother refuge in his house as compensation for her loss. WOON, is often ridiculed by the villagers. Feeling sad, he turns to PO for consolation. To avenge on CHOI, SUM tries to spoil SANG's reputation. However, CHEUNG helps SANG who is then able to keep his name.

Impressed by CHOI's generosity in offering help in time of need, PO's mother gradually develops affection for CHOI SANG does feel a tinge of happiness when he and SIN are engaged but that does not Last long. As time goes by, he finds the tt.1O of them being incompatible in some ways. On the contrary, he has a more comfortable relationship with PO. Torn between the two, SANG does not know what to do. In heaven, LOJO rises in status but arouses dissatisfaction among the other celestial beings. One day, when CHOI is away from home, SUM pays a sudden visit to PO's mother and even dares to take advantage of her. PO's mother is at a loss of what to do. Luckily, SUM's wife arri ves in time to stop him but she blames PO's mother for seducing her husband.

Time and again, SANG has hinted to SIN that she is not his love but SIN does not get his message. It is only when she sees with her own eyes the intimacy between SANG and PO that she realises that they are the destined pair. Being tired of being tied down to learn from CHEUNG, SANG offers to relinquish his position as the chosen boy. This sets CHEUNG to rage and he drives SANG out of the temple. The dissatisfied celestial beings cause trouble to L0.10 who in turn vents his anger by bringing disaster upon Cheng Ho Village. Having been driven out by CHEUNG, SANG runs into PO, The two offer help and companion in time of difficulty and this deepens their relationship.. Seeing them growing in love, SIN feels very sad.

SIN feels very sad and she is determined to withdraw from this tangle. At first, SANG intends to postpone the wedding with some unsound excuses , However, after SIN has disappeared, SANG feels very guilty. In order to fulfil others' expectations of him, SANG promises to marry SIN right away. The wedding date is decided and the village prepares for a great celebration. Nevertheless, SUM's business is affected and he grows in hatred against CHOI and SANG. The engagement between SANG and SIN saddens FUK. who has long secretly admired SIN. Besides, PO's heart breaks upon hearing the news of their wedding. Somehow she touches the stone sent down by TAIKWAN to help them revive the memory. She now realizes that she is the Fairy Maiden and rushes to tell SANG about that. PO leads SANG to the stone and tests to see if he can revive the past memory. However, SANG remembers nothing and. this disappoints PO.

PO leads SANG to the stone and tests to see if he can revive the past memory. However, SANG remembers nothing and. this disappoints PO. Both of them do not know that the stone is not the genuine one but a fake one put there by CHEU~IG to prevent the genuine one from being damaged. SIN does not wan t SANG to marry her out of responsibility instead of love. So, she arranges for SANG to touch the genuine stone. SANG then realizes that he and PO are the destined pair. SA-WG then breaks hi is engagement to SIN and runs away with PO. Their elopement set the villagers to rage and they lock up GHOI and PO's mother blaming them for their children's imprudence. In the cell, they offer consolation and support to each other despite the villagers' ill-treatment. This helps them to grow deeper in love for each other. Knowing that their parents are imprisoned, SANG and PO rush to save them. However, the villagers are determined to catch them.… ...

Knowing that their parents are imprisoned, SANG and PO rush to save them. However, the villagers are determined to catch them. In the end, they too fall into the hands of the angry villagers. Though SIN is abandoned' by SANG, she understands that SANG and Po are destined to be a pair and nothing can change that. ~he helps to brine; the villagers to realization and asks them to set them free. As a result, SANG, PO and her mother are banned from Cheng Ho Village. Before they leave, SIN offers her blessing and good wishes. CHOI bids them farewell and promises to join them once he sells his business.‧ The three of them settle dot-m in a new village where the traditions and customs are totally different from that of Cheng Ho Village. Again by some unscrupulous means, SUM gets the position of the village head. He then exploits the villagers and gets richer at the expense of the others.… ...

Though SANG and PO have to work hard for a living, they both find joy and satisfaction. On the other hand, CHOI misses them very much and often dreams of reuniting with them. Knowing that CHOI is eager to have his business sold, SUM tries to take advantage of this and offers to buy his business at a low price. Determined not to be taken advantage of, CHOI turned down his offer. This antagonizes SUM and the two grow to hate each other more and more. FUK's affection for SIN remains unchanged and knowing that she is lovelorn, he offers her companionship and consolation. In the end, SIN develops a good impression towards him and the two grow closer in love. WOON's fame grows as he helps the villagers to settle disputes. Also, CHEUNG trusts him and finally WOON gets to be the temple- keeper, a highly-respected position and the villagers look upon him as the saviour of the village.

CHOI gets seriously ill and upon knowing that, SANG, PO and her mother hurry back to see him. On seeing them, CHOI recovers completely. However, SUM again stirs trouble among the villagers, most of which are suffering from diahorrea. He blames SANG and PO for bringing disaster to the village upon their return. He instigates the villagers to drive them away. Again SIN acts as the mediator and they allow them to stay. WOON tricks CHEUNG into consenting him to marry SIN who will rather die than marry WOON.

WOON tricks CHEUNG into consenting him to marry SIN who will rather die than marry WOON. Despite her protest, CHEUNG insists since he does not dare to go against the will of god. He even threatens to burn her to death if she refuses. When SIN's life is at risk, SIN's maid FUNG comes to her rescue and discloses the secret that SIN is in fact her daughter. TUEN KU once gets drunk and has sex with her. Afterwards KU disappears and FUNG gives birth to SIN. Being unwed, FUNG dares not keep SIN and abandon s her by a stone. CHEUNG later; picks SIN up and she becomes his adopted daughter. Since FUNG wants to stay close to her daughter, she works in the temple and looks after SIN with great care. Years pass, she still keeps that as a secret and discloses it only to save SIN's life. No longer the god-given child, SIN needs not marry WOON. Her family gets reunited and live happily together.

Being negligent of his duties, LOJO brings disaster upon Cheng Ho Village. It snows even in the sixth month of the year. The villagers suffer much. WOON proposes to offer sacrifices to please the gods. Really LOJO feels satisfied with the sacrifices and stop the snow. Being successful in ending the disaster, WOON enhances his fame greatly. This in turn makes him proud and he even treats CHEUNG without much respect. CHEUNG feels sad about the change in WOON. Making use of his influence over the villagers, VlOO~1 collaborates. with SUM to exploit the villagers who in turn lead a miserable life. They suffer much while SUM and WOON make, great profits at their expense. Situation grows even worse when DOJO again gets dissatisfied forcing the villagers to worship him more and making more sacrifices to him.

at their expense. Situation grows even worse when DOJO again gets dissatisfied forcing the villagers to worship him more and making more sacrifices to him. Seeing that HO ON grows to be so unscrupulous, GHEUNG feels very regretted and Hants to take back his position as the temple-keeper. However , WOON's power grows so strong that now CHEUNG cannot do anything to stop him. In order to please LOJO, WOON Introduce s a new village rule making the villagers take turns to worship LOJO all throughout the day. This upsets the life of the villagers. They no longer have the energy to work nor lead a peaceful life. On seeing this, SANG intends to urge the villagers to stop such a practice.

PO and SANG are determined to save the villagers from the o Light, However, their power is weak but their sincerity touches the gods. Their effort eventually disintegrates the evil power. Being free from the control of the evil LOJO, Cheng Ho Village now begins a new life. CHEUNG does away with all the conservative practices and allows the villagers to enjoy freedom and democracy. This greatly delights the villagers who now lead a stable and peaceful life.

LOJO is punished for all his misdeeds. PO and SANG are allowed to go back to heaven and resume their former position as the LINGTUNG and Fairy Maiden. The whole village is happily celebrating the marriages of CHOI and PO's mother as well as FUK and SIN while PO and SANG feels bored living in heaven. Finally, they much prefer leading human life rather than living in the fairyland. In the end, they join again the villagers in the human world.