Unknown (probably) Chen Kuan Tai film - late 80s ?

[STSH]

When I was new to HK film and had no real idea of who was who, I went to a screening of a film, which I am fairly sure starred Chen Kuan Tai.

The film was set in a historical period. Chen (if it was he) played an ambitious young man who is taken on as a protege of an old man (a court official) with a VERY pronounced limp. The old man's height seemed to go up by at least a foot when he walked. He exhorted Chen to "pull the tree out by the roots", referring to a group of villagers who were to be killed. Nearly everyone died horribly at the end, and Chen got promoted to a minor court official, and the clear message was that he'd sold out.

The Australian who presented the picture gave a talk, in which he speculated that the film was a parable of Hong Kong's then (I saw the film in 1991) situation vis-a-vis China.

Any ideas ?