Wu Mei: A Critical Biography

Author: Hebei Education Publishing House
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: Wu Mei (1884–1939) was a modern Chinese litterateur. His courtesy name was Qu'an, also known as Ling□, and styled as Shuang□. He was from Changzhou (now Suzhou, Jiangsu). Orphaned in childhood, he was adopted by his uncle. He was deeply fond of ci poetry and qu opera, often exchanging ideas with the renowned qu master Yu Suli. He dedicated his life to teaching and served as a professor at institutions such as Soochow University, Peking University, Sun Yat-sen University, and Central University, specializing in qu opera for 20 years. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he traveled between Wuhan, Xiangtan, Guilin, and Kunming despite his illness and passed away in 1939. Wu Mei was a member of the Southern Society. In his early years, he wrote Fengdong Mountain and West Terrace Lament, expressing patriotic sentiments through historical stories. In 1898 (the 24th year of the Guangxu reign), moved by the injustice of the Six Martyrs of 1898, he composed Blood Blossoms Fly. In 1907 (the 33rd year of the Guangxu reign), after the execution of Qian Jingshan, he wrote Autumn in the Pavilion to express his grief. After the "July 7th Incident" in 1937, he enthusiastically praised the resistance fighters and condemned the traitors. Upon hearing that "someone in his occupied hometown played the flute to entertain the enemy," he deemed it "shameless to the extreme, pitiful and hateful," demonstrating his noble national spirit. Wu Mei had profound expertise in the study and creation of poetry, prose, ci poetry, and qu opera, with particular excellence in qu opera. He excelled in composing, arranging, performing, and editing qu opera, as well as verifying musical scores. He was hailed as the "Great Master of Qu Opera in Modern Times" (Xia Jingguan, Ninggu Lou Cihua). He authored works such as Discussions on Qu Opera, Simple Scores of the Nine Palaces, and An Introduction to Chinese Opera. His Three Plays of Shuang□ were published with accompanying musical scores. He also compiled and published Collected Qu Opera of Shemo, volumes 1 and 2, and contributed to the proofreading of most of the Collected Qu Opera of Nuohongshi compiled by Liu Shiheng. This book aims to introduce this great master of opera to contemporary readers, allowing them to understand his life's thoughts and his outstanding contributions in opera creation, theoretical research, and teaching. It seeks to restore his place in the history of opera and draw valuable lessons from his legacy. The author strives to evaluate him from the perspective of historical development with a pragmatic attitude.