Beijing Stories ④ Old Beijing Opera Theatres

Author: Hou Xisian
Editor: Lu Jiangyu et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-12-01
Features: During the late Qing Dynasty, Xu Zhijing, an important figure in the Hundred Days' Reform, once warned his descendants that there were two places where young people should not linger—Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the other was Beijing. The reason Beijing was unsuitable for young people to live in was because teahouses and theaters were scattered throughout the city, and if young people became too involved in them, their ambitions would be worn down. The leisurely lifestyle of Beijingers was well-known. After the Boxer Rebellion, "the entire city buzzed about opera," and during the Republican era, "thousands of people flocked to watch Mei Wang." Theaters became an indispensable part of the lives of old Beijingers. For 200 years since the Hui opera troupes moved to Beijing, the light singing and graceful dancing of the past, along with the red velvet carpets of the old theaters, had long been sealed away by history. Let us follow the author in reminiscing about the grandeur of the past—after all, Beijing is a city that easily evokes nostalgia for the past.
The development of Chinese opera from its origins to maturity not only relies on the art of theater itself but is also an indispensable factor in the evolution, rise, and fall of society, as well as the continuous improvement of performance venues. However, in past research, theaters have often been overlooked by historians of theater. This book attempts to start by collecting and organizing the basic materials of theater history over the past 200 years, selecting representative performance venues from different historical periods and arranging them in chronological order of opening. It elaborates and explores them in varying levels of detail from aspects such as architecture, equipment, business operations, famous actors' performances, natural disasters, human misfortunes, and historical changes. From the articles "The Modern and Ancient Stories of Theaters" and "The Chai Family and the Chai Theater," we can see that theaters were indeed the stream rather than the source of performance venues. Theaters emerged and developed alongside the arrival of the four major Hui opera troupes in Beijing. To provide an overview of Beijing's theaters, "Remnants of Theaters" is supplemented. The book also introduces two comprehensive entertainment venues from the early Republican era. "The Evolution of Theaters" offers a summary of the entire book. Additionally, three government regulations from different historical periods on the management of theater operations are appended, which hold some reference value. Some of the works in the book were originally published in "Selected Historical and Cultural Materials," sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The book has been revised and supplemented during its compilation.
Excerpt: The Chang'an Theater Built Out of Frustration
Inside the northern end of Xidan Old Ministry of Justice Street, there was a wealthy Yang family who were obsessed with opera. In late 1934, one of the four great Peking opera actresses, Xun Huisheng, was starring in The Phoenix and the Jade Hairpin at the Harfei Grand Theater. The Yang family failed to book the best box, and in anger, decided to build their own theater. By early 1937, a magnificent and newly equipped theater capable of seating over 1,200 spectators indeed stood on West Chang'an Avenue—this was the famous Chang'an Grand Theater.
The owner of Chang'an Theater, Yang Zhusheng, was from Xinhun County, Sichuan Province. After moving to Beijing, he quickly joined the Moral Society (founded in 1916, banned by the People's Government on November 21, 1952) because its leader, Duan Zhengyan (known as "Master Duan"), was his hometown relative. After joining, he rose quickly to become the second most influential figure in the society. His son, Yang Shouyi, known as the "Ban Yu" (Ban Yu), assisted his father in business after graduating from Peking University in 1933. Yang Shouyi was an entrepreneur with a deep love for Peking opera and was a renowned patron of the art. He had performed on stage with many famous Peking opera actors and had many friends in both the opera world and the theater world, which contributed to the prosperity of Chang'an. Due to the heavy workload, he hired additional managers to handle daily operations, but he always personally oversaw or participated in major performances—a distinctive feature of Chang'an's management.
The site of Chang'an Theater was originally a large warehouse built during the Qing Dynasty in Beijing, belonging to the famous Risheng (a type of pawnshop). The owner, Yu Lanzhai, was from Shanxi, so Risheng belonged to the Shanxi faction within the industry. In 1929, when a grand procession was held to honor Sun Yat-sen, this provided the services, showing the business's prosperity at the time. By the mid-1930s, as Japanese invaders eyed North China and the national situation weakened with political instability, the industry gradually declined. To avoid further losses, the owner decided to close the business, and the Yang family seized the opportunity to buy the warehouse.
Investing over 30,000 yuan in cash, the Yang family hired Tianjin's Huayuan Construction Society to build the theater, with the society's president overseeing the design. A Beijing construction company collaborated on the project. After nearly two years of construction, Chang'an Grand Theater opened for business in early 1937. In the 1950s, experts from the Beijing Architectural Design Institute tested the theater and found that it had the best acoustics among old theaters without using sound equipment. The Beijing Evening News published a special article on this.