Mulanfang

Author: Li Zhongming
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-01-01
Features: During his youth, Mei Lanfang had a great fondness for raising pigeons. At first, he only found it fun and considered it a pastime. Gradually, he grew to love pigeons more and more, making pigeon-raising an important part of his daily life. He built pigeon coops on both sides of his courtyard house at No. 3 Bianzi Lane and cleaned the pigeon cages every morning, feeding and watering the pigeons. Every two or three days, he gave them a bath. On sunny days, after practicing martial arts and warming up his voice in the morning, he would release the pigeons. He divided them into several teams based on their flying abilities and sent them up into the sky one after another. Sometimes, when training new pigeons, he would hold a bamboo rod in his hand to guide them, constantly tossing the reluctant flyers upward to help them practice flying. As the pigeons flew far and close, he would watch and identify them, and Mei Lanfang's eyes no longer tear up in the wind. His once dull gaze became increasingly spirited with practice. After raising pigeons for ten years, Mei Lanfang not only developed a deep affection for them but also particularly cherished the "Double Pigeon Painting" (said to be by the Western painter Giuseppe Castiglione during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty) gifted to him by his friend Feng Youwei. Years later, Mei Lanfang still enthusiastically discussed the benefits of raising pigeons: "First, one must wake up early and breathe fresh air, which naturally helps to increase lung capacity. Second, by following the pigeon flocks with your eyes every day, your vision gradually becomes more agile and spirited. During my performances in Japan, my Japanese friends even praised my eyes for shining brightly and possessing the power to capture people's hearts, perhaps because of this practice. Third, by swinging a large bamboo rod every day to guide the pigeon flocks, the muscles in my arms naturally become strong. Even in my later years, whether performing sword dances, waist twists, fish movements, or combat scenes, I never gasped for breath, and my hairpin and silk scarf remained neatly arranged. This is likely related to the physical strength I gained from swinging the rod and driving the pigeons in my youth!" The dance in this play is the sword dance of Yu Ji. Before rehearsals, Mei Lanfang invited a martial arts teacher to learn Taijiquan and Taijiquan swordsmanship. He also studied the sword dance from Wang Fengqing and the saber play from "Selling the Horse" from "The Gathering of Heroes." Later, Mei Lanfang recalled: "The sword dance in 'Farewell to My Concubine' was a refinement and transformation of the sword dances from 'The' and 'The Gathering of Heroes' in Peking Opera, as well as the saber play from 'Selling the Horse,' combined with the swordsmanship from martial arts to create." Yu Ji's sword dance is performed with a heavy heart, pretending to be cheerful despite knowing that Xiang Yu's cause is lost. It is a performance with considerable difficulty. Mei Lanfang considered that the musical piece accompanying the sword dance should be solemn and stirring, so he chose the tune [Deep Night], which, during each performance, would be played as Yu Ji dances with the sword, enhancing the poignant and moving classical music and highlighting the brief dance amidst the ancient battlefield, reflecting Yu Ji's struggle to perform "a dance and song" for Xiang Yu in a somber and heavy atmosphere. The artistic impact is very strong, as the audience seems to be immersed in the ancient battlefield, listening to ancient music and watching the ancient sword dance.
Regarding the basic movements of the sword dance, Li Baohuai once asked Mei Lanfang in 1944 why his sword dance on stage was so clean, precise, and symmetrical. Mei Lanfang replied: "It's not difficult at all. First, remember that the steps of the dance roughly form a 'T' or an 'X,' just like the pattern of the British flag, and you won't get lost." In an article, Mei Lanfang believed that the positioning of the sword dance in "Farewell to My Concubine" forms a pattern like a plum blossom around the four corners and the center. If your dance steps are not accurate and orderly, the audience will feel it as incomplete and disjointed."
On May 12, the Mei troupe arrived in Los Angeles, where representatives of the city government, consuls from various countries, and Chinese overseas Chinese came to greet them. Mary Pickford, the wife of the famous American actor, also sent a representative and a photography team to the station to welcome them. Mei Lanfang visited the city hall to meet the mayor, then took a car provided by Mary Pickford with Qi Rushan to the "Fan Fu Villa." To ensure Mei Lanfang and Qi Rushan rested better, Mary Pickford had them stay in the villa while she temporarily moved into another residence. During this time, Mei Lanfang visited the joint art company co-founded by Fan Pei and his wife, as well as the newly invented recording equipment. He also watched Mary Pickford filming and invited her to see Peking Opera at the theater. Two days before the Mei troupe left Los Angeles, Fan Pei returned from the United Kingdom. He taught Mei Lanfang how to play golf and held a special tea party. On the day Mei Lanfang left for Honolulu, Fan and his wife came to the pier to bid farewell, and the two agreed to meet again in Beijing in the future.
At the welcome banquet in Los Angeles, through an introduction by a friend, Mei Lanfang met the famous American comedian Charlie Chaplin. When he excitedly shook hands with Chaplin, Chaplin happily said: "I have heard your name before, and today I am truly honored to meet you. Ah! I never expected you to be so young." Mei Lanfang was also delighted, but he could never quite connect the humorous and comedic artistic images he had seen on the movie screen with the elegant and gentlemanly film master before him. The two had a very engaging conversation. Mei Lanfang said: "In silent films, you completely rely on gestures and facial expressions to subtly convey inner emotions and express the plot, making it understandable to the audience. It is indeed a rare and valuable form of silent drama." Chaplin replied: "I was also a stage actor in my early years before I joined the film industry. May I ask you to talk about the performance techniques of the clown in Chinese opera?" Mei Lanfang answered: "The performance of the clown in Chinese opera also has very high artistic value. Unfortunately, there are not many such roles in the plays we brought this time. My predecessor, Mr. Xiao Changhua, enjoys a very high reputation in China. I hope you have the opportunity to visit China and see his performance."
They exchanged ideas on performance techniques like old friends who had been separated for a long time and took a group photo as a keepsake. Mei Lanfang had visited the Soviet Union four times in 1935, 1952, 1957, and 1960. Among these visits, in December 1952, Mei Lanfang went to Vienna to attend the World Peace Conference and, on his return journey, visited cities such as Moscow and Leningrad in the Soviet Union, performing "The Temptation of St. Francis" and the sword dance from "Farewell to My Concubine" at a joint celebration with the Soviet art community. In January of the following year, he visited the Stanislavsky Museum. In November 1957, as a member of the Chinese Labor People's Delegation, Mei Lanfang went to the Soviet Union to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution. On February 15, 1960, Mei Lanfang went to the Soviet Union and celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Sino-Soviet Friendship and Mutual Assistance Treaty with Soviet friends at the of the Moscow Trade Union House.
Among these four visits, the 1935 visit by the Mei troupe was particularly long and influential. After April 1934, the Soviet Union's Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, through the Chinese embassy in the Soviet Union, invited Mei Lanfang to visit the Soviet Union for performances and formed the "Committee for Welcoming Mei Lanfang." In January 1935, the acting head of the Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, Kuriyako, sent a formal invitation letter to Mei Lanfang, delivered by the Chinese cultural counselor at the Soviet embassy, Han Shanyin. Mei Lanfang immediately accepted the invitation. Regarding the composition of the delegation, Mei Lanfang thought that the success of his visit to the United States was due to Professor Zhang Pengchun of Nankai University, so he invited Zhang. Zhang was also very willing to visit the Soviet Union with Mei Lanfang. After obtaining approval from his older brother, Zhang Bolin, Zhang took a two-month leave. Mei Lanfang planned to visit several European countries after his trip to the Soviet Union. When Zhang Pengchun's leave ended, he needed another playwright to accompany him, so he asked Hu Shi to invite Yu Shangyuan, who readily agreed and also accepted the task of investigating European theater on behalf of the Ministry of Education of the National Government.
The actors and orchestra remained largely unchanged, with only Wu Shengchun (a martial artist) and Gu Jianying (a female role) added. In terms of the repertoire, Mei Lanfang discussed with Zhang Pengchun, Yu Shangyuan, Ouyang Yuqian, Xie Shoukang, Xu Beihong, and Tian Han, and finally decided on six major plays such as "Fen River Bay" and "Stabbing the Tiger," as well as eleven supplementary pieces such as "Stealing the Box with Red Thread," "Xi Shi," "Offering the Peony to the Immortal," and "Mu Lan at War." For promotional materials, the Mei troupe printed many photos of Mei Lanfang in costume and sent them to the Soviet Union. They also prepared three English books: one titled "Mei Lanfang and Chinese Opera," which included photographs, a short biography of Mei Lanfang, Zhang Pengchun's "Characteristics of Chinese Opera Art," and Stark Young's "Mei Lanfang," as well as articles by Qi Rushan on Peking Opera singing, costumes, musical instruments, and face painting. Another was "An Explanation of the Six Plays and Six Dances Performed by Mei Lanfang in the Soviet Union," with the six plays being the six major plays performed in the Soviet Union and the six dances being the first six supplementary pieces. The third was "A Collection of Reviews of Mei Lanfang's Performance in the United States," selecting articles from American newspapers and magazines during his visit to the United States.
On February 21, 1935, Mei Lanfang and the Mei troupe boarded the "Northern" special ship sent by the Soviet Union to welcome them, with the ambassador returning to the Soviet Union, Yan Huqing, as well as Zhou Jianyun, the manager of the International Film Festival of Stars, the film star Hu Die, and the reporter of the "Dagongbao" newspaper in the Soviet Union, Gu Baoquan, all traveling with them. On March 12, the Mei troupe arrived in Moscow, where dozens of people from the Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, the Committee of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, and the Soviet Theatre Association greeted them at the station. The next day in Moscow, Mei Lanfang, with a sense of reverence and remembrance, prepared a wreath to pay his respects at Lenin's Mausoleum in Red Square. On April 23, the Mei troupe gave their first performance in the Soviet Union at the Soviet Music Hall. Before the performance, Yan Huqing, the Chinese ambassador to the Soviet Union, delivered the opening speech, and a representative of the Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries gave a brief introduction to Mei Lanfang. The performance then began to the warm applause of the audience.
Like during the visit to the United States, the performances of the Mei troupe were warmly welcomed by the Soviet audience, with the performance often ending and the actors returning for multiple curtain calls while the audience remained gathered in front of the stage, applauding continuously. Mei Lanfang had originally planned to perform five times in Moscow and three times in Leningrad, but due to the enthusiastic ticket sales, the Soviet side requested additional performances, so he performed six times in Moscow and eight times in Leningrad. After the tour, the Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries hosted a reception at the Moscow State Theatre, where the Mei troupe performed three of the most popular plays since their arrival in the Soviet Union: "Fishing and Killing the Family," "Red and Blue Pass," and "Stealing the Pill." Leaders of the Soviet Communist Party and government, such as Molotov, Litvinov, and Voroshilov, attended the reception, as did famous playwrights such as Stanislavsky, Danchenko, and Mayakovsky, writers such as Gorky and A. Tolstoy, the famous ballet dancer Svetlana, the renowned film director Eisenstein, and the famous German playwright Brecht, who came to the Soviet Union specifically to observe Mei Lanfang's performance.
In "Red and Blue Pass," Wang Boqian was originally played by Jiang Miao Xiang during the tour of Japan. Considering that Soviet audiences might not understand the performance of the young male role, Mei Lanfang had Zhu Guifang, a female martial artist, play Wang Boqian with a loud voice during the visit to the Soviet Union. Yang Shengchun, who accompanied the Mei troupe on this visit, played "Stealing the Pill," vividly portraying the playful, humorous, and defiant image of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, and was loved by the Soviet audience. This was also the first time the artistic image of the Monkey King was introduced to the international stage. Mei Lanfang and Wang Shaoting's performance of "Fishing and Killing the Family," which was very popular during their visit to the United States in 1930, was still well-received in the Soviet Union and highly praised. Soviet artists greatly admired how Mei Lanfang and Wang Shaoting, with only two people and a single wooden oar, portrayed the vivid and realistic image of a father and daughter rowing on a bumpy river on a wide stage without any other props.
After watching Mei Lanfang's performance, the famous German playwright Brecht wrote an essay titled "On Chinese Opera and the Alienation Effect," in which he was extremely impressed by Mei Lanfang's performance in "Fishing and Killing the Family." He wrote: "A young woman, the daughter of a fisherman, stands on stage, rowing an imaginary small boat. To control it, she uses only a long wooden oar that does not reach her knees. When the water is turbulent, she struggles to maintain her balance. Then the boat enters a small bay, and she rows more smoothly. It is such a scene of rowing, yet it seems to be something often sung about in folk songs and widely known. Every movement of this woman is as familiar as a painting; every turn of the river is a known danger; even the next turn is detected by the audience in advance. This sense of familiarity is entirely due to the actor's performance; it seems that the actor is what makes this scene unforgettable."
The farewell performance was warmly welcomed by people from all walks of life in the Soviet Union, and Mei Lanfang was called out by the theater audience for an unprecedented 18 curtain calls. A Soviet magazine, "Workers and Theatre," published an article stating that Mei Lanfang's performances in Moscow and Leningrad should be considered a milestone in cultural exchange between the Soviet and Chinese peoples. During his time in the Soviet Union, in addition to performing, Mei Lanfang visited factories, schools, historical sites, and scenic spots, and he also attended many operas, plays, and ballets, such as the operas "Eugene Onegin," "Boris Godunov," "La Traviata," and "The Nutcracker," as well as the plays "The Cherry Orchard," "The Clockmaker and the Chicken," "The Night in Egypt," and "Richard III," and the ballets "Swan Lake," "The Three Fat Men," and "The Magic Flute."