The origin of stage name
Mei Lanfang, a Beijing opera master, was born in a Beijing opera family. His grandfather Mei Qiaoling was a famous actress in the late Qing Dynasty, and his uncle Mei Yutian was a Peking Opera and Huqin player. The father's name is Mingrui, the word Zhufen, the son's name is Hua Dan, and the mother is Zhang Yu, the eldest daughter of Yang Longshou. 8-year-old artist Zhu Suyun's brother Zhu, 1 1 year-old took the stage. He studied hard and practiced constantly, inherited and developed the traditional art of Peking Opera, and formed a unique "Mei School", which became the first of the four famous artists. His performing arts have long been well-known at home and abroad, but it was not until 16 that he got the stage name "Mei Lanfang".
In the autumn of Guangxu thirty-four years (1908), Ye Chunshan, the squad leader of Xilian, led a class to perform in Jilin. One morning, Niu Zihou, an enlightened man from Xi Liancheng, organized by Ye Chunshan, went for a walk in Beishan, Jilin. When they climb the mountain, they chat. Suddenly, they found a man practicing sword in the Woods. But seeing that he is light and agile, the sword is dancing with cold light and the wind is whistling, and he surrounds himself in an arc aperture that can't splash water. Niu Zihou was completely stunned. He loved Peking Opera all his life, and he also saw many performances by martial arts masters. But there are not many unparalleled swordsmanship like this, and he can't help clapping his hands again and again. Hearing the applause, the sword dancer quickly put away his sword, blushed, wiped the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief and bowed respectfully: "Boss Niu, I like to make a fool of myself."
At this moment, Niu Zihou stepped forward and looked at it carefully. He saw the young man in front of him, handsome and dignified. He is really a leading role material and asks, "Have you ever had a stage name?" Ye Chunshan replied: "I gave him a stage name' Xiqun'." Niu Zihou pondered for a long time, and said, "This child has good looks and good conduct, and it won't be long before he succeeds. How about changing his name to Mei Lanfang? " Ye Chunshan and his disciples readily agreed. Since then, I have been using Mei Lanfang, a famous stage name at home and abroad.
Mei Lanfang's story
Practice painting and grow a beard to escape from the tiger's den
On August 1937 and 13, the Japanese army attacked Shanghai and the Battle of Songhu broke out. Shortly after the Japanese invaders occupied Shanghai, they learned that Mei Lanfang, a world-famous Peking Opera master, lived in Shanghai, so they sent someone to invite Mei Lanfang to give a speech on the radio and let him express his willingness to serve Japan's "Imperial Road". Mei Lanfang, who had an insight into the Japanese conspiracy, decided to leave Shanghai for Hong Kong as soon as possible to get rid of the Japanese invaders. So he sent a message to the Japanese saying that he would go out to perform in the near future, and at the same time, he took his family to Hong Kong by boat on a starry night.
After Mei Lanfang came to Hong Kong, she lived in seclusion and refused to show up. In order to pass the time, besides practicing Tai Ji Chuan, playing badminton, learning English, reading newspapers and news, his main energy is spent on painting. He likes to draw birds, Buddha statues, grass insects, fish and shrimp and dances of foreigners. Family members and members of the troupe are very happy after seeing these works, saying that they have brought them a lot of beauty and joy.
194 1 1 In late February, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, and Mei Lanfang was miserable. She is worried that the Japanese will come to him to act. What should I do? After consulting with his wife, he decided to take a bold step: grow a beard, not sing and dance, and not perform for the Japanese and traitors. He said to his friend, "Don't look at my beard. It will be useful in the future. If the Japanese are unreasonable and insist that I come out to sing, then he will have to go to jail and be beheaded. "
1942 1 October, when Sakai, commander of Japanese troops stationed in Hong Kong, saw Mei Lanfang grow a beard, he was surprised and said, "Mr. Mei, why did you grow a beard?" How can a great artist like you quit the stage art? Mei Lanfang replied, "I am a singer. Now that I am old, I have a bad appearance and a bad voice, and I can't act any more. I have been studying painting at home for several years to support myself! " Sakai was very unhappy and left angrily. A few days later, Sakai sent someone to find Mei Lanfang and insisted that he perform several performances on stage to show the prosperity after Japan ruled Hong Kong. Coincidentally, Mei Lanfang suffered from severe dental disease at this time, and half of her face was swollen. Sakai had no choice but to give up. The next day, Mei Lanfang felt that the situation was very serious, and Hong Kong had become a place of right and wrong, and could not stay long. So he immediately returned to Shanghai by boat and returned to his hometown in Shanghai after more than three years' absence.
The lady put forward a plan to avoid disaster.
Wang Jingwei, the leader of the pro-Japanese faction of the Kuomintang and a great traitor, set up a pseudo-national government in Nanjing, served as chairman and executive dean, and set up a secret service in Shanghai metropolis. Wu Shibao, the spy chief, hosted a banquet in honor of Mei Lanfang and suggested that Mei give a condolence performance. When the news came, Mei Lanfang was shocked and said to herself, "How can a man live in this world when he has just left the den and entered the den of wolves!" Mrs. Mei saw that her husband was upset and didn't think about tea and rice, so she said, "Otherwise, I'll go to dinner tomorrow to deal with them."
The next day, Mrs. Mei came to Room 76 of the secret service of Wang puppet regime. The spy chief advised her, "I haven't seen Boss Mei for several years. I heard that I have a long beard. Is it to save face in front of the people? " I don't think it's necessary. My wife should care about him. Now that the Japanese are in power, it is better to be rational. Mrs. Mei immediately retorted, "Mei Lanfang is from China." . How could she betray her ancestors and give up moral integrity! Hearing this, the spy chief flew into a rage and pointed to Mrs. Mei, saying, "Boss Mei has been singing for decades, but he probably hasn't learned the stage directed by Wu Mou." Say that finish, hard led Mrs. Mei to see the bloody instruments of torture in the iron gate, and then accompanied Mrs. Mei to dinner. Mrs. Mei sat at the table, her mouth still and her chopsticks still, fighting silently. The spy chief stretched out his evil hand and threatened with a can of salt water. Mrs. Mei said calmly without fear, "Can salt water destroy his national dignity and personality?" Then he left.
Mrs May came home and told her husband all this in detail. Mei Lanfang deeply felt that the situation was serious. At this critical moment, Mrs. Mei remembered the experience of driving away the toothache Japanese in Hong Kong: "Don't worry, I have my own emergency measures at the last minute." The next day, when she heard that the Japanese were coming, she asked her son to take out a quadruple inoculation needle from the drawer, find out the syringe, and let Mei Lanfang lie in bed and inject the medicine quickly. Soon, Mei Lanfang really started to have a high fever. When the Japanese came, they touched Mei Lanfang's hot forehead and shook their heads helplessly.
Japanese puppet blackmail angrily destroyed the painting.
Mei Lanfang has performance income. When she went to Hong Kong, she took it to Hong Kong and deposited it in the bank. However, shortly after returning to Shanghai, Hong Kong under the rule of the Japanese aggressors froze all this high deposit and could not withdraw it. Mei Lanfang, who has been living on interest, suddenly has difficulties in family life, and how the whole family can survive has become a problem that Mei Lanfang thinks day and night. He asked his wife what to do. The woman said, "Recently, the newspaper published the news that Ms. He Xiangning sells paintings for a living. We might as well learn from her. Give full play to your painting talent. How do you make a living by selling paintings? "
In fact, Mei Lanfang had this idea for a long time, but she didn't say it, for fear that her wife wouldn't agree. Since the lady took the initiative to speak, he naturally nodded. The two set out to conceive, the wife grinds ink and the husband paints. In less than eight days, I drew more than 20 pictures of fish, shrimp, plum and pine. When the public saw the eye-catching advertisement "Our store sells Mr. Mei Lanfang's latest works, welcome to visit", they snapped them up one after another. In less than two days, more than 20 paintings were all sold out.
After the news came out, the Shanghai literary and art circles, the press and the business circles reacted very strongly. Many celebrities proposed to hold an exhibition for Mei Lanfang. Mei Lanfang was particularly excited when she learned that. In order to live up to expectations, he practiced hard for half a month and painted dozens of works for the organizers to arrange. The organizer selected the Double Ninth Festival to be exhibited in the Shanghai Exhibition Hall, and invited Mei Lanfang and his wife to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
However, the news spread like wildfire, and the Japanese, puppet and traitors colluded with each other and made trouble at will. They sent a group of plainclothes policemen into the exhibition hall in advance, and many visitors left one after another. Mei Lanfang was surprised to find that the door was empty. When he entered the exhibition hall, he found a note pinned to each painting, which read "President Wang's Order", "Vice President Zhou's Order" and "Chief Okamura Ningji's Order" ... Some of them read "Send to Tokyo for Exhibition". Mei Lanfang and his wife saw this scene, and their eyes were burning. They immediately picked up the paper cutter on the table and stabbed the picture. "wow! Wow! Hey! " After a few minutes, the Chinese painting turned into a piece of paper.
Mei Lanfang's indignant destruction of paintings soon spread throughout Shanghai and the whole country. The newspaper of Shanghai authorities published the first news, saying: "Minister Chu was dumbfounded, and an art exhibition was a false alarm!" Soong Ching Ling, Guo Moruo, He Xiangning and Ou Yangyuqian delivered speeches of solidarity, praising Mei Lanfang's integrity and being admired by the world. The masses also sent letters to support Mei Lanfang's patriotic action. Mei Lanfang was moved to tears when he saw that the people of the whole country appreciated and supported him so much. He excitedly said to his wife, "I, Mei Lanfang, am no longer a lonely swallow!" "
Make a living by borrowing money.
Mei Lanfang was cut off from economic resources and lived in natural poverty. He had to sell his house in Beijing in tears, and then sold his collection for many years. Nevertheless, I borrowed money from my relatives and friends. A friend learned that his family's life was desperate, so he donated money to help each other. Ye Yuhu, an old painter, proposed to hold a Chinese painting exhibition in cooperation with him, highlighting the theme of plum and bamboo and expanding social influence.
In the occupied area of Shanghai, there is chaos and panic, and people have to live in fear because of water and electricity cuts or air raid alarms. It is in this difficult environment that Mei Lanfang made great progress in painting and overcame a series of unimaginable difficulties. After eight months' hard work, he painted more than 70 works of/kloc-0, with a wide range of subjects, including ladies, Buddha statues, flowers, pine trees and plum blossoms. Together with Ye Yuhu's works, it was exhibited in a villa of China Bank on Chengdu Road in the spring of 1945, which was well received by the majority of visitors.
After the exhibition, Mei Lanfang was forced to sell most of her works in order to make a living. Income is to pay off debts, to arrange the livelihood of the family, and to support people with more difficulties in the troupe. Mei Lanfang bitterly recalled the vicissitudes of these years and said gloomily to his friends, "I can't describe the pain of an actor who refused to perform on stage because of his beard because he resisted the harsh social environment." I paint partly to make a living and partly to amuse myself. Otherwise, I really want to suffocate. "
During the Anti-Japanese War, Mei Lanfang resolutely refused to perform for the national enemy, which showed the indomitable strength of a generation of artists. This incident has become a touching story of China, widely praised by the people of China, and greatly inspired the determination of the people of China to fight bravely.
Be good at playing roles
In Beijing Opera, Mei Lanfang is the best performer. In Beijing opera, women are collectively called Dan, which can be subdivided into many occupations according to the age and personality of the role. The woman who plays a well-off family and has status is called Zheng Dan, and Zheng Dan is commonly known as Tsing Yi in Beijing Opera, because the role of Zheng Dan often wears a blue robe. Dou E, the heroine in the Peking Opera Dou E Yuan, is a typical Tsing Yi character. Tsing Yi's performance is solemn and demure, beautiful, elegant and gentle, and mainly focuses on singing. Generally speaking, Tsing Yi's singing is beautiful and delicate.
Make a contribution
Mr Mei Lanfang has made outstanding contributions to the cultural exchange between China and the international community. He is the pioneer of China's spreading Peking Opera overseas. On 19 19, 1924, 1956, he visited Japan three times, 1930 visited the United States, 1935, 1952 visited the Soviet Union twice. His activities not only enhanced people's understanding of China culture, but also made Chinese Peking Opera enter the world drama forest.
After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Mei Lanfang was successively elected as a deputy to the National People's Congress, a member of the Standing Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a vice chairman of the Chinese Federation of Literary and Art Circles and a vice chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association. He has served as director of China Theatre Research Institute, dean of China Theatre Academy, and dean of China Peking Opera Theatre. He joined China in July 1959 and made various contributions to the socialist construction of the motherland.
Mr Mei Lanfang is a symbol of China's performing arts and the pride of our people.
Mei Lanfang was also the first actor in China to receive a doctorate in drama. 19 19 led a delegation to visit Japan for the first time, and also visited Germany, Britain, France, Austria, Belgium and Russia in the United States and Europe. His visit not only introduced China's Peking Opera to foreign friends, but also learned drama performances from other countries, which greatly enriched his performing arts.
Mei Lanfang is also a performing artist with a sense of national justice and conscience. 193 1 year, Japanese imperialism flagrantly launched the "September 18th Incident", which invaded and occupied vast areas in three northeastern provinces of China. He has written and performed Peking Opera Anti-Jin Bing and Life and Death Hate, expressing the Chinese nation's indomitable determination to resist aggression. 1937 after the lugouqiao incident, he resolutely bid farewell to the stage, lived in seclusion in hong kong and Shanghai, and vowed not to perform for the Japanese devils. For the sake of his family's life and supporting his colleagues in Peking Opera, he spent a difficult time by betraying Dan Qing and became an example for Chinese Peking Opera to resist the enemy.
After the founding of New China, Mei Lanfang received the attention of the party and the state, and once held an important position in the Chinese Dramatists Association and the China People's Political Consultative Conference. 196 1 year, he bid farewell to his beloved audience and Beijing with a newly edited Peking Opera "Mu Zhanzhen Conductor", and has since been buried under Wanhua Mountain under Biyun Temple in Xiangshan, Haidian.