Peking Opera artist~~

Mei Lanfang (1894~1961), whose given name was Lan, whose courtesy name was Wanhua, and whose nickname was Qunjie. Han nationality, native of Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, has lived in Beijing for a long time. Born in a Liyuan family, he started to learn opera at the age of 8. At the age of 9, he became a teacher of Wu Lingxian and studied Tsing Yi. At the age of 10, he made his debut on stage. His mother died when he was four years old, and his father died when he was twelve years old. His uncle lived in Yunhe Hall privately. Gong Qingyi, and also performs Dao Ma Dan. Later, he sought advice from Qin Zhifen and Hu Ergeng to learn Hua Dan. He studied Kun Opera and practiced martial arts assiduously, and extensively observed the performances of dan roles and other roles. After long-term stage practice, he has created and developed the singing, narration, dance, music, costumes, makeup and other aspects of Peking Opera dan roles. , formed its own artistic style, known as "Mei School" in the world. Mei Lanfang's outstanding achievements in art attracted the attention of foreign people. Before 1949, he performed in Japan, the United States, and the Soviet Union, and received honorary doctorates in literature from Pomona College and the University of Southern California. Mr. Mei was also a great patriot. During the Anti-Japanese War, he grew a beard and refused to perform. He made a living by writing and selling paintings. After liberation, he successively served as the director of the China Peking Opera Theater, the director of the Chinese Opera Research Institute, the vice chairman of the Chinese Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the vice chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association. In 1959, he joined the Communist Party of China and rehearsed his last new play "Mu Guiying Takes Command" at the age of 65. He died of a heart attack in Beijing on August 8, 1961. Aged 67. Her grandfather, Mei Qiaoling, was a singer in the Chunhe Hall during the Xianfeng years. In the Tongzhi year, she quit her citizenship and started her own Jinghe Hall. She was very famous and ranked among the top thirteen students in Tongguang. The second son, Mei Zhufen (second lock), inherited the ancestral legacy and became a famous singer. Mei Zhufen later became the second master of Jinghe Hall. She gave birth to Mei Lanfang, and Ersuo was weak. She sang during the day and drank at night. Due to lung disease, she became separated from her bed and became as thin as a stick. She died of illness soon after. Mei Lanfang was left alone and relied on her uncle Dasuo to raise her. When he was a little older, he was sent to Yunhe Hall to learn art from Zhu Xiaofen (his grandfather's disciple, Lan Fang's brother-in-law). Xiaofen's younger brother Youfen and Lanfang's cousin Wang Huifang were also apprenticed to Wu Lingxian. At the beginning, Lan Fang was not very interested in art, so Master Wu was grateful for Qiao Ling's kindness, so he taught her a lot. During this period, there was also a wine business. Sun Te, an official businessman, favored him because of his cleverness. Wen Boyan, a member of the Beijing government, was very fond of Lan Fang. He paid a huge sum of money to quit his country, so he joined the class of Xi Liancheng at the age of 14. When he met Feng Gengguang (also known as Youwei, a great banker), he tried his best to build a house in Beilucaoyuan, spending money like water and not sparing any money. At that time, officials and businessmen formed the Mei Party, and Lan Fang quickly became famous and became the leader of the Liyuan. It’s not just about timing, it’s also about virtue, art and color!

Edit the biography of the characters in this paragraph Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), born in Beijing in 1894, was born into a family of Peking Opera. He performed on stage at the age of 10 in "The Match of the Immortal" at Guanghe Tower in Beijing, Gonghuadan, 1908 In 1911, all walks of life in Beijing held a Peking Opera actor selection event and posted a chrysanthemum list. Mei Lanfang ranked third and the most popular. In 1913, he went to Shanghai to perform for the first time. He performed "Colorful House Pei", "Yu Tang Chun", "Muke Village" and other plays at Dangui No. 1 at the intersection of Sima Road and Daxin Road. When he first came to Shanghai, he became popular throughout Jiangnan. There is a saying in the alley: "When looking for a wife, you should be like Mei Lanfang, and when you have a son, you should be like Zhou Xinfang." He absorbed the innovative elements of Shanghai's civilized drama, new stage, lighting, makeup, and costume design. After returning to Beijing, he created a new fashion drama "The Waves in the Sea". He came to Shanghai again the next year and performed "Five Flower Cave" and "Zhen Hai". Fake Pan Jinlian", "The Drunken Concubine" and other specialties were performed for 34 days in a row. After returning to Beijing, Mei Lanfang continued to rehearse new plays "Chang'e Flying to the Moon", "Chunxiang Makes School", "Daiyu Buries Flowers", etc. He came to Shanghai for the third time in 1916 and sang for 45 days in a row. After 1918, he moved to Shanghai. This was the peak period of his dramatic art and he performed on the Tianchan stage many times. It combines the performance methods of Qingyi, Huadan and Daomadan to create a mellow and fluent singing style, forming a unique Mei School. In 1915, Mei Lanfang rehearsed a large number of new plays and made unique artistic innovations in Peking Opera singing, dialogue, dance, music, and costumes, and was known as the master of the Mei School.

Origin of stage name

Peking opera master Mei Lanfang was born in a Peking opera family. His grandfather Mei Qiaoling was a famous female actor in the late Qing Dynasty, and his uncle Mei Yutian was a Peking opera huqin player. Her father, Mingrui, whose courtesy name was Zhufen, was changed to Huadan from a young age, and her mother was Changyu, the eldest daughter of Yang Longshou. He learned the art at the age of 8 and studied under Zhu Xiaoxia, the elder brother of the famous student Zhu Suyun. He made his stage debut at the age of 11. He studied hard and continued to practice, inherited and developed the traditional art of Peking Opera, formed the unique "Plum School", and became the first of the four famous actors.

His performing arts have been famous at home and abroad for a long time, but he did not take the stage name "Mei Lanfang" until he was 16 years old. Mei Lanfang is one of the "Four Famous Dancing Women" in China! In the autumn of the 34th year of Guangxu's reign (1908), Ye Chunshan, the leader of Xi Liancheng's class, led his class to perform in Jilin. One morning, Ye Chunshan and Niu Zihou, an enlightened gentleman who raised funds to establish Xiliancheng, went for a walk in Beishan, Jilin. The two of them were hiking up the mountain and chatting when they suddenly noticed a man practicing his sword in the woods. He was light and agile, and the sword shone with cold light as he danced. In the arc circle, Niu Zihou was stunned. He had loved Peking Opera throughout his life and had watched many performances by martial arts masters, but there were not many such superb sword skills as he saw today. He couldn't help but clap his hands in applause. When the sword dancer heard someone cheering, he quickly put away his sword, his cheeks turned red, and he wiped the fine beads of sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief. He bowed respectfully to Niu Zihou and saluted: "Boss Niu, you are showing off your ugliness to the crowd." Niu Zihou Hou then came closer and took a closer look, and saw that the young man in front of him was handsome, elegant, and dignified. He was really a man of great importance, so he asked, "Do you have a stage name?" Ye Chunshan replied, "I'll give it to him. The stage name was 'Xiqun'." Niu Zihou thought for a long time and said, "This kid has good looks and will become a great person in the future. How about changing his name to 'Mei Lanfang'?" Ye Chunshan and his disciples agreed happily. . From then on, he adopted the stage name "Mei Lanfang" which is well-known at home and abroad.