Where the sound rises, people's hearts move. Peking Opera is like a classical beauty waiting to be written, accompanied by the high sighs and low chants of the Tang Dynasty and Song Yun, along the historical trajectory of the Confluence of Hui and Han, all the way to the lotus step. It is the candlelight of traditional culture that makes the performance of Peking Opera like the vertical and horizontal brush of ink and danqing - everywhere it passes becomes a wonderful situation.
Peking opera is the art of the horns. The melodious singing voice is gentle and beautiful, and the exquisite line head attracts people to stop and watch. This issue will continue to share the second part of the "Mei Lan Fanghua - Mei Lan Fang Art Life Exhibition" exhibited by the National Museum.
Mei Xin embellished Yuxuan
Long songs when crying, long sleeves are good at dancing, and the sadness and joy in singing and doing play reflect the beauty of the poetry of the opera itself. The Peking Opera centered on the horns is not only the result of artistic evolution, but also the artist's kenning in life and creation.
(Please rotate the screen 90° counterclockwise for the best viewing angle)
Embellished with Yuxuan
"Yuxuan" is the elegant name of Mei Lanfang's residence, which is a material space that is not confined to one place, and it is also a cultural space that cultivates the spirit. Mei Lanfang had a number of residences in Beijing during her lifetime, and after becoming famous, the Mei Mansion in the Wuliang Adult Hutong once became a gathering place for literati and celebrities and Chinese and foreign guests.
The living room is the place where Mei Lanfang used to hang her voice, rehearse plays, read books, and paint. It attracts talents from all walks of life and brings together a variety of arts, which not only carries Mei Lanfang's many interests, but also pushes it to the broader art world.
Pigeon whistle
Mei Lanfang has a wide range of hobbies, and raising pigeons is one of her interests. By raising pigeons, he not only exercised his physique, but also trained a pair of eyes to shine brightly, which in turn created a superb and beautiful character on the stage. In one corner of the exhibition, the pigeon whistles he collected and used are on display.
A total stage "Roselle" play list
A total stage "Xi Shi" drama list
In my personal experience, both actors and playwrights need to work hard to develop their horizons. In addition to reading more, learning more and reading more, you can also contact various works of art and the beauty of nature in the scope of opera, to cultivate your own artistic level in many ways, so as not to be lonely and unheard of without distinguishing between fine, rough, beautiful and evil, and form conservative and rough in your work.
——Mei Lanfang, "Be good at distinguishing between fine, coarse, beautiful and evil"
Friends and gentlemen, painted with a clever brush
"Bring together the ancients of loyalty and filial piety, righteousness, and become a time of sorrow and joy." The emergence of Peking Opera has allowed the personality of the actors to be released, the same cavity, a hundred kinds of singing. In the thousands of years of searching up and down, Chinese opera can continue to develop, thanks to benign aesthetic interaction.
Zhang Jian gave Mei Lanfang silk paintings
Mei Lanfang - Peace Dove, ink on paper
The freehand square inches are simple and ethereal, and there are no waves but the rivers can be seen. There is no predecessor in the contemporary era, and there are often people in the audience. The scenery on the stage is infinitely chanting flowers before and under the moon, and the rain or shine under the stage is unimpeded to practice morning homework and morning lessons - this is the belief that Mei Lanfang has upheld throughout her life. The emphasis on stature and dance makes his new costume drama have the neutral beauty of "singing and dancing, singing and doing at the same time". The emphasis on basic skills makes it possible to still be active on the Peking Opera stage at the age of sixty.
Mei Lanfang once said: "Today, my small achievements are on the one hand, inheriting the love of social people, and on the other hand, the merits of the predecessors are not forgotten by me." "The famous sages and scholars who once gathered in Yuxuan were both old-school literati and intellectuals, who talked about ancient and modern times, talked about literature and art, and subtly enhanced Mei Lanfang's cultural cultivation and aesthetic appreciation.
Mei Lanfang - Guanyin Audio-Visual, color on paper
Mei Lanfang - Guanyin, color on paper
The soul of a great actor is made up of a subtle element. While familiar with the performing arts of Beijing and Kunming drama, Mei Lanfang also deeply understands the essence of traditional Chinese painting techniques. He studied painting with Wang Mengbai, Qi Baishi, Tang Dingzhi and others, and Chen Shizeng, Jin Gongbei, Yao Mangfu, Chen Banding and other famous artists in the painting world have all guided Mei Lanfang's painting creation. As a result, his painting skills became more and more sophisticated, and he actively applied the aesthetic perceptions he obtained from paintings to the creation of opera, creating costumes and makeup that had never been seen before on the Peking Opera stage.
Mei Lanfang- Roselle diagram, colored on paper
Mei Lanfang - Tiannu scattered flowers, color on paper
The "Scattered Flowers of the Heavenly Daughter" exhibited in this exhibition was inspired by the "Scattered Flowers" painted by the Song Dynasty painter Liu Songnian. Mei Lanfang was first attracted by the characters in the painting, and then associated with the flying fairies in the Dunhuang murals, and then derived the idea of painting and choreographing song and dance dramas.
Mei Lanfang's "Shilang Visits His Mother", colored photo
Yu Ji double sword
Plum fragrance spread far and wide
The flower cavity is gentle, the clothes are fragrant and the sideburns, and the long ancient rhyme lengthens the thoughts. The flowers on the stage bloom for another season, and the wind and rain under the stage start at what time. In order to let the world understand Chinese Peking Opera, Mei Lanfang has performed in Japan, the United States and the Soviet Union many times since she first stepped abroad in 1919, resulting in Chinese opera gradually being understood, recognized and accepted by overseas theater circles, and successfully ranked among the world's theatrical arts.
Nanda Posan - Roselle, oil on canvas
Bust of Mei Lanfang
Asahi Pictorial magazine
In 1919, Mei Lanfang was invited by the Imperial Theater in Tokyo to lead the "Kiqun Society" to perform in Japan, which was the first time that peking opera art officially went abroad and set off a "Peking opera fever" in Japan. In 1924, he was invited to Japan again, and at the same time strengthened his determination to lead Peking Opera to the world.
Time Magazine's report on Mei Lanfang, Mei Lanfang's Youmei Collection
"Map of Mei Lanfang's Visit to the United States"-1
"Mei Lanfang's Visit to the United States Atlas" -2
After several years of preparation, Mei Lanfang began a six-month performance in the United States in 1930. In order to enable the audience to have a deeper understanding of the art of Peking Opera, he collaborated with the pianist Xu Lanyuan and the composer Liu Tianhua to translate the work rule notation into staves, and also translated the clothing, helmets, and facial features into English, providing a comprehensive and systematic introduction to the American audience. After referring to the suggestions of American theater experts and scholars studying in the United States, "Thorny Tiger", "Overlord Farewell", "Noble Concubine Drunk", "Heavenly Girl Scattered Flowers", and "Fishing and Killing Family" were designated as the main repertoire. This is the first time that Peking Opera art has appeared in an organized and large-scale manner in the mainstream cultural vision of the West.
In 1935, Mei Lanfang was invited by the Association of Foreign Cultural Relations of the Soviet Union to perform in the Soviet Union, which further established the international status of Chinese opera art. In this performance, he put more thought into the choice of drama and cultural exchanges. Qi Rushan also specially wrote "Mei Lanfang Art One Spot" for this purpose, which detailed the fingering methods in Mei Lanfang's performing arts.
In addition, the Soviet film master Eisenstein also cooperated with Mei Lanfang to make a film of the Peking Opera "Rainbow Pass". Therefore, he left behind the high-profile photo in this exhibition - a foreigner in a suit and leather shoes "randomly entered" the scene of the Peking Opera performance.
On stage, he is a dignified and delicate Qingyi, but also a naïve and lively Hua Dan; offstage, he is a refined opera researcher, but also a pioneer in the overseas dissemination of Chinese opera.
Mei LanFanghua - Mei Lanfang Art Life Exhibition, we will meet again in the next issue.
Eye Edge Art Chronicles Chapter 902 is an artistic gift dedicated to life. If you need to reprint, please obtain authorization first, and please indicate the source after reprinting
Text Writing: Eye Edge Art Zhi