The Yu faction is passed on, like the sky
Meng Xiaodong (1907-1977) was born in a family in Liyuan, and at the age of 9 he studied opera with his uncle (uncle) Qiu Yuexiang. Since the age of 14, he has performed at the Shanghai Qiankun Grand Theater, where first-class actors often appear on stage, and has also gone to the Philippines and other places to run docks for several months, which is very popular with the audience.
Beginning in 1922, Sun Zuochen, who had played the piano for Tan Xinpei, Yu Shuyan and other people for a long time, and was known as the "No. 1 piano in the country", began to accompany and tutor Meng Xiaodong, and her tone and tone went to the next level. In the second half of this year, she went to Hankou to perform, winning continuous applause, attracting the famous old female student Yao Yulan to stop performing for half a month and go to observe, and the two fell in love very much and became sisters. Yao Yulan, who was four years older than Meng Xiaodong, married Du Yuesheng in 1929.
Meng Xiaodong began performing in Beijing in 1925, when the Peking Opera master was like a star. The seventeen or eighteen-year-old rookie quickly rose to prominence, and the two record companies "Great Wall" and "Lige" also poured several records for her.
Liu Jiayou, who is obsessed with the drama art of the Yu School, told in the article "Remembering the Successor of the Yu School, Mrs. Du Yuesheng, Meng Xiaodong", that when Meng Xiaodong lived in Hong Kong, he and several famous ticket friends went to Meng's Mansion from time to time. What's more fateful is that in the late 20s and early 30s of the last century, Liu Jiayou often went to the mansion of his in-law and giant businessman Lin Songtao in western Huxi to play, and saw Meng Xiaodong, who was praised by Lin Songtao as a genius in the pear orchard, on the Lin family's cappella collection:
At that time, the Winter Emperor was only about 20 years old, and he was very beautiful, especially his eyes were shining, showing brilliant colors, and his temperament was particularly good, wearing a red forged cheongsam, covered with black roe velvet shoulders, and wearing a mink hat, which was really handsome.
The name of "Winter Emperor" was first called by Sha Dafeng, a famous ticket holder who ran the "Tianfeng Daily" in Tianjin, at the end of the 20s of the last century, and he wrote the "Meng Words" describing Meng Xiaodong's life in the supplement of Tianjin "Business Daily", and the mountain shouted "Long live my emperor". Since then, he has often written articles, quite professionally eulogizing the "agitation of the tone" or "wonderful lightness" of the "Winter Emperor". Newspapers around the world followed suit, and the name of the Winter Emperor spread far and wide.
After Meng Xiaodong arrived in Beijing, he worked full-time and studied with many teachers. In those years, whenever there was Yu Shuyan's performance, she would definitely go to watch it and think about it carefully. When I met a ticket holder who has studied the remaining cavity, I also humbly asked for advice.
Meng Xiaodong basically stopped acting for four years after marrying Mei Lanfang, but after she left him, she returned to the stage and performed in Pingjin and other places, and the audience was still blocked.
In the autumn of 1938, Meng Xiaodong, who had been a private lady for many years, finally fulfilled his long-cherished wish and officially apprenticed. For the next five years, she continued to ask intently. Yu Shuyan also carefully taught the essence of nearly 30 classic plays such as "Searching for Orphans and Saving Orphans", "Hong Yang Cave" and "Catching and Releasing Cao", which have been tempered thousands of times, to the senior disciples. Meng Xiaodong has exhausted the wonderful meaning of the Yu faction, and he is even more good, and he is recognized as the highest achiever among Yu Shuyan's descendants. Weng Sizai's article "Yu Huiqing Talks about Meng Xiaodong" said: During Meng Xiaodong's study of opera, he no longer performed in classes, and only occasionally went on stage to practice the plays he learned. Yu Shuyan's daughter Yu Huiqing was worried about her source of livelihood, and Meng Xiaodong told her: "It doesn't matter, I have 'noble people to help.'" Later, I learned that it was Du Yuesheng who was sponsoring her.
The famous Peking Opera critic Ding Bingqi appreciated all the famous artists that year, and was amazed by Meng Xiaodong's clear and three-point performance. thinks that it is necessary to discuss the elegance of singing skills, and the pear orchard industry first recommends Yu Shuyan and her master and apprentice. He admired her in the book "Meng Xiaodong and Yan Gao Tan Ma":
She has a good talent, a voice with all five tones, a wide bore voice, and a woman without a female voice, which is rare among thousands of people. Therefore, no matter how well she has learned, she can give full play to it, and she will not be disadvantaged. Figure out the plot, portray the characters, and do the delicate and expressive, such as entering the realm. And the elegance of the appearance and the chic figure are especially extraordinary.
Ding Bingqi summed up Meng Xiaodong's typhoon with "gentle and elegant, handsome and chic". He said that before Meng Xiaodong apprenticed with Yu Shuyan, he had already obtained 50 percent of the charm of the Yu faction, and after worshipping Yu, he had obtained 80 percent of the true transmission of the Yu faction. If you only talk about singing and doing, its "Hong Yang Cave" and "Searching for Orphans and Saving Orphans" are almost real. The twenty percent worse than Yu Shuyan is that the martial arts are slightly inferior.
Because Meng Xiaodong's singing voice is meticulous and not perfunctory, a performance is particularly exhausting. After becoming famous all over the world, she cherished her feathers even more and sought to be exquisite. In addition, he was frail and sickly later, and it was even more difficult to take the stage intensively. From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, there were many artists who smoked opium, and famous artists such as Meng Xiaodong, Ma Lianliang, and Tan Fuying were not exempt from vulgarity. Opium is said to refresh the mind and moisten the throat, but addiction inevitably damages the body.
All these made Meng Xiaodong perform not many times. Every time he takes the stage, he becomes more and more sought after. After apprenticing with Yu Shuyan, her drama was even more difficult to find, and there was no gap in the theater. Ding Bingqi said, "At that time, Meng Xiaodong was in the middle of the day, and his momentum was far above Ma Lianliang and Tan Fuying. ”
Ding Bingqi also told that in 1938, Meng Xiaodong performed "Hongyang Cave" at the best Xinxin Theater in Beiping at that time. A certain gentleman wanted to support the Winter Emperor, and discussed with the steward to take all the good seats in front of him and use them to treat him to show off. And some old theater fans have had fixed seats in the front row for a long time before, of course, they don't give up. "Miss Meng" was furious when she learned about it, and reprimanded the steward sharply: "My play is for those old audiences who know how to play to enjoy it generally. How? Someone is planning to use my ticket to treat a guest to save face, don't plan! You quickly return the ticket to the garden and spit out the money back. Otherwise, you won't have to do it today! The steward hastened to comply. Many people say that Meng Xiaodong's temperament is also a bit like Yu Shuyan, and he is arrogant, so he can't help but say it.
On August 30, 1947, Du Yuesheng's 60th birthday, coinciding with the floods in Liangguang, northern Jiangsu and other places, the Peking Opera charity performance held for birthday celebration and disaster relief lasted for ten days. Meng Xiaodong's two performances of "Searching for Orphans and Saving Orphans", the black market tickets were speculated by scalpers by five times and tenfold, and some Peking Opera masters also went to watch. Her singing voice is hearty, and her work is exquisite and delicate, winning thunderous applause and heartfelt admiration. This is Meng Xiaodong's swan song, and she said goodbye to the stage at the age of forty.
Repair to the plum blossoms, after all, sad
In the early days of the Republic of China, the Jingshi Police Department issued a general order to prohibit men and women from performing on the same stage in all theaters, but charity performances or church meetings were not subject to this restriction. It was not until 1930 that the Beiping Public Security Bureau abolished the ban on men and women on the same stage. Meng Xiaodong and Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) collaborated for the first time at a meeting for his mother's 80th birthday celebration by Feng Shu, the general office of the Beijing Electric Light Company. Before the performance, they rehearsed at the home of Mei Lanfang's old friend, Feng Gengguang, the president of the Bank of China, who is the nephew of the writer Ling Shuhua's mother. Since then, the two have co-starred in this play many times.
In the second half of 1926, Mei and Meng co-starred in "Dragon and Phoenix" at the church meeting. The 19-year-old Meng Xiaodong plays the Zhengde Emperor who parades in microclothes, and Mei Lanfang becomes the spicy and clever Li Fengjie in Meilong Town, and there is no shortage of laughing scenes in the play. Qiandan Kunsheng, upside down, they acted vividly and interestingly, and the audience was full of interest.
Meng Xiaodong married Mei Lanfang, of course, there was the fun and matchmaking of everyone in the "Mei Party", but more importantly, they loved each other. At that time, Mei Lanfang, the king of the Ling world, was famous all over the world and poured all sentient beings; Meng Xiaodong, who stood out, was in his prime and bright. The two of them are both beautiful and artistic, and they cherish each other, looking at their group photo with a hidden smile, both of them are exquisite and soft, and they are quite a perfect match.
In this marriage, there are too many parties. When Fu Zhifang passed the door in 1921, Mei Lanfang's wife, Wang Minghua, was already in the hall. The matchmaker said that Mei Lanfang is a son and a double wife (who is also the heir of the two brothers), so the two wives are "two big". Now, how to settle Meng Xiaodong? Quite a thought. The big media Qi Rushan and others persuaded the Meng family on the grounds that Wang Minghua had been sick for many years and was hospitalized in Tianjin, and Xiaodong was actually the main room, and he would buy a new house after marriage. Subsequently, Mei Lanfang and others accompanied Meng Xiaodong to Tianjin to visit Mrs. Wang, who gave him a ring, which was regarded as approval and fulfillment. At the beginning of 1927, a couple got married in Feng Gengguang's mansion.
Since then, Meng Xiaodong has lived in a simple place, listened to the record player, practiced calligraphy, and learned Yu Ji Xiang from Bao Jixiang. There is a photo of Mei Lanfang teasing her hand shadow, he and Meng Xiaodong wrote two lines of words, which is exactly the question and answer of the two: What are you doing there? "I'm here as a goose shadow." Playful tone and intimacy, jumping out.
Fans are looking forward to it, and it is rare to see Meng Xiaodong appear on stage. One of her infatuated fans, Li Zhigang, had a paranoid personality, and when he inquired that she was married to Mei Lanfang, he was so angry that he followed Mei Lanfang to the door of Feng's house with a gun. In the confrontation with the military and police, Li shot Zhang Hanju, a newspaper man who helped him run away, and Li Zhigang was also shot by the police.
Mei Lanfang generously donated houses and money to Zhang Hanju's family to redeem their unease. After the murder, the city was full of wind and rain, and although this matter had nothing to do with Meng Xiaodong, the frightened Mei Lanfang temporarily alienated her, and went to Tianjin to perform with Fu Zhifang, and was also featured in "Beiyang Pictorial". Meng Xiaodong couldn't help but feel sad, and once reappeared in Tianjin.
At the end of November 1928, Mei Lanfang went to Guangzhou and Hong Kong to perform for several months, and returned to Beiping after a stay in Shanghai. At that time, the title of a full-length portrait of Meng Xiaodong was published: "The Latest Statue of Meng Xiaodong after Cultivating to the Plum Blossom After Returning from Hubei". The words "Plum blossoms" seemed to say her inner monologue happily. The title of "Mrs. Memeng" was also seen in the media, and her pleasure was self-evident. In February 1929, a group of busts of Meng Xiaodong with different expressions were published, which were respectively titled as "contemplation", "squinting", "kissing" and "kissing", which showed her joy and satisfaction. The pictorial also included a short article "Written after 'Little Shadow'", which was proud of grabbing the exclusive news: "Now this newspaper has obtained many of her wonderful images, and there are many people who dump Xiaodong in Jinmen, so you can take a look." "The short article is extremely gossipy, first of all, I heard that Meng Xiaodong has now become a "plum wife", and Yunyun, as for whose kiss she greets, who she sends the kiss to, who she squints at, and who she thinks about, it seems that there is no need to study".
Newspapers and periodicals such as "Beiyang Pictorial" are quite dedicated. In the summer of 1929, Mei Lanfang and Fu Zhifang bathed and rode donkeys on the Beidaihe beach, and the photos were also ceremoniously published, saying that "Mei Lanfang wearing a sea bathing vest and beautiful curvaceous appearance".
It seems that Mei Lanfang has flattened a bowl of water, but the glue between the two women is difficult to dissolve. Wang Minghua, who had no quarrel with the world, died in the autumn of last year.
Mei Lanfang had just returned from a performance visit to the United States in August 1930, when her aunt (and heir) passed away. From relatives and friends to social elites, there is an endless stream of people who go to the plum house to mourn. Meng Xiaodong Dai Xiao went, but was blocked outside the gate by his subordinates on the order of Fu Zhifang, and Mei Lanfang's mediation with everyone was ineffective.
Fu Zhifang has been in charge of Meifu for many years, and there are several children who are already full of green leaves, and the status of the "main palace" is difficult to shake. Meng Xiaodong's failure to enter the house to keep filial piety to his mother-in-law is tantamount to revealing and strengthening his identity as a "foreign house". She played the emperor's generals and sages and righteous men seamlessly on stage, took off her robe and took off her mustache, but she still had a sentimental woman's fragile glass heart. She felt that being humiliated in front of the public was enough to be disheartened, and she vowed not to see Mei Lanfang again. After that, Meng Xiaodong couldn't afford to get sick, and then burned incense to worship the Buddha. They got back together for a time and finally broke up in the summer of 1931.
Jinlan's sister Yao Yulan became Du Yuesheng's fourth aunt in 1929, she asked Du Yuesheng to come forward to coordinate, and Mei Lanfang paid Meng Xiaodong 40,000 yuan in compensation. This was a huge amount of money at the time, and according to Xu Jinwen's "The Biography of Meng Xiaodong, the Winter Emperor of Liyuan", Mei Lanfang therefore sold the exquisite garden residence in Wuliang Hutong.
In 1933, a newspaper in Tianjin published a serialized novel, writing that the fans who caused the murder in Beijing that year had an affair with Kun Ling, and Kun Ling opened his mouth to the famous lion after breaking up...... At a glance, you can see who is insinuating. Meng Xiaodong was indignant and published an "Urgent Notice" in Ta Kung Pao for three consecutive days to refute the rumors, saying that if anyone "deliberately destroys his reputation and fabricates right and wrong", he will definitely resort to law. She also used a considerable amount of space in the notice, taking the opportunity to vent her resentment against the "negative person":
The name is both famous and well-known. Nai Lanfang was vague, and on the day of her mother's death, she could not practice the preface, resulting in a loss of reputation. Although persuaded by friends and debated in person, Lan Fang ignored them, which shows that there is no mercy at all.
Dong sighed that he was distressed and suffered another blow, so he resolutely broke off his family relationship with Lan Fang. Am I the loser? Or do you want to bear me? There is a public opinion in the world, and it is not waiting for the winter to be repeated.
Meng Xiaodong has always been obsessed with Mei Lanfang's inability to give herself the corresponding name, and at this time, he did not vomit or be unhappy, and took the opportunity to expose his grievances with Mei Lanfang to the world. He couldn't straighten out this mess of feelings, and when the sad Meng Xiaodong brought up the old things, he still couldn't suppress his anger. Mei Lanfang didn't say a word, which also showed his gentleness and generosity.
In the late autumn of 1925, Du Yuesheng (1888-1951) paid his first visit to Meng Xiaodong in Beijing. At that time, her talent was popular in Beijing and Shanghai, and he may have been just one of many admirers. When she officially entered the Du Mansion, it was already the 40s. Green gang tycoon Du Yuesheng likes to be called Mr. Du, and his transformation from a white-faced person to a celebrity and philanthropist has been very successful. Du Yuesheng used to be the vice president of the Red Cross Society of China and a member of the board of trustees of Fudan University, and was enthusiastic about building bridges and paving roads, running schools for disaster relief, and was also engaged to many political and cultural celebrities such as Zhang Taiyan.
Du Yuesheng is an infatuated ticket holder, and sometimes he also appears on the stage, and he has interacted with countless Peking Opera people, and many of the Peking Opera events in the thirties and forties are closely related to him.
Over the years, Du Yuesheng has been carefully maintaining and taking care of Meng Xiaodong, his foil is very handy, and his actions are delicate and appropriate. is kind and affectionate, and it can indeed warm people's hearts, but when she approached him, she was not simply repaying the favor or being desperate. Meng Xiaodong moved to Hong Kong with Du Yuesheng's family on the eve of the liberation of Shanghai. Jiang Yiqiu, a guest of Du Fu in Hong Kong, once told Ding Bingqi: "Oh, Mr. Du and Meng Xiaodong's relationship is good, and the two of them can get along." ”
Regarding the marriage of Du and Meng, almost all versions describe it like this: Du Yuesheng planned to take his family to France in 1950, and when counting the number of people who could apply for passports, Meng Xiaodong said softly: I will follow, will it be regarded as a girl, or a girlfriend? A sentence woke up Du Yuesheng, and he hurriedly helped her to marry her.
If that's the case, there's still a bit of sadness. wanted to go to Meifu to mourn filial piety back then, but because her status as a "wife" could not be confirmed, she buried the trouble. Now, in order to get the position of the fifth lady, she needs to wait for an opportunity to fight for it, and she still speaks in such a low profile. When people reach middle age, is the proud "Winter Emperor" who used to walk away without saying a word, really so calm?
Meng Xiaodong is in Hong Kong and is often with the pianist Wang Ruizhi. But in 1955, Wang Ruizhi also returned to the mainland. Many people persuaded Meng Xiaodong to return to the mainland together, but Meng Xiaodong never agreed.
In 1957, Zhang Shizhao, entrusted by Premier Zhou, went to Hong Kong to lobby Meng Xiaodong and promised her to teach at the opera school, but Meng Xiaodong finally refused.
In 1963, the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe performed in Hong Kong, and the main actors were Ma Lianliang, Zhang Junqiu, Qiu Shengrong, Zhao Yanxia, etc., who were entrusted by Premier Zhou Enlai to invite Meng Xiaodong to return to the mainland for sightseeing. It's a pity that this performance didn't work out in the end.
In 1967, Yao Yulan, who was far away in Taiwan, called Meng Xiaodong, and the two reconciled.
Before Du Yuesheng died, he gave Meng Xiaodong two requirements, the first is not to sing again, and the second is not to return to the mainland. She has always adhered to these two points.
Even, according to Meng Xiaodong's neighbors in Hong Kong, Meng Xiaodong didn't even wear makeup after Du Yuesheng's death.
Meng Xiaodong in his later years
The soldier dies for the confidant, and the woman is the one who pleases herself. Meng Xiaodong followed Du Yuesheng at the age of 40, and was alone at the age of 50, what happened to the two in 10 years of getting along? Is it really as rumored that the husband sings and the wife follows, and the piano is harmonious?
If Meng Xiaodong returns to the mainland, I am afraid that he will have to sing on stage again in the end, and in the end, the intersection with Mei Lanfang is inevitable, and the title of "People's Artist" is inevitable, perhaps, this is the fundamental reason for Meng Xiaodong's final refusal.