Peking Opera has the ugliness of life. Dan is a female role, and the role played by a man is called a male Dan. Male Dan is really a title that only exists after liberation. Because, in earlier times, the Peking Opera stage was the world of men.
Peking Opera used to be a man's world
It is good for men to play men and women to play women, but they are restricted by the times and really can't do it.
In Chinese history, it was not uncommon for women to sing opera, and it was once the mainstream. Because, in ancient times, there was such a thing as a happy book. As a punishment system, the wives and daughters of prisoners of war and sinners were forcibly naturalized into the music register, and they were engaged in opera, singing and dancing and other occupations for generations. In ancient times, the opera troupes in the homes of dignitaries and nobles were all composed of women, such as the opera troupe raised by Jia Fu in "Dream of Red Mansions", which was composed of 12 girls. The male characters are also sung by the girls, and a pair of fake phoenixes are also born. But in the Qing Dynasty, not only did the music membership be canceled, but also explicitly forbade women to sing on stage. The reason is that it is immoral.
In an environment where men are inferior to women, women are always the object of bullying. In the drama, there are many vulgar plays. Women are not allowed on stage in order to prevent performances without a lower limit. At that time, not only were there no women on stage, but there were also no women offstage.
Peking Opera, born in the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty, was of course influenced by the rule that women were not allowed to take the stage, and there were no actresses, and all female roles were played by men. But in the Gengzi years, Kun Ling began to appear. In the beginning, Kun Ling was only active in the concessions of large cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin, and there were still many restrictions on getting to the political center of Beijing. After the Xinhai Revolution, Beijing began to allow women on stage, but in order to prevent large-scale performances, many people opposed the performance of men and women on the same stage. As a result, there was Kunban. Kun Ban sings, although many plots are omitted, but it cannot be completely without male characters. So, there was Kunsheng.
It wasn't until 1930 that men and women were officially allowed to share the stage.
Since female singers can sing on stage, many outstanding actresses have emerged in the field of Peking Opera, especially in the Dan role, Liu Xikui, Zhang Jiyun, Xue Yanqin, Yan Huizhu...... In addition, there is the famous Kunsheng Meng Xiaodong.
Although these female singers are all highly attained, the peak of Peking Opera still belongs to men.
The four famous men are all men
In the 20s of the 20th century, there was a saying about the four famous Dans. In 1931, Shanghai's "Drama Monthly" launched a call for essays and selected "Mei, Cheng, Shang, and Xun" as the four famous artists; In 1932, the Great Wall Record Company invited Mei, Cheng, Shang and Xun to jointly produce the record "Four or Five Flower Caves", which can be called a perfect combination, making the statement of the four famous Dans recognized by the society.
At that time, there were also excellent kundan in the field of Peking Opera, but why did the highest level represent men? There is a perception that men have an advantage over women. The reasons are as follows: first, the male voice condition is better than that of women, and the singing of Peking Opera Danjiao uses falsetto, while men, due to physiological reasons, compared with women, have a strong falsetto, a wide vocal range, and a thickness; Second, men are no worse than women, but women tend to be blessed after middle age; The third is that men's physical strength is better than that of women, and they are better at martial arts and fighting, and they have an advantage in playing Wudan and Dao Ma Dan.
I think there is some truth to this argument, but it is not convincing.
Cheng Yanqiu suffered a collapse during the growth period of his career, which made his originally high and bright voice muffled and narrow, which was completely inconsistent with the aesthetics of traditional Danjiao singing. But later, under the guidance of Wang Yaoqing, the leader of Tongtian Sect, Mr. Cheng created a Cheng School singing voice with a unique resonance behind his head according to the characteristics of his voice. Zhang Junqiu, because he has never entered a professional class, is not good at kung fu, but with only a good voice and a unique interpretation of the role, he has also become a generation of celebrities.
Peking Opera is a comprehensive art that includes singing, chanting, doing and other skills. Famous actors with understanding will develop their strengths and avoid weaknesses, and develop their own performance styles according to their own conditions. Cheng Yanqiu and Zhang Junqiu were both disciples of Mei Lanfang, but they both developed their own styles and founded sects. Therefore, it is unconvincing to say that men are inherently superior to women because of their unwarranted deficiencies.
In my opinion, the four famous Dans can represent the highest peak of Danjiao, mainly because of the background of the times.
Peking Opera, born in the late Qing Dynasty and flourished in the Republic of China, should be precise in the thirties and forties of the 20th century. Kun Ling took the stage and was fully liberalized in 1930. Therefore, in the twenties and thirties when the four famous Dans were selected, Kun Ling was not the mainstream. Besides, Peking Opera has been a man's world since its birth. All roles, including Danjiao, are trained and accumulated experience in vocalization, style, martial arts, etc., all of which are based on men's physiological characteristics. Female singing Peking Opera is a new thing, and it needs to be reexplored in teaching and learning. In the short period of time when Kun Ling was just emerging, in all walks of life in Peking Opera, it was normal for women to sing more than men.
Therefore, the view that the Dan role of Peking Opera itself should be played by men is biased.
The past of the man
In the long years after the birth of Peking Opera, opera practitioners, known as "operas", were regarded as the lower nine class professions. Generally, the actors who sing the role of Dan are good-looking, and they are often reduced to the playthings of the powerful. "Chicks dressed up for wine" had become the norm in society at that time. Therefore, the young male Lingdanjiao was called "like an aunt" by the people of the time, and the residence of like an aunt was called like a aunt's hall or private apartment. The existence of like Gu is a shame in the opera industry. In order to improve the artistic image of Peking Opera and the status of Peking Opera performers, many people of insight in the Peking Opera industry have devoted themselves to eradicating this vulgar atmosphere in the industry.
Speaking of which, I have to mention Tian Jiyun. He was a famous Peking Opera artist in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, and he hated the habit of being like a girl. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, he proposed to ban private singing operas. As a result, the private apartment is restricted, but the aunt still exists. After the abdication of the Qing Emperor, he once again co-named Tan Xinpei and other famous artists, and proposed to ban Xianggu. The Beiyang government agreed to his request, and Xianggu withdrew from the stage of history.
Although Xianggu no longer exists, Peking Opera practitioners are still discriminated against. It was not until 1930 that Mei Lanfang visited the United States and obtained a doctorate from a world-renowned university, and the status of opera actors was truly improved.
The male Dan's later
Like Gu, the Four Famous Dans, and Mei Lanfang...... There are unbearable, glorious, and brilliant, such mixed tastes will inevitably make the situation of the male Dan a little embarrassing. After the liberation, the dominant concept regarded the male dan as a misguided way and a feudal remnant, and in principle, it was no longer cultivated, and the famous male dan was gradually marginalized. Because of the special political environment, Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu and other masters have not been able to express their views on this.
After the liberation, on the stage of Peking Opera, it has become the mainstream for women to play the role of Dan. But the genre that these women learned was created by the men back then. Ten years of catastrophe, model opera became popular, and traditional Peking Opera disappeared from the stage. By the 80s, everything was back on track, and the older generation of masters had withered. The little women who sang on stage could only learn from the masters by listening to the legends. But this learning is only limited to singing, as for the stage experience and artistic experience behind the master's singing, it is all in smoke.
It is said that Du Jinfang once said that in the process of learning drama, she must first imagine herself as a man, and then as a woman. With the physiological characteristics of women, it must be awkward to learn men's singing voices. But there is no way to be awkward, the later Peking Opera masters are only good at imitating the singing of their predecessors, and will not promote their strengths and avoid weaknesses according to their own characteristics.
Now, seven or eight out of ten people who sing Danjiao are Cheng faction. Because, Cheng Pai's singing voice is different and very distinctive, and the more characteristic things are, the easier it seems to be imitated. As a result, the Peking Opera stage was filled with the rough and atmospheric "Suolin Bag". As mentioned earlier, Mr. Cheng Yanqiu created the Cheng School according to his own characteristics because of his lack of voice, no treble, and no nasal resonance. Now, the Cheng School is infinitely magnifying Mr. Cheng's shortcomings, and Mr. Cheng's essence is not at all. Therefore, netizens jokingly said that the one who is most unlike Cheng Pai now is Cheng Yanqiu.
In recent years, transgender performances seem to have become a symbol of art again, and the same is true in the field of Peking Opera. Guo Degang's disciples also come to a period of "Spring and Autumn Pavilion Outside the Wind and Rain" from time to time, although the level is similar to their master's "called Xiaofan", but it also seems to be elegant. There are also experts who claim that the male dan is the same as the painter who paints beauties, the difference is that the painter paints with a brush, while the male dan uses the body to "paint". This theory sounds like that, but it doesn't actually work. If a male Dan wants to go on stage, in addition to overcoming the singing voice, he must also conquer the body and performance. In addition to people with special talents, it is logical and shortcut for men to play men and women to play women. But some people just want to create difficulties without difficulties, such as a certain Mei School male disciple, who is like a man on stage and a woman off the stage. He didn't sing on stage, it simply stimulated the audience's nerves.
The times are developing, and we should not look at "men" with colored glasses. Men like Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, Xun Huisheng, or Song Changrong, who came back after the Cultural Revolution, I believe everyone is happy to appreciate them. But under normal circumstances, not only do men not play women, but women also don't play men. Acting as a man is not like a man, and acting a woman is not like a woman, but counting on transgender actors, grandstanding will only attract disgust!