Why did Lu Xun write articles criticizing Mei Lanfang many times?

When it comes to the historical grievances of Lu Xun and Mei Lanfang, I am afraid that few people know about it, especially contemporary young people. To do this, it is first necessary to let the reader understand Mei and his affairs. Then explore why Mr. Lu Xun wrote many articles criticizing him in his busy schedule?

Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), a leading figure in Peking Opera art; Minglan, the word Wanhua; A native of Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province. He was born in a family in Liyuan, Beijing, began to learn art at the age of 8, performed on stage at the age of 11, and acted in the Xilian Chengke class at the age of 13. In nearly 60 years of artistic practice, he has staged 400 plays; In 1915, he began to write and act in new plays, and later performed Kunqu opera "Sifan" and "Chunxiang Trouble", etc., and changed the traditional costumes to costumes of ancient costumes, using lighting sets, which was called "new costumes plays" at that time; Innovate the singing voice and singing method, add the erhu as an accompaniment instrument, integrate the acting skills of Tsing Yi, Hua Dan, and Dao Ma Dan to create a new Danxing "flower shirt", and develop and form its own unique artistic style, which has a wide influence; Known as the "Mei School", it is the first of the "Four Famous Dans", and is respected as the "Grandmaster of the Generation" by Danxing.

In October 1929, Mei Lanfang was invited by the President of United States to perform in the United States. According to the famous historian Tang Degang's "Biography of Mei Lanfang": the first performance of "Thorn Tiger" in New York, "The role of Dan in the play is Zhen'e, the oriental bride, Mei Lanfang's appearance is gorgeous, her figure is beautiful, and her slender hands are reminiscent. The next day, it was praised by major newspapers in New York, and the reputation was overwhelming. Media praise is the best publicity. Overnight, Mei Lanfang's name swept the United States. The next day, thousands of spectators rushed to the theater to line up to buy tickets. Three days later, the theater sold out all the tickets for the two-week show. At that time, the highest ticket price was $6, and it was said that the black market price was $18, which is very rare in New York." Mei Lanfang's performance in the United States was "very successful". He was awarded a Doctor of Arts degree by Pomona College in United States and the University of Southern California.

In 1935, Mei Lanfang was invited to the Soviet Union to perform "Fishing and Killing Home", "Drunken Concubine", "Xi Shi", etc., and was praised by Soviet art master Stanislavsky and other famous artists. It can be seen that Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art attainments are profound, and she is famous at home and abroad.

After the 918 incident, Mei Lanfang deeply hated the KMT's policy of non-resistance, and out of patriotism, she wrote "Anti-Jin Bing" and "Life and Death Hatred", using historical stories to inspire people's patriotic enthusiasm and fighting spirit to resist Japan's aggression. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Mei Lanfang was trapped on the isolated island of Shanghai occupied by the Japanese puppet army. On the eve of liberation, he was secretly invited by Zhou Enlai to stay on the mainland to participate in the peaceful liberation of Beiping.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he successively served as a standing member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, president of the China Peking Opera Company, chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association, and vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. In 1956, he performed "Mu Guiying in Command" as his masterpiece in his later years. The representative repertoire also includes "Cosmic Edge", "The Drunken Concubine", "Farewell My Concubine", "Luoshen", "Broken Bridge", "Garden Dream", "Daiyu Burial Flower", "Phoenix Returns to the Nest", "Anti-Jin Soldiers" and so on. With the kind care and help of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he joined the Communist Party of China in 1959. On August 7, 1961, the "generation of famous Dan" died of illness in Beijing, and Zhou Enlai served as the director of the funeral committee. After Mei Lanfang died, Mrs. Fu Zhifang's only request was that she could not be cremated, but could only be buried. For this reason, Zhou Enlai immediately suggested that a nanmu coffin stored in the Palace Museum should be used for Mei Lanfang's resting. This high-grade Nanmu coffin was originally prepared for Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and later Sun Yat-sen used a crystal coffin sent by the Soviet Union, so this Nanmu coffin has been stored in the Palace Museum. However, Zhou Enlai said that the free gift violated the system and asked Fu Zhifang to buy it back at a price, and Fu Zhifang immediately paid 4,000 yuan "huge money" to buy the Nanmu coffin. Mei Lanfang therefore slept in this nanmu coffin for burial. It can be seen that Mei's worth is extraordinary. The essays he wrote were compiled as "Mei Lanfang's Anthology", his frequent plays were compiled as "Mei Lanfang's Selected Performance Scripts", and his self-described biography "Forty Years of Stage Career".

Judging from the above-mentioned biography of Mei Lanfang, he was frank, loyal and patriotic all his life, and he worked hard in the art of Peking Opera and had profound attainments, and he deserved the title of "a generation of grandmasters".

Lu Xun is a famous writer, in early 1933, Lu Xun and Mei Lanfang except for a party in Shanghai to welcome the United Kingdom literary hero and Nobel laureate George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), there was no contact or contact, it can be said that the relationship between the two belongs to the "life of an unknown life", and it is reasonable that there should be no historical grudges. However, in the 50s of the 20th century, when Beijing held an event to commemorate Lu Xun's birth and death, Mei Lanfang, as the vice chairman of the China Federation of Literature and Art, rarely attended, and sometimes even if she was invited, she was very reluctant, often arriving late and leaving early, never speaking at the meeting, and not talking about Lu Xun. Why is Mei Lanfang, the "master of Peking Opera of the first generation", so indifferent to Lu Xun, who was praised by Mao Zedong as the "chief general of the Chinese Cultural Revolution", and what is the reason for this?

This has to start from Lu Xun's special dislike of Peking Opera when he was a teenager. It was first seen in his "Social Drama" published in December 1922 in the "Novel Monthly", Vol. 13, No. 12. In this prose novel, Lu Xun bluntly said that in the past 20 years, he "has only watched two Chinese operas (referring to Peking Opera)", which left a deep bad impression on him that "it seems that this play is too bad", "the winter and winter panic beating on the stage, the red, red, green and green swaying", "watching Xiao Dan sing, watching Hua Dan sing, watching Lao Dan sing, watching I don't know what characters sing, watching the old students sing, watching a large group of people fight randomly, watching two or three people fight each other", in short, it is "the disaster of winter panic", which really "makes me realize that it is not suitable to survive here (referring to the stage) 。 "This night is the night I said goodbye to Chinese opera (referring to Peking Opera), and I have never thought of him since, even if I occasionally pass by the theater, I am indifferent, and spiritually I have already been in the south of the sky and the north of the sky." The novel also says: "A few days ago, I accidentally saw a book in Japan, but unfortunately I forgot the title and author, in short, it is about Chinese opera. One of them seems to say to the effect that Chinese opera is a big knock, a shout, and a big jump, which makes the audience dizzy and very unsuitable for the theater...... I felt that this was exactly what I had thought of but had not thought of it. "Yunyun. From the above, it can be seen that Lu Xun was particularly disgusted with Peking Opera when he was a teenager.

Later, when he was young, Lu Xun still hated Peking Opera very much. He believes that Peking Opera is a "hundred bodies" that "play tricks" and "has no aesthetic value" at all. According to Lu Xun's friend Yu Dafu, a writer of the Left League, revealed in his "Memoirs": "When I was in Shanghai, I once talked about Mao Dun and Tian Han Zhujun wanting to improve Peking Opera", but "he (referring to Lu Xun) did not approve of it at all" and said very humorously: "To save the country with Peking Opera is 'We save the country, ah, ah, is this okay?'" Lu Xun strongly opposed the "symbolic art" in Peking Opera performances, which was unanimously recognized. He believes that Peking Opera's "face and gesture are algebra, how can they be symbols?" In addition to the harlequin with a white nose, a strongman with a flowery face, a horseback with a whip, and a watch to open the door, where is there any meaning that he can't say or do? Lu Xun believes that "face" "I always feel that it is not a symbolic technique", "it is just a kind of wart, and there is no need to support its existence." ”

If Lu Xun is just disgusted and denied the art of Peking Opera, then that's it. The problem is that he has repeatedly written articles to criticize Mei Lanfang by name, so that after Lu Xun's death and even after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mei Lanfang still lingered and could not let go of her grievances, and treated Lu Xun with a silent and indifferent attitude on some public occasions commemorating Lu Xun, thus expressing her resentment at Lu Xun's words and deeds.

It was 1924, and Lu Xun wrote an article "On Photography and the Like", which was very mean, full of ridicule and sarcasm, attacking Mei Lanfang, who was "ignorant of life". Lu Xun thinks that Mei Lanfang plays the Heavenly Maiden, plays Lin Daiyu, etc., her eyes are protruding, her lips are too thick, and her image is not beautiful. Lu Xun said bitterly and sarcastically: "The greatest and most permanent art in our China is that a man pretends to be a woman." The opposite sex is more likely to love each other. The eunuch can only reassure others that no one will love him, because he is asexual - if I had used this 'no word' it would not be a language disease. However, it can be seen that although it is the most difficult to reassure, the cutest thing is that men pretend to be women, because from the perspective of both sexes, they are close to the opposite sex, and men see 'pretending to be women, and women seeing' men pretending, so this will always hang in the glass window of the photo studio and hang in the hearts of the people. There are no such complete artists in foreign countries, so they have to let those who chisel, mix colors, and make ink are at their own disposal. ”

On June 4, 1934, Lu Xun wrote another article entitled "Take-it-ism", which was included in the "Essays on Jieting". The article mercilessly criticized Mei Lanfang's plan to be invited to the Soviet Union to perform and carry out cultural exchanges. The article said: Not to mention anything else, just learning about art, recently sent a batch of antiques to Paris for exhibition, but in the end "I don't know what will happen"; There are also a few "masters" holding a few old paintings and new paintings, hanging all the way in European countries, called "carrying forward the glory of the country". I heard that Dr. Mei Lanfang would be sent to the Soviet Union not far away to promote "symbolism", and then he would preach in Europe by the way. I don't want to discuss the relationship between Dr. May's acting and symbolism here, but in short, "the replacement of antiques by living people, I dare say, can be regarded as a little progress."

Then, on November 5~6, 1934, Lu Xun published an article in the "China Times Trends" that violently criticized Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art, entitled "A Brief Discussion on Mei Lanfang and Others". What is puzzling is that this is a sarcastic and critical review article written by Lu Xun in his busy and ill situation shortly after Mei Lanfang's successful return from performing in United States and receiving unprecedented warm welcome and congratulations from the Chinese people. Lu Xun said in the article: "Mei Lanfang is not a child, she is a dan, she is not a royal offering, she is the darling of the laity, which makes the scholar dare to start." Scholars often want to seize the things of the people, change the bamboo branch words to literary language, and take the little family jasper as the aunt's wife, but as soon as they touch their hands, this thing will perish with them. They lifted him out of the crowd, covered him with a glass cover, and made a red sandalwood shelf. taught him to use words that most people don't understand, the slow "Heavenly Maiden Scattered Flowers", and the twisted "Daiyu Burial Flowers", which were all made by him before, but now it has become for him, and all the new scripts are only for Mei Lanfang, and it is Mei Lanfang in the minds of the scholars. Ya is Ya, but most people can't understand it, don't read it, and feel that they don't deserve it. The rise and fall of fame is like the rise and fall of light, when it rises, from near to far, and when it is extinguished, there is still residual light in the distance. Mei Lanfang's tour of Japan and the United States is actually not the development of light, but the convergence of light in China. He didn't even think of jumping out of the glass cover, so he moved out like this or moved back like this", trying his best to criticize Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art and life.

After the article "A Brief Discussion on Mei Lanfang and Others" appeared in the newspaper, Mei Lanfang immediately learned that after reading this critical article, she undoubtedly poured cold water on his head, and she was so angry that she laughed and was speechless. Because Lu Xun did not use his real name, but published it under the pseudonym "Zhang Pei". At that time, Mei Lanfang was preparing to perform in the Soviet Union, and she was very busy with work, so she didn't bother to ask who "Zhang Pei" was and what kind of political background he was. However, there is no unventilated wall in the world, not to mention that among the newspaper editors and reporters, Mei Lanfang also has many friends. Moreover, in the old Chinese era, there were still people who specialized in "bag inquiry" as a profession. As long as you are willing to spend a little money, the so-called "under the heavy reward, there will be a brave man", and someone will naturally reveal the real name of the pseudonym "Zhang Pei" to Mei Lanfang afterwards. However, when Mei Lanfang learned the truth that the person with the pseudonym "Zhang Pei" turned out to be the literary hero Lu Xun, he was stunned, and he was puzzled, he and Lu Xun had never dealt with each other except for meeting at the meeting to welcome the United Kingdom literary hero George Bernard Shaw, let alone have a grudge to speak of, why did Mr. Lu Xun dare not use his real name and real surname to publish and use such "vitriol" words, mercilessly mock, and criticize himself? Mei Lanfang knew that Lu Xun had the status of a "saint" in the modern Chinese literary scene, and as a Peking Opera artist, she could not compete with Lu Xun in the debate, not to mention that Lu Xun had already traveled to another world at that time. Mei Lanfang was really helpless, so she treated Lu Xun with "silence" and "indifference". This is the state of ordinary people, and it is not surprising. We also have no right to blame Mei's "silence" and "indifference", because the long-cherished grievances were caused by Lu Xun's critical articles.

In all fairness, Lu Xun's personality is a little impatient. The vast majority of his essays are witty and scathing, which is okay for enemies, but it is incomprehensible to use such "mean" words for patriots and friends. Why did Lu Xun "make too many enemies" in his life? I guess that's why I can't be tolerant of others. He had many friends during his lifetime, such as Lin Yutang, Xu Maoyong, Gu Jiegang, Guo Moruo, etc., who became the target of his writings. The sharpness of Lu Xun's thoughts, the sharpness of his language, and his unyielding views can also be seen here. The Ming Dynasty scholar Lu Kun once earnestly warned his students in the volume of "Moaning Words": "In the world, ridicule is the first pain. The meaning is that he likes to sneer and criticize others, which is the biggest problem in dealing with people. Lu Xun has harshly criticized Mei Lanfang many times, which can be said to be suspected of "hurting others and hurting himself". But no one is perfect, so why should we criticize Lu Xun too harshly?