"Legend of the red lantern" an Opera from the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

"The Legend of the Red Lantern" in a poster from 1971. China.

"The Legend of the Red Lantern" performance in Beijing, China. July, 2009.

红灯记 "The Legend of the Red Lantern" is one of the 8 model pieces of China's Cultural Revolution, and perhaps one of the most famous; its songs are still sung in Chinese households and its images have traveled the world and remain as icons of the Maoist cultural revolution itself. (1)

As part of the events that commemorated in 2009 the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, dozens of operas that had to do with the history of this last stage of Chinese government were staged, so the operas of the Cultural Revolution could not be absent. For me it was a real opportunity to compare this productions with those who I had seen the previous 4 years, the so-called traditional operas, as well as to increase my experience as a spectator to several films and ballets I have seen in relation to the 1960's and 1970 in China .

Regardless of the topic (the emergence of a common Chinese communist revolutionary as heir to the struggles of parents), the play is a clear example of the progress (or changes) that occurred in the structure of the iron tradition of Peking Opera until the moment of its creation.

Slideshow of "Legend of the Red Lantern"

In this post I would like to simply present briefly those changes and characteristic elements that the Chinese consider essential in "The Legend of the Red Lantern" and try to exemplify them with some scenes that I could record during the performance of July 11th 2009 at the Chang'An Theatre:


- The absorption of realism on stage and in the structure of the story. First, the use of a contemporary history of China in the 1960s, referring to the past (just 20 years ago), the time of the Japanese invasion in the 1940s, to explain the existence of the revolutionary and nationalist spirit of the sons of the new republic in China in the 1960s. Costumes, makeup, scenography, everything had to be transformed; that was a huge change in the eyes of the Chinese, as they had always seen their operas with an elaborate traditional coding in both makeup and costumes (2), while the scenography was almost nonexistent. A change that somehow had taken place in the cinema and that, when operas were transported to film, they suffered a "realist" transformation, but not yet in the case of a theatrical scene.

In the following video, the main character Li Yuhua enters a Restaurant where noodles are prepared; the guests act in a way similar to reality, there are no exchanges in declamation form among themselves, nor exagerated ways to communicate, all of them do their actions in a realistic style, listening, eating, or serving food and taking orders, as in the case of the woman. It reminds me common theatrical productions in Russian socialist realist theater.

Video: Realistic scene in "The Legend of the Red Lantern" Beijing, 2009

- Keeping the use of acrobatics as a theatrical way to express a battle on stage and the use of new weapons (rifles, pistols, etc) and uniforms (no large and heavy costumes, nor high heels) also prompted a transformation in acrobatic choreography: some had much more action and, in my opinion, in the case of this play, some of the best I've seen.

Video: Acrobatics scene in "The Legend of the Red Lantern" Beijing, 2009.

- The actor maintains his traditional choreography of movements, but it is adapted to the contemporary scene. A wonderful example is the scene where the hero Yuhua Li faces the Japanese villain and, at all times, his rage and his chanting feed on the traditional way of working in traditional opera.

Video: Facing the villain in "The Legend of the Red Lantern" Beijing, 2009.

- There is a change that is difficult to show: the use of contemporary music. Now using a large orchestra (in this performance the orchestral parts were prerecorded, while a smaller group also played, using traditional Chinese instruments and modern ones). The video I've published shows a small moment when the orchestra was playing in that performance of July 11th at the Chang'An Theatre; you will see that it is not the traditional classical Peking Opera orchestra, and on the other hand you will hear there is an instrumental music that they are not playing, because the parts of the large orchestra were pre-recorded. That would be unthinkable in any previous traditional opera.

Video: modern orchestra in "The Legend of the Red Lantern." Beijing, 2009.

- The use of different accessories in the costumes. For example, in the case of this opera, more than evolved, they were transformed. While in traditional opera heroes wear "water sleeves" (extensions of the sleeves on their costumes, which allow making figures, movements and other actions with them), in this case the main character, Li Yuhua, without that kind of sleeves due to his realistic costume, handles the chains that bind him in what I consider a very interesting transposition. (3)

Video: Use of chains as water sleeves, "The Legend of the Red Lantern" Beijing, 2009.

- The addition of music outside the musical libretto. In this and virtually all cases of the model plays of the Cultural Revolution, the inclusion of "L'Internationale", the communist anthem, in the moments of greatest dramatic power. In "The Red lantern..." the anthem comes when the characters stoically decide to go to their death.

Video: "L'Internationale" in "The Legend of the Red Lantern." Beijing, 2009.

- The end with a dance or ballet, as in many traditional operas, is maintained, but obviously all the modernization of the objects and set design gives the possibility of a huge new projection covered of Chinese communist nationalism and, ultimately, show the opera as what it was, a product of propaganda of the highest artistic level. That night after the final ballet, the ballet of the victory, the audience was in an apotheosis and full of strength and joy; watching at their faces I thought I could see the memory of years of famine, of international isolation, of political fear and of the only sustenance of life and strength that theatre gave them: communist revolutionary nationalism .

Video: Final Ballet of "The Legend of the Red Lantern" (Beijing, 2009)

红灯记 "The Legend of the Red Lantern" at times seems naive and of dubious quality in its acting style, but within the context of its creation and use during the years of the Chinese Cultural Revolution it is a real gem and, from my my point of view, one of the clearest examples of a successful attempt to break with a tradition that had turned a performing expression into an anthropological oddity.

(1) A Chinese opera, in contrast to Western opera, is never watched just for the singing or for the music (the score), but for the staging it entails. The stagings of a Peking opera vary little between, when you watch one today you are virtually watching the same production with which it premiered. Thus the iconic images of the model operas of the Cultural Revolution.

(2) Even with some attempts at realist modernism in the 1920's and 1930's, which were viewed as eccentric or snob actions.

(3) You can see an example of the movement of water sleeves on a video of the most famous Kunqu Opera, Mudanting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bl6xjCXWsM

Beijing Opera: Interview with Mei Baojiu, Mei Lanfang's son.

I've just found that China Daily published an interview with Mei Baojiu, the son of Mei Lanfang, the greatest artist in Chinese Opera (including Beijing Opera, of course). Mei Baojiu is also an important Chinese Opera actor but he has lived with his strong father's image all his life, and it seems he has assumed it very well.

I thought this interview would be of interest for many who follow this Blog; it is not a deep approach to Mei Lanfang's work but it works as an introduction to his life and work from the perspective of an important Mei's family member.

You will notice at the end of the video that appears a photograph of a Time magazine's cover with Mei Lanfang on it, supposedly from September 1934 (or maybe 1931 it is not clare) ; I must say that I made a research inside Time's archives looking for covers from 1920 to 1940 and I did not find any cover with Mei Lanfang on it (only articles and critics). What can I say? Chinese usually do that (transforming history) but I hope (really I do) that this is a simple misunderstanding and he did appear in a special number I missed... (*)

I can not embed the video to see it in this page but here is the link to the China Daily page it was published. Enjoy it!

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/video/2009-12/07/content_9130046.htm

(*) I wrote my doubts as a comment in the page of this China daily's article and they replied to me (also as a comment) saying that I was right, it was a mistake publishing that cover without have confirmed the source of it.

Beijing Opera performance: "锁麟囊 " (Suǒlínnáng)

Xianling played by 迟小秋 Chíxiǎoqiū Pekín, 2009.

Suǒlínnáng does not have an exact translation, it is actually a woven bag traditionally given to any bride to have a son (good luck), depending on the wealth of the family of the bride is the beauty and luxury of her Suǒlínnáng.

The opera was created in the 40s of last century by the playwright Ouhong Weng, and was first released in Shanghai, the Beijing’s premier was a year later at Chang'An Theatre. This is not an opera of anthology but it is staged quite often because, apparently, it was made for the showcasing of the singer who plays the main character, exposing her in a series of vocal acrobacies in its arias. Unlike most known operas Suǒlínnáng has no parts of fighting or acrobatics, but it makes use of comic characters (a maid is played by a man, for example) and use of great and complicated arias.

Slideshow of Suǒlínnáng performance at Chang'An Theatre. Pekín, 2009.

The story is very simple: Xianling is the only daughter from a very rich family, arrogant, refuses to accept the Suǒlínnáng her mother has given to her; in a walk before her wedding finds another bride who is very poor, Xianling gave to that young girl the luxurious Suǒlínnáng. As a result (or so it appears to be the result of) to have given the Suǒlínnáng Xialing has a daughter who later gets lost during a storm. Years later Xianling, completely in disgrace, finds his daughter who had been adopted by that poor bride who she had given the Suǒlínnáng. It comes the recognition of all the characters and there's a happy ending.

I saw this Opera at Chang'An Theatre in Beijing and the Xianling character was played by a very famous singer in China, Chíxiǎoqiū, who really has a phenomenal voice. The actress and singer is no longer young to make a young lady character but as in all Chinese drama that is not an important matter, theatrical codes are not measured here as in our Western realism.

迟小秋 Chíxiǎoqiū

As the value of the Opera is Xianling’s arias I thought it was best to share some of thaose scenes, plus a bonus song Chixiaoqiu gave us after the performance. Enjoy.

Video 1: Aria. Xianling giving the Suǒlínnáng to the poor bride.


Video 2: Aria. Recalling the voice of her lost daughter.


Video 3: Aplause and an extra song by 迟小秋 Chíxiǎoqiū.

灯官油流鬼 L’Exécution Du Juge Infernal. Beijing Opera, Shadow Theatre and a French Theatre Director.

During the festival “Croissements” that the French government organizes each year in China there was a curious stage production, 灯官油流鬼 or "L'exécution du juge infernal" (1).

I thought this production was a curiosity because of the circumstances in which it was made and the elements involved in it: 灯官油流鬼 was directed by a French director, Sarah Oppenheim, a student specializing in traditional Chinese theater, who decided to do something the Chinese had never done before, staging an adaptation of a classical Chinese opera performed by Beijing opera actors and shadow theater puppets, two types of theater that have influenced each other during centuries but never mixed, at least till now.

Photographs (slideshow) "L'exécution du juge infernal 灯官油流鬼"

To accomplish this “exploration” Sarah was capable enough to join a great Beijing shadow theater company, "Han Feizi" (2), and a group of actors from the Youth Beijing Opera Trouppe, and then to work together staging an adaptation of the classic opera “铡判官” or “Jinchan case”, an opera called "exorcist," a term for operas with subjects like death, ghosts, and travels to the underworld.

Chinese commentators and Sarah Oppenheim herself, before the premiere, spoke of a Westernization within the traditional Chinese theater: even when using all the physical and artistic elements of Chinese theater, the structure of the assembly was in a "Western style”, according to the Oppenheim vision, of course. The director then adapted the text of the classical Chinese opera and put it on stage alternating shadow theater and Beijing Opera, in an spectacle which lasted just over an hour and a half, trying to shorten the usual duration of any Chinese opera (which is between 3 and 5 hours), keeping in mind the attention span of a contemporary viewer, and directed all actions of the story based on that (3).

Some years ago I had seen “Jinchan case”, the classical version, performed by the National Beijing Opera Trouppe (4), so when I was seeing Oppenheim’s version I could recall some of those scenes and the famous arias I had seen and listened to before. I remember that production as a high quality one, in terms of physical work at least, and with particularly spectacular acrobatic moments. I can not say that this "exploratory" performance appealed to me more than the classical one, but I found it to be easier to assimilate, and much less ambitious in terms of theatrical production. What I was absolutely impressed with, though, was the work of "Han Feizi" and their expertise in handing their puppets at a very high level, with moments of enormous beauty and ability. The Beijing Opera actors, on the other hand, young and without much experience, were less fortunate that their puppeteer colleagues; I was surprised, while I was seeing their performance, how the technical perfection by the actors I saw years ago at Chang'an Theatre (in the performance of the classical opera) was missing, and I thought about how important that is for any Beijing opera production, the sophistication and technical perfection of the physical movement, recitation and singing.

The video material will always be the best approach to the experience I had as a spectator seeing 灯官油流鬼:

Video (playlist with 12 videos) "L'exécution du Juge infernal"

Years of seeing Chinese theater and also years to elucidate its possible assimilation outside China, the use of its movements or the use of its exercises (I'm not the first one to say it, of course), never led me to think about the idea of a “westernization of its structure” and, as a western artist, to offer it to the Chinese public! It simply sounds to me a risky audacity in a lost war. But this time I was a witness of it and, surprisingly, it came from a French director. Let me explain, the "audacity" I’m talking about is trying to introduce any change in the Chinese world of tradition, extreme in itself, in the world of the “it must be”. Chinese journalists and critics spoke before the premier, many with some respect and some talking about “a surprising new idea”, some even called it "subversive" in a gentle and ironic way, but after the performance they stopped talking. Sarah got a group of traditional artists to join her in this exploration, but did not get a worthy reply from the Chinese public and from the Chinese theater cultural elite; the cultural power in this country is really part of a theological state, a “de facto” power, and the people who should be there to see it and criticize it and therefore give it a place in Chinese history were not there, silence was the worst of the responses.

I love the idea of such innovative productions, western students traveling throughout china, acquiring knowledge, learning from traditional masters, seeking to explore and practice what they learn (5), and I prefer to stay with it, that's where I think the greatest value of Oppenheim's adventure lies. In the end, tell me who (as strange and unsuccessful as it may seem), who or how many understand at high level two of the most important and specialized traditional forms of Chinese theatre, adapt them and mix them in searching for a new style?





(1) The name of the show in French, not the translation of the name in Chinese.
(2) There are at least two famous shadows theatre trouppes in Beijing, Longzaitian (which I met last year) and Han Feizi. You can see my post dedicated to my visit to Longzaitian Theatre (now demolished or undergoing renovation) in:
http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/2008/12/longzaitian-chinese-shadow-puppet.html
(3) You can read an interview on the website of The Beijinger, an entertainment magazine in Beijing, where Sarah Oppenheim talks about the whys of her production: http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2009/06/08/Shadowplay-Sarah-Oppenheim-s-new-stage-production-explores-the-underworld
(4) Here's a link to my post about the performance of this classical opera; it's some video showing scenes that just seemed interesting to me, I have no critical comments:
http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/2007/02/long-bao-plans-west-side-case.html
(5) Sarah, a sinologist and a specialist in Chinese theater, travelled during a whole year throughout China in search of experiences, looking for ghosts operas and shadow theater, and learned different ways to work the traditional puppet theater. You can find a beautiful description of the cultural life of Sarah in a blog of her journey through China: http://silkroadproject.blogspot.com/2007/02/shaanxi-province-light-and-shadow.html
"Sarah Oppenheim, my travel partner, is a petite French woman with a fierce character. Working on her masters in Chinese theatre, she is also learning the art of puppet play in Beijing. Rehearsing every day with her troupe members in a run-down shack huddled around a coal oven, she is learning how to “walk” her puppets. To learn the art of Dongbei puppets (from Northeastern China), her master insists that she needs to “walk” her puppet for at least one year to gain the dexterity of a professional. There are many walks he claims: a calm and serene character must have a slow stride, like deep breathing, up and down, slow and steady. A clown however, must be in constant movement, his head bobbing up and down, tripping occasionally – ready to make the crowd laugh. Sarah’s master insists that she can be initiated to other puppet movements, only after learning all the walks. From her almost four months of daily practice, Sarah has calloused hands and a protruding new thumb muscle. She is fed up with “walking”. Mr. Wei laughs at Sarah when she tells him what she is learning, and says that in Beijing people are too caught up on details He tells us that it only takes a month to learn the basic puppet techniques of the Huaxian shadow play and only about one year with the troupe to learn multiple dramas and most of the techniques. In past decades this apprenticeship took longer as most people were analphabet, and had to memorize the words and music for each play, which could take around three years. Sarah is excited to learn about today’s accelerated learning and Mr. Wei invites her to study with the troupe this spring. One month of study to become an ambulant puppet player. Sounds enchanting."

Court Theatres from Qing Dinasty (Part 3): "Chang Yin Ge" at the Forbidden City,

"Chang Yin Ge" Stage (Beijing. Sep. 2008)

In September 2008 I visited for the fourth or fifth time "The Forbidden City", but this time I was there with only one intention, to know one of the most important theaters in China, where the last Chinese emperor had seen performances played by the most famous figures of traditional opera, where the mechanisms of scenery and changes on the stage were the same or even exceeded in quality those of contemporary Europe.

Chang Yin Ge or "Pavilion of cheerful melodies” is the third of the court theaters built during the Qing Dynasty, perhaps the first in importance because of its location within the Forbidden City in Beijing. The other two theaters, the Deheyuan (inside the Summer Palace) (1) and the theater located inside the Summer villa in Chengde (2), surprised me by its size, its beauty and its originality, at the end there are only few theaters built especially for the court during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and expected the same of it in Beijing.


The Forbidden City Palace is the palace-kind of city that was Chinese emperor’s home (and his court) for something like 500 years, impossible to enter to the common Chinese, the doors were opened only after the Communist revolution in the 50’s when it was turned into a museum. Containing a number of scenarios, it was not until the second decade of the nineteenth century with the importance of the new opera, which later would be named Theater of the North or Jingju (Beijing Opera), that it requires a proper stage for its spectacular characteristics.

The stage was built in the east wing of the Forbidden City, in Chang Yin Ge or "Pavilion of cheerful melodies", which used to present music and dance. As in all Chinese architectural space, the stage was located inside the pavilion, which was a rectangular area within an open space (a kind of courtyard); corridors surround it and in front a building called "Pavilion for reading” which served as spectators shelter to the emperor and his court closest members.

"Pavilion of Reading". "Chang Yin Ge" (Beijing. Sep. 2008)

The beauty of those architectural forms of the Forbidden City, the colors and materials and decoration, are unsurpassed in all of China, a wonderful experience for the eyes and mind. But being the third theater in its style I had seen till that time, confess that I was not so impressed, but I made an effort and left a side my other experiences, then tried to enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of this theater, and indeed did it. It was truly spectacular.

"Chang Yin Ge" (Beijing. Sep. 2008)

These “theaters” actually should be called "stages" no theaters, because as I commented before there were constructed in pavilions inside palaces, then the theater would be the pavilion itself; what we admire is the stage, the construction that housed, during the performance, the orchestra and the entire company of actors and singers, with their dressing room, its stage machinery halls, scenery, etc ... a unique architecture in the world.

Video of "Chang Yin Ge" Stage at the Forbidden City

I share the information provided at the site about the building:

"This pavilion was built in 1776 (the 41st year of the reign of Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty). In 1817 (the year of the reign of Jiaqing 22), an opera stage for three floors, the largest stage in the palace, added to the flag. The flag is 20.71 meters high, with a construction area of 685.94 square meters. The top floor of the stage is called Scenario Happiness, the average position scenario, and the lower deck , Stage Longevity. The scenario Longevity has five hatches in the roof, leading to the second level, the position scenario. For the hatches, there are winches and wheels, allowing entrances and exits of supernatural beings, ghosts and demons . For large-scale shows, actors appearing in the three floors at a time. The arena can accommodate 1,000 people. This pavilion is located opposite the Shi Yue Lou (Pavilion for reading) in the north. The two words Yin Chang mean as much loud sound cheerful."


The miniature model of "Chang Yin Ge"

Miniature model of "Chang Yin Ge" (Beijing. Sep. 2008)

Shi Yue lou, the "reader's Pavilion", had mounted a permanent exhibition with photographs of the Forbidden City theaters, draws, instruments and objects used in it, and in particular exhibits a model that shows a cut of the stage in a moment of any performance; so, we could see all the engineering used in the theater and the places where players were hiding and waiting for their entrance. I took a video of the model, even the model is behind glass, you can see this wonderful world back stage, during a performance of a Chinese opera.

Video of: Miniature model of "Chang Yin Ge" Stage

Gustavo Thomas at "Chang Yin Ge" (Beijing. Sep. 2008)

(1) http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/2007/04/china-court-theatres-in-qing-dynasty.html
(2) http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/2008/06/peking-opera-theatre-from-qing-dynasty.html

Beijing Opera Lessons 1: A Clown Scene

A few months ago a new series of educational VCDs appeared in stores in China, those digital videos were designed for teaching Peking Opera (Beijing Opera) to Primary and High school teachers: "中小学京剧进课堂必学唱段名师欣赏与教学". (1)

Chinese government decided Chinese Opera should be taught in many regions of the country as a way to introduced children in one of the treasures of traditional Chinese culture. This program has been badly criticized by many art specialists and pedagogues, and the reasons for it are simple: How teachers can transmit something they don't know? Beijing Opera (and Chinese Opera in general) is not only a very difficult Performing Art, it is simply unknown in the new China, only specialist can talk and teach about it, teachers are simply not prepared for it.

Well, these videos seems being an effort to resolve this problem, and it could help yes, but the problem is much wider I guess.

Let the Chinese government resolves this question and we can step forward taking advantage of its "products".

We are not Chinese high school teachers but we are almost in the same level of knowledge about Chinese opera (much less, of course), so we can also use them for learning this ancient and special art and we can do it with practical exercises!

I was very surprised these videos were performed by very young actors, but all of them professionals and currently teachers in professional Opera Schools in China.

Seeing it from this point of view it is a very important step to open Beijing Opera to anyone in the world, trying to show some hidden secrets on acting in this kind of theatre. I'm pretty sure that being a very codified and elaborate Performing Art, Peking Opera needs this kind of products to show how is performed and how its acting technique is without myths or second tales in between.

Of course for Westerners (actors or not) it is a real exotic curiosity but I'm sure it could be a big help to anyone interested in Asian Performing Arts and Acting techniques. Even if the videos are very basic and only spoken in Chinese, they could be understood by anyone interested just making a small effort: movements, rhythm, tempo, everything (I believe) is understandable without knowing the meaning of the speech. Of course any knowledge on Chinese language would be a great help.

The first video I want to share explains how to perform a Chinese Opera clown character, a Chou type (or Xiaohualian), in a scene called “报灯名” or Bao dengming (reporting the lights) from the opera 《打龙袍》Da Longpao (Beating the Royal Robe).

Video of Beijing Opera Lessons 1


*

(1) You can find information about this video at: www.tt-art.com (It is a Chinese site of course, but you can automatically translate the page and get the information in your language).

Beijing Opera: Mei Lanfang 梅兰芳. Plates from The Drunken Beauty 贵妃醉酒

Mei Lanfang as Concubine Yang in Guifei Zuijiu

Introduction: a book as a source.

During my first six months living in Beijing I was trying to buy any Chinese book about Beijing Opera translated to English, specially about Mei Lanfang work, but my finding was limited to some simple books aimed to foreign common readers for a better understanding of Beijing Opera. Of course I found several books in Chinese, impossible to read (my Chinese was and is awful) but with marvelous pictures and illustrations.

It was in February 2006 when I found at the Foreign Languages Book Store in Wangfujing street a bilingual collection-book called (in his English version) “A Collection of Illustrative Plates Of Beijing Opera Performed During Mei Lanfang’s Visit To The United States”. This was one of my happiest moments inside any Chinese bookshop, I had in my hands the first “readable” book written by a Chinese author with not only important information but with real documents about the way Mei Lanfang prepared and performed plays, in this case during the 1930-tour to USA.

This book also put on his real place Qi Rushan, researcher, theorician, dramaturgist, and stage director who side by side with Mei Lanfang transformed the face of Chinese traditional theatre and made a revolution from inside. Thanks to him Mei was able to reach the top of the world of big stars of beginnings of the 20th Century. (1)

Qi Rushan

But ¿what does this book has inside? And ¿why did this book put on his place the name of Qi Rushan ? I will answer these questions with a direct quote from (the editor) Wang Wenzhang’s preface (2):

“Mei Lanfang’s visiting performance in U.S. causes such an éclat that is certainly the fruit of his consummate artistic accomplishment which he persistenly pursues. The view is widely accepted to explain and evaluate the historic significance of the visiting performance in U.S. However, not a few people know the experience that Mei Lanfang and his companies had made a series of detailed and comprehensive designs and preparations before the visiting performance. Among these include Mr. Qi Rushan, the organizer and prmoter of the visiting performance to U.S., who is in charge of the introduction and publicity of Peking Opera.

Mr. Qi Rushan received well education on the traditional Chinese culture even as a child and made wide journey for business throughout Europe when he was young. He goes deep into Western drama due to the often visits to theatres. Mr. Qi Rushan assists Mei Lanfang to set up the art of Mei School (3) when he came back to China. He contributes his life to the research of Chinese traditional opera and makes the relevant work turn from so-called “vulgar” research to academic study with true significance.

Mr. Qi Rushan on the behalf of Nation Opera Association invites famous painters to draw everything able to be shown by paintings in relation to Peking Opera from Peking Opera costume, facial makeup, props, musical instruments, dancing shape and theatre, add introduction in both Chinese and English and finally make them scroll of paintings easy to hang up as to “diffuse the Nation Opera to abroad” and to make the American audience understand Peking Opera through a direct way at a greater depht. It is easy for the American audience to understand Peking Opera.

The total of 183 scroll of paintings and 1987 plates to some extent become an encyclopedia of peking Opera knowledge but also display vividly the aesthetic principle of Peking Opera performing art. (…)

“A Collection of Illustrative Plates Of Beijing Opera Performed During Mei Lanfang’s Visit To The United States collects and publishes the majority of Peking Opera paintings drwan before Mei Lanfang’s visiting performance in U.S. 70 years ago. The total of 1092 paintings is preserved by the Academy of Chinese Traditional Opera (forefather of the Art Academy of China). The rest of the paintings about theatre houses are lost before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and hard to find. (…) ”



Plates of Guifei Zuijiu “The Drunken Beauty”

Mei Lanfang, Guifei Zuijiu

Synopsis of the text:

Yang Yuhuan, better known as Guifei (Imperial Concubine of the First Order), is the consort most favoured by Emperor Ming Huang (685-762 AD) of the Tang Dynasty. She is invited by the emperor to admire the flowers and have a drink at the Pavilion of One Hundred Flowers. As appointed, Guifen comes to the pavillion with her entourage of palace maids and eunuchs. She waits a long time but the emperor fails to appear. She finally gets word that Ming Huang has returned to the Western Place Court to visit Meifei, another concubine. Disappointed and resentful, she has no alternative but to drink alone. She becomes bitter when she recalls how she was doted on in her early days at the Palace. Wine aggravates her sadness and makes her quite drunk. She returns to her quarters, helped by the maids, cheerless and lonesome.


Inside the book we read:

note: It is a difficult text, it seems the translation was made by an inexpert translator, so, please, make an effort.

“It originates from Drunken Concubine Yang during the reign of Emeperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty and appears on the stage of Beijing Opera from Han Opera in the first years of Emeperor Guangxu. It is a one-act song and dance drama. There are many complicated postures such as holding a cup in the mouth (4), sleeping fish and drunken walk (5). The role has been played by military ‘dan’ (female role). In 1914, mei lanfang learnt the play from Lu Sanbao when he was at yowen troupe (6). With the accumulation of stage experience and thoughts, Mei Lanfang made many innivations in the traditional performing style of the play. He did away with performing on stilts and change ‘huashan’ role to play. He threw away vulgar and obscene performance and words (7) after concubine Yang and paid attention her depressed feeling in the forbidden palace. He enhanced techniques of song and dance. Each singing sentence was untited with postures and expressions in his eyes. It made the image of Concubine Yang dignified and appearing in all her glory. Since that, the Drunken beauty had a new meaning of thought. All the pictures depict main dance postures in Act One Drunken Beauty and Act Two.” (8)

Plates with postures using shan (Fan)

Plate 1: 孤立 (Guli) Standing Alone.

Plate 2: 凌虚 (Lingxu) Soaring Aloft.

Plate 3: 惊鸿 (Jinghong) Frightened Swan.

Plate 4: 日照 (Rizhao) Shining Sun.

Plate 5: 羽集 (Yuji) Congregated Birds.

Plate 6: 延伫 (Yanzhu) Standing and Watching.

Plate 7: 指蓬 (Zhipeng) Pointing to Penglai the fairy Mountain.

Plate 8: 迁延 (Qianyan) Hesitation.

Plates with postures using water sleeves


Plate 9: 卧云 (Woyun) Lying in the Clouds.

Plate 10: 散风 (Sanfeng) Scattering the Wind.

Plate 11: 低鬓 (Dibin) Lowering the Head.

Plate 12: 荣与 (Rongyu) Allowing.

Video with 1930-plates and 1956-film of "The Drunken Beauty"



The same video on Vimeo

Beijing Opera: Mei Lanfang 梅兰芳. Plates from The Drunken Beauty 贵妃醉酒 from Gustavo Thomas on Vimeo.

(1) Now I’ve found some other fantastic books, in French and English (and even translated some articles from Chinese), which have given to me a deeper view of the importance of this interesting actor. Qi Rushan was hidden by Chinese art historians because during the revolution he decided to flee and to stay in Taiwan and not in the new Communist China.
(2) It is a real direct quotations that could have some mistakes for those scrutinous of the language. Bilingual book doesn’t mean written in two languages, so written first in Chinese the book was translated by a Chinese translator with his skills on hand.
(3) The Mei School in one of the “styles” of performing which made school in China after the success Mei Lanfang had during these years.
(4) “holding the cup in the mouth” is a posture (chain of actions) which is easy recognizable in the full-version film.
(5) “Drunken walk” is a posture (chain of actions) easy recognizable in the full-version film.
(6) Photograph showing Mei Lanfang and his teacher Lu Sanbao:

(7) It seems that because of the nature of the subject, a drunken spiteful concubine, the play was, before Mei, performed as a parody of drunk women, and people used to go with the expectation of seeing obscene moments on the stage.
(8) Page 320. “A Collection of Illustrative Plates Of Beijing Opera Performed During Mei Lanfang’s Visit To The United States” Collected by the Arts Academy of China. Wang Wenzhang, chief editor. Culture and Art Publishing House. Beijing, China. 2005.