Chapter Two / Early Scenes of Peking Opera in Hong Kong Mei Lanfang………………………………………………………………………………….15 2.1 the Quest for “National Drama” in the Late 1910S
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Cover Page The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/54688 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation Author: Chan Pui Lun Title: Periphery matters : a cultural biography of Peking Opera in Hong Kong Date: 2017-09-12 Periphery Matters A Cultural Biography of Peking Opera in Hong Kong Chan Pui Lun Cover designed by Lydia Lam Image: Tang Yuen-ha performing in the 2015 Chinese Opera Festival in Hong Kong. Courtesy: Leisure and Cultural Services Department, HKSAR Government Printed by Proefschriftmaken Copyright © Chan Pui Lun, Leiden, the Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this dissertation may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without prior permission of the author. Periphery Matters A Cultural Biography of Peking Opera in Hong Kong Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag Rector Magnificus prof.mr. C.J.J.M. Stolker, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op 12 September 2017 klokke 11.15 uur door Pui-Lun Chan Geboren te Hong Kong in 1985 Promotores Prof. dr. Maghiel van Crevel (Leiden University) Em. Prof. dr. Wilt Idema (Harvard University and Leiden University) Promotiecommissie Dr. Ashley Thorpe (Royal Holloway, University of London) Prof. dr. Oliver Moore (University of Groningen) Dr. Sanjukta Sunderason (Leiden University) Prof. dr. Rint Sybesma (Leiden University) v Table of Contents Acknowledgement....................................................................................................................ix Author’s Note…………………………………………………………………………………x List of Tables and Figures…………………………………………………………………..xiii Chapter One / Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….......1 1.1 Building a house ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2 The blueprint .................................................................................................................. 4 1.2.1. Cultural Biography ................................................................................................. 4 1.2.2. Social Network Analysis ........................................................................................ 5 1.3 Why this house? ............................................................................................................. 7 1.4 A review ......................................................................................................................... 8 1.4.1. Peking Opera around the world .............................................................................. 8 1.4.2. Primary sources ...................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Building tools ................................................................................................................. 9 1.5.1. Conversing ............................................................................................................ 10 1.5.2. Observing (and participating) ............................................................................... 11 1.5.3. Reading ................................................................................................................. 11 1.6 The interior .................................................................................................................. 12 Chapter Two / Early Scenes of Peking Opera in Hong Kong Mei Lanfang………………………………………………………………………………….15 2.1 The quest for “national drama” in the late 1910s ........................................................ 16 2.1.1 National Identity = National Culture: nationalism and the May Fourth Movement ................................................................................................... 16 2.1.2 National Culture = National Drama: The social function of drama ..................... 18 2.1.3 National Drama = Peking Opera: Qi Rushan’s nationalization of Peking Opera ....................................................................................... 21 2.2 Peking Opera = Mei Lanfang: performing “national essence” on stage ..................... 24 2.2.1 On Mei Lanfang .................................................................................................... 24 2.2.2 Mei’s Peking Opera innovations in the 1910s ...................................................... 25 2.3 The first encounter: Mei’s 1922 tour to Hong Kong ................................................... 28 2.3.1 Mei Lanfang on stage: a fabulous impersonator of femininity ............................. 30 2.3.2 Mei Lanfang off stage: a modern man, a Chinese elite person ............................ 31 2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 34 2.5 Epilogue: Mei Lanfang after 1922 ............................................................................... 35 vi Chapter Three / The First Wave of Peking-Cantonese Opera Interaction Chen Feinong………………………………………………………………………………...37 3.1 A brief history of Cantonese Opera ............................................................................. 38 3.1.1 The same roots: pihuang singing mode as foundation ......................................... 39 3.1.2 Different paths: the localization of Cantonese Opera ........................................... 40 3.2 Chen Feinong and his early career ............................................................................... 42 3.2.1 Early years (1899-1920/21) .................................................................................. 43 3.2.2 In Singapore (1920/21-23) .................................................................................... 43 3.2.3 Correcting dates in Chen’s life history in the early 1920s .................................... 44 3.3 Inter-genre interaction in the 1920s and 1930s ............................................................ 45 3.3.1 Defining and framing the interaction .................................................................... 45 3.3.2 A pioneer .............................................................................................................. 46 3.3.3 Interaction as a chain reaction .............................................................................. 47 3.3.4 Canonizing adoption ............................................................................................. 49 3.3.5 Impact on Cantonese Opera .................................................................................. 50 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 52 3.5 Chen Feinong in later years ......................................................................................... 53 Chapter Four / Mid-Twentieth Century: Local Training Schools and the Movie Industry Jackie Chan………………………………………………………………………………….55 4.1 Mainland performers in Hong Kong – 1940s and 1950s ............................................. 56 4.1.1 Mei Lanfang .......................................................................................................... 57 4.1.2 Ma Lianliang, Zhang Junqiu, and Yu Zhenfei ...................................................... 57 4.1.3 A site of nostalgia ................................................................................................. 60 4.2 Peking Opera training schools in Hong Kong from the 1950s to the 1970s ............... 63 4.2.1 The recruitment system of Peking Opera from the 1790s to 1950s ..................... 63 4.2.2 Jackie Chan’s childhood ....................................................................................... 65 4.2.3 Life in a training school ........................................................................................ 65 4.3 Peking Opera training schools and Hong Kong martial arts movies ........................... 74 4.3.1 The rise of martial arts movies from the 1960s .................................................... 74 4.3.2 From Peking Opera performers to movie actors ................................................... 75 4.3.3 The significance of Peking Opera training schools in Hong Kong ...................... 76 4.4 Peking Opera in Martial Arts movies in the 1960s ...................................................... 78 4.4.1 King Hu and his Cinema Opera ............................................................................ 78 4.4.2 Zhang Che: same source, different interpretation ................................................. 82 4.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 82 vii Chapter Five / Peking Opera and Cultural Politics: from the 1840s to the Present Liang Hanyong……………………………………………………………………………....85 5.1 A look back: from the 1840s to the 1970s ................................................................... 86 5.1.1 Collaborative coloniality ...................................................................................... 86 5.1.2 The new City Hall and the 1967 riot .................................................................... 89 5.2 The 1980s: Rebirth ...................................................................................................... 92 5.2.1 A descriptive cultural policy ................................................................................. 92 5.2.2 The rebirth of Peking Opera in Hong Kong ........................................................