CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Thursday, July 15, 2021 | 7 CHINA Remote The world’s a stage for veteran actor learning Household name awarded in recognition of contributions to modern Chinese theater program By CHEN nan [email protected] wins prize As an actor and director, he is a household name in China. His career spans seven decades and By Zhao XINYING even now, age 94, he remains active [email protected] in the theater, leaving many in awe of his longevity. A program to help less-edu- Lan Tianye, who is known for his cated farmers become college many roles in movies and TV dra- graduates through distance- mas as well as theater, joined the learning is changing China’s Communist Party of China on Sept rural development, and is win- 23, 1945. ning recognition from the It’s a date he says he remembers international community. as clearly as his birthday. He was 18 The One College Student Per years old at the time. Village program, launched by In recognition of his achieve- the Open University of China in ments and contributions to the 2004, beat nearly 100 other country’s performing arts scene, programs from around the he is among those being awarded world, and was recognized as the July 1 Medal for outstanding one of the winners of the 2020 Party members, the highest honor UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa given by the CPC Central Commit- Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of tee. The medal is being conferred ICT in Education. for the first time this year as part Announcing the winners in of the founding centenary celebra- Paris in early April, UNESCO said tions of the CPC. the program is “an example of Born in Raoyang, a county in how Artificial Intelligence and Hengshui, Hebei province, on May associated technologies can cre- 4, 1927, Lan, whose real name is ate quality education opportuni- Wang Runsen, moved to Beijing the ties for learners from remote same year with his family. Lan Tianye (front) takes a curtain call with colleagues after performing in the Beijing People’s Art Theater’s drama Family on Oct 16 last areas, and improve social and He was a child with many inter- year in Beijing. SHI CHUNYANG / XINHUA economic development in rural ests. He owes his love of literature communities”. to his grandfather, Wang Sheng- “The program focuses on farm- zhong, who was a fan of pingshu, a PATH TO GLORY The history of modern Chinese lished. Lan and Su both joined 60th anniversary of the theater in ers and poverty alleviation in Chi- traditional Chinese form of oral PathPROF toIL gloryE theater dates back to 1906 when the company. 2012. na,” said Jing Degang, Party chief storytelling that dates back to the artist, Li Shutong, who was study- Cao Yu was a founding member, In May 1963, along with dramatist and president of the Open Uni- Song Dynasty (960-1279). ing Western art at the Tokyo Uni- and the theater’s first president. Jiao, another of the founders of the versity of China. “By developing Most pingshu stories are adapted versity of the Arts, founded the Today, the Beijing People’s Art The- theater, Lan had the opportunity to online learning platforms and from ancient Chinese literature, country’s first modern theater ater is still considered the preemi- codirect Guan Hanqing, a play by intelligent learning devices, it and Lan’s grandfather would tell group with a number of fellow nent home of Chinese drama. It Tian Han. The first version of the brings high-quality education him the stories at bedtime. overseas Chinese enthusiasts. was there that Lan met his future play premiered at the theater in resources to rural areas and helps It was thanks to his mother, a die- Known as the Chunliu (Spring wife, actress Di Xin (1927-2018). 1958. nurture talent needed for rural hard fan of Peking Opera, that he Willow) Society, they performed a They were married in 1954. This marked the start of his career development.” first became interested in theater. number of plays in Tokyo, includ- Lan said that it was former pre- as a director. Since then, he has He recalled her taking him to see ing an adaptation of Alexandre mier, Zhou Enlai, who presided directed more than 10 plays, includ- performances, and said that he was Dumas’ The Lady of Camellias (La over the theater’s founding. Zhou ing Luo Binji’s Before Marriage, impressed by the colorful stage sets Dame aux Camelias), the first mod- took personal interest in every which centers on people living in As long as I have and martial arts scenes. ern drama performed by Chinese detail: the scripts; the color of the Beijing’s villages during the 1960s, access to the “Although I was a child and actors. costumes; the set designs; even the and The Visit, a Chinese adaptation didn’t really understand the stories During the 1930s and 1940s, Chi- theater’s construction. of the play by Swiss dramatist Fried- internet, I can take being told, I was intrigued by the nese theater flourished as many “My generation was lucky rich Duerrenmatt. any professional music, and the way the actors sang playwrights, among them Guo because we had the government’s Since retiring in 1987, Lan has and moved onstage,” he said, add- Moruo, Cao Yu and Xia Yan, used support,” Lan said. “We worked focused on educating the younger course that interests ing that he often imitated Peking the stage as a weapon to boost with great dramatists like Cao Yu generation of theater actors. me in the online Opera performances at home and patriotism during the War of and Jiao Juying. We were pioneers, “He’s one of our favorite teachers for his childhood friends. Resistance Against Japanese exploring and creating unique, and and is keen on observing life,” classroom.” He also began to learn martial Aggression (1931-45). realistic Beijing-style dramas.” actress Song Dandan said. “I Akhram Ahmet, Open arts, which laid the foundations for “Theater is an art form which Ren Ming, current president of remember that he asked me to play University graduate from his later performances onstage. expresses emotion and both Beijing People’s Art Theater, said: three older women, each with dif- Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur In 1937, following the Lugou reflects society and influences it. In “He (Lan) is a great artist, with pas- ferent personalities, which was autonomous region Bridge Incident in Beijing on July 7 Beijing, which was suffering under sion and vision. He is the great very challenging but also reward- — the event recognized as the start the Japanese invasion, there were pride of our theater. ing. He inspired me to observe peo- So far, the program has recruit- of Japan’s full-scale invasion of Chi- many theater organizations in “Modern Chinese theater has ple in real life.” ed more than 830,000 students na and the nationwide resistance to schools, and students were eager to been around for more than a centu- In 2011, to celebrate the CPC’s nationwide. About 530,000 have Japanese aggression — Beijing was express themselves through theat- ry, and Lan Tianye has witnessed 90th anniversary, the Beijing Peo- graduated, and many have occupied. rical productions,” Lan said. its development,” he added. “He has ple’s Art Theater restaged Cao Yu’s become leaders and workers play- Just 10 at the time, Lan lost his own right. At school, the pair paint- At the end of 1944, he made his performed in more than 100 plays, adaptation of Ba Jin’s 1933 novel, ing key roles in lifting their home- father and his grandparents within ed together, and at high school, debut at Beijing’s Chang’an Grand which makes him a legend of the Jia (Family). towns out of poverty, Jing added. the space of two months. The they joined the student theater Theater, in the role of Huang Chinese theater scene.” Then aged 84, Lan returned to Long Siqing, Party chief of remaining family lived a difficult organization. Xingsan in Sunrise, a play by Cao The 94-year-old has played roles the stage as an actor. Guchong village in Huaihua city, life, but this didn’t stop the young It was there that Lan saw Su per- Yu. in many classic plays. These Last year, when Family was Hunan province, is one such grad- boy’s pursuit of art. forming in Peking Man, a play by The following year, at the age of include Lao She’s Teahouse — argu- again staged by the theater to uate. With a certificate in rural As a middle school student, he renowned playwright Cao Yu. 18, he joined in the Party to help his ably the company‘s best show, mark the 110th anniversary of administration from the Open studied traditional ink painting. “It was the first time I’d seen a elder sister, who was working which has been performed more Cao Yu’s birth, the then venerable University, Long has used what Almost at the same time, he met Su play. I was hooked instantly,” he secretly with the Party. than 600 times at home and abroad 93-year-old again returned, amaz- she learned at the university to Min. said. In 1949, following the founding since its 1957 premiere — ing audiences as the hypocritical help lead villagers out of poverty The two would become lifelong After this first experience, Lan of the People’s Republic of China, renowned historian and play- Feng Leshan, villain of the leg- through orange cultivation, which friends and Su, who shared Lan’s began to avidly watch plays, not modern Chinese drama received wright Guo Moruo’s Cai Wenji and endary story about the sins and now bring 80 million yuan ($12.5 love of art, would go on to become a just amateur productions, but also a boost and in 1952, the Beijing He Jiping’s Jiazi Garden, a play decadence of an extended family million) in revenue a year.