No.1 October 2019 EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Tobias BIANCONE, GONG Baorong EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS (in alphabetical order by Pinyin of last name) Tobias BIANCONE, Georges BANU, Christian BIET, Marvin CARLSON, CHEN Jun, CHEN Shixiong, DING Luonan, Erika FISCHER-LICHTE, FU Qiumin, GONG Baorong, HE Chengzhou, HUANG Changyong, Hans-Georg KNOPP, HU Zhiyi, LI Ruru, LI Wei, LIU Qing, LIU Siyuan, Patrice PAVIS, Richard SCHECHNER, SHEN Lin, Kalina STEFANOVA, SUN Huizhu, WANG Yun, XIE Wei, YANG Yang, YE Changhai, YU Jianchun. EDITORS WU Aili, CHEN Zhongwen, CHEN Ying, CAI Yan CHINESE TO ENGLISH TRANSLATORS HE Xuehan, LAN Xiaolan, TANG Jia, TANG Yuanmei, YAN Puxi ENGLISH CORRECTORS LIANG Chaoqun, HUANG Guoqi, TONG Rongtian, XIONG Lingling，LIAN Youping PROOFREADERS ZHANG Qing, GUI Han DESIGNER SHAO Min CONTACT TA The Center Of International Theater Studies-S CAI Yan: [email protected] CHEN Ying: [email protected] CONTENTS I 1 No.1 CONTENTS October 2019 PREFACE 2 Empowering and Promoting Chinese Performing Arts Culture / TOBIAS BIANCONE 4 Let’s Bridge the Culture Divide with Theatre / GONG BAORONG STUDIES ON MEI LANFANG 8 On the Subjectivity of Theoretical Construction of Xiqu— Starting from Doubt on “Mei Lanfang’s Performing System” / CHEN SHIXIONG 18 The Worldwide Significance of Mei Lanfang’s Performing Art / ZOU YUANJIANG 31 Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Qi Rushan and Early Xiqu Directors / FU QIUMIN 46 Return to Silence at the Golden Age—Discussion on the Gains and Losses of Mei Lanfang’s Red Chamber / WANG YONGEN HISTORY AND ARTISTS OF XIQU 61 The Formation of Jingju / ZHANG WEIPIN 70 “Dan” / ZHONG JUNFANG 74 Shi Yihong, the Present-day Epitome of the Beauty of the Mei Lanfang School of Jingju / JIYI 79 A Teacher & Friend of Mei Lanfang—QI Rushan / HUASHAN THEATRE AND TROUPE 85 Mei Lanfang Grand Theatre / ZHANG WENJING 88 National Peking Opera Company / KAIXIN 90 Little Theatre of Xiqu in China / HUANG XUHE INTRODUCTION OF CLASSICS 96 An Introduction of Contemporary Xiqu Classics (1) / HUANG JINGFENG TODAY’S STAGE 103 Inventory of Chinese Theatre Creation in 2018 / ZOU SHENGTAN 2 I PREFACE Empowering and Promoting Chinese Performing Arts Culture TOBIAS BIANCONE Dear researcher, dear practitioner, dear reader: Having visited China since 2008 and residing in Shanghai since 2015 I am observing the performing arts culture in China with an increasing admiration and awe. Having the privilege of watching performances of highest profile, I am able to experience and enjoy the gems of Xiqu (the Chinese music theatre form), drama and even experimental forms of theatre. Being educated to watch Western kind of drama or opera, and living most of my time in Western countries, I got used to see a theatre and opera style that followed the European traditions. I also witness in the performing arts education institutions in Europe and America that, the acting students and the stage directors always fill their minds with structures and forms of the playwrights of Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, of Russia and Germany, of Great Britain and France, of the Nordic Countries of Europe, as well as of all the other European countries' and the North and South American playwrights involved. But traveling to different Asian countries, I could feel that there were other forms that could be shown on the stage or in open spaces. Other aesthetics. Other rhythms. Other songs. Other ways of singing. Since shifting away of putting my focus only on the Western traditions in theatre and related performing arts, and focusing on the continent I am living now, the Asian and Pacific regions seems to be able to astonish my over and over. Even before settling down in Shanghai, I became aware of the richness that China has to offer. Just think of Xiqu, the Chinese form of music theatre (Chinese Opera is a misnomer), has 348 different ways to perform, and the performances are not just reduced to acting, singing and moving in the scene, it may even have acrobatic and dance in it. PREFACE I 3 Nevertheless, to reduce China to Xiqu would be unfair, as playwrights have written plays that follow the European tradition but differ from the Western plays as they pick up Chinese themes and Chinese traditions. They are able to astonish and surprise the audience with a special touch that cannot be seen in any other culture. Is the Western way of theatre or performing arts superior to the Eastern way, to China? Or is the Chinese way to perform their dramas and Xiqu more important than the Western way. Neither nor. It is my strong conviction that there is no culture that is superior to another culture. Even if we can feel that there are hegemonic or even colonialization tendencies to observe, even today, I consider that all the cultures are equal. And the entirety of the cultures of the world is what makes this planet rich and is able to bring interesting views and different kinds of beauty to the audience, to audiences in the East and West. This publication is intended to bring the Chinese Performing Arts Culture to you with texts for the researchers, performing artists and students in the performing arts – to everybody who is interested in the performing arts on a global scale. The publication invites researches and practitioners to share their views on the Chinese Performing Arts Culture. If you have a text and illustrations to contribute, please get in touch with the co-editors, Gong Baorong or myself. Reading about Chinese Preforming Arts is just a beginning – to experience the play in video form or over Internet maybe a further step on your way of research and discovery. But evidentially and eventually, to watch a performance life is the genuine experience for becoming aware of the richness of performing arts culture of this world – in our case, the Chinese Performing Arts Culture. I invite you to read the first volume ofChinese Performing Arts and recommend to you to watch a Chinese drama or Xiqu whenever a performance is offered in a location near you. TOBIAS BIANCONE Director General of the International Theatre Institute ITI; President of the ITI/UNESCO Network for Higher Education in the Performing Arts; Honorary Professor of the Central Academy of Drama. 4 I PREFACE Let’s Bridge the Culture Divide with Theatre GONG BAORONG It's October now, Autumn is in the air, and in this most gracious month, the very first issue of our magazine Chinese Performing Arts is almost ready for publication after years of effort on the part of many people of Shanghai Theatre Academy in their different capacities. As its chief editor, I can't help but feel like writing a few lines in honor of this moment. Forgive me please, if I sound too egotistical. As the simple name Chinese Perfoming Arts suggests, the magazine is intended to promote Chinese theatre and drama on the broad stage of the whole world and to win over more and more people in different cultures for the unique aesthetic of Chinese performance arts. As Chinese culture is profound and glorious, so Chinese performing arts are spectacular and deep-rooted, simply an inexhaustible treasure. Historically, it can be traced back at least to the Han Dynasty (around 2 BC); and archaeological evidence definitely is speaks origins far remoter in time. Even if we consider the much later full-fledged Zaju1 in Song Dynasty (960-1279) as its starting point, Chinese theatre still claims a history of more than a thousand years. As for its variety, there are at least 348 types of Xiqu2 native geographical distribution, is unparalleled in the world. Regarding its repertoire, there is a scholar who states that Jingju alone boasts more than 5,800 works, while more conservative researchers have counted over 1300. So, how unimaginably large the whole collection of Chinese theatre including all genres would be! As far as its vitality is concerned, all the 348 types of Xiqu are much alive on different stages and, in particular, at least 200 traditional works of Xiqu are still being performed. It is a pity that, due to various historical and cultural reasons, the international popularity and impact of Chinese theatre is pale against that of western theatre. 1 An ancient Chinese genre of theatre combining song, dance, acrobatics and storytelling etc. 2 The Chinese word 戏曲 is generally translated as Opera or Chinese Opera, but this translation is now contested and trends to be replaced by its Pinyin Xiqu since the two genres are so different. Consequently, in our journal, we prefer to use Xiqu to stand for its old translation, also Jingju instead of Peking Opera to name 京剧 . PREFACE I 5 Year 2016 is the 400th anniversary of the death of two great dramatists in the world, Shakespeare of the United Kingdom and Tang Xianzu of China. However, while various activities commemorating Shakespeare were taking place all over the world, those in honor of Tang Xianzu, including academic seminars or related performances, were few, and mostly in China. The only few events abroad celebrating Tang Xianzu was sponsored mainly by overseas Chinese. If Shakespeare study has long been a world phenomenon, Tang Xianzu study is only a cottage case so far. Even inside China, the situation is no less asymmetric. According to Professor Li Ruru, a theatre scholar from the University of Leeds UK, the number of academic achievements of Chinese scholars studying Shakespeare was as high as 23,000, while those about Tang Xianzu was a small fraction, 3,000. Confronted with such a huge contrast, how can we not sigh with emotion and regret, or feel like sitting on pins and needles? Is Chinese theatre too crude to attract more people? Or is Chinese theatre so unique that it naturally alienates itself from foreign audiences? Are Chinese dramatists are complacent that they never want to reach out to “foreigners”? The answer to the above questions is all no.