Taiwanese famous Gu Zhengqiu is known as "Taiwan Mei Lanfang".
Originally from the mainland, she graduated from the Shanghai Drama School, and in 1944 she worshiped under mei Lanfang's name, and in 1946, she set up the "Gu Zhengqiu Peking Opera Troupe" and toured the country.
At the end of 1948, the 19-year-old Gu Zhengqiu was invited to Taiwan with the troupe to perform for three months, and soon after, the Kuomintang defeated Taiwan, the cross-strait communication was cut off, she could not return to Jiangnan, and since then she has been exiled to Taiwan, continuing her acting career on an isolated island, and also marrying and having children here, until august 21, 2016, she died in Taipei due to septic shock.
At that time, there were not many Peking Opera actors who came to Taiwan, and there were even fewer big green clothes like Gu Zhengqiu who inherited everyone and were famous all over the country, so every time she appeared on stage, she was unprecedented and extremely popular, while Gu Zhengqiu was handsome in appearance, mellow in singing, and stilts and guns were all a must, and it was just the right age, which attracted the pursuit of many Taiwan dignitaries and dignitaries.
Among the suitors, the highest status was Chiang Kai-shek's crown prince Chiang Ching-kuo, who in 1952 filed for divorce from Chiang Fang-liang and wanted to join Gu Zhengqiu, but was severely stopped by Chiang Kai-shek.
In desperation, Chiang Ching-kuo entrusted Gu Zhengqiu to the care of his good friend Ren Xianqun, the "minister of finance" of Taiwan Province, in an attempt to find an opportunity to "hide the golden house and hide the delicacy."
However, Ren Xianqun fell in love with Gu Zhengqiu and could not extricate himself, and soon after the two secretly married, Ren Xianqun was arrested and imprisoned by the authorities for the crime of "banditry" and sentenced to 7 years in prison.
Gu Zhengqiu waited for Ren Xianqun to get out of prison, for this reason, in 1953, Gu Zhengqiu, who was at the peak age of Peking Opera actors, announced that she would quit the stage and no longer enter and leave social places, after which she and Ren Xianqun lived in seclusion with Ren Xianqun on a farm outside Taipei, self-willing and thin, and became a peasant woman for 15 years, until Ren Xianqun died in 1975, she came back in the form of a charity performance, and before her death, Ren Xianqun said that she would be buried in Massachusetts with the original.
When she was born, her name was difficult to correct, and she could not share the same cave after death, Gu Zhengqiu was only 46 years old when she was widowed, but she saw through the cold and warm of human feelings, and later she never remarried, and the bumpy love road was difficult to calm down, so she wrote a memoir "Hugh Love Passing Water" with a stroke of her pen.
"Collect the remaining hatred, avoid pampering, and renew yourself, change your temperament, rest in love with the passing water, return to the bitter sea, and realize Lan Yin early", Gu Zhengqiu in his later years, devoutly worship the Buddha, became a layman, copied the Heart Sutra once a day, bent on forgetting the past and cutting off his troubles.
1. Mei Pai is a descendant of the people, and his name is all over the country
Gu Zhengqiu, formerly known as Ding Zuohua, also known as Ding Lanbao.
Born in Nanjing on October 5, 1929, she lost her father at an early age, and her mother returned to her mother's home in Shanghai with her three daughters. When she was in elementary school in Shanghai, she often went to see plays with her mother Gu Jianqiu, and learned drama from Kundan Wu Jilan, a friend of gan mother.
In 1939, she changed her name to Gu Xiaoqiu and was admitted to the "Zheng" character class of the Shanghai Theater School with the first place, and has been passed down as the stage name of "Gu Zhengqiu" ever since.
In school, Gu Zhengqiu is very self-motivated, she was born with a good voice, sweet and round, enduring, how to sing is not hoarse, learn to practice hard, stilt gong and all kinds of knives and guns are first-class, so in the "zheng" generation, she is the undisputed Qingyi starring, almost all the heavy singing and opera are played by her, so far when it comes to Shanghai opera school, it must be said that Gu Zhengqiu, can be described as an outstanding representative of the orthography generation.
In 1940, the first public performance of the drama school, the orthographers caused a sensation in Shanghai.
In 1944, the drama school went to the Chinese Theater in Beiping to perform the full book "Golden Mountain Temple", Gu Zhengqiu as Bai Suzhen, Zhang Zhengfang as Xiaoqing, and asked Mei Lanfang to personally guide.
Three days later, principal Chen Chengyin and others led Gu Zhengqiu to the Meihua Poetry House to pay respects to Mr. Xie Mei, and after Mei Lanfang asked her a few questions, she smiled and praised: It's very rare, young age, not hurried on the stage, very temperament, work harder in the future, make good use of your good voice, you must be able to sing. ”
Mei Lanfang and Gu Zhengqiu
A month later, the drama school sent a table of swallow wings to the Mei Mansion, and Gu Zhengqiu prepared two pieces of clothing for the master and his mother, and performed a kneeling ceremony at the "Meihua Poetry House", and has since become a descendant of the Mei Sect.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Mei Lanfang re-entered the stage, and Gu Zhengqiu performed on the same stage with his master many times, and he had the opportunity to appreciate the artistic charm of "Lingwang" from the aspects of singing voice, body, and fighting.
"Picking Jade Bracelet"
Their mentor-apprentice friendship lasted for more than half a century, Gu Zhengqiu stayed in Taiwan and did not return, Mei Lanfang was very worried, and inquired many times. In 1982, Mei Baojiu took the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe to Hong Kong to perform, Gu Zhengqiu heard the news, risked being accused of "banditry", went to Hong Kong, hid under the stage to watch, she did not dare to face each other to recognize the master and disciple, entrusted people to send Mei Baoyue, Mei Baojiu a watch, talk about their hearts.
Gu Zhengqiu studied from many famous teachers such as Yan Qiu, Zhang Junqiu, mei Lanfang, etc., not only learning the most famous qingyi, but also opening up the inheritance of cheng pai and mei pai.
Some opera critics said: Gu Zhengqiu's greatest contribution in the history of Peking Opera is to perfectly summarize and integrate the two schools of mei and cheng plays.
Not to mention that in Taiwan, looking at the whole country, there are only a few Qingyi festivals like her.
2. Touring to Taiwan and never returning
After graduating from the drama school, in 1946, she picked the class to set up the Gu Zhengqiu Peking Opera Troupe, invited Cheng Zhengtai, Zhang Zhengfen, Huang Zhengqin, Sun Zhengyang, Zhu Zhengqin and a class of "Zheng" students to participate in the performance, the birth of Dan pure and ugly, the lineup is very neat, this class of students are similar in age, are all shanghai opera school famous teachers to teach high apprentices, dressed in water spirit, profound skills, so everywhere is a sensation.
Peking Opera Troupe mainly in Nanjing, Shanghai and other Jiangnan cities to perform, but also went to Qingdao, Xuzhou to perform, in the winter of 1948, at the invitation of Taiwan Yongle Theater, Peking Opera Troupe went to Taiwan to perform for three months, did not expect this to go, these young Peking Opera actors never came back, became the founder of Taiwan Peking Opera, spent a lifetime on treasure island, Gu Zhengqiu's classmate Zhang Zhengfen later married "National University representative" Yu Jialin, son Yu Chengqing is a famous singer in Taiwan.
When the high-ranking Kuomintang officials who fled to Taiwan first came to Taipei, a desolate city, they suddenly found that there was such a high-level troupe in the Yongle Theater, and they came to cheer up.
When Gu Zhengqiu's play was staged, it was even more difficult to find a ticket, and Chiang Kai-shek's crown prince Jiang Chingguo had a fixed seat under the stage, and every time Gu Zhengqiu's play ended, he would invite her to dinner in the name of entertaining the drama class, pursue overtures, and look at her beautiful appearance on stage and the dignified demeanor offstage, Chiang Ching-kuo could not restrain himself.
In August 1950, Gu Zhengqiu's mother died in Shanghai, and Gu Zhengqiu, who was in Taiwan, could not go back to send her mother to the end, she felt guilty, and offered a tablet for her deceased mother at the Shaoming Temple in Taipei, and went to burn incense every day to mourn her mother. However, this move was hyped up by an unscrupulous tabloid in Taiwan, saying that Gu Zhengqiu hid a wireless transmitter under his mother's tablet and burned incense every day to sacrifice his mother, taking the opportunity to send secret telegrams to the mainland, which belonged to "defecting to the enemy and collaborating with bandits."
Gu Zhengqiu saw the slanderous article in the newspaper, worried about being afraid, and asked Chiang Ching-kuo, who simply and neatly handled the matter, and soon the tabloid closed its doors.
Chiang Ching-kuo
Chiang Ching-kuo had a deep affection for Gu Zhengqiu, but Gu Zhengqiu did not intend to lean on the prince, like Zhang Yaruo, when he was in the nameless outer chamber, for this reason, Chiang Ching-kuo wanted to divorce his wife Jiang Fangliang, and also asked Song Meiling to help him persuade his father to agree, but was severely blocked by Chiang Kai-shek.
At that time, Chiang Ching-kuo's friend and Ren Xianqun, the "director of the Finance Department" of Taiwan Province, also often came to the Yongle Theater to watch plays, and he also had a good feeling for Gu Zhengqiu, but he did not dare to pursue it openly, and every time Chiang Ching-kuo finished eating with the drama class, Ren Xianqun drove the car to the backstage to pick up Gu Zhengqiu home.
Ren Xianqun is a Japanese student, from a background in economics, once served as the chairman of the Bank of Taiwan, unified the invoice system during his term of office, known as the father of "Taiwan Unified Invoice", he is shrewd and capable, 17 years older than Gu Zhengqiu, also has a family, his wife Zhang Junqian is a rich family girl, when he fell in love with Ren Xianqun, he was still a high school student, the two eloped together despite family opposition, and the woman's family once thought that her daughter was missing.
Compared with Chiang Ching-kuo, Ren Xianqun has no advantage in age, status, and wealth, and is also a husband with a wife, Gu Zhengqiu will certainly not consider being with him, and Ren Xianqun is deeply involved in this relationship, unable to extricate himself, and vows to give her a name and give her a formal wedding.
According to ren Zhiping, the youngest daughter born to Ren Xianqun and his ex-wife Zhang Qianjun, in the book "This Life - My Father Ren Xianqun", one night, Ren Xianqun suddenly woke her and her brother awake, took the brothers and sisters to kneel in front of their mother, and asked for her mother's forgiveness.
When Ren Xianqun and Zhang Junqian eloped to Japan to get married, there were only three witnesses to witness it, and although they put on a wedding banquet after returning to China, they were not registered, so he took advantage of this loophole to leave the original Zhang Junqian and form another family with Gu Zhengqiu. Zhang Junqian later took her children to the United States to study and live, she taught her son to be generous, the eldest son Ren Tsukuyama was the deputy minister of agriculture in the George W. Bush administration, and the daughter Ren Zhiping was a writer.
After Ren Xianqun 'divorced', he once watched Gu Zhengqiu's "Peacock Southeast Flying" starring gu Zhengqiu offstage, and when he saw that Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi, the two lovers, were forced to separate, he burst into tears, and Gu Zhengqiu was very touched after hearing the news from others, and vowed to follow him forever.
Ren Xianqun and Gu Zhengqiu
In July 1953, Gu Zhengqiu disbanded the troupe and attended the wedding of his good sister Zhang Zhengfen and Yu Jialin with Ren Xianqun. The photo of them attending the wedding as "husband and wife" was published in the "JoongAng Daily", and after Chiang Ching-kuo saw it, he was burned with vinegar and specially took this newspaper to show Chiang Kai-shek, who scolded: "Not like words!" "He believes that Ren Xianqun is unfaithful to his family and cannot reuse him in the future."
3. The road of love is bumpy, and the rest of your life is devoted to the Buddha
Because he was not trusted by Chiang Kai-shek, Ren Xianqun resigned from public office and became a lawyer, but there were still people monitoring him, and some departments began to investigate his economic problems.
In 1955, he was arrested by the Security Command and sentenced to 7 years in prison for helping his uncle who came to Taiwan to find a job as a guarantor, and at that time, people thought that Prince Jiang was retaliating against him for taking love.
Gu Zhengqiu's eldest son, Ren Hejun, had just been born, and every Thursday, she carried her infant child to visit the prison, and in 1958, Ren Xianqun was released on parole, but the government did not allow him to work in Taipei, so in order to stay away from the incident, in 1960, the couple settled down at the isolated Jinshan Farm in the suburbs.
According to Gu Zhengqiu's memoirs, there were no neighbors in the mountains, no water, electricity and gas, they built their own houses, cement floors, roofs covered with straw, at first picked up spring water from the side of the mountain to drink, and then used plastic pipes from the bottom of the mountain to lead the mountain spring into the water tower, precipitated with alum and drank, she followed her husband to plant vegetables and raise strawberries every day, learning to make strawberry jam.
However, these difficult years were the most peaceful time of her life, "The children laughed excitedly, and laughter filled the wide, quiet farm, transparent, loud, like a song." Now, decades later, whenever I think back to Jinshan Farm, I still clearly see the small figures of the three returning from adventures, and hear their pure and happy laughter. ”
Ren Xianqun was an economician, well-run farm, and later supplied frozen vegetables and fruits to the market and exported to Europe and the United States. Citic Super Department Store and Yongle Construction Company were also opened.
On August 18, 1975, Ren Xianqun died of lung cancer, and before his death, he transferred all his property to Gu Zhengqiu's name. Gu Zhengqiu burned an exquisite paper house for him, named it "Kangzhuang", and stored a letter in the paper house: "Xianqun, this is our Kangzhuang." You go first, and I'll come with you. Xiao Qiu. ”
Soon, Ren Xianqun's original partner, Zhang Junqian, returned to Taiwan with her elderly children to mourn, and strongly demanded that Gu Zhengqiu and his children should not be included in the family roster, and That Gu Zhengqiu should not be buried with Ren Xianqun.
Ren Xianqun did not formally marry his two wives before his death, and in the end, he caused great harm to both women.
Ren Xianqun and Zhang Junqian's daughter Ren Zhiping said in the book: Before his father died, he thought that he was sorry for these two women in this life, which was regarded as a lifetime of guilt.
Gu Zhengqiu did not argue, and frankly returned Ren Xianqun to Zhang Junqian, who was later buried with Zhang Junqian in a Catholic cemetery in Massachusetts.
After that, Gu Zhengqiu came back to acting, and the big Green Yi who used to live in seclusion for love was spread around Taiwan, and she once said with emotion: "The stage is the epitome of life... My friendship, love, and marriage all ended because of drama. ”
Her family life is not happy, her eldest son Ren Hejun, exiled to the United States due to the New Glass Company case, the second son Ren Zhiming died in a car accident, and the youngest daughter Ren Xiang is a singer and writer, like a mother, she loves life and never fears difficulties.
In his later years, Gu Zhengqiu prayed to the Buddha, copied the sutras and recited the Buddha every day, praying to the heavens: "I don't want to live long, I can go at any time." At the age of 87, Gu Zhengqiu, who had a bumpy life, passed away, and on her deathbed, she still remembered Ren Xianqun, she only loved this man in her life, used all her strength, washed away the lead, and shared happiness and suffering, even if the love was wrong, she did not regret it, but, in the boundless void, where did she put her heart and thoughts?