China's opera culture was formed during the Song and Yuan dynasties, and initially men and women could perform on the same stage. However, during the Kangxi Dynasty, actresses were forbidden to sing on stage, on the grounds that it was "contrary to morality". Since then, the female characters on the stage have been played by men, until the modern period, the emergence of Liu Xikui, broke this situation.
In modern times, many opera masters have emerged in the Republic of China, and Liu Xikui is one of them. In 1894, Liu Xikui was born in Hebei Province, and when she was 9 years old, she was sent by her family to Tianjin Li Haike to learn Peking Opera, and later studied under the famous character Song Yongzhen. Liu Xikui is naturally smart, learns well and quickly, and her singing voice is particularly mellow and very colorful.
At that time, the opera stage was all men playing and singing, people were tired of listening to the male tone, and the appearance of Liu Xikui gave everyone a surprise. At that time, Beijing began to set up a study class for opera Kunling, Liu Xikui was also among them, with beautiful appearance, small figure, outstanding singing voice, Liu Xikui soon became famous in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and other places.
Because she caught up with the good times, Liu Xikui became very popular, and many warlords admired her and wanted to hug the beauty back. One of them, Zhang Xun, was the most crazy, in 1913, Zhang Xun did his birthday and invited Liu Xikui to sing, but unexpectedly, Zhang Xun took advantage of the fact that no one was ready, quietly sneaked into the background, hugged Liu Xikui, and told her that following her own words would give her a good life.
Liu Xikui resolutely refused to comply, shouted for help, and lured people in, and Zhang Xun scared away. Four years later, Zhang Xun met Liu Xikui singing in Beijing again, this time, he wanted to directly snatch Liu Xikui back, but this plan had not yet been implemented, because Duan Qirui called, Zhang Xun was driven away, and Liu Xikui was spared.
At that time, Yuan Shikai and Li Yuanhong, who had successively done The President of the Republic of China, had invited Liu Xikui to perform, but they were rejected. Among the people who were fascinated by Liu Xikui, there were many presidents, in addition to the two of them, there were Feng Guozhang, Xu Shichang, and Cao Kun, all 5 of whom had served as presidents or vice presidents of the Republic of China.
Liu Xikui didn't take care of anyone, just sang his own drama. She integrated the concept of patriotism and national salvation into the play, which aroused a lot of national passion at that time. And Liu Xikui not only made the first opera Kunling to perform on stage in modern times, but also became the first actress to perform a modern drama under the guidance of others.
In 1922, Liu Xikui could not bear the harassment of the magnates, and hurriedly kissed each other, marrying Cui Changzhou, who was 13 years older than himself. After the marriage, Liu Xikui knew that he had been deceived, and the person he saw during the blind date was not Cui Changzhou at all, but a soldier under his command, that soldier looked good, but Cui Changzhou himself was not proud.
Liu Xikui still made a mistake, but they were only married for 4 days, and Cui Changzhou was transferred by other warlords. Three years later, Cui Changzhou fell ill and died, and Liu Xikui remained widowed and never remarried for life. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese army used heavy money to invite her to perform in Japan, but Liu Xikui refused to agree and went into seclusion.
It was not until the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression that Liu Xikui was invited by Premier Zhou to go out of the mountains and teach his skills. Liu Xikui attended a banquet at the Ministry of Culture in 1950, and later went to the China Academy of Performing Arts to teach Hebei Zizi. In 1964, Liu Xikui died of illness, she was very dignified during her lifetime, contributed to the revolution, and was buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery after her death.