Mei Lanfang
"Emperor Tang Ming deceived the slaves and failed to live up to a good night. Tricked me into wanting to rejoice, long live, only to fall lonely and go back to the palace alone! ”
In 1914, Mei Lanfang put "Guifei Drunk" on the stage for the first time at the Shanghai Tiantou Theater, and with the "Yang Guifei who borrowed wine to pour sorrows back to the palace", thunderous applause and applause rang out from the stage.
The success of "Noble Concubine Drunk", in addition to Mei Lanfang's unique performance charm, benefits from the close companionship and care of a woman, from the selection of costumes to combing her hair and makeup, she is herself and meticulous.
This woman is Mei Lanfang's hair-tied wife, Wang Minghua.
Wang Minghua
In the early years, Mei Lanfang was difficult to calm her inner excitement after every performance, and whenever she saw her wife waiting in the background, the restlessness on the stage seemed to be gently entangled, and it soon settled down.
Many people have not thought that the combination of Mei Lanfang and Wang Minghua is actually a feudal arranged marriage, and all this has to start from Mei Lanfang's life.
In 1894, Mei Lanfang was born in a pear garden family, but his childhood was very lonely, he lost his father at the age of four, he lost his mother at the age of fourteen, and then he was raised by his uncle Mei Yutian and learned art everywhere, and since then he has lived a life of wind and rain and sending people under the fence.
In order not to be a portal to others, to have a skill to support herself, Mei Lanfang has worked hard since she was a child, immersed herself in the study of drama, practiced day by day, and never dared to slacken off.
In 1910, the 16-year-old Mei Lanfang was in the critical period of voice change, at this time he could not sing on stage, he had to recuperate at home, it was at this time, an arranged marriage broke his life.
In response to the words of the great uncle Mei Yutian, Mei Lanfang married Minghua, the queen of the famous Danjiao King Shunfu.
At this time, Mei Lanfang's family was mediocre, and she was in a period of uncertain future change, and Wang Minghua never abandoned, scrupulously fulfilled his wife's duty, knew the book, respected the elders, and took care of Mei Lanfang's life thoughtfully.
In the second year after marriage, Wang Minghua gave birth to a son for the Mei family, and added a daughter to the Mei family in the next year, and at this time, Mei Lanfang had successfully passed the voice change period, and her career slowly improved.
Everything is developing in a good direction, and Mei Lanfang, who is already famous in the opera industry, continues to receive performance invitations, so she travels to major cities and is busy for her livelihood.
It is true that behind every successful man there is a woman who pays silently, and Wang Minghua not only takes care of the family, but also mei Lanfang's rare helper in her career.
Wang Minghua and Mei Lanfang
Because he was born in the Pear Garden family and had experience on stage, Wang Minghua had a unique and accurate vision of Mei Lanfang in the choice of costumes, head and makeup.
With a good hand of hair, she saved Mei Lanfang a lot of time to sort out her wig, so that she could focus more on the performance of opera.
Later, Mei Lanfang performed all over the country, Wang Minghua was closely accompanied, thanks to the care of his wife, Mei Lanfang's career began to become popular, reaching the first peak in her life.
As Mei Lanfang's wife, Wang Minghua also pays great attention to his own image, and whenever he accompanies her husband to attend the party, he is praised by others for his dignified elegance and generous demeanor.
Even when Mei Lanfang was in the middle of the day, she was absolutely qualified to be a woman standing next to him, and she was not shocked by the nobility and calmness.
Husbands have successful careers, husband and wife love, children and children are complete, at this time Wang Minghua is not a nearly perfect woman.
Just when his life was flourishing, Wang Minghua's crazy decision made him regret it shortly after, and he also forced his happiness to the end of the road.
Wang Minghua, who has already given birth to a pair of children for the Mei family, in order to take care of her husband wholeheartedly, always accompanies her husband, and resolutely performs sterilization surgery despite the opposition of her family.
Wang Minghua's decision was understandable at the time, when medical technology was backward, and many diseases could indeed be avoided after sterilization, and if she was pregnant, she would not be able to get out for at least one or two years.
And all these considerations are in order to be able to accompany your husband without any trouble, so that you have more energy to balance your career and family.
However, life is uncertain, fate and this woman made a huge joke, shortly after Wang Minghua's sterilization, a sudden measles took the lives of one of his children.
The premature death of the two children was undoubtedly a thunderbolt on a sunny day for Wang Minghua, and the unexpected changes crushed her body, and since then she has washed her face with tears all day and has not been able to afford to be sick.
The huge courtyard lost the laughter of the children, which seemed particularly cold, and when the couple returned home, they did not dare to look into each other's eyes, for fear that what they saw was full of pain.
As the saying goes, there are three filial pieties, no queen is greater, in addition to the pain of losing a son, the bigger problem in front of Mei Lanfang is how to pass on the generations.
Wang Minghua was already unable to have children, and Mei Lanfang was passed on to his childless uncle due to the early death of his father, and he carried the incense of the two rooms to continue.
Some clans once proposed to adopt a child to him in the younger generation, but Mei Lanfang refused, he was in his prime, he could still have children, who did not want to inherit the mantle is his own flesh and blood?
Things are already like this, there is only one way to take a concubine, how can Wang Minghua not know her husband's thoughts, before Mei Lanfang spoke, she took the initiative to put forward the idea of taking a concubine for her husband.
After learning of his wife's profound righteousness, Mei Lanfang was very touched and promised that no matter what, she would not shake Wang Minghua's status as a wife in the Mei family.
After Wang Minghua personally checked, Fu Zhifang, a sister from the same family as Mei Lanfang, stood out, but the fu family's condition was that Fu Zhifang must be a proper wife and not a concubine.
In the face of this thorny problem, it was solved by Mei Lanfang's dual identity, because she had two rooms of incense from her father and uncle, and she could inherit two clans, that is to say, she could have two wives.
In the first month of 1921, the 27-year-old Mei Lanfang, with the consent of Wang Minghua, married the 15-year-old Fu Zhifang with the courtesy of a proper wife, and Fu Zhifang's status in the Mei family was equal to that of Wang Minghua.
On the night of the marriage, Mei Lanfang was afraid of snubbing his wife, so she first went to Wang Minghua's room to sit for a while, and when she saw her husband, Wang Minghua felt like she had overturned a five-flavor bottle, and she couldn't say what it was like.
At this point, retention is not a smart thing to do, Wang Minghua forced a smile and advised her husband to go to the bride quickly, not to snub the family.
Fu Zhifang
That night, the spring was cold, Wang Minghua was sleepless, even in the era of male superiority and female inferiority, what woman was willing to share her husband with others? Everything is just to save their own helplessness.
Fu Zhifang, who was personally checked by Wang Minghua, was naturally also a decent and sensible woman, and after marrying into the Mei family, Fu Zhifang was commensurate with Wang Minghua's sister, and Wang Minghua also took good care of this sister.
After marriage, Fu Zhifang and her husband were very affectionate, and did not disappoint the Mei family on the issue of succession, and only one year after marrying Mei Lanfang, she bore a son for the Mei family.
Looking at Wang Minghua, who was childless under his knees, Fu Zhifang, who was well-trained, took the initiative to ask for his son to be passed on to Wang Minghua three days after giving birth.
And Wang Minghua knew that he was depressed and unable to raise him, and after taking care of the child for a few days, he accepted the affection, so he returned the child to Fu Zhifang, and also handed over the stewardship of the Mei family.
Fu Zhifang and Mei Lanfang
The whole family admired Wang Minghua's profound righteousness, and no one knew that this was only the last dignity of a dispensable woman in the family.
Since then, Wang Minghua's condition has become more and more serious, and he once suffered from tuberculosis, in order not to infect his family, Wang Minghua went to Tianjin alone for treatment, and since then he has gradually faded out of Mei Lanfang's life, until the last moment of his life, he never returned to the Mei family.
In 1929, the unaccompanied Wang Minghua died of illness in Tianjin and left this world lonely and cold, at the age of 37.
For Wang Minghua, at the moment he left home, he gave up all the love he had poured out of his life, leaving only a dream of Nan Ke who had fallen into prosperity.
Although Fu Zhifang could not give Mei Lanfang great help in her career like Wang Minghua, she had more than enough in the care of life, and in the 14 years since she married into the Mei family, she has given birth to a total of nine children for Mei Lanfang.
Fu Zhifang and Mei Lanfang and the children
After Wang Minghua died of illness in Tianjin, according to the custom, his heirs should take the coffin back to Beijing for burial, and Wang Minghua had no children under his knees, so Fu Zhifang asked his son Mei Baoqi to pick up the coffin as a filial son.
Later, due to Mei Baoqi's sudden illness, she was changed to her younger brother Mei Baochen, and Mei Baochen, who was only three years old, was held by the housekeeper to beat the flag, which was considered to be the number of filial piety.
From this point of view, Fu Zhifang has respect for Wang Minghua, since marrying into the Mei family, her sister has given herself a lot of care, and now Lingzi is wearing a ma dai filial piety for her, which can also be regarded as the end of her affection.
And in this world, there is no feeling that is not full of holes, after Wang Minghua left home, Fu Zhifang, who thought that she could love her husband for a lifetime, did not expect that Mei Lanfang would meet the third woman in her life - Meng Xiaodong.
Meng Xiaodong
The time goes back to 1925, a serendipitous performance on the same stage, so that Mei Lanfang got to know Meng Xiaodong, and greatly praised his old skills.
Unlike Mei Lanfang's first two wives, Meng Xiaodong became famous at a young age, and his talent was complete, not only in life and Mei Lanfang's chess opponents, but also in his career.
Later, the two often cooperated, and often achieved great success, in the face of such a rare legendary woman in the world, Mei Lanfang's love for her was also a matter of course, and Meng Xiaodong was also in love with Mei Lanfang at first sight.
The two soon fell in love, like glue, and Mei Lanfang promised to give Meng Xiaodong the title of a wife.
At that time, Wang Minghua was still recuperating in Tianjin, and he saw a lot of gossip about Mei Lanfang and Meng Xiaodong in the newspaper, and Wang Minghua on the sickbed only felt that her husband was becoming more and more vague and more distant.
If Mei Lanfang wanted to marry Meng Xiaodong, she had to get the consent of her wife, so in the autumn of 1926, Mei Lanfang brought Meng Xiaodong to Tianjin to visit Wang Minghua.
At this time, Wang Minghua knew that his time was short, and after seeing Meng Xiaodong's talented appearance, he was very relieved and felt that this woman was indeed worthy of her husband.
After his death, according to the rules of the concubine, he can indeed marry another wife, and what does a dying person have to fight for? The only thing that can be given is blessing.
In the first month of 1927, the 33-year-old Mei Lanfang married his third wife, Meng Xiaodong, who was only 20 years old, only 6 years after marrying Fu Zhifang.
Unlike Fu Zhifang, Meng Xiaodong did not enter the Mei family gate as she wished, and could only rent an apartment like an outer room.
And the reason for all this is because of Mei Lanfang's little cleverness.
According to the old rules, it was indeed necessary to obtain the consent of the right wife to marry a concubine, but Mei Lanfang only asked the dying Wang Minghua, but did not ask Fu Zhifang, who was also a regular wife.
At this time, Fu Zhifang had already given birth to many children for the Mei family, and she was doing all the household chores of the Mei family, and it was understandable to say that she was the real hostess of the Mei family.
Unlike Wang Minghua, Fu Zhifang absolutely has the courage to defend her family, and in the face of Fu Zhifang's strong attitude, Mei Lanfang has no choice but to continue to hide in the Outer Gold House.
At this time, the marriage between Meng Xiaodong and Mei Lanfang has spread, and Meng Xiaodong has given up his career for love, willing to be the woman behind Mei Lanfang, but now he can't even enter the door of the Mei family.
Meng Xiaodong's retirement caused a huge sensation in society, and radical followers blamed all this on Mei Lanfang, and even brought a gun to the door to retaliate, and in the chaos, they mistakenly killed Mei Lanfang's friend Zhang Hanju, who came to mediate.
This incident pushed Meng Xiaodong to the center of the whirlpool of public opinion, and at this time, Mei Lanfang not only did not come forward to protect Meng Xiaodong, but instead followed Fu Zhifang's advice and chose to save herself and stay away from Meng Xiaodong.
Meng Xiaodong, who saw the hint, was disheartened, and the promise of the once dry stone rot turned into a bubble in the blink of an eye, making her feel desolate and helpless.
Mei Lanfang and Meng Xiaodong
If Meng Xiaodong at this time still has a glimmer of hope for Mei Lanfang, then the death of Mei Lanfang's aunt is the last straw that crushes the feelings of the two people.
In 1930, Mei Lanfang's aunt died, the Mei family held a solemn funeral, Meng Xiaodong, who believed that he was the wife of the Mei family, came uninvited and took the initiative to hang filial piety for his aunt, but was stopped by Fu Zhifang's arranged family.
Meng Xiaodong, who was deeply wronged, had to ask Mei Lanfang for help, and when the four eyes were facing each other, Mei Lanfang did not have the courage to persuade Meng Xiaodong to go back.
Grievances, unwillingness, humiliation, resentment, and mixed emotions surged into Meng Xiaodong's heart.
She has always prided herself on being the wife of the Mei family, but now she is not even as good as a concubine, and her husband does not even say a word.
After that, Meng Xiaodong and Mei Lanfang completely broke up, and Meng Xiaodong, who did not want to be treated as a joke anymore, hired a lawyer to divorce Mei Lanfang, and after Du Yuesheng's mediation, Mei Lanfang finally agreed to end this unbearable marriage.
After Meng Xiaodong's comeback, he published a newspaper for three consecutive days to reveal: "Winter is naïve and unfamiliar with the world, everything is presided over by the introducer, the name is both fixed and the foundation, and everyone knows it." ”
"I didn't want Lan Fang to be vague, and on the day of her mother's death, she couldn't practice the preface, causing her name to lose its protection, so she resolutely broke away from her family relationship with Lan Fang."
"Whether I am a negative person or a person is negative for me, there is a public opinion in the world."
Mei Lanfang is the negative Meng Xiaodong, in the choice of love and family, Mei Lanfang resolutely chose the latter.
Now that the wheel of history is gradually drifting away, the faces of those past have become blurred, and no one has long been concerned about what is right or wrong, but Shaohua has lost, where does the floating life return?
Just as the so-called "deep belief in cause and effect, do not slander the Mahayana", the three women in Mei Lanfang's life have gone to three different lives with three ways of treating love.
Mei Lanfang's hair-tied wife, Wang Minghua, has loved all her life, has been delusional for a lifetime, and has fulfilled everyone, but she has snubbed herself, and her generous selflessness, understanding, and silent sacrifice spirit have all been admired by the world.
However, the world seems to have forgotten that Wang Minghua is also a woman, which woman's concession and fulfillment is not a helpless act in a desperate situation, behind the generosity and selflessness, there are countless sorrows and desolations.
In 1961, Mei Lanfang died of illness, and at the request of Fu Zhifang, Mei Lanfang and Wang Minghua were buried together in the Wanhuashan Mausoleum.
It is true that people are too unsure of death, and death is not necessarily more painful than this life, at least in the dark underground, Wang Minghua finally waited for Mei Lanfang to stay forever, which is not the best comfort for the past life.
As Mei Lanfang's wife, Fu Zhifang is undoubtedly the most successful, she and Mei Lanfang have been in love for decades, for the Mei family to spread the leaves, indispensable, with practical actions to defend their family and love.
During the arduous years of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Fu Zhifang and Mei Lanfang were in love with each other, taking care of Mei Lanfang's life and career with their generosity and kindness, and giving a firm affirmation to the national integrity of her husband's beard.
In the end, Fu Zhifang accompanied Mei Lanfang through his wonderful and bumpy life.
After Fu Zhifang's death, at her last wishes, she was buried with Mei Lanfang and Wang Minghua, so it seems that Fu Zhifang is by no means a woman with feelings and righteousness, who dares to love and hate.
It is not so much that Fu Zhifang's life is good, but that all this is what she has worked hard to win, and she deserves everything she has received.
On the other hand, Meng Xiaodong, who loves Mei Lanfang earth-shatteringly, is a different ending.
In the eyes of the outside world, Meng Xiaodong is undoubtedly the pair who is most in harmony with Mei Lanfang, but the pain in this is only like people drinking water, cold and warm self-knowledge.
Meng Xiaodong, who gave up almost everything for love, experienced a series of changes and found that the original love was so fragile.
Men, after all, can not be trusted, happiness has no other way but to fight for themselves, and having an independent personality is the biggest cost in this contest.
After seeing through Mei Lanfang's cowardice and indifference, Meng Xiaodong stopped the loss in time, chose to leave Mei Lanfang, and made a comeback, which is undoubtedly a decisive and clever approach, and has also achieved a brilliant life of the "Winter Emperor".
After his comeback, Meng Xiaodong, after several ups and downs, finally married Du Yuesheng, a big man of the Green Gang, and did not find a home for himself.
Du Yuesheng and Meng Xiaodong
Looking at the very different endings of Mei Lanfang's three wives, it is lamentable that whether it is fate or self-inflicted, in this era of religious ambiguity, it is impossible to distinguish.
They are perfect because they have loved; they are tolerant because they understand; they leave because they see through.
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