Beijing, 16 Jan (ZXS) -- Question: Yu Ji and Empress Yan, what is the difference between the beauty of women in Eastern and Western dramas?
——Interview with Wei Haimin, a disciple of Mei Pai and a Taiwanese Peking Opera performance artist
China News Agency reporter Li Hanxue
As a big disciple of Mei Baojiu, a descendant of the Mei Pai of Peking Opera, Taiwanese Peking Opera artist Wei Haimin not only presents classic female characters of Mei Pai repertoire such as Yang Guifei and Mu Guiying on the drama stage, but also portrays Loulan Nu adapted from the Greek classical tragedy "Medea" in new dramas, and even the "bad woman" in traditional concepts - such as Cao Qiqiao in "The Legend of the Golden Lock".
From Mei Pai's "non-immortal and post-immortal" and elegant and innocent female characters, to diverse women who cross cultures and have different personalities, China News Agency's "East-West Question" recently interviewed Wei Haimin exclusively to discuss the beauty of different women in the aesthetics of East-West, ancient and modern dramas.
The following is a summary of the interview:
China News Agency: As a descendant of Mei Pai, how do you think Master Mei Lanfang interprets women in classical Chinese aesthetics? Why does it give people a feeling of elegance and innocence?
Wei Haimin: In 2021, when I created the one-man play "Millennium Stage", I especially used the two characters of Yang Guifei in Master Mei Lanfang's "Taizhen Gaiden" and Mu Guiying in "Mu Guiying Hangs the Commander" to express the characteristics of the characters I observed in Mei Pai art and created by Master Mei.
Master Mei Lanfang was born in the late Qing Dynasty, but the real shine was in the Republican period, and Peking Opera was no longer a forbidden place for the Qing palace royal family, but directly based on ordinary audiences. The whole society seeks innovation and change, and there is an openness different from the old era. In the past, Danjiao was mostly used as a side partner in Peking Opera, but under the creation of artists led by Mei Lanfang, Dan became the protagonist of the drama. And the male dan, by the reborn mystery of the man pretending to be a woman, creates an aesthetic distance and stylized space.
Madame Tussauds Beijing exhibits a drunken wax figure of Concubine Mei Lanfang. Photo by Xiong Ran
In the 20s of the last century, entertainment was not so diverse, but there were already records, so that the creation of the golden period of Peking Opera could be circulated. In 1927, Master Mei Lanfang was selected as one of the four famous dan in the competition held by the "Suncheon Times" with "Taizhen Gaiden". This play is very bold in the selection of materials alone, such as Huaqingci bathing, such a "bath" plot, Master Mei Lanfang has a way to delicately interpret it as a key scene. Master Mei used a completely innovative singing voice to delicately lay out the shyness of the concubine; The atmosphere of Huaqing Pond is full of steam, which fully shows the imagination space of a peerless beauty to future generations. Master Mei Lanfang is male, and he symbolizes the nudity of the concubine with a plain skirt and white yarn, which is completely sublimated into a visual beauty that satisfies the audience's reverie. A piece of "Listen to Gong'e", singing and listening, elegantly transforms the "color", creating an elegant and graceful style, making people feel the character's ice muscle jade bone, a kind of white and clean in the bones.
This presentation of the character's clean nature is still vivid until Master Mei Lanfang's roll-up "Mu Guiying Hangs the Commander". By 1959, Mei Lanfang had not created for a long time, and he took material from Henan Bangzi opera to transform the mood of the elderly Mu Guiying, who had been snubbed by the imperial court for many years, whether to retake the seal when the country was in trouble, into a very classic "Holding the Seal". Under the persuasion of She Taijun, Mu Guiying understood that when he returned to his original intention, he only asked what he could do for the country, and the cold reception of the imperial court in the past or the fact that he had not been on the battlefield for more than 20 years was no longer a problem. Incredibly, Master Mei does not directly express the leap and transformation of this state of mind in words, but draws inspiration from "Jiang Wei Guanjin" and performs it in a mimetic way, purely using dance to illustrate Mu Guiying's thoughts.
In 2004, Mei Baojiu (Mei Lanfang's youngest son) and the famous Yu opera performance artist Ma Jinfeng (right) performed "Mu Guiying Hangs a Commander" on the same stage. Photo by Jiang Jianhua
When Mu Guiying finally sings "Is it true that I have no loyalty for the country and the people", the character's clear and clean heart has indescribable moving power. This pure glazed heart, which Master Mei has maintained throughout his life, is also reflected in the characters he created. Fortunately, "Mu Guiying Hangs the Commander" has become my most performed Mei Pai play, and I am eager to do my part of purity.
China News Agency: After many years of immersion in opera, a classical Chinese performing art, how do you understand the beauty of women in classical Chinese aesthetics? How is it different from the portrayal and aesthetic of women in Western drama?
Wei Haimin: Opera has comprehensive requirements for actors, unlike Western classical performing arts, which have been divided into opera, ballet, etc., and shape characters with the ultimate of voice and body respectively. Women in Chinese opera cannot satisfy the audience with their sweet voices alone, but must also have a visual and physical beauty and a graceful body. As if Chinese do not believe that there are limits to people, the requirements for the beauty of opera actors are not only comprehensive but also all-powerful. Everything is aesthetically pleasing.
Visitors watch the "Sword Dance Liufang - Mei Lanfang's Classic Drama "Farewell My Concubine" 100th Anniversary Special Exhibition at the Beijing Mei Lanfang Memorial Hall. Photo by Tian Yuhao
In addition, I have a very strong experience that the perception of women's "sexiness" in the East and the West is very different. I once lined up a play called "The Queen and Her Clowns" to tell the story of Cleopatra. Cleopatra is a very beautiful and intelligent female emperor in Western stories. When I played this role, I felt that the "sexiness" of women in the Western context is actually exuded in all the faces of this woman, such as her speech and actions. To Orientals, this may be called "showying", but Westerners seem to see the sexiness exuded by the body as a natural thing. This sexiness is not a derogatory term, it is a positive term, a kind of style that can be seen in women.
In China, although the ancient saying is "food color is also sex", in various dynasties, in order to put an end to the disorder of the relationship between men and women, we always seem to regard "sexiness" as "not allowed to happen", especially in drama. Although the depiction of the women's style in the place of wind and moon can still be seen in the poems of the past generations, it seems that normal people can never talk about this, I think this is a very different place between China and the West.
The beauty of women that I understand from Master Mei Lanfang's plays lies in the fact that her gestures are like a spring breeze. For example, teacher Mei Baojiu has always told me that Yu Ji's beauty lies in her beauty in Xiang Yu's eyes, even if Xiang Yu is down, she still greets her with a smile, and this tolerance, generosity and gentleness are what makes Xiang Yu feel charming. This is probably the presentation of beauty under different cultures.
In 2008, Mei Baojiu (left), the son of Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang, visited Taiwan, and when she gave a speech at Taipei University of Science and Technology, she performed a clip of "Farewell My Concubine" at the request of fans, accompanied by her Taiwanese female disciple Wei Haimin (right) and carefully studied and speculated on the side. Photo by Geng Jun
China News Agency: Among the newly arranged opera roles you have played in recent years, there are "Lady Macbeth" and "Loulan Girl", as well as "Wang Xifeng" and "Cao Qiqiao", all of them are characters with very strong personalities, even twisted or vicious, completely different from the kind, generous and gentle female characters commonly found in traditional opera. Has this deductive experience also brought you shocks and contradictions?
Wei Haimin: These female characters, traditionally known as "bad women", are closer to women with personalities.
First performed in 1993 and adapted from the ancient Greek tragedy Medea's Loulan Woman, Loulan Woman is a new play that I have repeatedly performed for decades. When I was young and new to this role, I also wondered, why show the audience a dark heart that kills children? Later, I felt more and more that everyone had sorrow in their hearts, and there was a side that felt let down and abandoned. Perhaps it is impossible for the audience to make Medea-style revenge, but they can get emotional catharsis and sublimation of their injured parts through the characters in the process of watching the play.
"The Legend of the Golden Lock", adapted from Zhang Ailing's novel, is the play I polished the most. Cao Qiqiao is partly in the hands of fate on the one hand, but she is not capable of taking responsibility for her choices. In order to three-dimensionally present Qiqiao's mood from young to old and finally twisted and perverted, I made several designs for her personality. Her family originally opened a hemp oil shop, only brothers and sisters-in-law, proud and sociable. Faced with marriage, Qiqiao resolutely chose Gaomen, but did not expect that the title of the second grandmother of the main house would be exchanged for a lifetime of disillusionment. In this regard, Qiqiao always fought back with sharp teeth, she would never admit defeat, all displeasure was the fault of others, and she refused to admit her fate.
Wei Haimin (right) plays Cao Qiqiao in the Peking Opera "The Legend of the Golden Lock". Photo by Zhang Lijun
From Cao Qiqiao's point of view, her control of her children makes completely sense, and it is also out of good intentions. When I analyze these psychology thoroughly and then create the characters, the proportions are relatively easy to grasp. Later, many people told me that they saw their mother in my role as Cao Qiqiao. Too many mothers cling to their children all their lives, forcing their lifelong grievances on the next generation, especially in the name of love.
I deeply feel that behind every difficult relationship in this life, there are lessons that must be learned. Drama is my mentor, teaching me how to spend my life; As long as you focus, you will gain a new understanding of life.
China News Agency: In your opinion, why is it so important to explore and create more diverse female roles?
Wei Haimin: In the era of Master Mei Lanfang, the distance between men enabled him to create many extremely beautiful women in a stylized way in his artistic technique. The four celebrities each have different voices, images, and characters, so they can establish style when they are gender transitioning. And female actors dress up and perform, the voice and body are actually more similar, and when it comes to the establishment of image style, there is actually not much space. As a woman, I am unique to the real experience of women's life and the modern situation, which also makes me longer than the analysis of human nature. Actors in our time, I think the most important thing is to dig into the inner part of women, how to dig out the various spiritual aspects of women. Drama follows the times, people in different eras have different life experiences, and as an actor, I have to think about what the audience of this era needs, and what new looks people have.
In 2018, the special exhibition "Wei Haimin She and Them" was held at the Taiwan Opera Center. The special exhibition focuses on Wei Haimin's diverse faces in opera roles, showing this ever-changing Tsing Yi who "lives like a play, plays like life". The picture shows Wei Haimin at the special exhibition. Photo by Zhang Yu
I feel that today, it seems that women are less restricted, but there is still a lot of room to really understand the inside of women, there are still many misunderstood places for women, and there are still many women who are imprisoned and ignored. Many evaluations of women are simplified. And this world needs the energy of yin and yang coordination to create a peaceful and beautiful society. Of course, the so-called yin energy does not only refer to the power of women, it refers to the power of tolerance, compassion and tenderness among human beings.
In 2007, Wei Haimin, a descendant of Taiwan's Mei Pai, teamed up with his master Mei Baojiu to perform the classic Mei Pai "Concubine Drunk" on the same stage. Photo by Yang Wanna
My own life experience has also become nourishment for performing theater. I grew up in a family that wasn't particularly happy in the secular sense, and by about fifty years old, I increasingly felt that theater was a "mirror image." Many female characters make life choices that the audience may want to do but can't, but the characters do it for them. Actors are essentially emotional healers, creating a journey that allows the audience to experience it together. Experience brings understanding, and knowing more about women's inner beings can bring understanding and reconciliation. (End)
Respondent Profile:
Wei Haimin is an internationally renowned Peking Opera performance artist, a descendant of the Mei (Lanfang) faction, and a leading actor of Guoguang Troupe. He was taught by Zhou Mingxin at an early age, Qin Huifen for a long time, and Chen Yongling and Tong Zhiling after graduation. In 1991, he entered Meimen and was Mr. Mei Baojiu's first disciple. Wei Haimin has a deep tradition and the essence of Mei Pai, and is good at portraying and interpreting different roles, playing stage characters that span genres and travel between ancient and modern times, and are recognized by theater fans and performing arts circles around the world. He is good at performing Mei Pai classic dramas such as "Mu Guiying Hangs the Marshal", "The Concubine Drunk", "The Legend of the White Snake", "Phoenix Nest", "Farewell My Concubine" and so on.
Wei Haimin not only specializes in classical repertoire, but also creates a model of contemporary opera performance. Including: "Contemporary Legendary Theater", "Sex and the City Country", "Loulan Girl"; "Guoguang Troupe", "Wang Xifeng Troubles Ningguo Mansion", "Golden Lock", "Fast Snow Time Qing", "Meng Xiaodong", "Eighteen Arhat Diagrams" and so on. In 2009, he collaborated with internationally renowned director Robert Wilson on "Orlando"; starred in Bai Xianyong's adaptation of the drama "Garden Dream" in 2011; In 2021, he published "Millennium Stage, but I Have Not Lived Much".