May 6, 1946. The performance at the Shanghai Star Theater is undoubtedly the deepest memory of Yuan Xuefen's life. The new drama Xianglin Sister-in-law, adapted from Lu Xun's novel Blessing, makes full use of the stage art space to profoundly expose the destruction of human nature and the destruction of women by feudal rites in the old society, which has aroused strong social repercussions and is hailed as a milestone of the new Yue opera.
In March 1922, Yuan Xuefen was born in a remote mountain village in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, the birthplace of Chinese Yue Opera, and at the age of 11, due to the pressure of life, Yuan Xuefen came to the opera class with the retraining of innocence and serious singing, and at the age of 14 he had become a remarkable rising star.
After the fall of Shanghai in November 1937, the country was in trouble, and Yuan Xuefen, who was unwilling to be a slave of the country, was moved by the righteous spirit in the drama Wen Tianxiang, and was determined to learn Wen Tianxiang as a person and sing righteous songs in acting.
In October 1942, the first play of Yuan Xuefen's new Yue Opera, the ancient temple ghost adopted newly designed costumes and three-dimensional sets, and the performance was a full audience, and the performance was a success. Later, in the singing voice, Yuan Xuefen created a unique style of pulling notes, the dry head of Xiangfei, the dry forest of Liang Zhu, and the dry skin of a wisp of hemp, which became the three caves of Yuan Xuefen's classics, laying a solid foundation for the formation of Yuan School art. Among the more than 300 local dramas in China, Yue Opera took the lead in establishing a comprehensive artistic mechanism of choreography, director, sound and beauty, replacing the main actor-centric theory, and the establishment of the choreographer and director system has made a historic contribution to the development of Yue Opera in China. In order to strive for the greater development of Yue Opera, protect the legitimate rights and interests of the sisters of Yue Opera.
In August 1947, Yuan Xuefen personally planned and united with nine other Yue opera sisters to perform mountain and river love, they took progressive culture as an example, proceeded from paying attention to and reflecting real life, and waged a resolute struggle against the underworld forces. After the founding of New China, Yuan Xuefen was invited to participate in the first Political Consultative Conference and climbed the Tiananmen Tower to attend the founding ceremony.
Under the guidance of the party's drama reform policy, Yuan Xuefen participated in the establishment of the first national theater troupe of Yue Opera, the East China Yue Opera Experimental Troupe, and in the 50s of the 20th century, they successively rehearsed a number of representative plays such as Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, Xixian Ji, Dream of Red Mansions, Xianglin Sister-in-law, etc., and successively visited democracy, Germany, the Soviet Union, Vietnam and other countries, making Yue opera go to the world.
In 1978. Yuan Xuefen returned to serving as the director of Shanghai Yue Theater, presided over and organized a series of new plays and performances, vigorously cultivated young actors, and actively promoted the collation and theoretical research of opera genres in his later years, and presided over the compilation of theoretical monographs on the art theory of Yue Opera, the stage of Yue Opera, fine arts, and the history of the development of Yue Opera.
After 1978. The Shanghai Magnolia Drama Award, with Yuan Xuefen as the director of the jury, has become one of the important drama awards in China.
In December 2003, Yuan Xuefen was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in Art by the Ministry of Culture and enjoyed a special allowance for experts with outstanding contributions from the state.
On February 19, 2011, 89-year-old Yuan Xuefen died of illness in Shanghai.
As a pioneer of the reform of Yue Opera, in the long years, Yuan Xuewen fulfilled the oath of always following the party, worked tirelessly, and made outstanding contributions to the development of art, until the end of his life, although the Si people were new steamboats, in the 40s of the 20th century, the new Yue Opera initiated by Yuan Xuefen profoundly affected the development process of Chinese opera, in the practice of promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese excellent culture, his courageous exploration of the reform spirit, selfless dedication and unforgettable hometown complex, His name is forever engraved on the historical monuments of Chinese Yue Opera.