Zeng Guilin: Mei Lanfang and charity performances in the Republic of China period

Charity charity performances are an entertainment cultural phenomenon that has emerged in modern cities. In recent years, some scholars have extensively discussed charity performances in modern China from the perspective of cultural communication media, and have increasingly become a remarkable academic highlight. Looking at these achievements, it is more or less at the macro and mesoscopic levels, or narratives to explore the emergence and evolution of charity performances in a certain period of time, or to explore the relationship between charity performances in a certain region and urban space and culture, while case studies at the micro level seem to be rare, and the participants of charity charity performances have not yet been paid attention to by scholars. Based on historical facts, from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the republic of China, the Lingjie circle played a very important role in the rise and development of charity performances. Mei Lanfang, who is known as one of the "Four Famous Dans" of Peking Opera, has participated in charity performances many times in her brilliant stage art career in her life, leaving behind a piece of pear garden good story. As a generation of celebrities, Mei Lanfang's yixing acts of charity performances not only played an exemplary role in the ling industry, but also had a wide impact on all sectors of society. For this reason, taking Mei Lanfang as a typical case study of charity charity performances during the Republic of China years may be seen in a small way, and then a glimpse of some aspects of the development and evolution of charity charity performances in modern China.

One

Mei Lanfang was born in the Liyuan family, although the talent is not outstanding, but since childhood, he has heard about it, and his relationship with opera is quite close to the water tower, which provides a unique condition for his childhood to become an artist. In the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1901), Mei Lanfang officially studied drama at the age of eight, and after several years of diligent practice, he performed on stage at the age of ten, and since then he has begun a stage art career of more than fifty years. Mei Lanfang rehearsed nearly 100 Peking Opera and Kunqu opera repertoire in her lifetime, and successfully shaped a classic character image with her superb acting skills, forming a unique theatrical performance system, that is, "Mei Pai". On and off the stage, he not only has excellent performing arts, but also has a noble moral demeanor and a strong patriotic sentiment, which can be described as both moral and artistic. In the society of the Republic of China, which is full of storms and disasters, Mei Lanfang often performs on stage as a person, actively participates in or initiates charity performances, and raises funds for disaster relief and other public welfare matters, which has become a beautiful scenery in the cultural circles during the Republic of China period.

Throughout Mei Lanfang's acting life, he actively participated in or held charity performances, both external factors of the times and society, as well as family factors of his personal growth.

First, let's look at the external social environment factors. Since the late Qing Dynasty, with the opening of coastal commercial ports one after another, the urbanization process of modern China has gradually started, and the development of commercial economy and the evolution of urban space have become its most prominent features. Correspondingly, social and cultural changes and the transformation of citizens' lives. During the same year, "many local small dramas have sprung up and developed", and "there has been a flow from the countryside to the city", especially the drama industry in Shanghai is the most representative, and a large number of leisure and entertainment venues "tea gardens" have emerged, and then developed into commercial special theater gardens. These tea gardens and opera gardens are not only found in the old city, but also set up in the concession. In addition to Shanghai, in Tianjin, Guangzhou, Hankou and other treaty port cities, folk opera has also shown a prosperous development trend. In the imperial capital, Peking Opera was extremely popular, quite popular with the upper class, and then spread to the whole country. The flourishing and popularity of folk opera in the late Qing Dynasty, coupled with the needs of urban people for leisure and entertainment life, became the precondition for the emergence of charity charity performances, making it have a corresponding social foundation.

In the early years of Guangxu, the foreigners of the Shanghai Concession performed a charity performance to raise funds to help relieve the disaster in France, which coincided with the "Ding Pengqi Famine" in North China, which inspired the main writer of the newspaper, and published an article calling: "So that the Chinese people can also do what they do, and when things are handled in this way, it is bound to be easy to achieve; "The excellent results of acting can also be so attentive and act like this, which is really beneficial to the world." Soon, Shanghai Heming Opera Park took the lead in responding and raised funds for a charity performance held in the disaster area of Shandong. The following year, Shanghai's Dangui Garden, Daguan Garden, and Tianxian Garden also held a number of charity performances, which were praised by people at the time as "not only enjoying the tour, but also borrowing funds to help them get two things in one fell swoop." For this reason, some commentators have proposed that the first appearance of this kind of acting aid in the late Qing Dynasty charity relief activities is "most likely a model of the Western form of charity performance"; however, some commentators believe that the lingren righteous relief is not an "imported product", but a tradition of mutual assistance and mutual assistance that has existed within the lingjie fandom. At that time, it had become a custom for Shanghai theaters to "beat pheasants" every waxing month. As mentioned in the previous exposé, "Because of the theaters in the concession, from the first to the last winter, all the guests living in the concession asked each theater to perform for one night, and the surplus of the income was returned to each person to be used, and the name was 'playing pheasants', which has always been so, especially this winter." It can be seen that this old custom in the pear garden industry also contains some factors of modern charity charity performances, which may not be impossible to regard as a rudimentary or germination state. In addition, at the beginning of the Spring Festival, various merchants and merchants in Shanghai also take turns to fund the extension of the opera class to sing the New Year's rules, which is also a performance of a charitable and public welfare nature. In this regard, the superposition of multiple factors has finally contributed to the emergence of modern charity performances. After the Ding Pengqi famine, the acting aid was slightly silent, but in the late Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin areas became more and more prosperous. In particular, in the thirty-second year of Guangxu (1906), Tian Jiyun, the head of the Yucheng class, rehearsed the volunteer play "The Biography of Lady Huixing", raised funds to revitalize the school, and became famous in Beijing and Tianjin. Tan Xinpei, Qian Jinfu, Huang Runfu, Wang Guifen, Chen Delin, Wang Yaoqing, Zhu Suyun, Jin Xiushan, Lu Sanbao, Li Shoushan and many other famous actors have performed on stage, which has achieved great social impact. According to the newspaper: "Beijing Opera Park for more than 200 years, this is the first sound of touching." In the following years, voluntary drama performances aimed at helping students and raising funds became popular in the Beijing-Tianjin area. For example, after the flood in Jiangwan, Tan Peixin, Wang Guifen and others went to Fushou Hall to perform a performance to help the relief at the invitation of Tian Jiyun, "jointly carrying out a righteous act." Tan Peixin, Wang Yaoqing, Jin Xiushan and other celebrities were also invited by the Guangyi Charity Association to perform at the Li Gong Ancestral Hall for five days and six performances, and the proceeds were sent to the bank of the Ministry of Households to be remitted to the disaster area. At this time, Mei Lanfang was still in the stage of learning art as a teenager. In the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), he made his debut in Guanghe Lou, and then continued to play small roles in various drama classes until three years later, when he officially joined the class "Xi Liancheng" to participate in the performance. In addition to participating in the performance, Mei Lanfang was also personally burned by Lu Sanbao, Chen Delin, Qian Jinfu, Li Shoushan, Wang Yaoqing and other famous actors, and benefited a lot from the performance of Dao Ma Dan, Xiaosheng, Huayi and Kunqu Opera. At the same time, he has more opportunities to contact the seniors of the pear garden industry, observe their wonderful performances, or even perform on the same stage. The study and observation during this period not only laid a solid foundation for Mei Lanfang's future acting skills, but also had an important impact on the formation of her character and artistic virtue. The charity performances of the predecessors of Pear Garden have won wide praise in the society, which has gradually immersed Mei Lanfang, who has just ascended the chrysanthemum altar, into this good wind, and uses it as a model to lead her to actively participate in charity performances in the future.

Let's look at the family environment factors of personal growth. Mei Lanfang was born in the Liyuan family, and her grandfather Mei Qiaoling (ZiHuixian) was one of the "Thirteen Absolute Masters of Tongguang", Gong Qingyi and Hua Dan Opera, and had been in charge of the Sixi class for many years. When Mei Qiaoling was the head of the class, he was very sympathetic to the apprentice, and "good at giving, able to be anxious, and the same industry is more beneficial." Once, he heard that Wu Lingxian's family had encountered an accident, and immediately sent a silver ticket to help him tide over the difficulties. Empress Wu Lingxian opened a mentor for Mei Lanfang. At the turn of Tongzhi and Guangxu, Emperor Muzong and empress of the Qing Dynasty died successively, and there were two consecutive "national funerals", and the drama classes were forced to stop performing for nearly 7 months, and the economic losses were very large. In order to take care of the livelihood of her peers, Mei Qiaoling did not disband the drama class or pay only half a salary as usual, but paid full salary according to the treatment at the time of the performance, so as not to let everyone starve and freeze. He did such a good deed, not because of his financial resources, but because he did his best to find ways to raise funds, "on the one hand, he used his own savings to make a payment, and on the other hand, he borrowed money from the bill of exchange", and struggled to support the dilemma. In the seventh year of Guangxu (1881), during the mourning period of Empress Dowager Ci'an, Mei Qiaoling did the same, pouring out all his money and pear garden companions. Li Ciming, a famous scholar of the late Qing Dynasty, recorded this incident in his diary: "Filial piety and national compassion, more than a hundred people in the class are unemployed, and they are waiting for Hui Xian to raise a fire." "Mei Qiaoling is a generous and extremely affectionate person, not only for his peers, but also for his friends and friends. In the late Qing Dynasty, the literati and opera fans widely praised Mei Qiaoling's righteous deeds such as "burning coupons" and "redeeming dang", and honored him as a "righteous ling". Mei Lanfang grew up in such a charitable family environment, and was obviously also infected and infiltrated by good family style. When he was young, he often listened to his grandmother and aunt talk about his grandfather's righteous deeds and good deeds, which made him deeply moved, and from an early age he was determined to follow the example of his ancestors, forge ahead, and move upwards to goodness. In his later years, he still remembers his grandfather's lifelong style of chivalry and righteousness. Li Lingling: The Complete Biography of Mei Lanfang, p. 7. It can be said that his grandfather's behavior planted good roots in Mei Lanfang's young mind, and the influence of family style and family training had a profound impact on his later life as an artist. Shi Ren said: "Now Lan Fang can live her family, and Qiao Ling [Ling] is also a good reward." Therefore, after he became an adult in the early years of the Republic of China, he actively participated in the charity performance of the drama class theater garden, which can be described as a good root and a good fruit, and it is a matter of course.

In addition, Mei Lanfang's interaction with Zhang Xiao also had a certain impact on his charity performances. Zhang Xiao was a famous industrialist and philanthropist in modern China, and in the late Qing Dynasty and early Minchu, he built a large-scale and comprehensive system of charity and public welfare in the Nantong area of Jiangsu Province. In the early years of the Republic of China, Mei Lanfang and Zhang Jian met. In the winter of 1919, Zhang Jian built public cultural facilities such as the Linggong School, the More Vulgar Theater, and mei ou ge in Nantong, and invited Mei Lanfang to visit the performance. Mei Lanfang acted and visited Nantong for more than ten days, and sang poetry with Zhang Xiao. During this period, he heard and witnessed Zhang Xiao's achievements in painstakingly managing local autonomy based on the combination of industry, education and charity, and was deeply impressed by his charitable deeds such as donating funds to promote education and selling calligraphy and paintings to raise funds for baby-rearing, and he was very admired and touched by his philanthropic and public welfare spirit of Bo Shi and the people. Later, as her personal reputation grew, Mei Lanfang became more and more active in participating in charity performances. From this point of view, Mei Lanfang's visit to Nantong by Zhang Xiao had an impact on his later charity performances in various places.

Two

Mei Lanfang began to learn drama from the age of eight, after nearly ten years of diligent study and hard work, as well as continuous acting and watching drama in shifts, his acting skills have matured day by day, and by the early years of the Republic of China, he has emerged in the beijing opera circle and his reputation has risen. In 1913, Mei Lanfang and Wang Fengqing performed in Shanghai for the first time, and it became a hit and became popular all over the beach, which became an important turning point in Mei Lanfang's stage art career. A few years later, Mei Lanfang soon became a famous Peking Opera master and a master of Pear Garden at home and abroad during the Republic of China. During this period, Mei Lanfang not only participated in the commercial performances of the church and the theater garden, but also actively participated in the voluntary performances of the public welfare. It can be said that charity performances have become a part of Mei Lanfang's opera performance career in the Republic of China period that cannot be ignored. By combing through Mei Lanfang's acting career, his participation in charity performances can be divided into three stages.

The first stage was from participating in the volunteer play of the Zhengle Yuhua Association in 1912 to performing in Japan in 1919, which was the initial period of Mei Lanfang's charity charity performance. After the Xinhai Revolution, Peking Opera celebrities Tian Jiyun, Yu Yuqin and others initiated the establishment of the Zhengle Education Association to promote the improvement of opera and the cultivation of talents, with Tan Xinpei as the president, and Mei Lanfang was also invited to join the association. After the establishment of the Zhengle Yuhua Association, there is a Yuhua Primary School attached to it to recruit children from the industry. In the autumn of 1912, the Zhengle Yuhua Association raised funds for the attached Yuhua Primary School, invited the drama classes to perform voluntary plays in the Guangde Building of Dashilar, and Mei Lanfang performed on the same stage with Tan Xinpei, Yang Xiaolou and other famous Peking opera actors to perform "Fan Jiangguan". According to the available information, this may be the first time that Mei Lanfang has participated in a charity performance in her life. Soon, zhengle education association launched a fundraising charity performance, and Mei Lanfang once again participated in the joint performance with Tan Xinpei. The following year, he was invited to perform a volunteer play initiated by Yu Zhenting in Guangde Building. In the following years, Mei Lanfang took over the business drama at the same time, and successively participated in various voluntary plays, and frequent performances gave him more opportunities for stage practice. At the same time, he diversified and developed several types of plays such as traditional opera, Kunqu opera, costume new drama, fashion new drama, etc., and gradually became prominent and attracted people's attention. On the eve of being invited to perform in Japan in April 1919, Mei Lanfang had both inheritance and continuous innovation in acting, and gradually became a pure fire, which laid his position in the history of the development of Chinese Peking Opera. When his acting in Japan was a great success, causing a sensation and becoming famous overseas, Mei Lanfang became a Peking Opera performance artist at home and abroad. From this point of view, 1919 was not only a key turning point in Mei Lanfang's personal artistic career, but also a watershed in her charity performances. In other words, in the compulsory performance of the Opera circle in the Republic of China, Mei Lanfang began to shift from supporting roles to protagonists; the plays he participated in gradually became the grand finale of the entire charity performance activities, which was not only the highlight of the charity act code, but also the selling point that attracted the audience the most.

In 1915, Japan proposed to Yuan Shikai's government the "Twenty-One Articles" aimed at destroying China. After the news was disclosed, all sectors of Chinese society were in an uproar, the crowd was indignant, and the government and the public carried out Sino-Japanese representations in various ways. Although the Beijing Lingjie usually sings and dances and does not care about politics, at this time, it also knows the hatred of the subjugation of the country. On the one hand, he actively responded to the donations of the people, "When the Central Park held a meeting a few days ago, he took a hundred yuan of foreign ants and handed them to the Bank of Communications on the spot, and took the receipts as a basis"; on the other hand, he consulted with Lu Sanbao to "gather all the famous people in Beijing, each of them is the best play in his life, and sing a one- or two-night compulsory play on the first stage"; "and the ticket price may as well be a little high, and the huge amount of money will be collected, that is, it will be fully included in the national salvation reserve." In this voluntary play, Mei Lanfang and others were quite enthusiastic and determined to carry it out, and he also proposed to the Zhengle Yuhua Association for discussion, which won the majority of approval, and "the National Salvation Reserve Fund Group is willing to bear all the sporadic funds in the backstage before the day, and the resulting drama price is stored in the name of the Zhengle Yuhua Association." Mei Lanfang, as a well-known celebrity in the pear garden industry in Beijing in the early Ming Dynasty, actively launched charity performances, which caused strong repercussions in the society, which not only made a useful attempt to change the old image and shape a new image in the society, but also provided a good opportunity for Mei Lanfang to move from the edge of the charity stage to the center. Since then, Mei Lanfang has participated in some disaster relief charity performances when rehearsing new business plays.

In December 1918, Mei Lanfang and Wang Fengqing "because of the insufficient supply of rice for the women of Jiannan ShanTang, they immediately came to Tianjin to sing and advocate it", and gathered about the whole class to help and perform on the big stage for three days. In the winter of 1919, after Mei Lanfang returned from a visit to Japan, she was invited by Zhang Xiaozhi to perform in Nantong, and there were also some public welfare performances.

The second stage was from 1920, when Mei Lanfang initiated the establishment of chonglin society, to the early 1939 Hong Kong children's charity performance, which was the peak of Mei Lanfang's charity performance. In the 1920s and 1930s, Mei Lanfang was rated as the first of the "Four Famous Dans" by the press and voters, and the reputations of "Master of Chinese Opera" and "Liyuan Taidou" did not go away. Mei Lanfang has become a famous role that fans in Beijing (Ping) Tianjin and Shanghai are keenly sought after, and some hardcore fans have commented on his acting and appreciated him, forming the so-called "Mei Party". During this period, Mei Lanfang, as the most influential and market-appealing celebrity on the Peking Opera stage, her performance was quite popular, and she was undoubtedly the best person to initiate or be invited to participate in the charity performance. In the meantime, Mei Lanfang almost every year to participate in several or even more than a dozen charity performances. Limited by the scattered literature, it is currently impossible to accurately count the number of Mei Lanfang's participation in charity charity performances at this stage, but according to the relevant newspapers and periodicals, the preliminary estimate is no less than 100 times, which is enough to summarize its general situation. The following will select the most important ones, that is, the charity performances with greater social influence, such as the 1920 North China Drought Relief Charity Performance, the 1926 Poverty Relief Volunteer Drama, the 1928-1929 Henan-Shaanxi-Gansu Provinces Drought Relief Charity Performance, and the 1931 and 1935 Jianghuai Flood Relief Charity Performances.

In the summer and autumn of 1920, when the five provinces of North China suffered a drought that had been rare in decades, people from all walks of life in Beijing and Tianjin set up disaster relief groups to raise funds. In September, the North China Relief Society held a garden tour in Central Park to help the relief, and Mei Lanfang also responded positively, while buying tickets to enter the park to help cheer, on the other hand, launching a disaster relief volunteer play and donating donations. At the end of the month, he called Yu Qiaqing and said, "This disaster relief volunteer drama has received a total of more than 10,800 yuan in theater donations", of which 10,000 yuan has been pledged by individuals, and more than 800 yuan has been collected by donors on the spot of the voluntary performance, "and his perseverance and enthusiasm can be seen." Due to the severe drought in North China, Mei Lanfang was also invited to participate in charity performances many times. According to a notice he later publicly released: "The contempt has done its best to sing volunteer plays over the years, that is, in this drought in Beizhi, the contemptible people first initiated two days of singing in the Xinming Theater, and the cash obtained was more than 10,000 yuan to completely help the charity, and its backstage miscellaneous expenses were completely borne by the contempt; ... The second time he initiated voluntary relief for all the Lingjie and sang on the first stage for two days; the third time for General Jiang Yucheng, about to ask the Lingjie to help the relief, also sang on the first stage for two days; ... The Fifth International Disaster Relief Conference held a parade at the Beijing Hotel, and the legation group came to the appointment, and the contempt singed twice. No penny was received in the past. "Mei Lanfang has repeatedly and tirelessly participated in the volunteer drama, sincerely living up to the reputation of enthusiasm for charity, and the victims have also benefited from it."

In the winter of 1926, Shanghai gentlemen Wang Yiting, Xu Qianlin and others "in view of the large number of poor people in Shanghai, benefiting from this year's rice grain, in the middle of winter, the livelihood is difficult, and urgently need relief", after consulting with Mei Lanfang, it was scheduled to perform a three-night performance on the Daxin Stage at the end of November of the Summer Calendar, raise charity funds, and the directors of various organizations such as the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce, the Shanghai County Chamber of Commerce, the Zhabei Charity Group, and the Songhu Disabled Beggars Nomadic People's Correctional Institution served as sales coupons, "the coupons obtained, all the charitable deeds were handled." Mei Lanfang also published a special notice for this performance, saying that "with joy and merit, kindness and people", "fulfilling their obligations, performing on stage", the admission ticket is divided into 20 yuan, 10 yuan, 5 yuan three kinds, and with the coupon sent nanyang brother tobacco company with its name trademark special cigarettes.

From 1928 to 1929, the northern provinces such as Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu and other provinces were in drought for many years. Shanghai gentlemen initiated the establishment of the Standing Committee of Yushan- Gansu Relief Funds and actively raised funds for the disaster areas. At the beginning of 1929, Mei Lanfang promised to perform three consecutive days of relief from January 19 to 21, and the proceeds were distributed by the meeting of the association, of which "40% in Shaanxi, 35% in Gan, and 25% in Yu", which alleviated the tragic situation of the people in the disaster area to a certain extent. At this time, Feng Shaoshan and others were initiating the preparation of the Shanghai Civilian Hospital to raise funds, and Mei Lanfang was invited to perform a voluntary play, and agreed to perform on the stage in the French Concession on January 26, with the whole book "Ganlu Temple" and "Beauty Plan". As soon as the news of the drama was announced, "people in Shanghai were quite enthusiastic about subscribing to this drama ticket", in addition to the reservations of various military and political chiefs and various organs and groups, "the rest of the business and learning circles also competed to buy and recognize". According to another source, "the sale of drama coupons in the past few days has been particularly smooth, and there are dozens of 100 yuan boxes sold", only a few remaining ones, and "five yuan coupons and three yuan coupons have also sold a lot". The voucher funds obtained were used to fund the hospital, and the total stage expenses on the day were donated by Jin Rong. In order to expand its influence and raise more donations, the "Declaration" has carried out publicity and reporting for several days, constantly rendering Mei's acting skills, in order to bake the rare opportunity and create an atmosphere of enthusiastic fundraising, saying: "It is reported that Mei Jun's going north this time has quite the idea of a shadow, and it is to watch the drama on the stage of the monarchs, which is equivalent to watching the last commemorative drama of Mei Jun. ”

In China's modern history, 1931 was a rather uneven and extraordinary year, with internal and external troubles. In the summer and autumn of this year, the Yangtze River and the Huai River experienced a huge flood in the whole basin, and the disaster area was wide as the provinces of Xiang'e, Yu, Gansu, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Just as the whole country was carrying out flood relief, the "918 Incident" broke out, and Japan provoked a local war of aggression against China. Natural and man-made disasters have spiraled in succession, and the National Government in Nanjing has been left and right, and has been in difficulty at home and abroad, so the civil society forces have largely shouldered the heavy responsibility of domestic disaster relief. Charitable organizations in Pingjin, Shanghai and other places have launched various forms of fundraising activities, and charity performances are the most common way to raise funds. At the beginning of 1931, Mei Lanfang performed her best plays "Hongni Guan", "Famen Temple" and "Bawang Bijie" on the Shanghai Grand Stage, and all the proceeds were used to help the victims of Henan and Jiangxi provinces. "Mei Lanfang Performs a Drama for the Zhen Disaster in Jiangxi, Henan", "Declaration", January 18, 1931, 16th edition of "Benbu News". In September, Mei Lanfang sang volunteer plays in Beiping, Tianjin and other places, and the Tianjin municipal government also set up a volunteer drama committee to engage in preparatory matters.

After the "918 Incident", the situation in Peiping became increasingly tense, and Mei Lanfang moved to Shanghai in 1932. At the end of the year, Ma Lianliang also went to Shanghai to raise funds for Caojing Hospital, but Jin Jinrong came forward to ask Mei and Ma to perform a voluntary play, and the two "put righteousness as the most important", so they were scheduled to perform on the Tiantou Stage on December 30 and 31. From January 1 to 6, 1933, initiated by Shi Liangcai, Jin Jinrong, Yu Qiaqing and others, Shanghai raised the Temporary Relief Association of the Yuwan-Anhui Disaster Area, the Shanghai Northeast Refugee Relief Association and various charitable groups in Shanghai, and also asked Mei Lanfang and Ma Lianliang to continue to perform on the Tiantou Stage, "winning six consecutive nights, selling funds to help refugees from all regions of natural and man-made disasters across the country.". Mei Lanfang's performances include "Famen Temple", "Noble Concubine Drunk", "Red Line Thief Box", "Thorny Tiger", "Rainbow Pass", "Overlord Farewell", "Su Sanqi Solution", "Golden Mountain Temple", all of which are famous dramas and are quite popular with the audience.

In 1934, when disasters were frequent throughout the country, Mei Lanfang held charity performances in Beijing, Shanghai and other places one after another. In mid-to-late February, he first performed a drama in Nanjing Inspirational Society for three days, "raising funds for the Yellow Disaster Relief Association", and then went to Shanghai to "perform a volunteer drama for two days and perform Kunqu Opera". Due to the particularly severe yellow disaster in Yu Province, and in late June, Mei Lanfang was invited to Perform a drama in Kaifeng to raise relief, and the social response was strong. In the same year, "the drought epidemic, especially in Hubei Province", the Hubei Travel and Shanghai Hometown Association asked Mei Lanfang to sing a volunteer play through Shanghai wenren Du Yuesheng and Golden Rongshang, with funds to raise funds, and was allowed to sponsor, "so that more than three million disaster victims in Hubei can share the celebration of coming to Suzhou, and also wait to feed the gospel of the disaster victims". In fact, the highlight of Mei Lanfang's charity performance this year is still to come. In December, the Shanghai Fundraising Provincial Drought Relief Association took the drought in each province this year with a very large number of victims, no clothes and no food, and a very compassionate situation, in addition to actively raising funds from all parties, and Du Yuesheng, director of the fundraising group of the association, invited Mei Lanfang and other artists to perform three nights ahead of the Middle Of the Year on the Rongji Grand Stage, with coupon prices divided into four kinds, ranging from 1 to 10 yuan, "by collecting huge amounts of money, with funds for relief." For this reason, the fundraisers also published a wide notice, inviting people from all walks of life to sell drama coupons and visit, "in the legitimate entertainment to benefit the meaning of universal relief, kill two birds with one stone, and the merit is immeasurable." Later, from the 18th to the 22nd, Mei Lanfang was once again invited to perform on the same stage with shanghai ticket holders to perform disaster relief, and her performances were "Cosmic Front", "Overlord Farewell", "Jinshan Temple", "Horse Trader", "Shilang Visiting Mother" and so on. The fundraiser also advertised widely, widely publicizing, "Enthusiastically buy tickets, book seats early, be full of eyes and disaster relief, and kill two birds with one stone, why not enjoy it."

At the beginning of 1935, in order to relieve the victims of the disaster and street children, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Drought Relief Association and the Chinese Salesian Association agreed to hold a large-scale fundraising, and kong Xiangxi, Xu Jianping, Zhang Jingjiang and more than 20 other people initiated the relief and entertainment conference, and chose to start performing on the Tian toad Stage on February 14, "For four consecutive nights, Mei Lanfang, a well-known Chinese and foreign artist, together with other famous domestic ticket friends and artists, performed an unprecedented performance, that is, with the proceeds, it was transferred to handle relief services and relieve orphaned children. It can be said that charity is combined with entertainment." "In addition to the special seat, flower building, and moon building, the ticket price is divided into ten yuan, five yuan, and two yuan", and the theater tickets are sold at the Samsung Stage, Jincheng Bank, Salesian Children's Association and so on. In order to arouse the audience's desire to buy tickets and watch the play, the newspaper briefly introduced Mei Lanfang and the ticket friends, "This time the famous artists performed jointly, the fish and dragon spread, and the cheers of Many Wang Sun were heard." And it was revealed to the outside world that Mei Lanfang will go to Moscow to perform, and after returning, there is a saying that she has quit the performance, and this charity performance is a precious and rare opportunity for people in Shanghai, and it is not to be lost. As a result, people from all walks of life have gone to buy tickets and make reservations, which is quite enthusiastic.

In 1935, a major flood occurred in the Jianghuai area, and various charitable groups in Shanghai carried out various relief actions, such as flood amusement clubs and dramas to help with relief. In this year's disaster relief charity performance, Mei Lanfang is anxious for justice and righteousness, and is particularly enthusiastic. As the newspaper said: "Dr. Mei Lanfang has a long-cherished passion for charity in her life, and over the years the disasters in various provinces have been happy to sponsor." A few days ago, Ou Zai praised Shanghai, heard the reasons for his early return to China, and planned to fulfill his obligations for the disaster victims to perform the drama in Shanghai for a long period of time. Mei's previous charity dramas were at most three or five days. This time, with great sacrifice, he was determined to engage in long-term performance to help the vibration, and once the preparation was completed, he was on the stage. In the process of preparing for the charity performance in Shanghai, in September, Mei Lanfang was invited to nanjing, Hangzhou and other places to perform dramas to help relief. When answering a reporter's question in Nanjing, he said that on the way back to China, he learned of the tragic flood disaster in China, and after arriving in Shanghai, he planned to perform a drama to help the relief. I hope that all parties will join hands in this grand event. Later, it was agreed with the Capital Disaster Relief Fundraising Association that from September 11 to 16, it would go to Nanjing for another six days of charity performances. On the 19th, Mei Lanfang was invited by the Shanghai charity community to perform at the Golden Grand Theatre to help relief. Just after the end, he accepted the invitation of the Hangzhou Fundraising Association and went to Hangzhou for a charity performance on the 22nd. Mei Lanfang performed in Hangzhou for seven days, and the total ticket price was about 28,000 yuan. In addition to the expenditure of about 8,000 yuan, the net balance of 20,000 yuan, that is, 60% of the disaster, 40% of the funds for the Hangzhou beggar shelter. It can be seen that the Hangzhou Charity Performance was quite successful.

And this year's disaster relief drama is still to come. After a period of intense preparation and multi-party contact, by the end of September, the performance lineup has been basically determined, and dozens of celebrities who have been invited and actively participated in the performance have decided to start the performance at the Golden Grand Theatre from October 2, "the performance period is set in January, and all the coupons obtained help to cheer up", "The ticket price is divided into three yuan, two yuan, one yuan, and five corners, and yesterday the fundraising group has stamped the plutonium seal, that is, it will start selling, and the buyers are extremely enthusiastic." Due to the proper fundraising of the fundraising group, the performance code was previewed in advance, and widely publicized through the news media, the results were quite good, and the donation situation of all parties was very enthusiastic. "The plays were brilliant... Gentlemen and merchants in this port have reserved seats early, and after eight o'clock, there is no gap, the traffic is busy, and it is extremely prosperous. After Mei's return from Europe this time, he originally planned to temporarily recuperate, but in view of the extremely serious disaster situation in various places, he was anxious to be helped, so he rushed to the stage. His zeal for justice and righteousness is truly rare. He also said: "Since Mei Lanfang took the stage for several days, the bustle in front of the Golden Theater has broken an unprecedented record. Every day, the show opens at 8 o'clock, and at 5 o'clock it is full, and even volunteers stand to watch. Its selling power is so good that it has never been seen at sea. According to the person in charge of the hospital, since the hospital changed its performance of ping opera, its selling results have never been so prosperous"; "Mei Lanfang's performance on stage to help cheer up, and it has been full for several days. Mei's appeal is staggering, and people from all walks of life are full of admiration for their own hunger and self-indulgence." This disaster relief charity performance coincided with Mei Lanfang's return from overseas honors, and was supposed to temporarily recuperate after the wind and dust servants, but due to the serious disaster situation in various places, it was urgent to ask for relief and persuasion, so he resolutely agreed to take the stage and take the stage to perform, and got the cooperation of various gentlemen and merchants. Soon, the charity performance period coincided with the Double Tenth Festival, and the preparatory team scheduled more outstanding programs on the night of the 10th and 11th, "selling seats for consecutive days, with excellent results" and "especially the audience"; in order to attract more audiences, on the 12th and 13th, "the ticket prices of the flower building and the moon building were slightly reduced to popularize the capital". By the end of October, Mei Lanfang's charity performance was over, which can be said to have spared no effort to help the drama. Soon, Mei Lanfang published a notice of thanks, which seemed to be a summary of the charity performance of the Jianghuai flood disaster: "Lan Fang returned to Europe this summer, and she heard that the domestic floods were serious, and she was willing to do her best to perform dramas to help the relief." Suitable for the flood relief of various provinces to meet the appointment, can be in Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai volunteer performances, a total of 34 days. Since the elders of all walks of life in the Netherlands gave help, the famous dukes of Beijing and Shanghai participated in the concert, and the gentlemen were enthusiastic about righteousness, so that Lan Fang's private wishes were coarsely paid, and he was attached to the light and dust, and he was beyond expectations. The fundraising situation of the charity performance was also published in the "Declaration" and made public.

After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Mei Lanfang left Shanghai in early 1938 and took refuge in Hong Kong, and since then she has lived in simplicity and has been on the stage for nearly 8 years. During this period, he only raised funds for the Chinese Wartime Child Care Association in March 1939 to help and raise children in need. When the Pacific War broke out and Hong Kong fell, Mei Lanfang had a beard and a clear mind, and after returning to Shanghai, she still insisted on resigning. Mei Lanfang quit performing the strike dance during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, demonstrating her mighty and indomitable national integrity.

The third stage is from Mei Lanfang's return to the stage in the autumn of 1945 to the liberation of Shanghai in the spring of 1949, which can be regarded as the return period of her charity charity performance. Shortly after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Mei Lanfang sang Kunqu opera at the Lyceum Theatre in Shanghai and officially returned to perform on stage. The following year, he reorganized the opera class Chenghua Society and intensively planned the commercial performance of Peking Opera. After years of war, most of China has been trampled and ravaged by the Japanese army invading China, and it is urgent to heal the wounds of the war and carry out demobilization and relief activities. Later, the Kuomintang-Communist civil war broke out, the war spread rapidly, coupled with the frequent occurrence of natural disasters in various places, famine, crisis in the kuomintang area, inflation, and soaring prices. Under such circumstances, Mei Lanfang became the protagonist of all parties to extend and invite charity performances, and participated in the charity performances in the name of disaster relief and revitalization as always.

In January 1946, the Shanghai Branch of the China National Association of Foreign Affairs, together with the Chinese Women's Mutual Aid Association and other four public groups, held a charity performance at the Special Empress Theater in order to raise funds for the relief of the families of the martyred seafarers of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and urged Mei Lanfang and the famous characters of Beijing and Shanghai to appear. Mei Shi angrily agreed to perform "Garden Dreams" and "Odd Double Meeting" on the 14th and 15th. This is the first time that Mei Lanfang has performed a charity performance after re-appearing on the stage after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and it is worth remembering. On January 28th and 29th, the Shanghai Lingjie Federation and the Beiping Pear Garden Association raised charity funds for the Pinghu industry, and specially invited colleagues in the Pinghu opera industry to hold a charity performance on the Tiantou Stage, of which Mei Lanfang participated in the big axis play "Dragon and Phoenix Chengxiang". The ticket price of the charity show is divided into eight classes, and the highest class is 20,000 yuan of honor vouchers. At this time, it is close to the end of the old calendar year, and this charity performance is quite similar to the traditional "Nest Head Society", which is designed for the relief of the poor and the poor. At the turn of spring and summer, when a great famine broke out in Hunan, Shen Congwen and other fellow villagers in Yunnan province jointly called Mei Lanfang for the relief of Sangzi, "please go to Kunming and preside over the charity performance", and set up honorary coupons of 100,000 yuan each, and ordinary coupons of 10,000 yuan each. Mei Lanfang also did not disappoint the public and gladly went to Kun Charity Performance, benefiting thousands of disasters.

At the beginning of 1946, due to the soaring prices in the National Unification District, the salaries of teachers in Shanghai, Hangzhou and other cities could not make ends meet, and their lives were in trouble, and the trend of neglecting and boycotting religion was repeated. In order to calm the storm, in mid-April, the Kuomintang authorities launched a campaign to respect teachers, planning to raise a huge amount of 2 billion yuan to help teachers. After Mei Lanfang heard about it, "it is planned to invite leaders of the Shanghai theater industry to discuss the method and location of the performance on the same day, and donate the proceeds of the voucher funds to the Respected Teachers Sports Committee to show the intention of the Respected Teachers." After contacting the officers of the association, Mei Lanfang, Zhou Xinfang and others agreed to make two charity performances on the big stage and the Toad stage on May 17 and 18. On October 31 of the same year, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Culture and Sports raised the Zhongzheng Cultural Scholarship, and specially invited all Shanghai celebrities to hold a flat opera performance on the Tiantou Stage, and Mei Lanfang was also invited to participate in the finale, "the ticket price is from 4,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan, and there are 100 honorary seats, 100,000 yuan per ticket".

After the restoration of the northeast, Song Meiling, Mo Dehui and others launched the Northeast Relief Society in Chongqing. After agreeing to hold a disaster relief charity performance for three days from June 11, 1946, Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Ma Lianliang and others were invited to perform on the same stage, and Mei Participated in the repertoire of "Five Flower Cave" and "Wang Baojun", "Set famous and famous tickets in one hall, perform in the same play, for the past ten years of difficult to find a good play, the general opera fans heard the news, have purchased tickets and booked seats", "expected charity performance income, when up to more than 100 million", the proceeds of the charity are full of relief funds. In July, the Shanghai Municipal Fundraising Committee of the Northern Jiangsu Refugee Relief Association invited mingling tickets to perform charity performances, which were originally scheduled for ten days, but due to the hot weather, Mei Lanfang's physical strength had not yet healed, and the performance was suspended after five days, "The ticket sales income of the first five days of the performance was about 120 million yuan, all of which were directly remitted by the Toad Stage to collect the bank." At the beginning of June of the same year, the China Welfare Fund Committee sponsored by Song Qingling, in view of the serious disaster situation in Hubei and various provinces, specially performed Peking Opera for six days at the China Grand Theatre, with Cheng Yanqiu, Ma Lianliang and Mei Lanfang performing for two days each, and the last two night scenes were performed by Mei Lanfang, of which the big axis play was "Farewell to the King", "for the first time after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Dr. Mei performed a masterpiece". In addition, Mei Lanfang also went to Nanjing to participate in the disaster relief charity performance.

1947 was the most frequent year for Mei Lanfang to participate in charity performances in the late Republic of China. Since the middle of January, Mei Lanfang has been busy with the charity performances hosted by all parties, and there is almost no time to warm up. For example, he raised funds for the Commemorative Fund for General Zhang Zizhong, the Labor Education Fund, the Chinese Muslim Education Fund for the Education of Poor Children, as well as the Relief of Refugee Children and the Relief of the Liangguang Flood Disaster. In mid-January, celebrities from all walks of life in Shanghai launched a memorial to General Zhang Zizhong, "specially invited Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu and others to perform in the China Grand Theatre, raise funds, and build a Zizhong Library to permanently commemorate it." On March 22, Mei Lanfang was invited by the refugee refugee child shelter to donate funds for the construction of the school building foundation, and held a charity performance in the fake Daguang Theater, "the coupons are divided into 50,000 and 100,000, the income is not excluded from any expenses, all donations are donated to the school's buildings, and all necessary expenses and rental expenses are donated by Gu Qianlin." The performance was a great success, "Dr. Cheng Mei Lanfang's various artists and fans enthusiastically participated in the charity performance, and the audience enthusiastically subscribed to the tickets", and the organizer specially reported the thanks. In May, Kong Xiangxi held a tea party for the recruitment of the YMCA Labor Education Fund, and the Labor Department of the YMCA decided to hold a trial of various technical training classes for carpentry, leather labor and ironworkers, and Mei Lanfang, as an art leader, was invited to attend the meeting, and also accepted charity performances to serve the society. The ticket sales target is 1.4 billion Yuan, and by the 26th, all walks of life have subscribed to 100 million yuan, and the situation is quite enthusiastic.

In September 1947, Du Shou's charity performance "set the national famous tickets in one", the grand event was unprecedented, sensational throughout Shanghai, Mei Lanfang was listed as the first to be invited, and such a strong performance lineup also made the charity performance fundraising effect very impressive. This year coincided with Du Yuesheng's big birthday, the Shanghai Organizing Committee from all walks of life prepared to celebrate, originally planned to invite the famous people of the whole country to hold a church meeting to celebrate the birthday, but after "in this year's two Provinces of Guangdong, Suchuan and other provinces were severely flooded, mourning was everywhere", so the temporary meeting decided to change the Zhu Shou Tang to a charity performance, "since September 3, the Chinese Grand Theater will hold a flood relief drama charity performance for five days, a total of six performances, the ticket price is divided into 500,000 yuan, 300,000 yuan, 250,000 yuan, 200,000 yuan, 30,000 yuan and other five kinds, all the income is used for flood relief." In this Du Shou charity performance, Mei Lanfang performed on the stage on September 3 and 4, performing "Dragon and Phoenix Chengxiang" and "Fishing and Killing Family" respectively. As soon as this act of kindness came to an end, Mei Lanfang took the initiative to launch a charity performance with the status and influence of "the king of the world". The newspaper said: "Sensational Du Shou Charity Performance in Shanghai, to this day, Dr. Mei Lanfang decided to take advantage of the gathering of famous people from the north and the south, specially invited together with the famous actors, to launch a two-day (eight days, nine days) of welfare and bursaries of the North and South Lingjie Federation, the location is still in the China Grand Theatre, the repertoire has been set the whole book "Visiting mother" as the main axis, and other dramas are also very exciting. ”

In 1948, the Kuomintang rule was on the verge of collapse, the military and political situation was turbulent, the economy was depressed, and the people's lives were difficult. While performing a business drama, Mei Lanfang still accepted the invitations of all parties and participated in charity performances. In order to support the public welfare and help the same industry, he has also initiated or initiated charity performances several times. On February 2, 1948, at this time, it was nearly the end of the old calendar year, Mei Lanfang and others staged an uprising in Shanghai, raising 200 million yuan of French currency to help the poor in the pear garden industry in Beiping. On May 23 and 24, Mei Lanfang performed for two days at the Tiantou Stage for the Shanghai Lingjie Federation and the Beiping National Opera Association, and all the costume funds obtained were used to help Shanghai and Ping. Afterwards, Mei Lanfang wrote to Xiao Changhua of Beiping, saying that the charity performance was "good to be on the throne", and that each meeting of the Pinghu and Shanghai Associations should receive 29689 60,000 yuan, "this money has been remitted by Xinhua Bank the day before yesterday and temporarily deposited with Manager Cao", and added 7422 40,000 yuan, a total of 37111 20,000 yuan, and another entertainment donation of more than 1 600 million yuan has not been approved by the Finance Bureau to exempt donations, and it is also remitted to Beiping after being approved to receive it. "Premium" means that the forward exchange rate in the currency market is higher than the spot exchange rate. Since then, the situation has changed suddenly, the economy has been sluggish, and Mei Lanfang's participation in charity performances has gradually come to an end.

Three

By combing through Mei Lanfang's main charity performances in the Republic of China period, it is not difficult to see the purpose and use of these charity performances to raise funds, which can be roughly divided into several situations, such as patriotic salvation, disaster relief and poverty relief, and medical assistance.

The first is the patriotic salvation charity performance. China's modern charity performances originated in the late Qing Dynasty, when people often called "volunteer drama", which in a sense can be regarded as the product of the national perilous situation, so it also contains patriotic feelings and national spirit. As mentioned above, in 1915, when China and Japan negotiated the "Twenty-One Articles", Mei Lanfang first proposed that the famous characters of the Beijing Lingjie circle sing the obligatory plays on the first stage, each performing the best drama in his life, "collecting a huge amount of money, that is, paying all the money for national salvation." Mei Lanfang's patriotic style can be seen here. In 1929, the "Middle East Road Incident" broke out, and the Sino-Soviet military conflict lasted for five months. In October, the Tianjin Women's Association launched the Northeast Soldiers' Consolation Team, and Mei Lanfang was invited to Go to Tianjin to sing a volunteer play, "the ticket funds obtained, in addition to expenses, are used to comfort the Northeast soldiers."

In the 1930s and 1940s, as Japanese imperialism deliberately launched and continuously expanded the war of aggression against China, the national crisis became increasingly acute, and some pear gardeners with patriotic consciousness and nationalism also staged uprisings to save the country, so as to raise funds to donate to soldiers in the front, or to pay tribute to martyred officers and soldiers and refugees. In addition to rehearsing new plays such as "Anti-Golden Soldier" and "Life and Death Hate" to publicize the anti-Japanese salvation, Mei Lanfang also actively initiated or was invited to participate in the patriotic salvation charity performance. In 1932, during the Songhu War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Mei Lanfang heard that the medical expenses of wounded soldiers in Shanghai were scarce, and "to huaiyun", that is, he consulted with the Chenghua Society and the Peiping Enlightened Theater to perform the drama for three days in mid-March, "all the front and backstage were obliged, all income, except for the poor roles and scenes as usual expenses, the remaining 3,000 yuan, swept away and transferred to the Shanghai Bank Association, and specified as medical expenses for wounded soldiers." He also wrote to the newspaper, saying, "I hope that the kings on the front line can wrap up the creation of Gokai, then Lan Fang and other helpers, although it is at the end of the day, will also be a little at ease." In 1933, when the Great Wall War of Resistance broke out, Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu and others agreed to go to Nanjing at the end of July to perform a volunteer play for three days, and "the income from the tickets was completely donated to the refugees in the Hebei Theater." The charity exercise mainly relieved the refugees who encountered the japanese invasion, and was also patriotic. During the all-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Mei Lanfang was confined to her personal situation and special situation, and although she no longer performed on stage, she had a beard and a clear mind, which still showed her patriotic style and pure feelings of righteousness and awe.

The second is the charity performance of disaster relief and poverty relief. During the Republic of China period, disasters and famines continued throughout the country. As an emerging form of fundraising, charity performances are increasingly valued by disaster relief charities that raise funds. Whether or not to invite famous actors to participate in the performance is often the key to the success or failure of the charity performance. Mei Lanfang's fame has risen since the success of the Shanghai public performance in the early Ming Dynasty, and she is naturally an important role and pillar of the charity organization and the fundraising organization to prepare the charity performance. Mei Lanfang also often takes charity as the heart, benevolence and righteousness as the most important, and promises with great enthusiasm, gladly obeys, and does her best to praise the righteous deeds. In addition to the above-mentioned disaster relief charity performances for the drought in North China in 1920 and the Flood disaster in Jianghuai in 1931 and 1935, he also did his best to perform the volunteer plays of floods and droughts in other places, if invited. For example, in 1922, the "Nongshu Flood" occurred in Zhejiang, and the disaster situation in the province was extremely tragic. After the disaster, the Huayang Yiyi Relief Association and the Shanghai Road Federation jointly discussed disaster relief matters, and launched the Zhejiang Disaster Amusement Conference in early 1923, and Mei Lanfang also agreed to raise 20,000 yuan in Beijing. In 1926, Mei Lanfang was invited by relief agencies in Qingdao, Jinan and other places to perform dramas to help with relief, raising tens of thousands of yuan. From 1928 to 1929, the northern provinces such as Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu and other provinces were in drought for many years. Shanghai gentlemen initiated the establishment of the Standing Committee of Yushan-Gansu Relief Funds, and Mei Lanfang also promised to perform Peking Opera for three consecutive days in mid-to-late January 1929 to help the relief, and the relief funds were divided into "Shaanxi 40%, 35% gansu, and 25% yu", which helped the people in the disaster area to relieve their difficulties. In 1930, when the floods in western Liaoning were struck, Zhang Xueliang's wife Yu Fengzhi held a preparatory meeting for the relief drama and sent someone to invite all the famous men from Beiping to Shenyang to perform voluntary plays, and Mei Lanfang also agreed to help the relief. During the Years of the Republic of China, Mei Lanfang participated in many such disaster relief charity performances, and it is not too much to describe it as too numerous to describe. The aforementioned discussion is only a part of the more typical or influential charity performances, and will not be repeated here.

It is also particularly worth mentioning that in 1923, Mei Lanfang launched the Relief Day Disaster Charity Performance. On September 1, 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck Japan. After learning of the disaster, Mei Lanfang first personally donated 500 yuan, and then organized the National Art Circle Relief Association. On September 7, he sent a letter to the Japanese Minister to China, Kenkichi Yoshizawa: "The damage caused by the earthquake in your country is enormous, and the bad news has spread that the smell is sour,...... Wanting to emulate his cotton [cotton] thin, he launched the National International Relief Conference of the Art Circle, and Ke Ri invited the same people to first advocate the Japanese earthquake relief volunteer drama in Beijing, and together with the bo art, Ji Bo huge gold. The soil is fine, the small clothes are urgent, and once the money is collected, it should be presented. For this reason, Mei Lanfang published a notice, "Summoning celebrities in Beijing, planning to perform a volunteer drama for several days, and raising funds to sympathize with the disaster." At his invitation, Yang Xiaolou, Ma Lianliang, Yu Zhenting, Wang Yaoqing, Wang Fengqing and dozens of others answered the invitation and performed two nights on the first stage on the 15th and 16th. The drama relief for the daily disaster has also received a response from all walks of life, and they have purchased coupons to watch the drama. This charity performance highlighted Mei Lanfang's unique role as a messenger of friendly culture in Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.

As for poverty alleviation, Mei Lanfang is also very enthusiastic, often praising xiang and subsidizing it. As mentioned above, in the winter of 1918, when collecting funds for the Tianjin Nanshan Hall, Mei Lanfang invited artists to Tianjin to help with the charity performance, "with the act of kindness". There are still many such acts of poverty alleviation. For example, in March 1926, the Ping An Film Company of East Chang'an Avenue in Beijing invited Mei Lanfang to perform a drama to raise the cost of education in order to rescue the poor people in the inner left district. Mei Shi "sighed and shined" and performed the third and fourth copies of "Tai Zhen Wai Biao" at the company on the evening of March 11. The newspaper said, "If you do what the servant does, it can be said that he has seen the righteous and courageous!" In December of the same year, at the invitation of Wang Yiting and other Shanghai gentry, he performed a play on the Shanghai Daxin Stage to raise funds, carry out winter relief, and receive rice grain from the poor. In September 1947, the famous people of the north and south gathered together, initiated by Ye Shengzhang, and Mei Lanfang promised to perform a "nest play" for the poor compatriots in Ping and Shanghai. In the late Republic of China, the Peiping pear garden industry was poor at the end of the year, and although Mei Lanfang was in Shanghai, she was still raising 200 million yuan in French currency in Shanghai to help.

The third is to assist the medical practitioners in the charity performance. Medical assistance is an important part of modern philanthropy. For some poor people, the administration of medicines is an urgent need. For such charity performances, Mei Lanfang often generously promised to help with charitable relief. As mentioned earlier, in January 1929, in order to raise funds for the creation of the Shanghai Civilian Hospital, Mei Lanfangshi went from Beiping to Shanghai, and after hearing about this matter, she also agreed with it, and immediately participated in the stage in the French Concession, and took the "Ganlu Temple" that he co-starred with Wang Fengqing and others as the finale, and then added the whole book of "Beauty Plan" that had never been performed in Shanghai. After the announcement of the drama, the audience subscribed to the drama tickets very enthusiastically, including various military and political chiefs and various organs, as well as people from all walks of life in business and learning, vip boxes of 100 yuan and ordinary seat tickets of several yuan were very sought-after, and the sale of drama tickets was extremely smooth. The voucher funds obtained from the charity performances are fully charged with hospital funds. The declaration hall commented in the report: "Gai Yimei ling performed a volunteer drama, and it will be more exciting." Apparently, Mei Lanfang has become the most box office appeal in the pear garden industry, raising more funds for civilian hospitals. In 1932, Mei Lanfang also raised funds for the charity performance of Caojing Hospital in Shanghai.

In terms of Xingxue, Mei Lanfang acted in a voluntary role for the affiliated school of the Zhengle Yuhua Association in her early years. At the beginning of 1946, the Shanghai Municipal Education Loan Committee actively recruited for the expansion of the organization, and Mei Lanfang starred in the role of donation. Soon, at the request of Weng Wenhao, chairman of Guanghua University, he performed a charity performance with Cheng Yanqiu to raise funds for the reconstruction of the school's campus. In May 1947, Wu Guozhen, Pan Gongzhan and others initiated the recruitment of a fund for the education of the children of laborers for the YMCA, and Mei Shi also agreed to perform a charity performance. In September of the same year, Mei Lanfang took advantage of the gathering of famous people from the north and south in Shanghai, and invited all the famous actors to launch a two-day charity performance of the welfare and bursaries of the North and South Associations. Later, the China Muslim Association raised funds for the education of qinghan children to hold a charity performance on the Tiantou Stage, and he also participated in it. In May 1948, Mei Lanfang performed for five consecutive days, of which "one day was to raise funds for Xia Sheng Opera School, and the other day was to raise pensions and bursaries for the Shanghai Lingjie Federation... The other day was a charity performance sponsored by the Education Bureau", which shows its enthusiasm for education. This kind of charity performance of xingxue and education assistance quite representatively reflects the public welfare and social nature of its good deeds and righteous deeds. The drama capital Xingxue is the origin of the charity performance in the Beijing-Tianjin area at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Mei Lanfang supported the school with donations from charity performances, contributed to the development of education, and helped cultivate useful talents in society.

In summary, Mei Lanfang's participation in the charity performance during the Republic of China is not only worth writing a glorious page in the history of Chinese culture, but also leaves a strong mark in the history of Chinese charity. Mei Lanfang's charity charity performances can be regarded as a microcosm of the whole process of the rise, prosperity and decline of charity charity performances in modern China. The reasons, stage processes and types of his participation in charity charity performances are undoubtedly a very representative typical case study in the development and evolution of modern charity charity performances, and it is also a rare sample. Charity performances have become a cultural phenomenon in urban society during the Republic of China. With Mei Lanfang participating, the charity performance is enough to win the seat, more appealing, more exciting, and gradually become a cultural fashion of elegant and popular appreciation. This can be seen from the 1920 Tianjin preparatory play. At that time, Tianjin was discussing the singing of volunteer dramas, and rumors were rumored that Mei Lanfang refused to join and thus undermined the charity. Mei Lanfang issued an urgent notice to refute the rumors. It is not difficult to imagine Mei Lanfang's influence in the charity performance of the Republic of China. Mei Lanfang's participation in the charity performance, on the one hand, improved her performance skills through many stage performance practices, on the other hand, it also changed the humble image of Liyuan children who were discriminated against in the past, improved the social status of individuals and professional groups in the opera industry, and expanded the social influence. In 1926, a commentary in the supplement of the "Declaration" said that he was "Mei Lanfang of the art world, not Mei Lanfang of the theater world; Mei Lanfang in personality, not Mei Lanfang in the world of excellence; Mei Lanfang in history, not Mei Lanfang in the modern era." Naturally, this is not only in terms of Mei Lanfang's artistic achievements, but also in terms of his willingness to do good and the social significance of participating in charity performances.