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What are the things about internal entertainment?
Edit|What are the things about internal entertainment?
Thinking back to my childhood, whenever I heard the elders around me talk about the name Qi Shufang, I always felt a faint sense of mystery. This lady-like Peking Opera performance artist actually made an absurd decision of "treason" at a turning point in his life, which made many people laugh dumbly and sigh.
Is she confused for a while, or is she alone with a career? I sincerely hope that one day I can meet this strange woman of Peking Opera in person and get a glimpse of her true face.
Old family history
To trace the root of Qi Shufang's fame in the art world, it is natural to get around her family background that is already related to opera. She was born in an opera family and grew up on the stage since she was a child. 's mother, Shu Yanfen, was a well-known student back then; Although his father Qi Zhenhai is only a supporting role, he is a veritable "opera master", and his family heirloom is pure to the bones.
Her brother Qi Yingzhen is also a popular student. Under the influence of this artistic atmosphere, Qi Shufang became fascinated by the art of opera at a young age, and was determined to become a generation of grandmasters like her mother and brother.
At the age of 6, she began to learn from her teacher, and the famous Peking Opera artist Xu Yulan passed on the stage know-how. Perhaps because of the excellent congenital conditions, coupled with diligence and hard work, Qi Shufang is outstanding in learning, and she appeared on stage as "Xiao Dan" at the age of 12, which is a rare miracle. The rookie is the so-called "out of the world", and Qi Shufang's talent immediately attracted the attention of the entire Peking Opera industry.
At that time, she was still small, but she had already shown an old-fashioned drill energy. On and off the stage, everyone cheered for her. The audience was amazed by her old-fashioned, neat body language on stage, like an eighty or ninety-year-old aunt being put into a child's body.
After the palace-level drama "Three Wars Zhang Yue" was born, Qi Shufang became famous in one fell swoop with the help of this masterpiece. This drama has both tragic and romantic lyrics and wonderful martial arts scenes, which can be described as everything and has been widely acclaimed.
The role of Zhang Yue'e played by Qi Shufang in the play was praised by critics at the time as "a good character with a beautiful voice, uprightness, and touching". Since then, she has received unprecedented attention and applause, and the road to becoming a generation of Peking Opera grandmasters is just around the corner.
The pinnacle of the art world
In the following decades, Qi Shufang could be said to have good news, and the reputation of the Peking Opera master increased day by day. In 1963, she traveled to Paris, France, with the National Peking Opera Delegation, where she performed for several months at the famous Théâtre Champeuil. The audience was amazed by this stage art full of oriental charm, and expressed that they were unprecedentedly shocked and artistically edified.
For a time, local newspapers and magazines were pursuing this "goddess of dreams" from the East. Some critics praised her as the supreme embodiment of "drama is like life, life is like a dream", and she is the world where she performs her unique skills on and off the stage, in and out of the play. Such praise is undoubtedly the highest affirmation of her many years of artistic pursuit, and it has also become the most shining stroke of her career.
But it was also the beginning of a turning point in her life. After receiving countless applause and reputations, Qi Shufang's desire to spread Chinese culture and art is increasing day by day. After she went to the United States with the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe, she made a decision that shocked everyone - to lead the entire cast to "defect" and stay in the local area, and start a new business there.
This decision undoubtedly poked a big basket in his life, and immediately triggered a wave of public opinion. Domestic newspapers and television criticized her as a "traitor" and a "cultural traitor". Even some of her friends expressed their disappointment and grief at her.
Exile Road
A declaration of "defection" dropped a bomb on Qi Shufang's life. At that time, she was wandering around Los Angeles County with more than 30 actors. Life has fallen into unprecedented difficulties, and I can only rely on singing some music in the tavern every day to make ends meet. For a while, Qi Shufang and her husband Ding Meikui even "sang the lead song to beg for food" for a while.
Fortunately, a group of enthusiastic Chinese generously provided the troupe with some living expenses and the cost of renting the venue of the small theater, and they were able to barely survive the most difficult days. For the next few years, they made a living by performing in small theaters. At that time, the mainstream American society was completely unfamiliar with the Chinese culture of "Peking Opera", so it could only make a small fuss in the Chinese circle.
However, Qi Shufang was not discouraged. Instead, she made up her mind to bring the essence of Chinese opera culture to the American people. So she organized the first "Chinese Peking Opera Festival" in the United States, did a good job in the marketing of the theater, and deliberately carried out extensive publicity and promotion in the mainstream society. Sure enough, one day, this group of Chinese actors waited for their own spring.
With the gradual understanding and acceptance of Chinese opera culture in the mainstream society in the United States, Qi Shufang's troupe has gradually become better and has begun to receive more and more attention. In the nearly 30 years since then, she and the troupe have been in full swing, covering more than 100 major cities in the United States and performing nearly 1,000 performances.
In 1992, a performance at the Lincoln Center for the Arts in New York pushed Qi Shufang's reputation to the peak. She showed her skills on stage, and her superb performance impressed the audience and won the applause that will never be extinguished. Critics praised her as "living up to her reputation" and being the best interpreter of "drama is like life, life is like a dream". This is undoubtedly the highest affirmation of her artistic skills.
Since then, she and the troupe have embarked on large-scale tours throughout the United States, often performing large-scale Peking Opera classics such as "Outwitting Tiger Mountain", "Shiro Visiting His Mother", "Killing Children" and so on. The response was unimaginable, and many of the audience members were deeply impressed by the art of Peking Opera, even for the first time.
In addition to her dedication to the dissemination of Peking Opera culture, Qi Shufang has also made bold attempts to integrate it with Western art forms. She has repeatedly chosen modern jazz as an accompaniment, giving traditional theatre an unprecedented fashion vibrancy. Some critics have praised her work as "trendy, avant-garde and traditional".
In the local Chinese circle, Qi Shufang and her troupe are undoubtedly household names. Many Chinese people praised her as an ambassador for the spread of authentic Chinese culture overseas. For the mainstream society, their performances have also won numerous praises, and they have been praised as "outstanding ambassadors of artistic exchanges between the East and the West".
Homecoming
Just when her career was booming, Qi Shufang's thoughts about the motherland in her heart became more and more turbulent. In 2001, after receiving the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the U.S. government, she developed a persistent desire to return to her homeland. For a long time, domestic public opinion has denounced her as a "traitor" and a "cultural traitor".
When she finally led the troupe to return to her homeland legally for the first time and embark on a national tour, the reaction of public opinion was unexpectedly calm.
When Qi Shufang was over 90 years old, she once again stepped on the domestic stage and participated in the China Peking Opera Festival that year. This time, she explained the "reason" for leaving her homeland many years ago: the reason why she made that "reckless" decision in the first place was purely out of her persistent pursuit of artistic ideals.
She explained: "The reason why I decided to stay in the United States was because I saw a bright prospect for the spread of Peking Opera there. I am determined to cultivate and spread in that strange land, and strive to show the charm of Peking Opera to more foreign audiences. "
"If I had returned to China at that time, perhaps my artistic path would have stopped there, and I would have stopped in a narrow circle. So I resolutely chose to go out and pursue my artistic ideals regardless of my identity as an artist. It was the decision I regretted the least in my life. "
In the last days of her life, she was still working hard for her artistic career, and she also left a valuable spiritual wealth for future generations. Looking back now, throughout her life of more than 80 years, she finally realized her artistic ideals and won widespread respect and praise.