In 1949, new China was founded, and the oppressed Chinese nation finally stood up. At this time, China had just ended decades of war, all walks of life continued to revitalize, and the cultural undertakings of New China were the same, and they urgently needed development. In particular, China's national essence of Peking Opera must not decline because of war, which urgently requires the older generation of artists to stand up and inherit and promote the culture of Peking Opera. With such an original intention, Premier Zhou found Tian Han, director of the Arts Bureau of the Ministry of Culture, and entrusted him to find the whereabouts of Liu Xikui and ask her to go out of the mountains again to pass on the art of Peking Opera.
(Secretary for the Arts, Tin Hon)
Tian Han did not dare to delay after receiving the task of Premier Zhou, and immediately entrusted him with many parties to send special personnel to look for Liu Xikui, and Tian Han, as a famous screenwriter and literary and art activist, also admired Liu Xikui's artistic achievements, and he knew very well that there was such a sentence in Peking Opera: "Men have Mei Lanfang, women have Liu Xikui", which shows how powerful Liu Xikui's Peking Opera performance is. Finally, the kung fu paid off, and under the search of Tian Han and people in the literary and art circles, he finally found Liu Xikui's residence and reported the matter to Premier Zhou, who knew the news and immediately sent the commissioner of the Art Bureau to visit Liu Xikui.
So, who is Liu Xikui? Why is it so famous in the art world? What kind of story happened to this legendary figure? Next, we walked into Liu Xikui's opera life together.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > the opera life of Liu Xikui, the king of Kunling</h1>
(Liu Xikui Peking Opera costume)
In 1894, Liu Xikui was born into a peasant family in Cangzhou, Hebei Province. Due to the poverty of his family, Liu Xikui came to Tianjin at the age of 8 to learn to sing, at that time in the old society, learning to sing opera was the most despised, and the drama actor was known as the last stream of the three religions and nine streams, not only income status, but also insulted and ridiculed at every turn. However, the young Liu Xikui was not afraid of difficulties, and he studied to sing very hard, so he was highly valued by the masters. Among so many types of drama, Liu Xikui's favorite is Hebei Zizi and Peking Opera, and in 1905, 10-year-old Liu Xikui worshiped the famous Hebei Zizi actor Song Yongzhen as a teacher and began to systematically learn traditional drama performance. After several years of study and art experience, Liu Xikui has performed frequently in Tianjin, Baoding and other cities after graduation, and has received certain praise.
Because the four major roles of "Shengdan Net Ugly" on the opera stage at that time were all played by men, female actors were difficult to climb the elegant hall, over time, many audiences gradually got tired of listening, coupled with the new ideas of gender equality at that time also spread in society, people began to be interested in KunLing (female opera actresses), and a special teaching class for training Kunling was also established in Beijing. At this time, Liu Xikui seized the opportunity to become a student again and learn Kunling performing arts. After a period of study, Liu Xikui began to become popular in the "Zhonghe Garden" performance, and then Liu Xikui began to tour to harbin, Shenyang and Shanghai and other major cities, and even went to Vladivostok in Russia. Liu Xikui gradually became a celebrity in the Chinese opera industry, with years of hard work and accumulation of exquisite skills and young and delicate face, Liu Xikui got the same treatment as the stars and the moon, she and Xian Lingzhi, Jin Yulan and known as "Lady Three Jie", completely popular all over the country.
Liu Xikui not only sang well in Peking Opera and Hebei Zizi, but also made great achievements in modern drama. Liu Xikui is China's first modern opera actress, she once performed in Tianjin Hebei Zizi's new plays "Eunuch Sea Tide" and "New Camellia", etc., integrating the concept of national salvation into art, attacking warlords and bureaucrats, publicizing democracy and freedom, and stimulating the patriotic enthusiasm of Tianjin students. In the memories of Premier Zhou in the future, he also said that he liked the modern drama starring Liu Xikui when he was a student, and he was also greatly encouraged by it.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, the development of Pear Garden achieved unprecedented prosperity, at that time, whether it was the dignitaries and the citizens, even those envoys and foreign businessmen in China also loved to watch plays, at this time, whether it was Mei Lanfang, represented by male actors, or Liu Xikui, represented by actresses, they were welcomed by the public. Because the two are of similar age and do not have a marriage match, many reporters and opera fans intend to match the two people together, but Liu Xikui realizes that Mei Lanfang's influence and achievements far exceed him, and the development of Chinese Peking Opera art cannot be without Mei Lanfang, if mei Lanfang is in love with himself, he is caught by those powerful people and suppresses Mei Lanfang, which is a loss to the Chinese opera industry. In order to let Mei Lanfang continue to spread the essence of the country on the Peking Opera stage, Liu Xikui recognized the reality and took the initiative to withdraw the red line of love. Liu Xikui knows very well in her heart that there are not many people who are popular, and as she becomes more and more famous, she will also receive troubles from all aspects because of her popularity.
(Mei Lanfang on stage)
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > sheep into the tiger's mouth, and all the major warlords wanted to take Liu Xikui as a concubine</h1>
Liu Xikui's concern is not unreasonable, as early as when she was not famous, even when she appeared on the stage, she was harassed by social "celebrities", and many military and political officials in the Republic of China wanted to bribe her and marry her as an aunt. These people who came to propose relatives also made Liu Xikui sternly refuse, so that many people in the "celebrity" circles in Beijing at that time spread that "that female drama is really not good."
The first person to entrust people to "propose relatives" was Yuan Shikai, the president of the Republic of China, yuan shikai, when Liu Xikui was just famous, Yuan Shikai took a fancy to her young and beautiful and prepared to accept Liu Xikui as his concubine. At this time, Yuan Shikai was more than fifty years old, and his family already had a large number of wives and concubines, and even Yuan Keding and Yuan Kewen, yuan shikai's sons, were several years older than Liu Xikui, how could Liu Xikui agree? So he immediately rejected the people who were sent to "say that the media proposed relatives". Later, Yuan Shikai and his subordinate Li Yuanhong successively invited Liu Xikui to sing in the church, and Liu Xikui pushed that he was unwell and refused them. At this time, President Yuan Da did not care, anyway, his wife had something, and the most important thing was to sit on the throne of the "emperor" from the "big president".
(The picture shows Yuan Shikai's military uniform photo)
In 1915, Yuan Shikai finally came true and became the emperor of the "Chinese Empire", and his dream of emperor was also made for 83 days. He then died in the spit of the people. After the death of President Yuan Da, the Republic of China entered a period of warlord chaos, and the political circles in Beijing seemed to have become a big drama stage, with the three families of the Anhui family, the direct family, and the Feng family taking turns to sit in the village. Most of these warlords rely on force and robbery, have soldiers and guns under their hands, act recklessly, and their lives are very corrupt, and it is very common to marry several aunts and wives, and what is more, such as the Shandong warlord Zhang Zongchang, how many aunts and wives he has married are not clear to himself, and these aunts and wives are from several countries in China, Russia, Korea, and Japan, known as the "Eight-Power Alliance." In this group of greedy and lustful Beiyang warlords, many people have preyed on actresses who can sing and look good, and they also call them "elegant style". Among them, the first to make an idea is the "braided handsome" Zhang Xun.
(The picture shows Zhang Xun, the "braided handsome")
As early as 1913, Liu Xikui was invited by Zhang Xun's birthday party to sing at the Jiangxi Guild Hall in Beijing, and all the famous people in the capital were also summoned. During the singing of various famous actors, Zhang Xun was moved by this 19-year-old miaoling girl, and directly called Liu Xikui at the banquet, wanting to propose a concubine. Liu Xikui naturally did not agree. Zhang Xun, who was rejected miserably, wrote unhappily on his face, but he was afraid that things would make himself out of the ocean, so he had to leave the Jiangxi Guild Hall in a gray and slippery manner. However, it was not long before Zhang Xun married another famous prostitute from Qin Huai as a concubine. This still did not make him forget Liu Xikui's graceful posture. In 1917, Zhang Xun, who was loyal to the Qing Dynasty, led 3,000 "braided troops" north into Beijing in a vain attempt to restore the Qing Dynasty, in order to show loyalty, Zhang Xun himself did not cut braids, and his soldiers were not allowed to cut braids. After entering Beijing, Zhang Xun's first thing was to put the last emperor Puyi on the dragon throne and change the name of the country to Daqing. In addition to carrying out a series of restoration ugly dramas, Zhang Xun also has a purpose, that is, to marry Liu Xikui. Liu Xikui, who learned the news, fled in a hurry, and it was not until Duan Qirui's "rebel army" entered Beijing and drove out Zhang Xun that Liu Xikui dared to make a comeback.
In 1921, the Beiyang government at this time was replaced by Cao Kun, and in order to give Cao Kun the sixtieth birthday, the Cao family invited Liu Xikui to come to the church. Cao Kun looked at Liu Xikui's graceful figure on the stage and gradually became obsessed with it. What everyone did not expect was that before the play was finished, Cao Kun went backstage and wanted to directly take Liu Xikui away as his concubine, Liu Xikui did not agree, and he would force him to stay in others through wine. At this time, Liu Xikui was frightened, and heard that Cao Kun was most afraid of his original wife, so he hurriedly found Lady Cao, hoping that she could persuade the marshal to raise his noble hand. When Lady Cao heard this, she was furious and made a big fuss to find Cao Kun's theory, which scared Cao Kun not lightly, so she had to release Liu Xikui.
(Cao Kun, the leader of the warlords directly under his command)
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > patriotic artist Liu Xikui who understands the great righteousness</h1>
After this incident, the pursuit of many Beiyang politicians and others was like a carp crossing the river. In the end, Liu Xikui really couldn't stand the harassment of the crowd and chose to marry one of his ordinary suitors, Cui Chengzi. After marriage, Liu Xikui faded out of the opera circle and taught his son in Tianjin. But who ever expected that in that panicked era, Liu Xikui was also an unfortunate person, married for only three years and four months, her husband died violently, and he died of illness in a French hospital. After learning the news, the dignitaries represented by the warlord Lu Jin were once again moved and showed their love to Liu Xikui, but at this time, Liu Xikui made up his mind to care for the widow, no longer marry anyone, and also parted from the stage she loved deeply.
In the blink of an eye, ten years passed, in 1937, the July 7 Incident broke out, the Japanese army quickly occupied the city of Beijing, the Japanese invaders learned of Liu Xikui's residence, paid a lot of money to hire her to go out of the mountains to sing on stage, but Liu Xikui strictly refused. On the contrary, Liu Xikui performed many times for his hometown hebei and donated all the proceeds of the performance to these suffering people. then. When the flood occurred in Anhui, Liu Xikui also took out 2,000 pieces of silver ocean to help the victims.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the world was finally at peace, and Liu Xikui no longer had to be wronged. When she learned that the literary and artistic undertakings of New China were in ruins and needed her to go out to the mountains to make contributions, Liu Xikui was very happy and gladly accepted Premier Zhou's invitation. Liu Xikui returned to Beijing as a professor at the newly established Chinese Opera School, where she was responsible for passing on her skills to the younger generation of her motherland. As soon as this grandmaster-level Kunling artist entered the campus, he was warmly welcomed by his classmates, after all, no one who was engaged in opera work had ever heard Liu Xikui sing, and in this way, Liu Xikui quickly became one of the top ten professors in the xiqu school.
(now China Academy of Performing Arts)
In 1952, at an advanced age, she once again took to the stage and came to Korea to perform for the Volunteer Army to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Liu Xikui said before leaving that if she did not participate in this patriotic charity performance, it would be her lifelong regret. Her smile on the stage still does not reduce the style of that year. Many viewers watched and their eyes were moist, and they sincerely applauded Liu Xikui's opera art. During a state banquet, Premier Zhou specially toasted to Ms. Liu Xikui, who was nearly a year old, and exclaimed: "Mr. Liu, you are not greedy for glory and wealth, that's why you were so tough in the old society, you are the pearl of China's opera industry." ”
(Liu Xikui's performance photos in his later years)
In 1964, Liu Xikui died in Beijing because he could not bear the torture of diabetes. After Liu Xikui's death, the central leadership unanimously agreed to bury Comrade Liu Xikui in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery after consultation. According to Liu Xikui's last words, the Chinese Opera School donated all her real estate and money to the state as a training of opera talents.