Break away the fog of the "Mei Lanfang system"

　　For a long time after 1949, important debates such as the discussion of the "reform of old opera", the discussion of "how opera expresses modern life", and the controversy over the relationship between the new and old programs of opera were popular in the performing arts and academic circles. After the reform and opening up, the debate on issues such as "drama concept", "opera" and "opera ontology" has once again become a cultural upsurge, and behind each issue is the confrontation of ideological concepts, knowledge structures, and evaluation standards, and the reference to "Mei Lanfang system" also originates from this specific historical period, reflecting the changes in the academic discourse system at present.　　

　　Whether the "Mei Lanfang system" is established

　　The academic debate on the "Mei Lanfang system" starts from various angles, and the question of "whether the Mei Lanfang system is established" is the earliest, accompanied by the question of "whether the three major drama systems are established".

　　In 1982, Sun Huizhu published an article "A New Exploration of the Aesthetic Ideals of the Three Major Drama Systems", and at the beginning of the article, the reference to the "three major drama systems" was clearly revealed, and this article was also unanimously regarded by the academic community as the source of the "three major drama systems" and clearly seen in the text. After the concept was introduced, various voices of doubt from the international community continued to be heard. The starting point of his criticism is not whether the "Mei Lanfang system" can represent Chinese opera, but even if the "Mei Lanfang system" is used as a representative of Chinese opera, the "Mei Lanfang system" is not suitable for standing on three legs with the "Si system" and "Brinell system" and called the "three major drama systems", because this is a narrow theater concept that stands on the standpoint of "Chinese drama as the center" and cares about the "world drama pattern". Further, Liao Ben took over Sun Mei's entry point and said: "The three 'systems' implied by this concept itself are not based on reciprocal relations with each other. The so-called "asymmetry" is first reflected in the incompatibility between the three "practical systems" and "theoretical systems" - Mei's lack of "theoretical systems" of the same magnitude as Si and Brinell; secondly, the "Eastern system" and the "Western system" do not correspond - "Si's system" and "Brinell system" are difficult to represent the "Western system", that is, the three systems are not on the same level of logical chain, so they lack the basis for each of them to stand as representatives of one-third of the sections, and connect the world drama relationship network.

　　Sun Mei, Liao Ben and others' accusations of the "three major drama systems" are more out of the analysis of the feasibility of Mei, Si, and Bu and the "three major drama systems", but they have opened a crack in the "Mei Lanfang system" and led to more criticism of the "Mei Lanfang system" itself, including many scholars who have fiercely attacked this concept, such as Zou Yuanjiang pointed out at the thirty-year seminar of "Theater Art": "The drama system is a complete discourse expression, which needs a series of plays and keywords as support. Have their own clear aesthetic appeal. As a system equivalent to Stanislavsky and Brecht, Mei Lanfang's system should have his independent theoretical foundation and independent expression, which Mei Lanfang does not have. ”　　

　　What does the "Mei Lanfang system" refer to

　　Is the "Mei Lanfang system" itself really untenable? Whether through accurate big data analysis or rough oral communication analysis, it is not difficult to find that there are many more people than opponents who are in favor of the "Mei Lanfang system" and use the term "Mei Lanfang system". So what are the reasons for the pro-side? What does the "Mei Lanfang system" in their eyes refer to?

　　The biggest weakness of the "Mei Lanfang system" itself is that the specific reference is not clear, which provides a great breakthrough for the criticism of opponents. When a new academic concept is proposed, if its connotation and scope of extension are not framed, then the academic rationality of this concept is bound to be challenged by everyone. At the same time, it was only when the scope of the concept was clarified that there was a possibility of continuing to explore the topic. Therefore, scholars who are in favor of the "Mei Lanfang system" and have a strong speculative connotation, when discussing this topic, in order to make the logical chain clear and clear, the logical relationship is self-consistent, they are accustomed to the name of the "Mei Lanfang system" in the text, such as Zheng Chuanyin chose the proposition of "Mei Lanfang performing art system", "Mei Lanfang performing art system" refers to Mei Lanfang's performing arts and the aesthetic concepts implied, and these aesthetic concepts contain both Mei Lanfang's own expositions and other people's research results. In fact, many scholars have shown their attention to the "performing arts" in the "Mei Lanfang system", in order to highlight the important position of "performance" in Mei Lanfang's art, they spontaneously placed "performance" in the name of the system, typical representative scholars such as Qin Huasheng, he sorted out the three stages of the formation of the "Mei Lanfang performance system". Liu Zhen also promoted Mei Lanfang's performing arts to a prominent position, but he specifically proposed: "Mei Lanfang's system is not only a performance system, but also includes Mei Lanfang's opera aesthetic thoughts and theoretical research related to others. The "Mei Lanfang System" in Liu Zhen's eyes contains three levels of content and is arranged in a pyramidal shape: at the top of the pyramid is the "Mei Lanfang Performance System", which is the core of the "Mei Lanfang System"; at the bottom of the pyramid is "Mei Lanfang Related Academic Research", which is the foundation of the "Mei Lanfang System", which consolidates and supports the "Mei Lanfang System" so that it develops steadily and sustainably; in the middle of the pyramid is the "Mei Lanfang Opera Aesthetic Thought", which plays a role in carrying forward the upper and lower levels. It connects Mei Lanfang himself with Mei Lanfang's researchers, and as a metaphysical view of art, it runs through Mei Lanfang's art. (Social Science Newspaper Rong Media "Thought Workshop" produced the full text of the Social Science Newspaper and the official website)