Mei Lanfang

Mei Lanfang a Chinese Peking opera performer of the twentieth century (1894-1961) who was the most celebrated actor of the dan role, the female parts played by men, and who introduced the art of Peking opera to audiences in Japan, the United States and Europe.

Early Life and Training

Mei Lanfang was born on 22 October 1894 in Beijing into a family of opera performers. He was orphaned young and was trained from childhood by a strict master in the arts of the dan, the female role. The training was severe, involving years of daily practice in singing, declamation, gesture, acrobatics and dance, and it shaped him into one of the most technically accomplished actors of his time.

He made his stage debut as a young boy and quickly attracted attention for his refined voice and graceful movement. By his early twenties he was already a leading performer in Beijing, and he began to develop his own distinctive approach to the female role, distinguishing the gentle and dignified qingyi from the lively and flirtatious huadan and blending elements of both.

He studied not only with his masters in the theatre but also with scholars, painters and composers, and he cultivated the manners of an educated gentleman. This breadth of cultivation was unusual among actors and helped him to raise the social standing of his profession.

The Art of the Dan

Mei Lanfang perfected a style of female portrayal marked by restraint, elegance and psychological depth. He created a series of refined movements for the sleeves of the costume, the famous water sleeves, and he developed a vocabulary of gesture and gaze that could express sorrow, longing, modesty and resolve without words.

Rather than imitating women externally, he sought to represent an ideal of feminine grace and dignity, and he studied the paintings and poetry of the tradition to give his characters a classical refinement. His singing was admired for its sweetness and clarity, and his enunciation was so precise that every word was understood by the audience.

He created and revised many roles, and he took an active part in writing and adapting the plays in which he appeared. His taste and his authority as a performer allowed him to reshape the repertoire of the female role and to set standards that later actors followed.

Innovation and the Great Tour

Mei Lanfang was a conservative reformer within the tradition. He modernised staging, lighting and costume in ways that enhanced rather than disrupted the traditional form, and he introduced new plays with a stronger dramatic and literary content. He also experimented with contemporary subjects and with the use of Western stage techniques where they served the drama.

His most celebrated innovation was the introduction of the dance-play, in which the performer's movement became a central expressive element. These works delighted audiences and expanded the range of what the dan role could express, and they became a permanent part of the repertoire.

In 1930 he undertook a celebrated tour of the United States, where he performed in New York and other cities to great acclaim. He was received as a distinguished artist and his visit did much to introduce Peking opera to Western audiences. In 1935 he toured Europe, performing in Moscow and elsewhere, where he met and impressed leading figures of the Western theatre.

War Years and Public Service

During the war against Japan and the occupation, Mei Lanfang showed courage in his refusal to cooperate with the occupiers. He withdrew from the stage, stopped performing and grew a beard to make clear that he would not appear in the female role for the benefit of the occupation forces, an act of quiet defiance that became widely known and admired.

After 1949 he took an active role in the cultural life of the People's Republic. He was appointed to official positions in the theatre administration and the national academy, and he worked to reform and institutionalise the training of opera performers and to record and preserve the classical repertoire for future generations.

He also wrote and lectured extensively about his art, describing his training, his methods and his ideas about performance, so that his knowledge was passed on to students and preserved for the historical record.

Influence and Legacy

Mei Lanfang's name became almost synonymous with Peking opera itself. He was honoured as one of the Four Great Dan together with Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun and Xun Huisheng, and his artistry set a standard that defined the modern female role. Generations of performers have studied his recordings and his writings.

His international tours opened a channel of cultural exchange and gave Western theatre artists a new model of disciplined physical expression. Directors and theorists of the stage praised the precision and beauty of his technique, and his influence extended beyond the opera into the wider world of performance.

He died on 8 August 1961 in Beijing. His grace, his technical mastery and his personal dignity made him a symbol of Chinese culture, and his memory is honoured both in the theatre and in the wider history of the arts.

A memorial theatre and a museum were established in his honour, and his recordings and films continue to be studied by performers. He is remembered not only as a great actor but as a cultural diplomat whose art helped to explain China to the world and the world to China.

See also

• Peking opera
• Dan role
• Four Great Dan
• Chinese opera