The life of Liu's characters

In the third year of Guangxu (1875), my grandfather Liu Xingtai took Xi Kui's father Wen Yi, uncle Hu Yi and Lu Yi to Tianjin to make a living. Liu Yiwen joined the Qing navy and participated in the Sino-Japanese War. He was an ordnance repairman. Wandering in Lushun after the war. During his stay in Lushun, there was a troupe nearby. Xi Kui often watched them rehearse, and he fell in love with opera. Later, due to difficulties in life, he returned to Tianjin. On the way, Wen Yi lost his life in Yingkou and made a living by his mother in Tianjin. At the age of 8, Xi Kui entered Tianjin Haike Class to study drama, Peking Opera, Tsing Yi and Hua Dan. Liu's performances in Tianjin and Beijing attracted the admiration of Beiyang bureaucrats and factional warlords. Yuan Shikai and Li invited each other to give a concert, but they were both rejected. People like Cao Kun and Zhang Xun all have the delusion that legally married people are despised. Famous Peking Opera artists courted her from time to time. Xi Kui knew that she had offended powerful people. After accepting it, she must be tired of her colleagues and resolutely refuse this love. In order to avoid the persecution of her and her colleagues by powerful people, she married Cui Changzhou in Wuqing County in a hurry. After I got married, I knew I had been cheated and I had to make a mistake. Cui suffered from lung disease, and only got married for four days, that is, he was transferred by warlords and rushed to Jiangxi, Fujian, Henan and other places, and soon died.

After Liu's parents died, his uncle lived with him at home, and only one maid lived with him. At this time, she devoted her energy to dry art, raised acrobatics early, studied her figure, turned Shaanxi opera into Hebei spoken language, and reformed her mouth shape, thus forming a well-known "Beijing Bangzi" with Hebei pronunciation as the mainstay and few Shanxi accents and impassioned and desolate tunes. "When the July 7th Incident broke out, Liu changed his name to an anonymous surname and lived in seclusion. After a long time, ordinary people seem to be tired of watching and listening to the war scenes in Beijing opera, but they are eager for the decadent voices of local operas. Therefore, the drama critics quickly absorbed the vocals and plots of many local operas and began to introduce them. Liu, the "Chongya Women's Class", became its student. Liu, who is already quite accomplished, made her debut in Zhonghe Garden after some training and packaging by "Chongya Women's Class". Unexpectedly, it became an instant hit, almost overwhelming Mei Lanfang and Cheng, and even more overwhelming Shang Xiaoyun and Xun Huisheng. The general audience saw Liu graceful on the stage, charming and moving, her eyes shining, and then they were fascinated, intoxicated by her smile, and soon became the famous Kunlun decision, "the first red in the pear garden." Even the king of the opera said, "When there is Mei Lanfang in the male and Liu in the female, I will rest!"! "

Liu is small and graceful, with picturesque eyes, particularly elegant and beautiful temperament, and dressed very beautifully. Playing with her are all beautiful men who choose to escape. When she didn't show up, the whole station was full of Yingying Yanyan, all of which were dazzling in beauty. When Liu arrived, she appeared. The charming voice, mellow singing and the Hannah Quinlivan singer who performed on the same stage with her all turned into vulgar powder. The upper-level dignitaries who were fascinated by her, including gentry and celebrities, down to peddlers and pawns, really sensationalized the nine cities and turned all beings upside down. Duan's nephew, the tiger of Beiyang, is also a college student. He has a crazy unrequited love for Liu. Some people feel sorry for him, so they bet that he hugs Liu in public. That night, Liu played the role of matchmaker in The West Chamber and Guangde Building. The charming and feminine gesture made the audience full of spring, and Duan's nephew couldn't help it. After the play, I waited at the backstage door. In full view, I came forward to hug Liu and said, "Dear, I miss you so much!" " Scared, Liu turned pale. People immediately handed him over to the police station and asked his name. He refused to answer, so he was fined fifty dollars When he left the police station, he shouted "Happy! Happy! Worth it! Worth it. " At that time, major events were highlighted in the newspaper, and good people wrote a poem;

Snow cleverness, the first woman in the play is a fairy; There's no need to be so abrupt. Fifty yuan for a heart.

Master Yi, a famous person in the old capital who once worked in Qinlian Road, Guangdong Province, calls himself an old man in the Qing Dynasty. He is brilliant and famous in literature. He wrote many poems praising Liu and made seven wishes to heaven:

I would like to spin silk at the silkworm mouth, and I like to ride on Kui's lap every month.

I want to turn cotton into cloth and cut it into Xi Kui pants.

I hope to turn grass into paper. Xi Kui often hurts her fingers when changing clothes.

Four wishes are fried in a kettle, and bathing is a hot spring.

May Xi Kui become a pen and hold it straight by touching it.

I hope Xi Kui can become my incarnation, and I can do anything I want.

7. May Xi Kui's parents have the privilege to accept them as son-in-law and mother-in-law.

Such an explicit statement is extremely obscene. It is said that Master Yi will go to Liu's apartment once a day, rain or shine, and he is in high spirits. Every time he goes in, he shouts, "My mother! I am coming again! " Crazy state, make people laugh, "Hong Constitution Reading Poems" has a special discussion on this matter:

There are two families in the south of Rome Street, the career of a bald poet.

As soon as she took off her hat and called out to her mother, the goddess began to scatter flowers.

Zhang Xun, a famous "Braid Handsome" in history, was born in Jiangxi Guild Hall in Beijing in the second year of the Republic of China, and gathered all the famous singers in Beijing. During his acting, Zhang Xun coveted Liu, applied both hard and soft methods to Liu, and wanted to take her as a concubine, but failed due to various factors. Soon, he was appointed commander-in-chief of Jiangsu, led troops south, and married a famous prostitute in Qinhuai, Xiao Maozi, as his concubine. When he was promoted to the visiting ambassador of Changting, he sat in Xuzhou, and then took Wang Keqin, a famous Tianjin actress, as his concubine. He finally made up for his failure to get Liu. In the sixth year of the Republic of China, Zhang Xun led "Ding Wujun" into Beijing, supported the restoration of Puyi together with Kang Youwei, and witnessed Liu's wonderful style in the grand theater to meet people from all walks of life, which made him feel refreshed and fascinated. With the restoration of the ugly drama, he sealed the prominent position of Beiyang minister and Zhili governor, insisted on marrying Liu, and refused to agree to Liu's conditions by expelling his concubine and shaving his beard. Thanks to Duan's swearing-in at Tianjin Horse Factory, he organized the "Rebel Army" to capture the capital, forcing Zhang Xun to cut off power, and Liu finally escaped the disaster of Zhang Bianshuai's forced marriage.

At that time, Liu really liked Cui, the young staff officer of the War Department, and Lu Mian, the second director of the War Department of Beiyang Government. They are childhood friends with Liu, pretending to be flower protectors everywhere, taking care of Liu and being diligent. It happened that Liu didn't accept his feelings, and Liu only hated him for one thing.

Originally, Cao Kun, who was appointed as the governor of four provinces, also became interested in Liu Fa, and took the Yin and Yang Division's offensive. The shiny Yin and Yang Division sent baskets to the Liu family in Mule Street. Liu's parents have agreed to Cao Kun's request to marry Liu as a concubine.

But Liu refused to die. In the Republic of China 10 (192 1)1month 21day, Cao Kun celebrated her 60th birthday, and a famous actress in Beijing performed in the auditorium. In order to avoid Liu, who didn't appear in Cao Kun for two years, she couldn't stand the repeated assurances and encouragement of Lv Mian, and she barely took part in the performance. Unexpectedly, the play has just finished. Cao Kun showed his ferocious face and forced Liu to stay, trying to show his animal nature. Fortunately, Cui Di found Mrs. Cao Kun's Tang Huo and pleaded with her. Mrs. Cao Kun was legitimately jealous and angry, and frightened Cao Kun, who was notoriously afraid of his wife before Liu escaped from the jaws of death. So for money, in front of power, she is supercilious. When she first entered Beijing, she was called by Yuan Shikai to give a concert. Yuanji's son pestered her in every way, and she scoffed. Yuan Shikai asked her to play cards with the guests, but she refused. Yuan Sangong threatened: "I won't get married, I'll wait for Liu to come, and I won't get married until Liu gets married." She ignored it. In such a complicated environment, she sticks to her self-esteem and keeps her innocence. She made public her principles: not to visit any big officials; Do not record; Don't be like a costume, and don't be like a casual dress; There are no commercials. Her maverick, self-esteem and self-improvement are respected by Liyuan people and loved by the older generation of artists in Liyuan. Tian Jiyun and Sun Juxian, an amateur, are one of them.

In Peking Opera, Old Sheng Xing is called "the first three Ding Jia" and "the last three Ding Jia", and Sun Juxian (1841-1) is one of the last three Ding Jia. He is a native of Tianjin, and his name is Lian, also known as the school year. He is called "old buddy" and "big grandson" because of his tall figure. He was born in 184 1, more than half a century older than Mei Lanfang and Liu. At the age of 45, he was elected to the palace and promoted to an official position. He often went to the palace to sing operas, which lasted 16 years. In the palace, he was not only good at singing opera, but also good at telling jokes, so he was very popular with Cixi and was often rewarded.

According to folklore, Emperor Guangxu also appreciated Sun Juxian. Because Sun Juxian can cross talk with Lao Dan, he is known as "the first old student and Lao Dan". Whenever Sun Juxian entered the palace to sing, Emperor Guangxu always sat in the orchestra pit and accompanied Sun with the piano. This kind of "treatment" is probably only enjoyed by Sun Juxian. In the year of Gengzi, his home was burned down in the war in Eight-Nation Alliance, and his two wives died one after another. Sun Juxian was disheartened when the country was defeated, and took his descendants to Shanghai to jointly organize "Tianxian Tea Garden" and "Chunxian Tea Garden". At this time, he basically left the stage. After the Republic of China, he occasionally returned to Beijing to participate in some voluntary performances. Both Tian Jiyun and Sun Juxian are very worried about Liu's situation. They both think that she should get married as soon as possible in order to get rid of the entanglement of malicious people, but they don't want to see her leave the stage prematurely when she is young and has a good artistic future. After careful consideration, they want her to marry someone in the pear garden. The person Tian Jiyun thinks of is Kunqu actor Han Shichang; The person Sun Juxian thinks of is Mei Lanfang. Relatively speaking, Liu prefers Mei Lanfang. In fact, they did have a short love experience.

As for the time when they fell in love, according to Liu's own memory, it was when she was 20 years old, probably 19 15. She said: "By the time I was in my twenties, I was already famous and the problems were complicated. I first met Mei Lanfang, who loves me and I have a good impression on him. " At this time, Mei Lanfang became famous after two performances and several new fashion dramas in Shanghai. A famous male Dan and a famous Hannah Quinlivan are quite suitable for outsiders. Then why did they break up again?

Obviously, Mei Lanfang has a family at this time. Is there any reason why they broke up? Liu did not mention this reason when he talked about their breakup in his later memoirs. In fact, although this was Liu's first love, and the object of love was the famous Lanfang, it was her who finally broke up. The reason for this, she recalled: "I decided to sacrifice my happiness and fulfill others after repeated painful consideration."

At that time, she said to Mei Lanfang, "I have never loved a man in my life, but I fell in love with you. I think I must be very happy to live with you. " In art, I expect you to be an excellent actor, and if society allows, I will become such an actor. So, I have a hunch that there will be many demons reaching out to catch me behind me. If you marry me, they will take it out on you and even ruin your future. I think life is always second to personal happiness and art. This is why I am determined to sacrifice my happiness. I am a flower blooming from a crack in the stone. I have experienced difficulties and obstacles, and I am ready for a bigger storm, so I can only cherish you in my heart forever. "Mei Lanfang asked," If I don't marry you, won't they hurt you? "

Liu said, "Life is worse than death."

After a moment of silence, Mei Lanfang said, "I decided to respect your wishes."

So the two broke up. For Liu, this has become the most regrettable thing in her life. Years later, she recalled this experience and said, "I refused Mr. Mei's pursuit of me, not because I didn't love Mr. Mei Lanfang. On the contrary, it is precisely because I love Mr. Mei Lanfang's art very much that I know that he will become a great actor in the future, so I refused to marry him very painfully. " Although I am young, I am rational. I analyzed the society at that time. I think if he marries me, it may ruin his future. "

Regret belongs to regret, but Liu said she never regrets. Since then, she has been silently watching Mei Lanfang. When Mei Lanfang grew a beard during the Anti-Japanese War, she really admired it. When Mei Lanfang became famous in the world, she felt proud and proud. After living in seclusion for nearly 40 years, New China was founded, and she was invited to be a professor at China Theatre Academy. At this time, she and Mei Lanfang met again. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, they performed on the same stage. Times have changed, the past is like smoke, and everything in the past has become the past.

With the popularity of the movie Mei Lanfang, a long article named Mei Lanfang and Four Women's Love Life appeared in many newspapers and online. According to this article, Mei Lanfang pursued Liu besides his original wife, stepwife Fu Zhifang and Meng Xiaodong, the protagonist of Mei Menglian. Liu Yuemei had a heart-to-heart talk. Liu said to Mei, "I have a hunch that there are many talons behind me. If you marry me, they will take it out on you and even ruin your future. So I will refuse your proposal and keep you in my heart forever. " The initiator of this statement is the old writer Hu Sha. 1980, The Drama Art Quarterly serialized his Biography of Liu, and the third chapter was "Love with Mei Lanfang". Mei Lanfang's Love Life with Four Women said that Mei Lanfang's pursuit of Liu was to copy Hu Sha's manuscript. From 65438 to 0985, Comrade Hu Sha went to Tianjin to attend the review meeting on the integration of Chinese opera music. I once asked the old man the origin of this detail. He said that he had heard some criticisms on this point and planned to delete this paragraph when publishing a booklet in the future. I don't want someone to churn out what Hu Sha wanted to cut out more than 20 years later and join in the fun when the movie Mei Lanfang was released.

When publishing anecdotes, we should try our best to be true and reliable, not hearsay. Unprovoked flattery or slandering favoritism is not only disrespectful to readers, but also irresponsible to history. In particular, historical figures who have been evaluated should be treated with caution. Such as "Mei Lanfang and the Love Life of Four Women", it is better not to join in the fun.

On the stage of drama in the early Republic of China, there were two outstanding actresses, one was Mei Lanfang and the other was Liu.

Liu dressed up as a slim girl, and her charm turned all sentient beings upside down. At the same time, there were few actresses performing on stage at that time, so Liu's stage name spread far and wide, and even overshadowed Mei Lanfang. With the efforts of actors such as Liu and others, Hebei Bangzi, as a local opera, is very popular. Nearly a century has passed, and through the time and space of the years, we vaguely heard her croaking, whispering and euphemistic singing from distant places. We are very excited. She sings beautifully.

In the early years of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, his grandfather Liu Jujia came to Tianjin to make a living. Liu's father participated in the Qing navy, participated in the Sino-Japanese War, and wandered in Lushun after the war. During my stay in Lushun, there was a troupe nearby. I like this fashion, and I am young. I often watched them rehearse and heard of them, so I fell in love with opera. At the age of eight, Xi Kui entered Tianjin Lihaike class to study drama, Peking Opera, Tsing Yi and Hua Dan. /kloc-at the age of 0/0, he studied with Hebei Bangzi actor Mao Mao Dan.

Hebei Bangzi is the main drama in Hebei Province. Beijing Bangzi, Zhili Bangzi and Wei (Tianjin Wei) Bangzi were called in the past, and 1952 was named Hebei Bangzi. Hebei Bangzi is popular in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong and the three northeastern provinces. It gradually evolved from Shaanxi Opera and Shanxi Bangzi, which were introduced to Hebei in the middle of Qing Dynasty. After learning Bangzi Opera from the teacher, Liu focused on art, getting up early and greedy for the dark, practicing acrobatics with his voice hanging, and studying his figure. She reformed and innovated the performance of Hebei Bangzi. She turned Shaanxi opera into Hebei spoken language, and formed an impassioned, desolate and simple "Beijing Bangzi" based on Hebei pronunciation. It was difficult for actresses at that time to be elegant. Life, purity, Dan, end and ugliness are all performed by men on the stage of traditional Chinese opera. After a long time, people are tired of listening to male singers, but people flock to fresh and pretty actresses. Beijing, at the foot of the son of heaven, started the "Ya-worshipping Women's Class" before it became famous, and Liu became its student. Liu, who has achieved a lot, was a hit in the "Zhonghe Garden" after planning and packaging by the Chongya girls' class. Liu has a graceful figure, picturesque eyes, elegant and beautiful temperament, and a heroic spirit rippling through his brow. She is a peerless northern rouge, Zhao Yan beauty. She also has beautiful women like clouds. As soon as she appeared, I saw a full set of Yingying Yanyan, all beautiful and dazzling. As a result, Liu Yi came to power, and all the actors in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei flocked to hold her to the third floor.

Liu has performed in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Harbin and Vladivostok. He once performed on the same stage with Zhou in Shanghai, and cooperated with and in Tianjin and Beijing, all of which were well received. A famous singer sighed after watching Liu's play: "The man has Mei Lanfang and the woman has Liu, so I'll take a break!" Liu Ye is the first female dramatist to perform a new play in China. 19 14 performed new dramas such as Official Tide, Murder of Men in Black, and New Camellia in Tianjin, attacking warlord bureaucrats, promoting democracy and freedom, and inspiring students' patriotic enthusiasm. Zhou Enlai, who was studying in Nankai at that time, was an enthusiastic audience. Liu became a veritable "first red pear garden" in the early years of the Republic of China. In this respect, Liu is lucky. She lived in the heyday of the real prosperity of China opera.

Liu performed in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, and his artistic banner hung high and his reputation spread far and wide. Someone wrote a poem to describe Liu's beauty: "The eyebrows in the distant mountains are like rhinoceros, and the spring clouds are like eyes." Countless shyness, peony can talk about wind energy. "

Liu's fame and charm attracted the admiration of warlords and politicians at that time. Several presidents in Beiyang period, such as Yuan Shikai, Li, Feng, Xu Shichang and Cao Kun, tried her. On one occasion, Yuan Shikai "invited" her to a concert in Zhongnanhai in the name of the President. Liu was putting on makeup backstage when a page came over and said to her, "Someone invited." She followed the pages to a beautifully decorated room. There was no one in the room, and she felt the atmosphere was wrong. She asked him, "Who is looking for me? What can I do for you? " At this time, Yuan Shikai came out from behind the door and said to Liu, "Nothing, please come and talk casually." Seeing that Yuan was up to no good, Liu said humbly, "I have nothing to do, so I have to put on makeup." Then he went back. Later, Yuan Shikai said to people, "That actress is really annoying." "Braid Commander" Zhang Xun is a womanizer. He once invited Liu Jin-gong to sing, in an attempt to "hide the beauty in the golden house", but Liu saw through it and failed. Later, when I was in the restoration, it happened that Liu Ye was in Peking and Zhang Xun was forced to get married again. Liu Ling had a brainwave and proposed to cut a braid before talking about marriage. Zhang Xun loves braids like life. At that time, the "Tiger of Beiyang" sent people to Xuzhou to persuade Zhang Xun to cut his braid. Zhang Wenwen was furious: "The head can be broken, but the braid must not be cut!" Unexpectedly, Zhang Xun readily agreed to Liu's request this time, but thanks to the failure of restoration, Zhang Xun took care of himself, and the matter went away.

With regard to the interesting story of people pursuing Liu, the famous opera expert Mr. recorded such a passage in his masterpiece "Notes on Dream Poems of Red Years": "It was very popular in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. Liu, with excellent color and art, once performed in Tianjin Tianxian in the late Qing Dynasty and Sanqing Garden in Beijing in the early Republic of China. The most famous play is exclusive on flowers, which is called exclusive on flowers, and many people turn it upside down. One day, Ada was in Sanqing Garden. After the evening performance, Liu took off her makeup and went home. The police intervened when someone came forward to hug and kiss him. The man took out 50 yuan of silver and said,' I got it today!' And roared off. Concealing police regulations, molesting women, and fined 50 yuan. "Mr. Boju also wrote a poem for this purpose:" Wang Mei can't help but covet the exclusive Sanqing Garden. A kiss of my life really came true, and I got fifty dollars. "

Liu and Mei Lanfang can be said to be a pair of golden partners on the stage of China opera in the early 20th century. Books and periodicals published at that time once commented that both Liu and Mei Lanfang have immortal eyes, and their status is lofty and unique, just like two bright Gemini stars, shining with dazzling light. 19 18 years, Shuntian era presided over the selection of the king of music. Results Mei Lanfang won the Song King emblem with 232,865 votes, and Liu won the Song King emblem with 238,606 votes.

The audience's word of mouth aroused ripples in the hearts of Liu and Mei Lanfang. From mutual respect to mutual appreciation, colleagues in the pear garden circle also hope that they can get married. Liu Xi Kui admires Mei Lanfang's hard work and firmly believes that he will become an excellent actor in the future. Mei Lanfang also loves like-minded Liu, but the two lovers failed to get married. One of the important reasons is that Liu Yiran cut off the HongLing of love.

Why doesn't Liu want to marry Mei Lanfang? Later, she told the truth in a memoir: "At that time, I was in my twenties, and I also made achievements in art when I was young. Those warlords and young people were all after me. ..... It seems that if you refuse to sacrifice your body, you have to sacrifice your art. "Liu realized that the development of Chinese Peking Opera art cannot be separated from Mei Lanfang. Sacrificing personal love is a trivial matter, but ruining the future of Chinese Peking Opera is a major event. So she had to break off her love affair with Mei Lanfang, so as to eliminate the excuse that some powerful people took the opportunity to frame Mei Lanfang and let him continue to shine on the stage of Peking Opera. It turns out that Liu didn't have to marry Mei Lanfang. Later, Liu married fellow countryman Cui, washed away all the lead, married and had children, and a generation of famous actresses left the stage of opera that once made her brilliant.

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the Prime Minister entrusted Tian Han to find Liu's whereabouts. As soon as they met, Premier Zhou said, "You should pass on the technology to future generations." At the first national congress of literary and art workers, Premier Zhou said to everyone: "Teacher Liu is not greedy for wealth and enjoyment, so she can be so strong in the old society." Indeed, as the Prime Minister said, how many artists like Liu regard wealth as a cloud and do everything except evil?

Liu Qu joined the Chinese Opera School and became one of the top ten professors in the school. 1964, the famous actress queen of China passed away peacefully, and her dazzling life drama ended.