Like Father, Like Son

Perhaps most people don't know that Mei Lanfang, one of China's "four most famous players of female roles," had three sons. The first and second sons chose to study architecture and foreign languages, and they did not inherit the legacy of their father. It was only the third son Baojiu who, because he had grown up so similar to his father, also had a voice. His temperament was gentle, making him resemble his father even more, which made the father decide to pass the artistic heritage of the Mei school to him. He became his father's heir.

Incapable of forsaking his father:

At that time Mei Baojiu was only a little boy of ten. He just felt that singing opera was a fresh thing to do. "When I was small, I would see the records my father made, and my heart was completely filled with envy. My father arranged with a teacher to have me begin a few basic courses. Later he himself taught me the opera. And I used his lessons as homework, naturally picking it up." A while ago, he led the Peking Theater Company to Taiwan to perform, says Mei Baojiu.

At one and the same time he undertook regular studies in school and he received instruction from his father at home. Mei Baojiu recalls that studying opera at that time was mostly fun. Later on when with his father's opera troupe he performed some preludes, he had no feeling of burden. But as his father grew older, it came to Mei Baojiu to play the leading role. The audience used the standard of his father to evaluate him.

"I know that I myself can no longer be very casual. It's not only a matter of whether I personally succeed or fail. I could not, because of my own bad performance, give my father's face a black mark, place a stain on the results of his life's work." He realized that he would inherit his father's art, even to the extent that the Mei school would in the future depend on him to be lifted up and advanced. Suddenly, he was beset by pressure.

Moreover, in this situation Mei Lanfang had high expectations for his favored youngest son. But owing to the fact that he himself often went abroad to perform, he absorbed some Western influence. He understood that he should use a patient and gradual method to educate his child. Also, unlike the average opera teacher who is always ready to strike his pupil, he never made Mei Baojiu come to detest the pressure and quit.

The father lives on in his mind:

"Until 1972 when my father passed away, I stayed by his side for 20 or 30 years. I never left him." Mei Baojiu recalls that at the time the "Mei Lanfang Peking Opera Group" that his father organized would often perform. He acted in the first performances; his father acted in the second. After he shed his costume, he would sit in front of the stage and watch his father perform. He tape-recorded it and took notes. After his father came down, he would ask about the parts that he did not understand.

Later on Mei Lanfang arranged for them to perform on the same stage. For example, in the Legend of the White Snake his father played the white snake, and he played the green snake. In Dream of the Garden the father played the young lady and he played the lady's maid. Because this repertoire contained many symmetrical dance movements, on the stage Mei Baojiu could follow along with his father, emulating his mannerisms and singing. Any part that he didn't study to a point of expertise, Mei Lanfang analyzed precisely for him. He says, "Thus, drop by drop, my father's posture and vocals, his stage manners, everything entered gradually into my mind."

Besides his father's help, which was given completely and without the slightest reservation, Mei Baojiu believes that the atmosphere of his home, in which art was ever-present, was also an extraordinary situation which set him apart from others. The theatrical troupe would come as friends to his father's home to discuss the opera, rehearse and study scripts. He sat by the side and listened. "Shaped by the influence of this kind of environment, I gained a total artistic concept," says Mei Baojiu.

Mei Lanfang was obviously partial toward his youngest son who could inherit the family legacy. "Father often led me, introducing me to the world of art. He didn't attach as much importance to my two elder brothers who chose other careers," says Mei Baojiu. "But my brothers weren't jealous. They understood that Father was making an earnest investment in my person, giving me every form of favorable condition in the hope that the father's art would have an inheritor. This sustained a luster for the household."

Surpassing the master:

As Mei Lanfang's heir, he inevitably is compared with his father by the audience. In particular, the older fans, many of whom had seen Mei Lanfang in his heyday, still reflect upon Mei Baojiu's "inexpert" points when they see him perform.

"Although this is considerable pressure, it also is an aid to me." Mei Baojiu gives as an example King Ba Departs From His Concubine. When Mei Lanfang was younger, his choreography had more motion. In middle age, perhaps because of dwindling physical energy, his performance became less pronounced in behavior. "I studied the performing method of my father's later years. The places that they point out from the past that I have overlooked can make my performance even richer."

And does Mei Baojiu surpass the master? Everyone believes that he is carefully tending to the Mei school style which his father originated. Furthermore, Mei Baojiu himself feels that now he is still doing the work of inheritance. There have been no breakthroughs. That is a course to be strived for in the future. "But I am younger in years; I sing the melodies a little higher. The result is a bit more resonant." This is how he assesses himself.

Is an independent family heritage hard to pass on?

The Mei school craft was handed down from Mei Lanfang to Mei Baojiu. Such a father-to-son enterprise is still quite common in the world of mainland Peking opera. For instance, Ye Shaolan, master of both the scholar and soldier roles, is the son of the most famous of the scholar actors in the Ye school, Ye Shenglan. The master who founded the Tan school, Tan Xinpei, has a son Xiaopei, a grandson Fuying, and a granddaughter Yuanshou, all receiving the knowledge as a unit. Qiou Shengrong, who plays the male hualien roles in the Qiou school, has a son Shaorong who is inheriting his legacy. In the future isn't Mei Baojiu going to choose some son or daughter to study under him?

"None of the children studied, because during that clamorous Cultural Revolution, we waited for the situation to pass, and they have already grown up. It still has to be cultivated. It will depend on my children's children." Mei Baojiu reveals that his eldest brother's grandson--his own great nephew--does indeed have a nature whose every aspect is similar to his own. He should be able to study.

Nevertheless, with the great dispersal of news and information in today's society, many exclusively taught family traditions already can not be controlled as strictly as before. He says, "It's important to see whether or not you yourself are serious about studying. I am quite willing to nurture young students of this generation." For example a woman from Taiwan, Wei Hai-ming, versatile in all the female roles, came to him and implored him to teach her his art; he solemnly took her as a disciple, in the hope that the art of the Mei school can also be enhanced and made greater in Taiwan.

[Picture Caption]

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(left, right) Thirteen-year-old Mei Baojiu performed in Visiting the Imperial Palace in Shanghai in 1947, taking a commemorative photo with his father. One year later, when pater Mei Lanfang played the same role, Mei Baojiu stood at his side to record this memory. (photos courtesy of Mei Baojiu)