Shen Chu Lan Hua Zhi

Zhang Yihe spent the entirety of 2018 writing this book, "Extending the Orchid Finger."
"Extending the Orchid Finger" is about male dan actors. The author once worked in a Peking Opera troupe, doing everything from writing scripts to folding costumes; from selling tickets before performances to sweeping the floor after the show; from being a playwright to becoming a counter-revolutionary, and eventually a criminal. She experienced the vibrant world of the stage, but also endured lifelong humiliation. The author became good friends with several male dan actors. After returning to Beijing, she maintained contact with them. While male dan actors possessed incredible skill, they also had their share of flaws. There was a Peking Opera male dan named Yu Lianquan, stage name Xiao Cuihua. What is "willow swaying in the wind"? You had to see him to know. What is a woman's walk? Watching real women wouldn't do; you had to watch him.
Artists, including accomplished ones, are a fragile group. They adapt well to the stage but poorly to life. They can neither achieve the spiritual transcendence of reality that literati do, nor can they maintain the cautious and humble mindset of farmers. Once they feel that life has lost its joy and they have lost their place on stage, all sorts of thoughts can arise. Many of them secretly envied Mei Lanfang, envied his ability to leave the world so quickly.
Mei Lanfang died so peacefully. If before we mourned the premature end of an artistic life, now we celebrate the early completion of a life's art.
This book, "Extending the Orchid Finger," describes artists who arrived on the waves of the stage, only to be swept away by the raging torrents of revolution.

2019-01-01

Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand

193

9780190984137