Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c11.s2.t7: Mei Lanfang
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c11.s2.t7
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Mei Lanfang
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Mei Lanfang (October 22, 1894～August 8, 1961) was a Peking Opera artist. His ancestral home was in Taizhou, Jiangsu, and he was born in Beijing. When the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore visited China in 1924, he got to know and became a friend of Mei Lanfang.
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**Life:** Mei Lanfang was born to a family of opera performers. He began to learn opera performance
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Mei Lanfang
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at the age of eight, made his stage debut at 11 and was famous in Beijing and Shanghai at around 20.
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Rabindranath Tagore's gift of white silken fan to Mei Lanfang (front side)
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He moved to Shanghai in 1918. He was good at ‘Qingyi, Huashan’ and ‘Daomadan’, and after Wang Yaoqing, he made innovations and inventions to ‘*dan*’ role’s singing, speaking, dancing, music, attire and makeup, and form the unique “Mei School”. He was good at both Peking and Kunqu opera. His look was pretty and singing melodious. He was a master of ‘*dan*’ role and enjoyed an international fame. In a half century, he had performed nearly 400 plays, including among others ‘*Yuzhou Feng, Guifei Zuijiu, Bawang Bieji, Duanqiao, Youyuan Jingmeng, Feng Huan Chao, Kang Jinbing, Mu Guiying Guashuai*’ and ‘*Tiannv Sanhua*’, and was acclaimed by the international community as the “incarnation of beauty”. He was patriotic and refused to perform during the Japanese
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Rabindranath Tagore’s gift of white silken fan to Mei Lanfang (back side)
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occupation. He successively served as the Director of China Beijing Opera Theater, Director of the Chinese Opera Research Institute, Vice-Chairman of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and Vice-Chairman of China Theatre Association. Besides his autobiography, ‘*Forty Years of Life on the Stage*’, his articles and essays have been published in ‘*The Collected Works of Mei Lanfang*’. Recordings of his best-known performances have been published in *A Selection of Beijing Operas Performed by Mei Lanfang*. He died of heart attack in Beijing at the age of 67.
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**Art and Literary Exchange with Tagore:** As the greatest drama performer in modern China, Mei Lanfang developed an unusual friendship with Tagore. When the latter visited China in the spring of 1924, Mei Lanfang met him for many times and at various places, for instance, accompanied him to Ling Yin Temple in Hangzhou, attended the poet’s lectures or birthday celebration, or treated him privately at his abode in Beijing (No. 24, Wuliang Daren Lane).
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On May 7, Tagore had his 64ᵗʰ birthday and the Chinese side held a solemn celebration for him. That night, there was a performance *Chitra* (a famous play by Tagore) in English at the assembly hall of Union Medical College (located at Dongdan Santiao, Beijing). This is the first time for China to ever perform an Indian play. Tagore was in the middle of the third row, while Mei Lanfang sat beside him.
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A stage performance of Mei Lanfang's 'Luo Shen'
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Tagore had been involved in the performance of many of his plays and had a good knowledge of performing art. Like old friends, they appreciated each other, and Tagore said, he would like to see his performance before leaving Beijing. Therefore, Mei Lanfang invited him to his performance of ‘*Goddess of the Luo River*’. On May 19, he had a special performance of *Goddess of the Luo River* at Kaiming Theatre (later named as “Minzhu Theatre”) for Tagore, who, in a deep red hat and a red robe (formal attire for Visva-Bharati University), sat upright in the middle of the box. Upon the end of the performance, he went to the backstage to express his thanks and invite Mei Lanfang to a talk in the next day. In the noon of May 20, he, together with Liang Qichao, Yao Mangfu and others, gave a farewell dinner to Tagore, who would leave for Taiyuan that night. At the dinner, Tagore praised ‘*Goddess of the Luo River*’, and suggested that rare stones and exotic plants should be used to produce a mystic rather than an ordinary setting for “Meeting on the River”, and he also mentioned the close connection between Chinese opera and arts as well as the thorough knowledge that an artist should have. Mei Lanfang accepted his advice and later asked people to redesign the setting accordingly, which is still in use now. Besides a common interest in theatre performance, they two liked painting as well and exchanged experiences in this respect. Tagore improvised a poem and wrote it down on a silk fan with a Chinese brush pen. The original was in Bengali and he self-translated it into English, and then marked his name and that of the recipient. He recited it in Bengali and then gave it to Mei Lanfang as a present. Literarily, this poem says:
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'The Drunken Beauty', enacted by Yang Yuhuan (left), Jiang Miaoxiang as Pei Lishi
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Dear, the veil of an unknown language
Covers your face
Just like a remote mountain
Shrouded by mist and cloud
(Translated by Shi Zhen)
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In return, Mei Lanfang wrote down on the folding fan given to him by the calligraphist Tang Dingzhi the following four lines quoted from *Goddess of the Luo River*, and gave it to Tagore as a souvenir.
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Rays and clouds in the sky, light dress wetted
As beside the Milky Way and blue river
Where misty love to go
Water, fog and a cool moon
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Mei Lanfang selected a number of his own albums recorded by EMI, such as *Chang’e Benyue*, *Fenhe Wan*, *Nihong Guan* and *Mulan Congjun*, together with Peng Pai by Tan Xinpei, Yu Sulu’s Kuqu opera *Sanzui* and *Chaishu*, and *Nantian Men*, a Pu opera by Yuan Yuan Hong and Xiao Hongxiu, and gave them to Tagore.
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That night, Mei Lanfang went to the railway station to see Tagore off. Before departure, Tagore invited him to visit and perform in India. In 1935, Mei Lanfang went to visit Soviet Union and Europe, and “returned by way of Bombay (present-day Mumbai), where he went ashore and had a rest for half of a day. Regrettably, he did not go to see Tagore. In the winter of 1954, a Chinese cultural delegation visited India and gave Peking opera performance in New Delhi, Calcutta (present-day Kolkata), Bombay (present-day Mumbai) and Madras (present-day Chennai). For some reason, Mei Lanfang did not go. He felt excited when hearing Li Shaochun’s account of his visit to Tagore’s former residence in Santiniketan.
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**Mutual Affinity:** In 1941, Tagore, at the age of 80, was about to die, nostalgic of that warm birthday celebration in Beijing, he wrote the following poem:
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In the vessel of my birthdays
Sacred waters from many pilgrimages
Have I gathered, this I remember
Once I went to the land of China
Those whom I had not met
Put the mark of friendship on my forehead,
Calling me their own intimate
Unconsciously the garment of the stranger falls off
Inside that lasting being appears
Revealing a comforting relationship
To my surprise.
I have a Chinese name and attire in a Chinese way
I know, no matter where I am
Where there are friends, there will be a new life
From them I see a miracle of life
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Of his Chinese friends, Mei Lanfang no doubt has an important position in his heart, and is one of his soul mates.
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Mei Lanfang never forgot this Indian friend. On May 13, 1961, on the occasion of Tagore’s 100th birthday, he published on the Guangming Daily a poem, ‘*In Memory of the Indian Poet Tagore*’. The foreword states: “In the spring of 1924, Mr. Tagore visited China, and we met in Beijing and held delighted talks about arts. I played ‘*Goddess of the Luo River*’ for him. After the performance, he composed a poem for me and wrote it down on a silk fan. The time is fleeting, and more than 30 years have passed. Tagore is fond of China and often expresses his emotion through poems, and I write this poem to commemorate his 100th birthday.” The poem says: “the old poet once came, hearty and hoary, reputed but without arrogance, humble and friendly; we became friends right away, and he had a high expectation on me. He saw my performance, and composed a vivid and rhythmic poem, and wrote it on a silk fan for me. My talent is too small to deserve it. I accepted and felt encouraged. Looking back on his 100th birthday, I write a poem to commemorate his episodes. He is reputed and praised across the world. He wishes that China and India could rely on and help each other. He discusses writing and arts in a meticulous manner. He analyses and advises regardless of language barrier. He lectures in a sonorous way. Darkness will perish, and brightness will come. He opposes imperialism and aspires to national rejuvenation. In a new epoch, ugly beings will be isolated. He is a rare and far-sighted talent. China-India friendship has lasted for thousands of years, with frequent cultural exchange, the two nations are united. His rectitude will last forever, against which there will be no future”. Two months later, Mei Lanfang died out of a sudden, and this poem became his last writing. He also published *In Memory of Tagore*, a long article of more than 5,000 characters on People Literature (May issue), which is a valuable record about his episodes with Tagore, and the genuine friendship between these two world-class masters will be cherished and talked about by people forever.
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Tagore had treasured up albums given to him by Mei Lanfang. After the poet’s death in August 1941, these articles, as a witness of India-China cultural exchange, have been kept at the arts school’s museum of Visva-Bharati University. While, the silk fan given by Tagore, and paintings from Nandalal Bose, a famous Indian painter who visited China together with Tagore, are well preserved at Mei Lanfang Memorial Museum in Beijing.
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(*Liu Jian*)