Old masters onstage again

Historic premiere

Peking Opera combines singing, dancing, acrobatics and martial arts. The art form is two centuries old, passed down from one generation to the next largely through master-student training, with trainees learning the basic skills through oral instruction, observation and imitation.

Mei was one of the best-known nandan, which refers to a man playing a female role, a practice that dates from a period when women were forbidden to take to the stage.

Farewell My Concubine follows the story of the war between the states of Chu and Han in the third century BC. Xiang Yu, the King of Western Chu, is brave but lacks tactics, as well as being stubborn and arrogant. Regardless of objections from his generals and his favorite concubine, Yuji, he sends troops to fight against Han. As a result, he and his army are ambushed and trapped.

Aware of the fact that he is doomed, Xiang Yu intends to break out of the encirclement with his beloved Yuji. However, rather than weighing down the army, she chooses to commit suicide with a sword after a feast and a sword dance. Xiang Yu is defeated and retreats. Too ashamed to return home, he kills himself by slitting his throat with his sword.

In 1918, Farewell My Concubine was first performed by Yang and Shang Xiaoyun, also a famous nandan, in Beijing. When Mei told Yang that he wanted to adapt the piece, Yang agreed and supported him.

Mei's adaptation narrowed it down from a four-night-long performance to two nights. According to Niu, on the first day of the premiere of Farewell My Concubine, Yang told Mei that he was exhausted because there were too many martial arts scenes. After finishing the performance, Mei decided to narrow it further to one night.

"I watched the piece when I was a child. The characters were vivid and well-presented by the actors. It's a typical story of Peking Opera about love, loyalty and bravery," adds Niu.

Qian Hao, the director of the movie, says that the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Mei's Farewell My Concubine deserves to be celebrated.

He and his team went through the archived recordings at the channel and found an original recording by Mei and Peking Opera master Liu Lianrong, performing Farewell My Concubine in Tianjin in 1951. They repaired the old tape, which is about 20 minutes long, and used eight minutes in the movie.