The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

There are two famous theaters in San Francisco's Chinatown, one is called the Great China Theater and the other is called the Grand Stage Theater. They were opened as early as the Qing Dynasty. The Great China Theater has a background of the Revolutionary Party, while the backstage of the Grand Stage Theater is a royalist party. The two theaters are incompatible with each other, and even their respective artists are prohibited from moving around each other.

With the victory of the Revolution of 1911, the business of the Greater China Theater that supported the revolutionary party became even more prosperous. From Sun Yat-sen's call for the overthrow of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the United States to Hu Shih's campaign for the Anti-Japanese War in the United States, the Greater China Theater has been an excellent stage for speeches throughout the history of the Republic of China.

The first stop of Zhou Hexuan's visit to the United States was at the Great China Theater.

"Dangdangdangdang..."

The gongs and drums on the stage were beating non-stop. Zhou Hexuan, Song Ziwen, Fan Heyan, Situ Meitang, Luo Shi and others were sitting in the front row, surrounded by local overseas Chinese and representatives of the literary and art circles.

What is being performed at the moment is a Cantonese opera called "Patriotic Sons and Daughters". It is said that in 1927, in order to promote the Three People's Principles, the Great China Theater paid a lot of money to hire experts to create it. There are many actors on stage, but Zhou Hexuan only knows one of them - Guan Dexing, the first generation of Wong Fei Hung on the big screen in Hong Kong in the future.

Luo Shi, an American, shook his head and seemed to be very interested in Chinese opera. In fact, Zhou Hexuan wanted to ask him: "Mayor, can you tell the difference between Peking Opera and Cantonese Opera?"

Song Ziwen, on the other hand, dozed off again and again, forcing himself to concentrate to finish listening to the trick. He was born in Shanghai and went to the United States when he was very young. Not to mention Cantonese, he doesn't even speak Mandarin well. He usually writes articles in English and then asks his secretary to translate them into Chinese.

"good!"

The theater was filled with cheers.

Not far from Zhou Hexuan, a woman shouted loudly, raised her arms and clapped vigorously. Her name is Liu Kelun, a dancing star from Chicago. She held a benefit performance during the Battle of Songhu and donated all the funds raised to the 19th Route Army.

The woman sitting next to Liu Kelun is Huang Zhenhua, the daughter of revolutionary Huang Xing, who is studying for a master's degree at Columbia University in the United States. She once sold her jewelry and remitted the money to the 19th Route Army with an oath: "If foreign aggression becomes more severe, I will serve the country even if I die!"

Today's performance invited many patriotic overseas Chinese, such as Tan Guangzhong, one of the leaders of overseas Chinese in the Americas. After the "December 28th Incident", he also initiated a fund-raising campaign and wrote to the Nanjing government: "The Japanese pirates have swallowed up the whole country, invaded the country, and encroached on our country. We hope that we will respect the people's customs, gather talents, mobilize the whole country, and resist to the death." , Don’t be afraid of the enemy to stay safe, and bear the heavy responsibility of subjugating the country. If we rise up to fight, the people of the whole country should support us with strength."

The 19th Route Army not only fought hard in China, but also promoted propaganda abroad. It also hired overseas Chinese as propaganda secretaries, specifically responsible for negotiating with the West. At least in the United States, many people knew at this time that a Chinese army had fought bloody battles with the Japanese invaders.

After the performance of the Cantonese opera "Patriotic Sons and Daughters", there was another Cantonese opera called "Return My Country", which was also a new progressive drama compiled by the Greater China Theatre.

Immediately afterwards, Meng Xiaodong and Vivien Leigh took the stage to perform the new Peking Opera "Mrs. Flower Stam".

Vivien Leigh had oil paint on her face this time, so she couldn't tell that she was a Westerner, and her performance could only be regarded as quite satisfactory. But Meng Xiaodong stunned a group of overseas theater fans with just her body, steps and gestures without even having time to speak. She showed a demeanor that was not inferior to that of Mei Lanfang in every move she made.

Meng Xiaodong stroked her long beard with her hands, tilted her head and sang: "Luoyang's peonies are the best in the world. If I call Cheng (Harmony), they will all become Luoyang. What a beauty..."

"good!"

Situ Meitang clapped his hands fiercely and marveled again and again: "This voice is amazing, I don't know who it is!"

Fan Heyan reminded in a low voice: "Mr. Ji, the old man on the stage is none other than Boss Meng, Mr. Zhou's wife, Meng Xiaodong."

"Female?" Situ Meitang was even more surprised, "I thought it was a man singing, eh, let's not talk about it for now, it's more important to listen to the show."

When the performance of "Mrs. Flower Stamina" ended, Tan Guangzhong couldn't help but stand up, clapped his hands wildly and said: "I have been away from my hometown for more than ten years, and I heard such old students in the United States. I am not inferior to the boss Tan Xinpei Tan back then. !”

Huang Zhenhua smiled and said: "I don't know which master sang it. I will definitely make some friends later."

For the Chinese people of that era, Peking Opera was the true quintessence of the country. The top Peking Opera masters had broken away from the category of actors and were considered great artists recognized by the world.

Remembering Tagore's first visit to China, countless Chinese celebrities competed to communicate with him. Lu Xun complained directly about this, which probably meant: "Hu Shi, Xu Zhimo and others are not qualified to discuss friendship at all. Only Mei Lanfang and Tagore are on the same level."

That was more than ten years ago, which means that as early as more than ten years ago, Lu Xun believed that Mei Lanfang and Tagore were of equal status.

Meng Xiaodong first arrived in the United States. When they met and shook hands, everyone regarded her as Zhou Hexuan's ordinary female companion. She didn't express anything, nor did she try to push for the limelight. She only had to go on stage and sing a play to conquer everyone with her talent.

Mei Lanfang was in charge of singing the main song today, and the cheers from the audience could knock off the roof tiles. Even the Americans present cheered in broken Chinese.

As evening approached, all the actors put on ordinary clothes and went on stage, and theater manager Tang Pujun was personally responsible for the introduction.

Meng Xiaodong was wearing a white silk suit and her hair was tied into a ponytail, looking dashing. Vivien Leigh, on the other hand, was wearing a tight-fitting cheongsam, and her perfect figure was outlined in an embossed way. Just one look at her could make the man who looked at her blush.

"Umai!"

Ross pointed at Vivien Leigh and exclaimed: "There are white people among the performers. What did she just perform?"

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Her name is Vivian, and she plays the heroine in the penultimate play."

"Is that the beautiful queen who was captured?" Luo Shi tried hard to remember.

"Yes." Zhou Hexuan nodded.

Mayor Ross said in surprise: "I want her autograph. She is the first Westerner who can sing Chinese Peking Opera well. By the way, is she an American?"

Zhou Hexuan said: "She is British."

"What a pity." Ross said regretfully.

The American reporters present went crazy and took photos of Vivien Leigh desperately. They even thought about tomorrow's news headlines.

Theater owner Tang Pujun introduced the actors one by one. When it was Vivien Leigh's turn, it really caused a sensation, and the audience gave warm applause.

Tang Pujun walked to Meng Xiaodong again and said excitedly: "The person I want to introduce next is very famous in the Chinese theater world. She is respected by the Chinese audience as the 'Winter Emperor', the Emperor of Laosheng! She is the character in "Mrs. The actor who plays the Queen of Shu, Meng Chang, is Ms. Meng Xiaodong!"

The Chinese people in the audience roared, making the movement even louder than before.

"Is Meng Chang sung by a woman?"

"I didn't expect that the old student just now was a woman."

"That voice is amazing!"

"Winter Emperor, Winter Emperor, he is indeed worthy of his name. He is worthy of being the Emperor of Laosheng."

"Another one who can't lose to Boss Mei."

"Those of us who have lived in the United States all year round are so ignorant that we don't even know that there is such a powerful female senior student."

"Winter Emperor! Winter Emperor!"

"..."

Zhou Hexuan looked at the already boiling theater and couldn't help but laugh. It was going to be his turn to perform soon.

The Great China Theater in San Francisco's Chinatown is an important stage for propaganda in the United States. If you haven't given a speech here, you would be embarrassed to say that you have been to the United States.

Historically, when Japan fully invaded China, Hu Shih changed from a peace advocate to a war advocate and was appointed China's Plenipotentiary Ambassador Extraordinary to the United States. He gave a speech in Hawaii on the way, and the first stop on the mainland of the United States was to give a speech at the Great China Theater.

The actors came off the stage one after another, and the theater manager Tang Pujun smiled and said: "I would like to invite Mr. Zhou Hexuan, a famous scholar and writer, to come on stage to give a speech to everyone!"