1. Mei Baojiu was a contemporary Chinese Peking opera artist, a performer of the Dan role type in Peking Opera and Kunqu opera, the leader of Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe in Beijing Peking Opera Theatre.
28 Facts About Mei Baojiu
1. 2.
Mei's father Mei Lanfang was one of the most famous Peking opera performers.
3.
Mei Baojiu was the ninth and youngest child of Mei Lanfang.
4.
Mei Baojiu was the master of the second generation of Mei School descendant, he was Mei Lanfang's only child who was a performer of the Dan role of the Peking Opera.
5.
From childhood, Mei Baojiu had learned Peking Opera from many artists.
6.
Mei Baojiu has made significant contributions to cultural exchanges and promoting Peking Opera culture.
7.
Mei Baojiu himself showed great interest as well as gifts in Peking opera in his early life.
8.
When Mei Baojiu Lanfang was free from work, he gave directions to his son himself.
9.
When Mei Baojiu was ten years old, he played Xue Yi in San Niang teaches the child as his first performance in Shanghai.
10.
Mei Baojiu performed in Wu Jiapo Hill with Baoyue at the same time.
11.
Usually, Baojiu performed for the first three days, and Mei Lanfang performed plays in the rest, sometimes they performed cooperatively, such as in Legend of the White Snake.
12.
Mei Baojiu played the part of Xiao Qing the green snake, while his father played Bai Suzhen the white snake.
13.
Mei Baojiu mentioned that it was the most exciting time when the heroine, Sue San, got the Senior judge.
14.
Mei Baojiu got a chance to share the stage with some prestigious senior performers, such as Xiao Changhua, Jiang Miaoxiang and Yu Zhenfei.
15.
In 1961, after Mei Lanfang died, Baojiu took over the position of the leader of Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe.
16.
Fourteen years later, in 1978, Baojiu returned to the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe and came back to stage.
17.
Mei Baojiu reformed the troupe and rearranged many traditional plays like Yuzhoufeng the Sword, The story of Yang Guifei, Luo Shen, Xi Shi as well as Royal pavilion at the same time.
18.
In 1993, led by Baojiu, the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe visited Taiwan and gave elaborately prepared performances to the public.
19.
Mei Baojiu has made significant contributions to cultural exchanges and promoting Peking Opera culture.
20.
Mei Baojiu cultivates more than twenty students, such as Li Shengsu, Dong Yuanyuan, Zhang Jing, Zhang Xinyue, Hu Wenge, Tian Hui, Wei Haimin.
21.
In March 2012, at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Mei Baojiu put forward a proposal on introducing the form of animation into Peking Opera in order to make more teenagers be interested in Peking Opera.
22.
On 31 March 2016, Mei Baojiu was hospitalized because of bronchospasm.
23.
Mei Baojiu died on 25 April 2016, at the age of 82.
24.
Mei Baojiu's eldest brother, Mei Baochen, was a senior engineer in Beijing's Academy of Architecture.
25.
Mei Baojiu's elder brother, Mei Shaowu, was a researcher of the Chinese academy of social sciences institute of the United States and the president of Mei Lanfang Culture-art Seminar.
26.
Mei Baojiu's elder sister Mei Baoyue was a performer of the Laosheng role type in Peking Opera, and performed together with Mei Baojiu sometimes.
27.
Mei Baojiu is the only heir to the Meipai Qingyi.
28.
Mei Baojiu's wife is named Lin Liyuan, she is the consultant of Mei Lanfang Troupe.