Male coaches hone skills of classical performers as they win over new fans, Chen Nan reports.

Mu, a teacher with the Chinese Opera School Affiliated to Shanghai Theatre Academy, performs a Peking Opera piece in Shanghai in 2017. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The stars of Peking Opera are applauded, appreciated and admired. Their delivery, dexterity and expressions combine to produce a commanding performance for viewers and aficionados.

But how do they master their art before going on stage? Yin Jun can help. He has been coaching actors and actresses for TV dramas and movies, which feature Peking Opera, for almost a decade.

His job is to train them in the basic techniques of the traditional art form.

However, when Yin, a Peking Opera artist, was invited to join the TV drama, Winter Begonia, adapted from the popular online novel of the same name, he was initially reluctant to accept.

Set during World War II, when the Chinese were engaged in a war against Japanese invaders, the 48-episode TV drama, which premiered on streaming service iQiyi on March 20, chronicles the friendship between Cheng Fengtai, an overseas-educated businessman who is a big fan of Peking Opera, and Shang Xirui, a Peking Opera master.

"When I read the script, I realized that there are so many scenes featuring Peking Opera, from performances onstage to singing and showcasing the work and life of these artists offstage. I had never encountered such a situation before (with so many elements included), so I said no," recalls Yin. The 32-year-old artist was born in Weihai, East China's Shandong province, and was introduced to Peking Opera by his grandparents, both die-hard fans.

Then Yin had a complete change of heart. The TV drama was shot in a studio in Hengdian, East China's Zhejiang province, from December 2018 to April 2019. One day Yin visited a teahouse at the studio, built exclusively for the drama.

It was based on the original Huguang Guild Hall, a Peking Opera performance venue first built in 1807, where famous Peking Opera artists, such as Mei Lanfang and Tan Xinpei, performed.

"When I stood alone on the center of the stage, I was totally in the zone, imagining myself performing onstage. Peking Opera is one of China's most treasured art forms and it would be great to let more people see it. I felt that it was the right thing to do despite the difficulty. I immediately changed my mind and accepted the job," says Yin.

For four months, Yin worked with the actors and actresses of the drama, not only teaching them to perform Peking Opera but also performing himself as a character in the drama.

To guarantee the quality of the performances featured in the drama, Yin invited his friend, Mu Yuandi, who is also a Peking Opera artist, to coach, perform and dub for the role of Shang Xirui when he sings Peking Opera melodies in the drama.

The series was a huge success and Yin and Mu won many fans. Of particular interest was the nan dan (a male who plays a female role). This tradition was forged out of necessity. For much of its history in the old, feudal society, women were forbidden to perform Peking Opera.

Yin, who follows the Xun School, plays a female role. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Disappearing trend

The 200-year-old traditional Chinese art form, has four basic roles: sheng (male), dan (female), jing (painted face) and chou (male clown). Each has a number of subtypes. Consequently, nan dan is a branch of the dan roles.

The heyday of the nan dan genre was in the first half of the 20th century, when four male actors Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu and Xun Huisheng were hailed as the "Four Great Dan" in the history of the art. They established the four dan styles named after them－the schools of Mei, Shang, Cheng and Xun.

The series has an illustrious link to this period. Bi Guyun, a veteran nan dan performer, now 89, studied with masters Xun and Mei, and was also a Peking Opera consultant of the TV drama.

At 11 years old, Yin left his hometown to study Peking Opera in the Beijing Opera Art's College, and became a student belonging to the Xun School. There were about 30 students in his class and Yin was the only male specializing in the nan dan genre.

"I started with imitating the movements of female roles and observing the female students' behavior every day. It was not easy but I was fascinated about the art form," says Yin, adding that he also has to stay slim to better portray female roles.

"Everything I do onstage is to create an ambience for viewers to evoke a certain image in their minds, such as a beautiful garden and a mountain. It's pretty much an actor-focused art form," he adds.

According to Yin, the style of the Xun School centers on portraying young, lively women, who are innocent and sweet.

"If you want to succeed as a nan dan performer, you have to master more skills than female performers, from a single eye contact to a footstep," says Mu, 36, who was born in Northeast China's Jilin province and started to learn Peking Opera at age 10.

Like Yin, Mu was the only male student in his class to specialize in learning to play female roles.

"Nan dan actors need to master skills which blur gender differences, such as using a high-pitched voice like that of a woman. But I am good at coping with the martial arts, which is an advantage for me," says Mu, who has been teaching at the Chinese Opera School Affiliated to Shanghai Theatre Academy since 2009.

At 15, when puberty saw Mu's voice deepen, he couldn't sing dan roles, so he focused on practicing martial arts.

In 2000, he joined the Harbin Peking Opera Troupe to be a nan dan performer, but it was a difficult time. "Some people thought it was strange for a man to play female roles as there are actresses to do that. All I could do then was to practice harder, because it made me stronger onstage," Mu says.

Luckily, Mu regained his tonal range in 2004. That same year, he was enrolled to study at the Beijing Opera Art's College, where he learned to perform in the style of the Shang School. From 2010, he has been learning with Bi, the veteran artist.

Common goal

Although there are not many nan dan performers, some have managed to achieve success, and attract an increasing number of followers.

In 2010, four Chinese nan dan artists, often called today's "Four Young Dan": Yin, Mu, Yang Lei and Hu Wenge, performed in a show together at Beijing's Chang'an Grand Theater, which sold out quickly.

Each of them played a classic female role. For example, Hu, the only nan dan apprentice of the late Peking Opera master Mei Baojiu, son of Mei Lanfang, played the legendary Tang Dynasty (618-907) concubine Yang Yuhuan in the classic Peking Opera piece, The Drunken Concubine.

Yang Lei, another nan dan performer with China National Peking Opera Company, whose style is of the Cheng School, played the role of Meifei, a concubine of Tang Dynasty emperor Li Longji in another excerpt.

Mu says that this year marks the 10th anniversary of that show in 2010. The four artists had planned to perform another show together, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, they had to postpone it.

"For the audience, who know about Peking Opera, they are familiar with the repertoires we perform. They come to the theater to see what we can do onstage and how we illustrate the roles," says Mu. "That's why Peking Opera is actor-focused."

"A performance by a man playing a woman is not about satisfying the curiosity of the audience," Mu points out. "It's about giving a wonderful performance and displaying the beauty of Peking Opera. It's wrong if the audience is just paying attention to my gender onstage."

In Mu's real life, he has a hectic schedule, teaching students, writing academic theses, performing both at home and abroad, as well as giving Peking Opera workshops to the general public, from primary school students to retirees.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn