Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History is a series devoted to the best of theatre/performance scholarship currently available, accessible, and free of jargon. It strives to include a wide range of topics, from the more tradi- tional to those performance forms that in recent years have helped broaden the understanding of what theatre as a category might include (from variety forms as diverse as the circus and burlesque to street buskers, stage magic, and musical theatre, among many others). Although historical, critical, or analytical studies are of special interest, more theoretical projects, if not the dominant thrust of a study, but utilized as important underpinning or as a historiographical or analyti- cal method of exploration, are also of interest. Textual studies of drama or other types of less traditional performance texts are also germane to the series if placed in their cultural, historical, social, or political and economic context. There is no geographical focus for this series, and works of excellence of a diverse and inter- national nature, including comparative studies, are sought. T he editor of the series is Don B. Wilmeth (EMERITUS, Brown University), Ph.D., University of Illinois, who brings to the series the experience of over a dozen years as editor of a book series on American theatre and drama, in addition to his own extensive experience as an editor of books and journals. He is the author of several award- winning books and has received numerous career achievement awards, including one for sus- tained excellence in editing from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Also in the series: Undressed for Success by Brenda Foley Theatre, Performance, and the Historical Avant- garde by Günter Berghaus Theatre, Politics, and Markets in Fin- de- Siècle Paris by Sally Charnow Ghosts of Theatre and Cinema in the Brain by Mark Pizzato Moscow Theatres for Young People by Manon van de Water Absence and Memory in Colonial American Theatre by Odai Johnson Vaudeville Wars: How the Keith- Albee and Orpheum Circuits Controlled the Big- Time and Its Performers by Arthur Frank Wertheim Performance and Femininity in Eighteenth- Century German Women’s Writing by Wendy Arons Operatic China: Staging Chinese Identity across the Pacific by Daphne P. Lei Transatlantic Stage Stars in Vaudeville and Variety: Celebrity Turns by Leigh Woods Interrogating America through Theatre and Performance edited by William W. Demastes and Iris Smith Fischer Plays in American Periodicals, 1890–1918 by Susan Harris Smith Representation and Identity from Versailles to the Present: The Performing Subject by Alan Sikes Directors and the New Musical Drama: British and American Musical Theatre in the 1980s and 90s by Miranda Lundskaer- Nielsen Beyond the Golden Door: Jewish- American Drama and Jewish- American Experience by Julius Novick American Puppet Modernism: Essays on the Material World in Performance by John Bell On the Uses of the Fantastic in Modern Theatre: Cocteau, Oedipus, and the Monster by Irene Eynat- Confino Staging Stigma: A Critical Examination of the American Freak Show by Michael M. Chemers, foreword by Jim Ferris Performing Magic on the Western Stage: From the Eighteenth- Century to the Present edited by Francesca Coppa, Larry Hass, and James Peck, foreword by Eugene Burger Memory in Play: From Aeschylus to Sam Shepard by Attilio Favorini Danjūrō’s Girls: Women on the Kabuki Stage by Loren Edelson Mendel’s Theatre: Heredity, Eugenics, and Early Twentieth- Century American Drama by Tamsen Wolff Theatre and Religion on Krishna’s Stage: Performing in Vrindavan by David V. Mason Rogue Performances: Staging the Underclasses in Early American Theatre Culture by Peter P. Reed Broadway and Corporate Capitalism: The Rise of the Professional- Managerial Class, 1900–1920 by Michael Schwartz Lady Macbeth in America: From the Stage to the White House by Gay Smith Performing Bodies in Pain: Medieval and Post- modern Martyrs, Mystics, and Artists by Marla Carlson Early- Twentieth- Century Frontier Dramas on Broadway: Situating the Western Experience in Performing Arts by Richard Wattenberg Staging the People: Community and Identity in the Federal Theatre Project by Elizabeth A. Osborne Russian Culture and Theatrical Performance in America, 1891–1933 by Valleri J. Hohman Baggy Pants Comedy: Burlesque and the Oral Tradition by Andrew Davis Transposing Broadway: Jews, Assimilation, and the American Musical by Stuart J. Hecht The Drama of Marriage: Gay Playwrights/Straight Unions from Oscar Wilde to the Present by John M. Clum Mei Lanfang and the Twentieth- Century International Stage: Chinese Theatre Placed and Displaced by Min Tian Mei Lanfang and the Twentieth- Century International Stage Chinese Theatre Placed and Displaced Min Tian MEI LANFANG AND THE TWENTIETH-C ENTURY INTERNATIONAL STAGE Copyright © Min Tian, 2012. Softcover reprint of the hard cover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-11244-5 All rights reserved. First published in 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29435-0 ISBN 978-1-137-01043-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137010438 Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Tian, Min. Mei Lanfang and the twentieth-century international stage : Chinese theatre placed and displaced / Min Tian. p. cm.—(Palgrave studies in theatre and performance history series) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Mei, Lanfang, 1894–1961—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Mei, Lanfang, 1894–1961—Influence. 3. Theater—China—History—20th century. 4. Theater—Western countries—History—20th century. I. Title. PN2878.M4T53 2012 792.02(cid:2)8092—dc23 2011025490 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: January 2012 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To my daughters Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1. Redefining a Cultural Nation and Reifying a Theatre Tradition: Mei Lanfang’s International Debut in Japan 15 2. “The Gentlemanly ‘Leading Lady’” as “Ambassador in Art”: Mei Lanfang’s 1930 Tour of the United States 57 3. Glory or Shame to the Chinese Nation: The Chinese Debate on Mei Lanfang’s 1935 Visit to the Soviet Union 103 4. Learning the “Practical Lesson”: The Interpretations and Appropriations of Mei Lanfang’s Art by the Soviet Theatre 135 5. The Effect of Displacement: Bertolt Brecht’s Interpretation and Refunctioning of Mei Lanfang’s Art 175 Conclusion 215 Appendix 1: Glossary for Chinese and Japanese Names and Terms 223 Appendix 2: Chinese and Japanese Historical Newspapers and Magazines 227 Notes 229 Bibliography 249 Index 285 Illustrations Following page 174 1. Mei Lanfang meets the Japanese press upon his arrival in Tokyo (C hun liu , 1919). 2. A scene of Mei Lanfang’s performance in Tiannü san hua in Tokyo (C hun liu , 1919). 3. Mei Lanfang meets Japanese actors (M ei Lanfang , 192–). 4. Mei Lanfang entertained at a farewell party in Shanghai before he departed for America (M ei Lanfang , 192–). 5. A scene of Mei Lanfang’s performance in The Death of Tiger General in New York (B eiyang huabao , 1930). 6. Mei Lanfang in San Franscisco ( Beiyang huabao , 1930). 7. A poster for Mei Lanfang’s performance in Moscow (D ongfang zazhi , 1935). 8. A scene of Mei Lanfang’s performance in The Death of Tiger General in Moscow (D ongfang zazhi , 1935). 9. A cartoon on Mei Lanfang’s performance in Moscow ( Lun yu , 1935). 10. A scene of Mei Lanfang’s performance in Fenhe wan in Moscow ( Liang you , 1935). 11. Mei Lanfang speaking on the art of Chinese theatre in the Moscow Artists Club ( Liang you , 1935). 12. A Chinese magazine features a photographic presentation of Mei Lanfang in Moscow (X in sheng , 1935).