High expectations
Children of art masters speak about upholding famous surnames
Agroup of young Chinese artists, who are children of traditional Chinese art masters, are following in their families’ footsteps — sometimes differently — as they try to make names for themselves.
Qiu Jirong has a famous grandfather, who passed away before he was born.
His grandfather, Qiu Shengrong (191571), was one of the best known Peking Opera artists, who has a performance style named after him.
Qiu Jirong’s father, Qiu Shaorong, who died of lung cancer at 39, was also a major Peking Opera performer.
But such a lineage can also be a burden as Qiu Jirong, 32, says: “It’s a double-edged sword to be an artist with a family in the same business, especially when the earlier generations achieved so much success.
“People have expectations of you. And what you achieve is often ignored or compared with your more famous family members.”
At 9, Qiu Jirong was enrolled at a professional Peking Opera school in Beijing and after graduation from the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts, he joined the Jingju Theater Company of Beijing, playing many leading roles and winning awards.
As a child, he once cried because his father painted the Peking Opera mask on his face, which may look scary to children.
To stand out among his peers, he used to kick his legs hundreds of times and jump as high as he could.
However, he is still best known as the grandson of Qiu Shengrong.
Peking Opera
“Peking Opera is a big part of my life. It shaped who I am. But I want to create my own art,” says Qiu Jirong, whose true passion lies in fusing contemporary dance with Peking Opera.
At 13, he was inspired to learn modern dance after watching a DVD of pop icon Michael Jackson’s live shows.
The dance moves and music overwhelmed the young man. So, he spent hours imitating the dance moves but his behavior upset his family and people in the Peking Opera business.
He felt “sandwiched” between the Western art form and the ancient Chinese art.
He is also disappointed that the 200year-old art form is today losing popularity with the young.
He once even stood outside theaters asking people why they did not buy tickets for Peking Opera shows and they said that they could not understand the art.
“I am so proud of being the grandson of Qiu Shengrong. I respect the art. But I have to admit that I can never surpass what my grandfather achieved. No one can,” he says.
“It is true that there are no real artists nowadays, but only good performers.”
“But what I want to do is not abandon what I have learned. I just want more people to appreciate the beauty of Peking Opera, especially young people,” says Qiu Jirong.
In 2014, he performed in Chinese choreographer Zhao Liang’s work, Escaping from the Temple, in which he played a young monk.
Then, a year later he brought Peking Opera moves to the dance production of famous Chinese dancer-choreographer Yang Liping’s Under Siege, which is based on the story of the besieged warlord Xiang Yu and his concubine.
To have more people see his art, Qiu Jirong has also started appearing in TV shows and collaborating with Chinese pianist Lang Lang and Hong Kong pop star Karen Mok.
Now, he is working on his first stage production, which is based on Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King — the main character in the 16th-century Chinese classical novel Journey to the West. The show is to be staged later this year.
In the show, Qiu Jirong portrays the Monkey King by blending Peking Opera with contemporary dance.
“When I wear the costume, especially the headgear of the Monkey King, I become him,” says Qiu Jirong. “I am aware that my vision for my art is rooted in Peking Opera. So, I just try to give it my own interpretation.”
Sunny Nie, from Beijing-based Show City Times Motion Picture, which is producing and promoting Qiu Jirong’s production, is impressed by the performer’s efforts.
“The chemistry between Peking Opera and Western dance makes Qiu Jirong’s art unique. He cannot be separated from his family’s legacy, but he has his view about art,” she says.
“What we can do is to introduce his art to a wider audience. I believe young audiences, which are much more drawn to Western art forms, will become fans of Peking Opera by watching his performance.”
Cross-talk comedian
In Journey to the West, the Monkey King is kept in line by a Golden Hoop on his head, which becomes tighter when an incantation is read by his master, causing his head to hurt.
Similarly, cross-talk performer and comedian Guo Qilin is also weighed down by his family’s artistic legacy.
And when he tries to break free from tradition and experiment, he is questioned and doubted not just by the audience but also his father, Guo Degang, a famous performer and comedian, who is known for reviving the traditional art form and attracting young audiences back to the theaters.
“I rarely praise Guo Qilin. He is my son and he carries much more responsibility,” says Guo Degang, 44.
“Parental fame and wealth may make children less likely to make an effort. So, I don’t want my son to feel pampered or privileged.”
Chinese cross-talk, or xiangsheng, began during the Ming Dynasty (13681644) in northern China and is usually performed in teahouses.
Guo Degang started studying the genre at age 7 and in 1995, he left his hometown in Tianjin to open his xiangsheng club, called Deyunshe, in Beijing.
Thanks to his club’s popularity across the country then, Guo Degang became as popular as a movie star.
He later opened a xiangsheng club in Melbourne, Australia, and invested and appeared in several blockbuster Chinese movies.
For his 21-year-old son, Guo Qilin, who was born in Tianjin and lived with his grandparents before he moved to Beijing at age 12, becoming such a performer was always a dream.
“I have no problem with my father’s success. It’s great. Everybody should maintain a high standard in whatever they are doing. So, if I am given an opportunity because of my father’s fame, I will take the opportunity and prove that I deserve to be there,” says Guo Qilin.
Recalling his childhood, Guo Qilin says that he did not talk much to his father then.
“He had many students. We were about the same age, and we lived and played together. Sometimes, I felt like I was just one of his many sons, the least favorite one,” says Guo Qilin.
“My father spoke to me like an adult. He would scold me for even little things but he would be very nice to the other boys.”
After school, Guo Qilin learned the techniques of xiangsheng from a performer Yu Qian, who has been Guo Degang’s onstage partner for decades.
Speaking about Guo Qilin, Yu says: “People usually think that the career path for a celebrity’s child is smooth, but it’s not true.”
Guo Qilin went through hard times when he began learning xiangsheng. He first imitated his father’s artistic style and it took him a long time before he developed his own, says Yu. “But what impresses me most about him is that the young man values the art like his father.”
At 15, Guo Qilin decided to quit school and focus on his xiangsheng skills. For a better image onstage, Guo Qilin then lost 15 kilograms within a year. And, he also began to write original material, which reflected how the younger generation felt.
From May to September, Guo Qilin, along with his onstage partner, Yan Hexiang, will tour Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Tianjin and two other cities.
Commenting on his son, Guo Degang says: “When I was 21, I was still a struggling performer. But Guo Qilin is now able to showcase his skills in front of audiences across China. It is his chance, but is also a challenge. It is his turn now to show what he has got.”
Traditional instrument
Wang Yu feels less pressure despite his family tradition of playing the sanxian, a three-stringed Chinese lute, from the Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368).
At age 28, he is not just a sanxian soloist with the China Broadcast Traditional Orchestra, where he plays the traditional instrument, but also a member of the band of folk-rock singer-songwriter Hao Yun, along with whom Wang gives a modern edge to his instrument by combining it with Western sounds, such as blues and jazz.
“The older generations like the traditional sound of the instrument, while I prefer adding new elements to it,” says Wang Yu, whose grandfather, Wang Zongkui, and uncle Wang Feng are sanxian soloists with national troupes.
“Unlike the erhu and the pipa, there are not too many compositions for the sanxian. So, after I learned to play the instrument, I always improvised a little bit.”
Besides learning to play the sanxian, he also learned other instruments in Peking Opera bands for six years at the affiliated middle school of the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts. He learned Western music, such as pop composition at the Central Conservatory of Music, from the age of 18 to 25.
Born and raised in a hutong (alley), Wang Yu is nostalgic about his childhood, which inspired him to compose the work titled Hutong Impression in 2014.
Released on his Sina Weibo account, more than 20,000 people listened to his work within 24 hours of being posted.
Recently, he performed in the drama Neighbors, which is produced and performed by the Beijing People’s Art Theater.
For the drama, he composed 17 pieces, which took the audience back to Beijing’s alleyways and courtyards. In the compositions, he also used sounds, which conjured up images of the hutong.
“The sanxian is like my mother tongue. But, with the other music I learned, I have updated the sound of the sanxian,” says Wang Yu. “It’s not a violation of the tradition. It just helps the instrument reach a wider audience.”