All celebrated art forms are remembered through the names of the masters who make their art legendary. The Seventh National Cultural Arts Award in the drama category this year was given to Gu Cheng-chiou (
"I am very honored to receive this award. I feel like I never stopped performing, even though I retired years ago," said Gu. She said on an telephone interview with the Taipei Times.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
"I am also delighted to see that Chinese opera is still a highly respected art," Gu said, commenting that . He said that he views the National Foundation of Culture and Art's decision to give her the award is recognition of the contribution of Chinese opera to Taiwanese culture.
"There are so many more forms of entertainment now, but watching Chinese opera becomes addictive. If we don't want this art to die out, actors must uphold their responsibility of continuing this tradition."
This is not Gu's first National Cultural Arts Award; she was the recipient of the Special Achievement Award in 1987.
Gu, born in Nanjing in 1929 with the name Ting Tso-hwa (丁祚華), discovered the addictive powers of Chinese opera as a young girl.
"When my mother and godmother brought me along to watch operas in a small theater in Shanghai, I was at first fascinated by the concave mirrors that were placed by the entrance to attract children like myself."
The theater attracted vast audiences with their family-style operas, which often featured child performers.
"When I saw girls my age singing onstage I was so envious," reminisced Gu. "But as I grew older, I became attracted to the glamorous actresses with their beautiful voices. There were so many variations among characters, so many distinct personalities."
In 1939, Gu auditioned for the newly founded Shanghai Theater School under the name Gu Shiao-chiou, similar to the name of her godmother, Gu Jen-chiou (
In a highly competitive atmosphere, Gu trained hard to be one of the best Chinese opera singers at the school. The school principal, eager to help pave Gu's future path, invited renowned and revered Chinese opera singer Mei Lan-feng (
In 1945, at the age of 16, Gu Cheng-chiou graduated at the top of her class.
A few years later, Gu formed the Gu Cheng-chiu Opera Troupe, and held numerous performances in Nanjing, Xuchou and Qingdao with the group. In 1948, Gu led her troupe to Taipei upon the recommendation of a friend.
"I remember walking along Chungshan North Road and Yen-ping Road, areas that were always busy and teeming with life in those days. I was afraid that the Taiwanese wouldn't come to watch us perform at the Yung-Le Theater (
However, her fears were proved wrong. "I wasn't sure if the predominantly Taiwanese-speaking audience could understand what I was singing, but I could see that they were so focused on my movements and expressions. In China, people would sometimes walk out in the middle of a show, but here the audience was always so passionate," said Gu.
Fans were so enraptured by her performances that they would try to find her backstage at the end of performances. "I remember some women who came to tell me that they loved the performances, and even though they couldn't speak a lot of Mandarin, we became friends."
"Gu Cheng-chiu's performances were colorful and always followed by thunderous applause," says renowned journalist and Chinese opera critic Chen Hong (
As the leader of her own troupe, Gu was responsible for the living expenses of her performers.
"Chinese opera troupes are aided by the government now, but back then we had to take care of ourselves. It was extremely difficult because our salaries depended on the performance turnout."
Soft spot
for soldiers
Gu had a soft spot for old soldiers that had come from China. Despite financial hardships, she and her troupe performed for these soldiers once a week free of charge.
Gu is highly venerated in the Chinese opera world. She is a self-professed perfectionist, always studying ways in which to improve her performance.
Chinese opera is an abstract art because actors are given few props with which to express emotion and meaning and must therefore convey their personality through precise actions.
Explained Gu, "When I perform, I must be completely focused. Aside from singing, I have to have exactly the right movements and expressions. If my hands aren't just so, the meaning would not be right. I suppose you could do a halfway job, but what is the point then?"
Among Gu's biggest fans were the late President Chiang Ching-kuo (
According to a wide-spread rumor, Chiang courted Gu, but to no avail. Her remarkable five-year career at the Yung-Le Theater ended in 1953 when she married then provincial director of finance Jen Hsien-chun (
At a time when White Terror was pervading Taiwan, Jen was jailed in 1955 on the charge of failing to report the presence of alleged communists in Taiwan. Rumors flew saying Jen's jail term was a mark of Chiang's revenge, but the rumors were never proven.
After Jen was released in 1958, Gu and Jen built a farm in Chinshan, where they lived peacefully until Jen died in 1975.
"Gu Cheng-chiou is so highly respected in Taiwan because she is known to stand firmly by her values and not stray toward trends," said Chen Hong.
Gu's passion for Chinese opera has never wavered, and she has performed on occasion even though she had officially retired after disbanding the Gu Cheng-chiu Theater Troupe.
She held approximately thirty performances between 1963 and 1994 for various charity benefits, cultural exchanges, and president inauguration ceremonies.
"The popularity of Chinese opera has decreased because of cultural trends that are inevitable, but I have never stopped loving Chinese opera because of the moral lessons behind stories. It is through performing that I have adopted many of these morals in my own life.
"To keep this art alive, the younger generation of performers must uphold the responsibility of maintaining the integrity of Chinese opera."
In 1990 Gu received the Mei-Hwa Art Foundation Award of Lifetime Achievement in New York's Lincoln Center. She was named an honorary professor of Taipei National University of the Arts in 2001, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from National Chengchi University.
Writing the legacy
Gu's memoirs were published in 1997 with the help of an award-winning writer who goes by the pen name Jih Jih (
"When Gu Cheng-chiu and I went to Shanghai in 1999 for the release of the simplified Chinese version of her memoir, people traveled from all over the country, even as far from Suzhou, to see her," said Jih.
"The line of people waiting for her autograph was amazing. One man asked Gu to autograph a photo of her in full opera costume, which she had signed for him fifty years ago.
"This shows that Gu is living evidence of the timelessness of true art," concluded Jih.
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