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In that case, they are victims rather than the promoters. I read in some articles that a high official of the Ch'ing Dynasty painted a landscape picture for the famous actor Tan Hsin-pei (譚鑫培) and addressed him as Hsiao-xiong (小雄) meaning "Little Brother” another euphemism indicating the recipient as one of his homosexual friends. The result? Tan tore the scroll up as soon as he received it.
There were no human rights in the early days. Actors and actresses could be penalized for what they delivered, which was actually part of the text of the play. In one case, it was rumoured and has to be clarified that the same actor - Tan Hsin Pei - was entangled in another debacle in which he was greatly humiliated. He was invited among others into the Palace to play the role of Ch'ing Ying (程嬰) in a play called 《趙氏孤兒》 (To Sacrifice One's Own Son to Save the Son of a Loyal Friend.). When Ch'ing Ying went in to consult his wife for the giving up of their only son, his wife, naturally like all mothers, refused. Then he sang his morbid arias “常言婦人心腸狠,最狠莫如婦人心”- "The most cruel hearts in the world are the hearts of women".
One thing he forgot was that he was singing the song in front of the Dowager Queen H. M. Tz'u Hsi. She immediately stopped the play and asked Tan to explain why the hearts of women were the most cruel hearts in the world. Tan replied that he merely followed the text of the play. Of course, she wouldn't listen and gave the poor man forty strokes with the birch to make him know better how and what to sing before the Empress the next time. This shows that there was little human rights in those days.
The social position of the theatrical people greatly improved after the 1911 Revolution, but still there was a ground swell of general discrimination of society toward the theatrical people as a whole - a custom which takes long to eradicate. Even in modern times, few parents will allow their daughters to marry an actor or their sons to marry an actress. They consider that this may lower their social standing if they do.
The ice is breaking, though. Not long ago a famous Hong Kong medical practitioner who was happily married to another famous doctor's daughter with children suddenly asked to divorce his wife to marry a famous Peking Opera star. This did not materialize and the
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In that case, they are victims rather than the promoters. I read in some articles that a high official of the Ch'ing Dynasty painted a landscape picture for the famous actor Tan Hsin-pei () and addressed him as Hsiao-xiong () meaning "Little Brother” another euphemism indicating the recipient as one of his homosexual friends. The result? Tan tore the scroll up as soon as he received it.
There were no human rights in the early days. Actors and actresses could be penalized for what they delivered, which was actually part of the text of the play. In one case, it was rumoured and has to be clarified that the same actor - Tan Hsin Pei - was entangled in another debacle in which he was greatly humiliated. He was invited among others into the Palace to play the role of Ch'ing Ying (4) in a play called ( MM), (To Sacrifice One's Own Son to Save the Son of a Loyal Friend.). When Ch'ing Ying went in to consult his wife for the giving up
of their only son, his wife, naturally like all mothers, refused. Then he sang his morbid arias “常言婦人心腸恨,最恨莫如婦人心”- The most cruel hearts in the world are the hearts of women".
One thing he forgot was that he was singing the song in front of the Dowager Queen H. M. Tz'u Hsi. She immediately stopped the play and asked Tan to explain why the hearts of women were the most cruel hearts in the world. Tan replied that he merely followed the text of the play Of course, she wouldn't listen and gave the poor man forty strokes with the birch to make him know better how and what to sing before the Empress the next time. This shows that there was little human rights in those days.
The social position of the theatrical people greatly improved after the 1911 Revolution, but still there was a ground swell of general discrimination of society toward the theatrical people as a whole - a custom which takes long to eradicate. Even in modern times, few parents will allow their daughters to marry an actor or their sons to marry an actress. They consider that this may lower their social standing if they do.
The ice is breaking, though. Not long ago a famous Hong Kong medical practitioner who was happily married to another famous doctor's daughter with children suddenly asked to divorce his wife to marry a famous Peking Opera star This did not materialize and the
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