Ouyang Yuqian was born in Liuyang, Hunan, on 20 May 1889; his original name was Ouyang Liyuan and his stage names included Liansheng and Lanrong. He went to Japan in 1904, first studying commerce at Meiji University and later literature at Waseda. In 1907 he joined the Spring Willow Society in Japan and, with Li Shutong, Zeng Xiaogu and Lu Jingruo, performed in the adaptation of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' at the Hongza-za in Tokyo, and appeared in 'Hot Blood' in 1909. After returning to China in 1911 he helped organise the New Drama Comrades' Society with Lu Jingruo, performing revolutionary and anti-feudal drama in Shanghai and Jiangsu. He also mastered Peking opera, becoming a professional performer in 1915 for fourteen years and ranking alongside Mei Lanfang as 'Mei of the North, Ouyang of the South'; he wrote numerous 'Red Chamber' plays. In 1918, at the invitation of Zhang Jian, he went to Nantong to found the Linggong Drama School and the Gengsu Theatre to reform opera, insisting that the school 'serves society and is no private training house for singing boys'. In 1921 he helped found the People's Drama Society and the journal Drama. In 1926 he joined the Nanguo Society, wrote the play 'Pan Jinlian' and, through Bu Wancang's introduction, began working in film, writing silent pictures such as 'Pure as Jade' for the China Sun company; in 1929 he founded the Guangdong Drama Research Institute in Canton. He joined the League of Left-Wing Writers in 1931, and from 1934 turned to sound films, writing and directing 'The New Peach Blossom Fan' and others. During the war he wrote the historical play 'Li Xiucheng, the Loyal King' and, in Guilin, ran the Guangxi Provincial Art Gallery, promoting drama in the south-west. After the war he worked as a director-writer at the New China Drama Society and Hong Kong's Yonghua Film Company, adapting the Peking opera 'The Peach Blossom Fan' for the spoken stage. In 1950 he became the first president of the Central Academy of Drama and joined the Communist Party in 1955. He wrote or adapted more than forty plays and directed over fifty, argued that 'traditional opera is opera', and died in Beijing on 21 September 1962.
Ouyang Yuqian is one of the founders of China's spoken-drama movement, spanning civilised drama, Peking opera, film and drama education. After the war he worked as a director-writer at Hong Kong's Yonghua Film Company, giving him a direct link to the local film world. As the first president of the Central Academy of Drama he trained a large cohort of theatrical talent for the new China, and his theory and practice left a deep mark on modern Chinese drama.
Achievements
- 1907 · Joined the Spring Willow Society and performed in the 'civilised drama' adapted from 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'
- 1918 · Went to Nantong at Zhang Jian's invitation to found the Linggong Drama School and the Gengsu Theatre
- 1926 · Joined the Nanguo Society, wrote 'Pan Jinlian' and began working in film
- 1950 · Became the first president of the Central Academy of Drama