Liu Xikui is a famous Peking Opera and Hebei Bangzi actress. She is very beautiful. Some people wrote poems to praise: The eyebrows of the distant mountains are the teeth of the gourd, and the spring clouds are the eyes of autumn waves. In the Liyuan world, there was a story that "there are , Mei Lanfang , and the40s are 500, Liu Xikui" at one time.
Mei Lanfang also pursued Liu Xikui, and Liu Xikui also had a good impression of Mei Lanfang. However, Liu Xikui rejected Mei Lanfang because she knew that if she got together with Mei Lanfang, Mei Lanfang would be envied by those who pursue her. Not only would her acting career be easily destroyed, but her life would be easily lost.
Liu Xikui's worries are by no means redundant. In fact, before Liu Xikui rejected Mei Lanfang, she was harassed by Yuan Shikai and Yuan Shikai's son Yuan Keding . Later, she was pursued by many Beiyang warlords , including Zhang Xun , Cao Kun , Lu Jin , etc. As an actor, she is destined to show up in public and walk among the crazy bees, waves and butterflies. Later, Liu Xikui married Cui Chengchi, but Cui Chengchi was quickly killed.
Viewed here, I believe everyone wants to know what touching stories have happened to Liu Xikui? For more information, please see below.
Liu Xikui was originally from Jiangnan. It turned out to be a family of officials. Her grandfather Liu Youming became the left minister of the Ministry of Works. Liu Youming was later convicted of implicating and his family began to fall into trouble. After Liu Youming passed away, Liu Xikui's father Liu Yiwen came to Tianjin alone and worked as a worker in an arsenal.
1894, Liu Xikui was born in Cangzhou, Hebei. Just the year when Liu Xikui was born, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 broke out. Liu Xikui's father Liu Yiwen was transferred to the "Zhiyuan" warship commanded by Deng Shichang. After the Zhiyuan was sunk, Liu Yiwen escaped from death, and then took Liu Xikui and his daughter to Lushun.
1899, the Russo-Russian War broke out on the 1st, and Liu Xikui and his family moved to Dalian again. Soon, Liu Yiwen fell seriously ill and could not work, so he could only lie in bed all day. When Liu Xikui was 7 years old, Liu Yiwen died of illness. Liu Xikui and his daughter were unable to return to Tianjin, so they had to live in the front yard of a warehouse in Yingkou.
At that time, there happened to be a theater next to the warehouse. The headmaster of the opera troupe Li Hai found that Liu Xikui was very talented in an actor, so she asked her to come to the opera troupe to learn opera. But in that era, women took the stage to perform, which was similar to being a prostitute in people's minds. When Liu Xikui's mother heard that Liu Xikui was going to perform, she was so angry that she trembled all over and cursed: I was so tired and starved that I wouldn't let you perform!
However, the mother did not persuade Liu Xikui and finally agreed to her to learn opera. Liu Xikui, who was young, promised his mother: I know what to do in the opera troupe, and I will never do anything that will embarrass our family!
Liu Xikui has good appearance and is very talented, so he soon made his mark in a small circle. By 1915, Liu Xikui had become a famous national celebrity. The newspapers and magazines at that time recorded that whenever Liu Xikui appeared on stage, the sound of colorful sounds and thunderstorms in Tianjin were employed, and he was hired with a lot of money, for fear of falling behind, which also shows his reputation. The bosses of Beijing Theater came to invite Liu Xikui to perform in Beijing.
In Beijing, Liu Xikui and Mei Lanfang met because of a performance on the same stage. At that time, Yuan Shikai's diplomatic chief Lu Zhengxiang held a meeting , and almost all the famous actors in Beijing, including Tan Xinpei , Yang Xiaolou , Mei Lanfang and Liu Xikui. After that performance, Tan Xinpei sighed: My man is not as good as Mei Lanfang, and my woman is not as good as Liu Xikui.
At this time, Liu Xikui had already sung the popular Beijing City . But the more popular you are, the more harassment you will be and the more right and wrong you will be. Liu Xikui always remembered his promise to his mother back then, adhered to self-esteem, maintained purity, and did not do anything that would insult the family. She made public her principles of doing things: not to visit any high-ranking official; not to take photos of the show; not to do commercial advertisements.
Liu Xikui's personality and talent have won the respect of people in the Liyuan world and are loved by senior artists Tian Jiyun and Sun Juxian and others.Tian Jiyun and Sun Juxian were worried about Liu Xikui's situation and believed that she should get married as soon as possible so as to get rid of the entanglement of ill-intentioned people. The person Sun Juxian thought of was Mei Lanfang. In fact, Mei Lanfang also pursued Liu Xikui.
In this regard, Liu Xikui later recalled: When I was in my 20s, I became famous and the problem became complicated. First of all, I met Mei Lanfang, and he loved me, and I also had a good impression of him. But after repeated painful considerations, I decided to sacrifice my happiness and fulfill others. Liu Xikui said to Mei Lanfang:
In my life, I have never loved a man, but I fell in love with you. I think I must be very happy to live with you. Artistically, I expect you to be an outstanding actor, and if society allows me, I will be such an actor. So, I had a premonition that there would be many demons behind me that would reach out to grab me. If you marry me, they will definitely take your anger on you and even ruin your future. I think life always takes the second place in comparison with art. This is why I am determined to sacrifice my happiness. I am a flower that burst out from the cracks of the stone. I have experienced difficulties and am ready to face a bigger storm, so I can only cherish you in my heart forever.
Therefore, Liu Xikui rejected Mei Lanfang's love. For Liu Xikui, this is the most regrettable thing in her life. Many years later, when Liu Xikui looked back on the past, he said: I rejected Mr. Mei’s pursuit of me. It’s not that I don’t love Mr. Mei Lanfang. On the contrary, it is precisely because I love Mr. Mei Lanfang’s art that I endured great pain and refused to marry him. If he and I were united, it might ruin his future.
Liu Xikui's worries were by no means redundant. Shortly after she rejected Mei Lanfang, Yuan Shikai came to him. At that time, Yuan Shikai heard from his staff that there was a Kun Ling who was both beautiful and skilled in Beijing, so he asked Liu Xikui to come to the concert. Liu Xikui knew that Yuan Shikai had bad intentions, but he could not disobey. After all, she was facing the president.
Liu Xikui left immediately after the performance, and faced each other coldly, without finding an opportunity for Yuan Shikai to take advantage of. Afterwards, Yuan Shikai sent someone to be a lobbyist, hoping to marry Liu Xikui as his tenth concubine with three thousand taels of gold. Liu Xikui said firmly: Even if I have 30,000 taels, I will not betray myself! I have issued a statement in the newspaper: I am not afraid of being powerful, but I don’t want money!
Yuan Shikai's side is not over yet, and his sons Yuan Kewen and Yuan Keliang are getting excited again, and they keep pestering Liu Xikui. After Yuan Keliang was rejected, he still refused to give up and even hired a band to surround Liu Xikui all day long. But no matter how Yuan Shikai and his son were entangled, Liu Xikui never surrendered.
In June 1916, Yuan Shikai died of illness. Liu Xikui let out a long sigh, thinking that he could act freely from now on. But in June of the following year, Zhang Xun, the Yangtze River patrol, led his troops into Beijing in the name of mediating the "controversy between the government and the court". Zhang Xun had heard of Liu Xikui's name for a long time, and shortly after entering Beijing, he sent two men to the theater to invite Liu Xikui.
Liu Xikui did not dare to refuse, so he had to bite the bullet and then was left in the mansion by Zhang Xunqiang. At that time, Wang Keqin, who had performed on the same stage as Liu Xikui in Tianjin, had already married Zhang Xun as his concubine. Thinking of the friendship of the past, Wang Keqin pointed out a clear path for Liu Xikui - asking Zhang Xun's eldest wife Cao Qin for help.
Zhang Xun married a wife and ten concubines. The eldest wife Cao Qin had been poor for Zhang Xun for 10 years. She was kind-hearted and ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddha's name on weekdays. She was named a first-class lady by Empress Guangxu Longyu . It is said that Zhang Xun respects his wife very much: he is like a mother, and his family is not big or small, and he asked Mrs. Cao one by one.
so Liu Xikui took the opportunity to find Cao Qin. After Cao Qin learned about the situation, she decided to come forward to help Liu Xikui. Considering that Zhang Xun, who was so stupid, might not listen to the advice, the two thought of a way to retreat to advance - on the surface, they agreed to marry Zhang Xun, but in fact they took the opportunity to escape from the general's mansion.
Cao Qin said to Zhang Xun: Etiquette and law must be followed in major marriages.If you don’t let Ms. Liu listen to her parents’ orders, she will be charged with a private marriage; if Ms. Liu disagrees, she will be criticized for forced marriage. Officials must pay attention to their reputation.
Zhang Xun was very happy to see that Liu Xikui was willing to marry him, so he asked two horsemen to send Liu Xikui out of the mansion with betrothal gifts. After Liu Xikui returned home, he fled to Jinan with his mother overnight while the two horsemen were not paying attention.
soon after, the farce of Zhang Xun restoring ended. Zhang Xun fled to the Dutch Embassy and hid, while Liu Xikui was able to return to the stage. However, the Beiyang warlords' entanglement with Liu Xikui has not ended.
Beiyang Tiger Duan Qirui's nephew was a college student at the time, and he was so unrequited that he was crazy. One night, Liu Xikui played the matchmaker in " West Chamber " in Guangdelou , with a very charming and soft look, and Duan Qirui was crazy. After the show, he kept waiting at the backstage door, seized the opportunity when Liu Xikui passed by, hugged Liu Xikui and kissed him ecstatically.
In addition, there are many celebrities entangled Liu Xikui. For example, , the Manchu , the old man , Yi Shifu , had a period of time, and he would go to Liu Xikui's residence once a day, and every time he entered the entrance, he would shout: My dear mother! I'm here again! Liu Yusheng once wrote about this story in "The Records of Hong Xianfa": Liu's two families in Mule and Horse Street, and his old poets and guests play their careers. When he started, he took off his hat and shouted at his mother, and the goddess scattered flowers.
And after Zhang Xun, the most difficult person who wanted to marry Liu Xikui was Cao Kun. In December 1919, Feng Guozhang died of illness and Cao Kun was regarded as the leader of the Zhili clan. In 1920, the Zhi-Anhui War broke out, and the Anhui army was defeated and Duan Qirui stepped down. From then on, the warlords of Zhi and Feng jointly held great power, and Cao Kun served as the inspector of Zhiluyu, who was in power.
When Liu Xikui was still in Tianjin, Cao Kun happened to be in Tianjin, so he invited Liu Xikui to his house to celebrate. Cao Kun coveted Liu Xikui's beauty and teased Liu Xikui in a singing ceremony, which made Liu Xikui very angry and never went to Cao Kun's house again. Now that Cao Kun is in power, he has once again made up his mind about Liu Xikui. One day, he brought his subordinate army deputy commander Lu Jin to the theater to find Liu Xikui.
Liu Xikui suddenly felt something was wrong when he saw Cao Kun and Lu Jin. After all, Liu Xikui is a strange woman who has seen strong winds and waves. She has never been afraid of Yuan Shikai, Zhang Xun and others, so naturally she will not be afraid of Cao Kun. Therefore, Liu Xikui ignored Cao Kun at all, and made him press his hot face against his cold butt, and he was so angry that he gave up.
However, Cao Kun is powerful after all, and Liu Xikui can hide for a while, but not for a lifetime. Who knew that one day Cao Kun would use coercive means like Zhang Xun? Therefore, Liu Xikui became interested in getting married. It happened that Lu Jin had an officer named Cui Chengchi, who publicly exposed Lu Jin's embezzlement of military pay, which was very satisfying. When Liu Xikui saw Cui Chengchi dared to expose Lu Jin with justice, he couldn't help but feel admiration and took the initiative to ask someone to propose marriage.
Cui Chengchi is a graduate of Army University . He is tall and thin and suffers from lung disease. Liu Xikui first asked his second uncle to go on a blind date in person to observe Cui Chengchi's appearance and character. Cui Chengchi was worried that he would be looked down upon, so he found a young and strong serviceman to go on a blind date for him. As a result, Liu Xikui's second uncle was very satisfied when he saw the person. After
, the marriage was settled. On the day of the wedding, Liu Xikui discovered that the groom and his second uncle had described it completely differently, and he almost fainted from anger. Cui Chengchi also realized his mistake and repeatedly asked Liu Xikui for forgiveness, and treated Liu Xikui very respectfully.
After the news of Liu Xikui and Cui Chengchi's marriage reached Cao Kun, Cao Kun was furious and immediately ordered someone to call Cui Chengchi over and scolded Cui Chengchi for marrying an actor. Afterwards, Cao Kun picked up another pen and issued an order: to recover all the appointments of Cui Chengchi.
The news that Cui Chengchi was dismissed by Cao Kun quickly spread, arousing people's righteous indignation. Liu Xikui, who had always ignored Cui Chengchi, suddenly aroused a sense of righteous indignation when he saw Cui Chengchi fall into trouble because of him. In her own name, she issued a statement in the newspaper, announcing that she and Choi Seung-chi are "loving to be close" and have true feelings.Cao Kun discussed a vicious plan with Lu Jin: Cui Chengchi has tuberculosis and cannot be tired. He sent him to run around and slowly torture him to death.
Cui Chengchi was first sent to Jiangxi to inspect military affairs. After returning from Jiangxi, he was successively sent to Changsha and Henan to inspect military affairs. After two years of hard work, Cui Chengchi's health became worse and worse, and he gradually became terminally ill. Liu Xikui always stayed with Cui Chengchi and was always by his side.
However, this was useless after all, and Cui Chengchi was killed two years after his marriage. After Cui Chengchi's death, Liu Xikui completely bid farewell to the entertainment industry, thanked the guests in a closed door, and lived in seclusion in a small alley. July 7 Incident broke out. Japanese invaders discovered Liu Xikui's seclusion residence and hired Liu Xikui for a high price, but was rejected by Liu Xikui.
After the founding of New China, a leader learned from Tian Han that Liu Xikui lives in Beijing, and immediately sent someone to visit Liu Xikui and asked Liu Xikui to come out again. At a banquet held by the Ministry of Culture in 1950, Liu Xikui was praised as "the pearl of the Chinese opera world." After the establishment of the Chinese Opera School, Liu Xikui was hired as a teacher and enjoyed professor-level treatment.
For many years, she has lived a hard life. After Liu Xikui joined the opera school, the opera school also sent a special person to help with all her affairs, and the person in charge of the opera school also visited her often. Liu Xikui, who had been wandering all his life, lived a comfortable life with a rare life.
1964, Liu Xikui died of illness at the People's Hospital of Funei Street. The opera school handled her funeral. The coffin was first stopped at the Jiaxing Temple Funeral Home for three days to pay tribute, and then buried in Babaoshan . The tombstone was engraved with the "Tomb of Mr. Liu Xikui, a special professor at the Chinese Opera School." As she wished, her real estate and money were donated to the country.
