Gu Zhengqiu
During the Republic of China, Peking Opera was popular all over the country, and Peking Opera actors were also widely sought after by the audience. As long as they can become a famous actor, money and fame will come like a tide.
Once you become famous, you will be aware of the world. As a result, there will be the leap of social class and the improvement of social identity.
However, for Gu Zhengqiu, the apprentice of Mei Lanfang, the fame and fortune brought by singing was eventually abandoned by her.
She once learned from famous teachers and became famous early on, and became popular throughout the Republic of China. During this period, countless suitors were pursued, and even the young master of Chiang Kai-shek , Jiang Jingguo , also courted her.
But she followed her inner desire, married a powerless and powerful Ren Xianqun , and even became a young concubine, slowly withdrew from the Peking Opera world, willing to become a farmer's wife.
Gu Zhengqiu dressed up
Gu Zhengqiu was born in Nanjing in 1928, and her original name is Ding Lanbao . She experienced her father's death early since childhood and lived with her grandmother. Fortunately, her grandmother loved her very much.
Gu Zhengqiu was born with a good voice, with a round and beautiful tone and a good pitch. Perhaps influenced by his grandmother, Gu Zhengqiu hoped to listen to operas and sing operas when he was very young.
My grandmother has an old phonograph at home, which often plays Peking Opera songs. Gu Zhengqiu likes to stay in front of the phonograph and learn to sing operas in the phonograph with his throat.
Although Gu Zhengqiu was still young at that time, he didn't know what he was singing at all. But her tone was very accurate, and the imitation of singing style was also graceful and beautiful.
Jiang Jingguo
Grandmother listened to a short play that Gu Zhengqiu learned to sing, and couldn't stop smiling. She felt that Gu Zhengqiu might have talent in singing, so she could try to cultivate in this aspect.
1939, 11-year-old Gu Zhengqiu was admitted to the regular class of Shanghai Theater School and began to receive professional opera training.
Gu Zhengqiu worked hard and had a high understanding. She understood the content taught by the teacher at a glance and received praise from many teachers.
After studying in school for three to five years, Gu Zhengqiu has mastered solid basic skills, widely studied singing styles of many Peking Opera schools, and integrated them, and finally got the opportunity to perform on stage on behalf of the school.
stage performance live
This time, this time, it was equivalent to a self-recommendation letter from Gu Zhengqiu to the Peking Opera industry . In the performance, Peking Opera giants gathered, and Mei Lanfang was also among them.
, Gu Zhengqiu lived up to expectations and performed extraordinaryly in the performance, which was unanimously praised by famous opera artists in the audience. After the performance, Mei Lanfang also found her specifically and said that she was willing to accept her as her disciple.
Gu Zhengqiu was naturally overjoyed. Given Mei Lanfang's status in the Peking Opera world at that time, there were countless students who wanted to join him.
Gu Zhengqiu excitedly bowed to Mei Lanfang to thank him. Soon after the apprenticeship ceremony was completed, Gu Zhengqiu officially became Mei Lanfang's disciple and followed Mei Lanfang to learn the authentic Mei School singing method.
Gu Zhengqiu and Mei Lanfang
Gu Zhengqiu studied hard and understood the knowledge and experience taught by Mei Lanfang very quickly. Soon she raised her hands and feet during the performance. Her every frown and smile was influenced by Mei Lanfang, and she had a little bit of Mei Lanfang's shadow.
Gu Zhengqiu has received more and more attention from Peking Opera fans. Her best operas: "The Lotus Lantern", "Hiro Shilang's Mother ", "Red Mane Fierce Horse", "Imperial Stele Pavilion", etc. When performing in the theater, every show was full.
Later in the 1940s, due to the changes in the current situation in mainland China, Gu Zhengqiu followed the opera troupe to perform in Taiwan.
During the Taipei Theater performance, Taiwanese audiences were very fond of Gu Zhengqiu, and some newspapers directly called Gu Zhengqiu "Taiwan Mei Lanfang".
Gu Zhengqiu's life photo
At that time, the situation in mainland China had not yet stabilized, so Gu Zhengqiu decided to stay in Taiwan to develop for a long time. In Taiwan, she quickly gained a lot of fans and many suitors.
Among Gu Zhengqiu's suitors, there is one who is the most famous. He is Chiang Kai-shek's son Chiang Ching-kuo. The power of the Chiang family covers almost all of Taiwan, and Chiang Ching-kuo can be regarded as the prince of Taiwan.
Jiang Jingguo often went to the Taipei Theater where Gu Zhengqiu performed to support her. Every time before Gu Zhengqiu performed, the entrance of the theater was filled with flower baskets sent by Jiang Jingguo. After the performance, Jiang Jingguo always went to the backstage to communicate and talk with him.
Usually, in order to make the beauty happy, Jiang Jingguo often collected good things from all over the world to give them to Gu Zhengqiu, antique calligraphy and paintings, jewelry, or exquisite nods and faces, and always gave them to Gu Zhengqiu's apartment.
Gu Zhengqiu, who is dressed in Peking Opera,
These gifts filled the entire table, but Gu Zhengqiu did not seem to have the intention to take them apart one by one. Jiang Jingguo's extremely passionate pursuit did not seem to touch her.
But she didn't want to refute Jiang Jingguo's face. Every time Jiang Jingguo came to the theater to watch a show, she would treat him politely and receive the gifts she gave, but she did not respond to Jiang Jingguo's pursuit in a positive way.
At this time, Jiang Ching-kuo had a family. His wife was Jiang Fangliang . In order to have children, they supported each other for many years. In addition, Chiang Ching-kuo also had a relationship with Yaruo and gave birth to a pair of twin sons.
Gu Zhengqiu considers the particularity of Jiang Jingguo's identity and is worried that being with him will cause many troubles. At the same time, Jiang Jingguo's personality is not the kind she admires.
She did not agree to Chiang Ching-kuo's pursuit, and of course she did not dare to refuse too clearly. After all, she is in Taiwan, compared with the Jiang family, and is a slight person.
Jiang Jingguo's family
Soon after, she met Ren Xianqun, who was the then director of the Taiwan Provincial Department of Finance. He also went to the Taipei Theater to watch Gu Zhengqiu's performance.
He can be said to fall in love with Gu Zhengqiu at first sight and often invites Gu Zhengqiu out for dinner. He is a careful and considerate person, always caring about Gu Zhengqiu in the small details of daily life, which makes Gu Zhengqiu feel warm.
In his in-depth interactions with Ren Xianqun, Gu Zhengqiu felt that he was a humorous, honest and at the same time, attentive and thoughtful person.
But Ren Xianqun already had a family and also told Gu Zhengqiu that Gu Zhengqiu was hesitant, but in the end, under Ren Xianqun's offensive, they still got together.
Gu Zhengqiu rejected the powerful prince Jiang Jingguo and Ren Xianqun, which made it difficult for her friends to understand, not to mention that Ren Xianqun also already has a family.
Gu Zhengqiu later said in his memoir: "I was not in love with Ren Xianqun at first sight, but after meeting him, I was attracted by his humorous and straightforward personality."
"When I got along with him, I felt happy and comfortable, so I finally broke through all difficulties. We got together and decided to stay together forever."
Ren Xianqun
Gu Zhengqiu's simple words may reveal the simplest essence of love. The fact that two people can stay together in the end is to see whether each other's souls are in line.
The soul-fitting relationship is often the longest, and if it is based on considerations of material things and fame and fortune, then when these external conditions are unstable, the relationship will also have rifts.
When Gu Zhengqiu went to choose a partner, she abandoned external conditions and felt the essence of this person with her heart. The essence of a person's soul can be constant and unchanged through the cleansing of time.
However, the process of Gu Zhengqiu and Ren Xianqun finally got together was also very tortuous. First of all, Ren Xianqun's wife was unwilling to terminate the engagement with him, so Gu Zhengqiu could only be a concubine.
Gu Zhengqiu
At that time, Taiwan retained the social atmosphere of the early years of the Republic of China. People generally accepted that a man would marry more, so although Gu Zhengqiu was unwilling to do so, he could accept that Ren Xianqun was a concubine.
But Ren Xianqun also wants to make up for Gu Zhengqiu, and he hopes to hold her a glorious wedding.
However, just as the two were preparing for the wedding, Ren Xianqun's boss told Ren Xianqun that he could not hold a wedding with Gu Zhengqiu because it did not comply with the internal discipline of the Kuomintang.
At that time, it was very normal for a senior Kuomintang official to secretly have three wives and four concubines, so Ren Xianqun obviously did not believe the reason why his superiors did not allow him to hold a wedding.
He looked at his superiors and seemed to look embarrassed, and then he understood that when he was with Gu Zhengqiu, he already knew that Jiang Jingguo was rejected in pursuit of Gu Zhengqiu.
Jiang Jingguo
At that time, although Jiang Jingguo did not cause trouble for Ren Xianqun due to his image, Ren Xianqun knew that it would be easy to find a reason to make things difficult for him now with the power of the Jiang family.
At that time, Ren Zhengqun's colleagues were giving him advice. Some people suggested that he just hide his charm in the golden house and not announce the news that he was with Gu Zhengqiu to the public. Doing so might be able to save his career.
However, Ren Xianqun was unwilling to Gu Zhengqiu to be wronged again, so he quit his job, left the Finance Hall, and got rid of his concerns about his career. Ren Xianqun held a lively wedding for Gu Zhengqiu. What he thought was that even if he was a concubine, he must give the title that he should give.
After marriage, the two lived their own life with peace of mind. Ren Xianqun found a new position in a company, but soon, bad news came to this small family again.
Gu Zhengqiu and Ren Xianqun's wedding photo
Ren Xianqun was arrested and imprisoned for hiding bandits and spies. Without waiting for Ren Xianqun to defend, the case was sentenced as quickly as possible, and Ren Xianqun was eventually sentenced to seven years.
This is an old case two years ago. Perhaps a friend Ren Xianqun had helped was suddenly identified as a bandit spy. However, what is ridiculous is that the bandit spy was finally sentenced to one year.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Ren Xianqun is offending and being framed and implicated. Who wants to frame Ren Xianqun?
Jiang Jingguo
The answer is self-evident. For Jiang Jingguo, he was even willing to divorce his original wife for Gu Zhengqiu, but she still refused to marry a director of the Finance Department as a concubine, which was undoubtedly slapped him in the face.
For Gu Zhengqiu, the reality is undoubtedly so cruel. Her newly married husband was suddenly imprisoned for seven years. His relatives and friends around him were persuading her to leave Ren Xianqun and marry someone else.
However, Gu Zhengqiu refused to terminate the engagement with Ren Xianqun. She stayed in their small home, waiting for Ren Xianqun to be released from prison.
even refused to return to the stage to perform. When the theater boss who had worked with came to find her, she refused and said, "My husband is still in prison, how can I sing again?"
In fact, after Ren Xianqun was imprisoned, his property was confiscated. At this time, Gu Zhengqiu undoubtedly needed the most income, and what she was best at was acting. She was at the peak of her career at that time.
But she still chose to fade out of the theater stage. The reason for this is actually to be afraid of Chiang Ching-kuo's further revenge.
Gu Zhengqiu Pictorial
Although Gu Zhengqiu reaped both fame and fortune by singing opera, fame and fortune seemed so weak in the face of absolute power. Gu Zhengqiu could not figure out what Jiang Jingguo's next behavior, but Ren Xianqun was suddenly arrested and imprisoned was enough to make her scared.
In fact, Jiang Jingguo is not short of beauties around him, but he has been chasing Gu Zhengqiu, probably because Gu Zhengqiu failed to surrender to his soft and hard offensive.
For a person like Jiang Ching-kuo who is at a high position, the beauty you cannot get is the most beautiful, and the more you can't get it, you often have to try your best to get it.
So, perhaps only if Gu Zhengqiu slowly fades out of the opera stage and disappears from Chiang Ching-kuo's vision will it be safe. Only when Ren Xianqun is released from prison can they live a peaceful life.
So Gu Zhengqiu washed away the dew, took off his costume, lived in simplicity, and waited silently for Ren Xianqun to be released from prison. Finally, in 1958, Ren Xianqun was released from prison early.
gu Zhengqiu is on the look of
However, given the power of Chiang Ching-kuo, Ren Xianqun cannot gain a foothold in the city. The two moved to the countryside, bought a bungalow, and worked on the farmland by themselves, and lived a poor but down-to-earth life.
A few years later, the two founded Jinsan Farm and CITIC Department Store together. Their income also increased a lot and their lives gradually improved.
In 1978, Ren Xianqun became ill due to overwork and his treatment failed. Gu Zhengqiu buried him in the countryside where the two of them had been together. Originally, Gu Zhengqiu left a piece of land for himself next to Ren Xianqun's grave, thinking that he would be buried with Ren Xianqun a hundred years later.
But later I found out that since Ren Zhengqun had never terminated his engagement with his wife, according to Taiwanese customs, she could not be buried with Ren Xianqun, which became her biggest regret.
Gu Zhengqiu
However, she later wrote in her memoir: "I have worked hard to do what I should do in this life, and I have truly loved what I should love. I have taken the rise and fall of life and death indifferently."
Gu Zhengqiu became a famous Peking Opera actor to a village woman in order to be with Ren Xianqun. He gave up his artistic work and started making a living in the fields, but in the end, he could not be buried with Ren Xianqun.
Perhaps to outsiders, her original choice was so worthless. She gave up too much in order to be with Ren Xianqun.
But just like that poem: "There are two roads in the yellow woods, but unfortunately I cannot get involved at the same time. I stand at the intersection for a long time."
Those important choices in life lead us to different paths. If you choose this one, you cannot get involved in the other one at the same time.
Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling
The path that cannot be involved at the same time may be another possible life for Gu Zhengqiu. What if Gu Zhengqiu chose Chiang Ching-kuo between Chiang Ching-kuo and Ren Xianqun?
Then the direction of her life may be referred to Chiang Ching-kuo's lover Zhang Yaruo. Zhang Yaruo gave birth to two twin sons for Chiang Ching-kuo, who was deeply loved by Chiang Ching-kuo and naturally lived a very rich life.
However, Zhang Yaruo's final ending is very sad. First of all, her existence makes Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling very angry, believing that Chiang Ching-kuo, as the successor, would destroy the public image, looking for a lover and giving birth to an illegitimate child.
Chapter Yaruo
But Jiang Jingguo refused to abandon Zhang Yaruo. Zhang Yaruo also believed that relying on Jiang Jingguo's love for him would give herself a title sooner or later, but she did not expect that what she was waiting for in the end was not a title, but death.
On August 14, 1942, Zhang Yaruo suddenly felt uncomfortable, vomited and had diarrhea, and was sent to the hospital, and was given an injection, but he never woke up again.
Chapter Yaruo's autopsy report was caused by blood poisoning, but the cause of the poisoning and the murderer behind the scenes have never been found out.
If Gu Zhengqiu accepted Jiang Jingguo's courtship and became his lover at that time, would she repeat Zhang Yaruo's tragedy ?
You should know that at that time, Chiang Ching-kuo had even filed a divorce with his original wife for Gu Zhengqiu, which had greatly angered Chiang Kai-shek. And Chiang Ching-kuo undoubtedly has no ability to resist Chiang Kai-shek.
Gu Zhengqiu
And if Gu Zhengqiu chose to return to the stage separately from Ren Xianqun after being imprisoned, what would her ending be?
What is certain is that she will definitely leave a strong mark in the history of Peking Opera, and she will gain more fame and fortune, but her inner sense of happiness may not necessarily increase.
Gu Zhengqiu is undoubtedly a person who values love and righteousness. Leaving her husband when he is imprisoned will inevitably leave a heavy guilt in her heart.
Gu Zhengqiu's performance photo
On the other hand, due to the death of her father in childhood and her family scattered, Gu Zhengqiu's heart was even more eager for a sincere emotion. This desire to a certain extent exceeded her pursuit of Peking Opera art , and even more than her love for fame and fortune brought by art.
When Ren Xianqun resolutely resigned to hold a grand wedding for her, she saw Ren Xianqun’s sincerity in her. For such a sincere love, she was willing to give up her career, wait for him, and wait for him.
Ren Xianqun
In the vast world, it is so difficult to meet a partner who is in harmony with the soul and can treat each other with sincerity. When Gu Zhengqiu met Ren Xianqun, she believed that he deserved his love, so she loved him without hesitation.
As for what this choice will bring in the end, she had no time to think about it at that time and would not regret it later.
She took all the ups and downs, honors and disgraces, rise and fall of life indifferently. In a hundred years, in the blink of an eye, it was just a flash of light. As long as she lived up to her true heart, there was nothing unworthy.
Gu Zhengqiu's later years
