Time: Tianbao period of Tang Dynasty (742-756 AD)
Venue: Chang 'an (now Shaanxi Province, China)
Main characters: Yang Guifei (the concubine of the Tang Emperor) and Gao Lishi (the court attendant of the Tang Dynasty).
Tang Huang Ming indulged in debauchery and sent Gao Lishi, the eunuch in charge of the palace, to recruit beautiful women among the people.
Gao Lishi traveled all over the south of the Yangtze River and chose a beautiful woman named Jiang Caiping as the emperor. She is not only beautiful and slim, but also quick-thinking and good at poetry. Emperor Tang Ming was very happy after seeing it. He gave a grand banquet and rewarded his ministers. Because Jiang Caiping loves plum blossoms, Emperor Tang Ming built a plum garden in the harem and gave it to her as a Mei Fei.
Soon, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty learned that Yang Yuhuan, the concubine of his son Shouwang, was beautiful, and ordered him to be sent to the palace to wait on him. Shouwang dared not disobey his father's orders, so he had to issue them. Tang studied it carefully and saw that it was a natural beauty, beautiful and charming, and immediately gave it to the imperial concubine. From then on, Tang and Yang Guifei went to hot springs together, ate spring banquets, enjoyed flowers, listened to songs, danced and entertained.
One day, Emperor Tang Ming remembered Mei Fei who had been lost for many years, so he had lunch at Mei Fei's house and stayed there for the night. Yang Yuhuan didn't know it. He gave a banquet in Baihua Pavilion, and prepared to drink with the emperor for one night. When Yang Yuhuan realized that there were other women in the emperor's heart, he couldn't help feeling a burst of sadness, and infinite sadness was hard to get rid of. She pours her own wine to drown her sorrows, thinking that life is like a dream, your heart is unpredictable, your mood is even lower, and you are gradually unable to drink and drunk. Gao Lishi, who waited on one side, carefully looked at her face and color, carefully comforted him, and was full of sympathy for this lonely and lonely imperial concubine. Yang Yuhuan didn't wait for the emperor until the moon gradually darkened. She shook it step by step and was helped back to her residence.
Drunkenness of the Imperial Lady is one of the masterpieces carefully produced by Mei Lanfang, a master of Beijing Opera, who devoted his life to it.
Plot: Yang Guifei gave a banquet in Baihua Pavilion, waiting for Tang, but Tang suddenly turned to the West Palace. The imperial concubine fell out of favor and drank alone to send sorrow.
It is said that this drama originated from Kunqu opera, which can be seen from its lyrics structure. In particular, the opening [Siping Tune] is a treasure of Beijing Opera: the island ice wheel turns at the beginning, and the Jade Rabbit gets up early. When the ice wheel leaves the island, Gankun is particularly bright. The moon is in the sky, just like Chang 'e leaving the moon palace, and slaves are just like Chang 'e leaving the moon palace. Just like Chang 'e's nine falls, the Guanghan Palace is deserted, ah, in Guanghan Palace. Jade Bridge leans against the railing, Mandarin ducks come to play in the water, golden carp faces the water, ah, on the water, geese fly, geese fly, oh, geese fly, and slaves fall into the shade. The scenery is charming, and I think I have come to Baihua Pavilion. ...
The old version of the play mainly describes Yang Yuhuan's mentality of enjoying love, performing pornography and vulgar style after drunkenness. In 1950s, Mei Lanfang eliminated the dross and kept the essence. Starting with the emotional changes of the characters, she corrected her non-artistic tendency from the aesthetic point of view. In the play, Yang Yuhuan's drinking changed from covering her sleeves to drinking casually, while Mei Lanfang, with the change of her appearance and movements, showed the psychological change process of the imperial concubine who fell out of favor from inner depression and forbearance to self-control and drunkenness. Heavy dancing is as easy as weightlifting, such as cupping, lying fish, getting drunk and fan dancing. It is very difficult to perform, stretching naturally, with smooth lines and beautiful rhythm.