Li Shiji, a highly respected Peking Opera performance artist in China, is not only an outstanding representative of the Cheng School, but also the righteous daughter of Peking Opera master Cheng Yanqiu.
Li Shiji was a "rebel" who boldly reformed and innovated Peking Opera, thus attracting the attention of young audiences.
However, in her life, first her husband and then her son passed away, and even her daughter-in-law chose to remarry, leaving her alone to raise her two young granddaughters until she created a bright future for them.
What "innovations" did Li Shiji make in Peking Opera?How did she hold up her granddaughter?
It wasn't until she was in her 40s that Li Shiji gave birth to a son for her husband Tang Zaixin and named him Tang Xiaohao, so as not to delay her early opera career.
Tang Xiaohao inherited his parents' excellent genes in the field of Peking Opera, and soon made a name for himself and founded a media company himself.
Tang Xiaohao was filial to his parents and often took the second elder to travel all over the country, making Li Shiji and Tang Zaixin's life carefree.
However, fate is changeable, and one day in 2001, his son Tang Xiaohao was unfortunately in a car accident on a business trip, and finally died of serious injuries.
At that time, Tang Xiaohao was only 27 years old, leaving behind a 4-year-old and a 1-month-old daughter.
Li Shiji and Tang Zaixin did not expect that they would experience the tragedy of "white-haired people sending black-haired people", and after receiving such a blow, it didn't take long for Tang Zaixin to suffer from a serious illness and die soon after lying on the hospital bed.
Li Shiji experienced the death of his son and husband one after another, and the grief in his heart can be imagined.
Today, with only her daughter-in-law and two minor granddaughters by her side, the family of four women is interdependent and faces the challenges of life together.
The daughter-in-law soon couldn't bear this kind of life, and remarried in a hurry in less than two years, leaving her two granddaughters to Li Shiji to take care of.
Li Shiji, who had trouble sleeping almost every night at the time, was once famous in the Peking Opera industry, but in her later years she was busy taking care of her two granddaughters, which made many people feel sympathy.
At this moment, Li Shiji's seniors came to visit her one after another, and some even took out some money, hoping to help the master tide over the difficulties.
However, Li Shiji refused one by one, because she knew that her disciples and grandchildren were not in an easy situation.
Therefore, the aging Lee Se-ji has only one option, and that is to return to the stage to perform in order to have enough income to support his two granddaughters.
Because Li Shiji is too old to bear the long journey, she only participates in some business events held near Beijing, and never refuses, no matter how big or small.
Even if it is some audio recordings with an income of only about 200 yuan, Li Shiji is willing to accept it.
She is her granddaughter's only helper in reading, and she is now the supporter of the family.
Until the two granddaughters achieved academic success, Li Shiji, who was already old, could no longer support it.
In 2016, 83-year-old Li Shiji was hospitalized due to illness. When she was seriously ill, she was still worried about her two granddaughters.
At that time, the two granddaughters knelt in front of their grandmother's hospital bed and assured Li Shiji with tears in their eyes: "Grandma, don't worry, we will definitely take care of ourselves, and you don't have to worry about us anymore." ”
Perhaps the most important person gave the promise, and Ms. Li Shiji passed away a few days later, but the spirit and outstanding works she showed are still "alive" in the hearts of the world.
Li Shiji was born in Meixian County, Guangdong Province in 1933, and then moved to Shanghai with his parents. Under the influence of his father, he began to contact Peking Opera at the age of 5.
Everyone in their family has a soft spot for Peking Opera, especially Li Shiji's aunt. Her aunt often invited Peking Opera masters to come and guide her to learn "The Female Liberation".
Incredibly, Li Shiji's aunt ended up with nothing, while Li Shiji learned everything meticulously under the table.
Until Li Shiji was 12 years old, she went with her father to visit Peking Opera master Cheng Yanqiu.
As soon as he stepped into the door, the guests praised Li Shiji's handsome appearance, and even looked a little similar to Cheng Yanqiu. Even Cheng Yanqiu himself felt incredible, and he observed it intently for a long time.
Perhaps because he felt fate, Cheng Yanqiu immediately expressed his willingness to teach Li Shiji to sing, and Li Shiji was also very happy to agree.
At this moment, someone suggested that since they had such a fate, it was better for Cheng Yanqiu to recognize Li Shiji as his goddaughter, and Cheng Yanqiu agreed without hesitation.
As soon as he arrived the next day, Cheng Yanqiu went to Li Shiji's house with a lot of gifts as a meeting gift when he recognized his daughter.
Then, after Li Shiji gave Cheng Yanqiu a bang, Cheng Yanqiu became his goddaughter.
Whenever after school, Li Shiji always returned home accompanied by his mother, and then went to Cheng Yanqiu's house to learn singing.
It was not easy to learn opera, and she often had to blow the rice paper opposite with the hot air in her mouth, just to practice her singing skills.
When practicing the steps, you also need to clip a piece of paper between your legs to make sure that the paper does not fall off while walking.
After three full months of hard training, Li Shiji has achieved some achievements.
Soon after, she made her debut in a theater in Shanghai to perform Cheng Pai's famous play "He Hou Scolds the Palace", which won unanimous praise from the audience, and was even called "Xiao Cheng Yanqiu".
At this time, Li Shiji had the idea of formally apprenticing to Cheng Yanqiu, but Cheng Yanqiu never agreed to her.
Due to the complicated internal situation of the troupe, considering Li Shiji's character, she will definitely suffer a big loss when she enters it.
He taught Li Shiji to sing before, completely taking it as a hobby, and did not consider letting Li Shiji use singing as a means of making a living.
Li Shiji didn't understand these truths, and he often asked Cheng Yanqiu why he didn't give birth to him as an apprentice.
Once, Cheng Yanqiu was forced to be asked by Li Shiji in a hurry, so he replied slowly: "I have four children, none of them learn to sing, and I don't want them to come into contact with this, as my daughter-in-law, I should be more responsible for you." Although Li Shiji said that she would give up the idea of apprenticeship, she has been waiting for an opportunity in her heart.
Li Shiji was arranged to go to Moscow for cultural exchanges, and after returning, he would take Cheng Yanqiu as his teacher.
When he heard the news, he did not hesitate to go to Moscow to participate in the performance, and never complained even if he encountered great difficulties.
However, once he returned to China, Li Shiji never had the opportunity to meet Cheng Yanqiu, who was busy with work, so the apprenticeship has been postponed.
Unexpectedly, 54-year-old Cheng Yanqiu died unexpectedly during a performance due to a sudden illness. This incident also became the only regret in Li Shiji's heart, and she no longer had time to call Cheng Yanqiu "master".
However, her life has been rejuvenated thanks to the arrival of her husband Tang Jae-shy.
Tang was born into a family of intellectuals, his father graduated from Oxford University in England, and later returned to China to achieve great success in an electric power company.
His father also expected Tang Zai-sin to take over the family business, so his parents were very strict with him in terms of Tang Zaixin's studies.
Tang Jae-shuang was soon admitted to St. John's University with excellent grades, and he unexpectedly became obsessed with Peking Opera during his college years, even to the point that he couldn't sleep without listening to it for a day.
After graduating, Tang Jae-shuang immediately returned to China to study drama, but chose to become an engineer instead of following his father's advice.
Teacher Cheng Yanqiu finally chose Tang Zaixin as his opera accompanist, and occasionally served as Li Shiji's accompanist in his free time.
Li Shiji was only 12 years old at the time, while Tang Zaixun was already 23 years old.
At first, they got along like brother and sister, with no indication that they had a tendency to like each other in particular.
Although they have been together for a long time, they can't resist the warming of their feelings for each other, and family affection soon evolves into love.
When Cheng Yanqiu learned about it, he immediately facilitated their relationship and served as their marriage guarantor.
Tang Zaixin and Li Shiji had a very sweet life after marriage, and they also collaborated on many outstanding works together.
In order to help Lee Se-ji fully display his talents, Tang Jae-shung personally designed the score, a move that made Lee Se-ji famous across the country.
She has successively created outstanding works such as "Wen Ji Returns to Han", "Suo Lin Bag", and "Anglo-Taiwan Anti-Marriage", and her modern drama "Anecdotes of Wu Zetian" has reformed traditional Peking Opera and brought new feelings to many young audiences.
Tang Jae-shuang showed incomparable artistic talent, but he was willing to be an accompanist for Li Shiji, which showed his deep love for Li Shiji.
For some reasons, Li Shiji was assigned to the countryside to engage in farm work.
In order not to affect her husband's career in the future, she asked for a divorce from Tang Jae-shuang at that time.
Tang Zaixin knew Li Shiji's worries, so he said without hesitation: "You just need to take good care of yourself, no matter how difficult it is, I will stay at home and wait for you to return." ”
After Li Shiji was affirmed by Tang Zaixing, he was moved, so he went to the countryside without any worries. There, Li Shiji was busy with farm work every day, and even the food was left over by others.
However, whenever he remembered his husband's promise to him, Li Shiji still gritted his teeth firmly and insisted.
During the farming process, Li Shiji suddenly fainted without warning and was taken to the hospital for examination, which showed that he was pregnant for a long time and needed a good rest.
Tang Zaixin immediately went to Li Shiji after learning the news and hugged her excitedly. However, when Don calms down, he still convinces her to consider giving up the child because they don't have enough capacity to raise him.
Li Shiji resolutely disagreed, she said to Tang Zaixun: "I am 41 years old, and you are almost 52 years old, we are not young anymore."
If the child can't be saved, it will be difficult to have another child in the future. So, no matter how hard it is, I will give birth to him. ”
After listening to his wife's request, Tang Zaixin was deeply moved and decided to agree. In the end, Li Shiji also gave birth to a chubby son for her husband, and the family of three lived a happy life.
Tang Xiaohao died in an accident at the age of 27, and her husband died soon after, leaving Li Shiji alone to support the family.
Li Shiji can be described as a "rebel", he bravely reformed the voice of the Cheng School, so it attracted many young people to take an interest in opera, and attracted a large number of loyal listeners.
Li Shiji's two granddaughters are now grown up** and have stable jobs and incomes, which have been blessed by his parenting grace over the years.
Although Mr. Lee Se Ji has passed away, her classic works will forever remain in people's hearts and inspire them to keep moving forward.