Peking Opera family opens museum in ancestral home

The descendants of a renowned family of Peking Opera performers have turned their ancestral home in Anhui province into an opera museum. The Peking Opera Grand Masters Hall was opened in Hongxing village, Taihu county on April 18, in what was formerly the home of Ye Tingke more than 160 years ago.

Peking Opera grand masters Ye Jinsen and Sun Ping, along with Zhao Chungang, president of Anhui Province Huijing Theater and Hou Lu, former president of the Anhui Dramatists' Association, unveil the Peking Opera Grand Masters Hall in Hongxing village, Taihu county, Anhui province, April 18, 2021. [Photo courtesy of BFSU]

At that time, Ye took his two sons Ye Zhongding and Ye Zhongxing to Beijing to study Anhui Opera — the prototype of Peking Opera. His sons went on to become famous performers in Beijing and were even invited to perform in the Forbidden City for the Qing imperial family. In 1875, the Peking Opera grand master and educator Ye Chunshan, son of Ye Zhongding, was born.

Six generations of the Ye family have been part of the Peking Opera elites, laying a solid foundation and contributing much to the art form's development. Other notable figures of the family include Ye Longzhang, Ye Shengzhang and Ye Shenglan. Fu Lian Cheng, China's first Peking Opera school — founded by Ye Chunshan — also spawned numerous masters as well as generations of opera performers. Even Mei Lanfang, the most renowned Peking Opera master, took lessons and practiced routines there.

"The museum's opening today is a momentous occasion for both the village and my family," said Peking Opera master Ye Jinsen, grandson of Fu Lian Cheng's first president Ye Chunshan at the ceremony. "My abiding memory of my hometown is of my father often talking about the two large maple trees standing in front of our home, which witnessed six generations' efforts in Peking Opera and contributions to the industry."

He went on to express his hope that the Peking Opera Grand Masters Hall will prompt more people to study and fall in love with Peking Opera.

His wife, Sun Ping, who is a Peking Opera grand master and dean of the Art Research School of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), also spoke at the event. She expounded on the important contributions made by the Ye family and Fu Lian Cheng in the formation and development of Peking Opera, and emphasized the family's outstanding contributions in the teaching of Chinese opera. She added that she believes the noble spirit, values and work ethic of the Ye family are models for every modern-day practitioner of traditional culture.

"Fu Lian Cheng contains the extensive and profound legacy of traditional Chinese culture and the national standards for performing arts of Peking Opera, which should become an intangible cultural heritage shared and appreciated by all mankind," Sun said.

The museum will exhibit old photographs, drawings, books, medals, programs and other related research materials — much of which has been donated by Ye Jinsen and Sun Ping. Curated by the Research Institute of Fu Lian Cheng, this is the first Fu Lian Cheng-themed exhibition hall in China, and part of an ambitious plan to build an ecological chain for future Fu Lian Cheng cultural projects.

The local government also lent great support to the museum as a cultural attraction to help promote Peking Opera culture and the local economy. It's their hope that the project can boost tourism in the area and consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation in Taihu county.