Song Zhenjie, a winner of China Theatre Plum Blossom Award (the highest award for a theatre actor in Mainland China), a famous performer of the older male roles, or Laosheng, a familiar face on the present Peking Opera stage, especially after the Hong Kong’s return, and a new idol for the nowadays traditional opera fans.

Fascinated With Chinese Traditional Operas

Du Zhenjie has been an operamaniac ever since his childhood, when he was in Laizhou, Shandong Province. As the son of a farmer, Du showed his zeal for revolutionary model opera—typical of that Cultural Revolution Period—as early as his primary school years, and was greatly encouraged by his teacher. He once attended the entrance exams of some opera schools in Yantai and Jinan but failed.

"I remember you like in model operas," his uncle said to him one day in June, 1979, with an admission notice in hand, "The Chinese Opera Institute is advertising for students in Jinan, and you can give it a go!"

"You cannot even get enrolled into the opera troupe in our county, let alone in Beijing." His mother poured him cold water when he was just dreaming.

Du went to Jinan at last, with the financial help from his aunt, and some simple food. At the end of all the exams, he was exhausted and fell ill after all the hardship and tension.

Dream-Chaser

About a month later, when receiving the craving-for admission letter, the whole family was immersed in joy, which, however, was overshadowed by worry after a while—the family was too poor to pay for the tuition. With every shift available, he went to Beijing with 40 yuan—four times of his family possessions—in his pocket. And he was determined that he wouldn’t let this opportunity go away.

Laosheng was what Du, then 19, learned to perform, and he had to start from scratches, either in singing, reading, or acting—the basic elements of Peking Opera. It was quite difficult, but Du paid double effort.

He was fortunate, after all, for he had received suggestions from quite a few Peking Opera masters, Wang Shizhen, Li Shilin, Song Jiting, Liu Shengtong, to name a few. Moreover, he caught the eyes of his teachers since his debut on stage, Cao Cao Captured and Released, a popular opera telling a story happened in the period of Three Kingdoms.

"I know a boy in the institute whose voice is quite like you, but his singing need improving." A teacher told Ma Changli, also a famous opera performer, and Du’s later father-in-law.

"If what you said is true, I would definitely pay a visit to his performance." Ma was intrigued, and to the theatre he went. It was a good performance for Du, acting in Criticizing Cao Cao. Ma was impressed. "Indeed this is a promising boy."

Also, he got directions from some unique teachers, among is Liu Shengtong, another master hand of Peking Opera who emphasized on triggering the interest in students and the way to produce sound. He always had a birdcage on the beam, and used a pipe—which he never smoked—to tutor his students whenever the bird was singing, "the sound should go upward in opera." Du, as a matter of fact, benefited a lot.