P. C. Chang and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Hans Ingvar Roth

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СКАЧАТЬ father was at Clark University, so he was not involved in it. Sun Yat-sen became leader of the new republic. He died shortly after in 1925. In the power struggle after his death, General Chiang Kai-shek assumed the leadership role. His wife Soong May Ling (Song Meiling) had been educated at Wellesley College in the United States, so my father knew her well. However, my father had an extremely low opinion of the General, as emerged from various asides which he made in my presence.

      Stanley Chang’s recollections are illuminating, not least in light of his father’s poor relations with the Chinese delegation to the United Nations at the end of the 1940s. That Chang did not rate Chiang Kai-shek highly undoubtedly proved to be a handicap for him later in life, even if it was perhaps cushioned by Chang’s friendship with Chiang’s wife and by the fact that Chiang held his brother Poling in high esteem. In official settings during his time as representative of the Chinese government, however, Chang clearly articulated a loyalty to the regime for a long time and, above all, Chiang Kai-shek.¹³ He was positive about certain things that Chiang Kai-shek did during the 1930s. In an article published in 1938, Chang said the following about the political leader:

      At the end of 1935, General Chiang Kai-shek went to Nanking and assumed the Premiership; he formed his Cabinet containing intellectuals and experienced businessmen, as well as party members. Now that was a widening of the basis of the government; it began to assume something of a true national character. He started, first of all, the currency reform—at the end of 1935. That is very significant. Before that time the currency was not uniform; after that time currency all over the country become to be uniform…. Through 1935, various constructive efforts took place, the increase of trade, the improvement of the international situation, the building of the railroads.¹⁴

      The fact that Chang managed to secure prominent posts in the 1930s and 1940s was a good indication that Chiang and his closest circle viewed Chang approvingly for at least part of his professional life.

      It should be mentioned that Chiang Kai-shek did not enjoy broad popular support among liberally inclined circles in China, because of, among other things, the widespread corruption in society and the unsatisfactory progress of the campaigns against Japan and the Communists. As a leader he also showed strong intolerance for people who disagreed with him.¹⁵ The alternatives were few, however. In the 1930s, one could either join the Communists, who were practically a guerrilla group that had no substantial territories under their control, or Japan, which was unthinkable for most people. The liberal-democratic discussions that were conducted in liberal circles similarly lacked any politically powerful mouthpiece.¹⁶

       Chang and Mei Lanfang

      Despite Chang’s many commitments to family and university life, his aesthetic interests did not slacken. As we have seen, he was not only interested in introducing Western plays to Chinese audiences, he was also eager to introduce Chinese culture to American and European audiences. In 1930, Chang met the famous Chinese opera singer Mei Lanfang (1894–1961) at the Chinese Embassy while on a trip to Washington DC for the purposes of fundraising for Nankai University. Mei Lanfang, who was the most famous performing artist in China for many years during the twentieth century, played female roles (the dan roles) in the performances, and he took the Peking Opera outside China and made it famous for the first time.¹⁷ Chang then accompanied Mei Lanfang on his six-month tour of the United States, during which Chang was invited to act as master of ceremonies. Chang had told Mei not to try to change his performance style for Western audiences but to act on stage just as he had in China. He also advised Mei on which dramas were particularly well suited for performance before a Western audience, such as Slaying the Tiger, the story of which was easily comprehensible even to those with no knowledge of Chinese. An opera that also was performed was The Fisherman’s Revenge. Chang was eager to initiate a press campaign before Mei performed on Broadway. He urged him to hire a professional producer who knew the American theatre and opera world (F. C. Kapakas). Before Mei Lanfang started his performances in the US Chang had given lectures on Chinese culture in various clubs in New York to prepare the visit.¹⁸ Chang even managed to see to it that the University of California conferred an honorary doctorate upon Mei Lanfang in connection with the tour.

      At the award ceremony, Mei Lanfang read out a thank you message that Chang had penned:

      We are here to exert what little strength we have to promote peace, which is eagerly hoped for by civilized people. History shows that real peace cannot be obtained by force. People hope to obtain peace but not quietness after turbulence. Real peace should promote people’s development and growth—mentally, rationally, and materially. To maintain real peace in the world, people need to learn to know, to understand, and to show sympathy for each other, instead of fighting each other. The peace in the hearts of these two great peoples, the Chinese and the American, accords with the norms of international trust and sincerity. To reach this goal, all peoples should conduct active research in the arts and the sciences so as to understand each other’s ways of life, historical background, and problems and difficulties.¹⁹

      Chang’s declaration has clear relevance for the work he would later do for the United Nations as the latter sought to formulate a way to articulate the conditions for sustainable peace. Chang’s wife and his daughter Ruth also accompanied him on the tour. It was a triumph for Mei Lanfang, who played to sold-out houses in New York and other cities, and his performances received generally very positive reviews.²⁰ At first, Chang was clearly surprised that Chinese opera and Mei Lanfang received such a rapturous reception in view of how greatly its musical form differed from Western opera.

      Chang also contributed to the writing of a short book about Mei Lanfang, which was published in 1935. Titled Mei Lanfang in America: Reviews and Criticism, it contained a foreword by Chang.²¹ During his American tour, Mei Lanfang met a number of celebrities, including Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks. Mei Lanfang went on to become a global superstar, the most recognized face of Chinese opera in the rest of the world. Many people around the world were evidently impressed by his special falsetto singing style, body language, and costumes.

      Like other Chinese opera stars before him, Mei played women’s roles. In 1935, touring took him and Peng Chun Chang to the Soviet Union, where they met notable stage personalities such as Konstantin Stanislavski, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Alexander Tairov, and Vsevolod Meyerhold. Bertolt Brecht happened to be in Moscow at the same time and was deeply impressed by Mei Lanfang’s appearances.²² Gordon Craig also met Mei Lanfang in Moscow during his tour in 1935.²³

      Several commentators have argued that Brecht’s notion of a “distancing” or “alienation” effect in the audience originated in his observation of Mei Lanfang’s performances. That effect describes when listeners or spectators cease to identify with what is taking place on stage and instead begin to reflect upon the events being portrayed.

      Mei Lanfang had also greatly impressed the Japanese during his performances in Japan, and they were keen for him to perform during the Japanese occupation of China. Mei Lanfang refused to comply, however, and instead lived in obscurity and poverty until Japan’s capitulation in 1945. After Mao Zedong seized power in 1949, Mei Lanfang resumed his career and played to similarly enthusiastic audiences in Communist China.

      Chang was involved in Chinese theater and opera for much of his life, an involvement which expressed itself in a number of ways. His son Stanley has a peculiar memory of a particular opera performance at the China Institute in New York. Stanley’s father had been presented with tickets to this opera because it was his sixtieth birthday. As already noted, all Chinese opera is sung in falsetto. Midway through the performance, one of the girls lost control of her voice and began to sing in a normal tonal range. Chang immediately stood up and shouted “Disaster!” which Stanley found very amusing. Such attentiveness to Chinese etiquette and the proper forms of expression was clearly something that permeated Chang’s life in several ways. Stanley also remarked that the family went СКАЧАТЬ