No one in China
would spend money in this fashion excepting for some definite purpose.
--
* In his discussion of actors, Wu Tingfang does not seem to be aware
that the idealization of actors in the West is comparatively recent,
and that historically, and even now in some parts of society,
actors and the acting profession have been looked down upon in the West
for many of the same reasons he gives for the same phenomenon in China.
-- A. R. L., 1996.
--
We Chinese like to flatter, and to openly praise to their faces
those whom we admire. Most Westerners, would, I think,
please rather than admire; most men and women in America and Europe
enjoy applause more than instruction. This recognition
of the delicate pleasure of being able to please some one else
naturally attracts quite a different type to the Western stage
from the material usually found in Chinese dramatic companies,
and in a society where everyone acknowledges the beauty of pleasing another,
the position of the actor naturally becomes both envied and desirable.
When therefore a man or woman succeeds on the European or American stage
he or she is looked up to and welcomed in fashionable society,
e.g., Henry Irving had the entree to the highest society,
and his portrait was always found among the notables. Newspapers published
long notices of his stage performances, and when he died he received
as great honors as England could give. During his lifetime he enjoyed
the royal favor of Queen Victoria, who conferred a knighthood upon him.
Pages:
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196