Feature: Mei Baojiu -- the son of modern Peking Opera

The passing of a Peking Opera maestro this week has left the nation mourning the loss of another master.

Mei Baojiu, son of legendary Chinese theater mogul Mei Lanfang, died Monday in Beijing at the age of 82.

Barely a month ago, he was celebrating his 82nd birthday with students at the Beijing International Studies School.

Many recalled that Mei Baojiu was in high spirits, but the very next day, he slipped into a coma and never woke up.

"He gave his last bit of life to a cause he loved -- ensuring that traditional Chinese culture is passed on to the younger generation," said Song Lei, a Peking Opera performer who had worked with Mei.

DESTINED FOR OPERA

Mei Baojiu's father, Mei Lanfang, created an approach to Peking Opera that came to be known as the "Mei School". It features "nandan" (men playing female roles) as well as acting and singing styles unique to the school. The Mei School collective is the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera Troupe.

For many Peking Opera aficionados, the family name Mei is almost synonymous with the art. His father was one -- if not the most -- famous Peking Opera performers of the 20th century.

"He was his father's son," Song Lei said.

Mei Baojiu was born in 1934, the ninth and youngest child of his renowned father. Only four of Mei Baojiu siblings survived to adulthood. Had it not been for a cruel twist of fate, he might never have followed in his father's footsteps and taken up Peking Opera at all.

His brother Mei Baoqi, Mei Lanfang's third son, had been chosen to continue his father's legacy but his short life was ended by diphtheria when he was just eight.

"If my brother had not been a victim of the diphtheria pandemic, I might have been an engineer, like my other brothers," Mei Baojiu once said.

The stage was set for Mei Baojiu, his future was Peking Opera.

By ten, he was already training alongside famous Peking Opera artists including Yang Youqing and Zhu Chuanming. He began performing on stage at 13, and five years later he was sharing a stage with his father.

In 1961, after his father's death, Mei Baojiu took over the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera Troupe. He was halted from his performance career for some 14 years around the time of the Cultural Revolution; temporarily hanging up his stage garb for workers overalls, and set to his new job maintaining stereo equipment.

By 1978, Mei Baojiu returned to the stage. Although he was 44, and considered past the "golden age" for nandan roles, he managed to pull it off. His prestige continued to grow each year.

Like his father before him, Mei Baojiu made his name playing female roles in Peking Opera, such as consort Yu in "Farewell My Concubine," Yang Yuhuan in "Drunken Beauty", and Mu Guiying in "Lady General Mu Takes Command."

Tradition was important to Mei Baojiu.

Mei Baojiu told state television broadcaster CCTV in 2014 that everything he did was to ensure the art that he had "learned, acted, and taught" had a future.

MISTER NINE

His undeniable skill earned him respect that he was not always comfortable with. While it is undeniable that he was a leader in his field, the title "master" made him uneasy.

"The term puts a forced distance between me and those I interact with," he once said.

His friends often called him -- "Jiuye" (Mr. Nine). In Chinese, "jiu" as in Baojiu has the same pronunciation as the number nine.

Off stage, Mr. Nine had interests and hobbies as varied as the characters he portrayed on stage.

"I enjoy bel canto, symphonies, ballet, and ethnic music," he once said, adding that he also had a soft spot for Celine Dion and Michael Jackson. "I also like photography and flying model planes."

Although he never did become an engineer like his brothers, he was certainly more than capable and was often found tinkering in his spare time. He once made his own "motorbike" by installing a motor onto a bicycle, and could assemble radios and fashion his own phonograph discs.

He had a passion for cars and motorbikes, but his father forbade him from driving. It was only after Mei Lanfang passed that Mei Baojiu, a man grown, got his driver's license.

Once an old lady saw him driving around the suburbs of Beijing, topless.

"'I saw you play Mu Guiying yesterday,' the woman said, 'How come you are driving like this today?'" recalled Mei Baojiu once, "And I yelled back, 'Yes, yesterday I was a little girl, but today I am the big man I always am."

He once flew a friend's private plane, but just for half an hour: "Not long enough," he said wistfully.

"I think we should all live life to the full. It would have been a pitiful life if I only knew the Peking Opera," he said.

END OF AN ERA?

While Peking Opera is regarded as a cultural treasure, audience numbers are dropping. Its future looks uncertain.

Mei Baojiu had 49 students, but just one nandan apprentice: Hu Wenge. There is no one in the Mei family to inherit or pass on the techniques that he and his father developed.

It had been Mei Baojiu's lifelong mission to reverse that trend.

Wei Liqing met Mei Baojiu 11 years ago when he first began his Peking Opera training. He said he can still remember how Mei Baojiu's face lit up when he told him that his high school was offering Peking Opera classes.

"You could tell he was really excited to hear it," said Wei, now 27.

But his bright eyed dimmed when he found out that only 10 students chose the class, whereas English literature and Western arts were oversubscribed.

As a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, Mei drafted proposals designed to promote traditional Chinese culture with the younger generation.

At the annual session of the CPPCC National Committee in March this year, he proposed that teenagers should receive cultural education, with subjects including Peking Opera and calligraphy.

"It's about how youngsters absorb our culture. Every year, it's the focus of my proposals at the CPPCC session. Enlightenment received in childhood is very important," he said.

In 2012, he said that traditional Peking Opera such as "Farewell My Concubine" should be adapted to cartoons and animations for children of middle and primary school age.

"We must at least give the kids a chance to fall in love with Peking Opera," Mei Baojiu said.

"What we really need at the moment, however, is not performers, but audiences," he said. Endi