It was hard for a teenage actress to hear that she would only ever play a boy on stage.

So hard, Yue Meiti tried to rebel when her teacher at drama school suggested she play roles of handsome young men, or "nu xiaosheng," in her performance of six-century-old Kunqu Opera.

That was about 40 years ago.

Today, Yue is probably the most influential "female Adam" in the history of Kunqu "the mother of all Chinese operas," in which it is traditional for women to play men's roles and vice versa.

Yue and Zhang Xunpeng, another leading actress at the Shanghai Kunqu Opera House, will take part in a special lecture performance to demonstrate the fine tradition of Kunqu Opera this weekend.

"All those with even the slightest interest in Kunqu are warmly welcome. Our biggest wish is to help the audience savor the elegant beauty of Kunqu and lead them into the splendid world of the art which we have enjoyed all our lives," said Zhang.

The two veteran artists will not only elaborate on the fundamentals of Kunqu Opera, but also perform with their best students famous actor Li An and actress Shen Yili scenes from the Kunqu classic "The Peony Pavilion."

"Kunqu is a fine art of extreme grace and sophistication. It involves melodious musical accompaniment, poetic lyrics, elaborate symbolism and stylized performances," Yue said.

"Without our teachers' help, we ourselves could not have grown such a profound love for the art in our youth.

"We want to offer a helping hand to all those attending this Saturday, just as our teachers did for us decades ago."

The rise of Yue and Zhang in the world of Kunqu is typical of Chinese opera actresses and actors of their age.

Upon the establishment of the People's Republic of China, top leaders and the most noted Kunqu artists set up a training school to revive Kunqu Opera.

The group of artists included maestros Yu Zhenfei (1902-1993), a legendary figure both in Peking and Kunqu opera, Yu's wife Yan Huizhi, Shen Chuanzhi and Zhu Chuanming.

In 1954, the school welcomed the first generation of students 60 children selected from thousands, whittled down in a selection process headed by Yu. They were all around 12 years old.

Yue Meiti and Zhang Xunpeng were among the 60 fortunate children, later seen as the backbone of the art. They are now looked on as masters.

Zhang can still recall her very first impressions of her mentor Zhu Chuanming: "He was so tall and handsome, yet he had an unusual delicate beauty."

Zhu was one of the most renowned "male Eves," playing female roles on stage.

As a teacher, he calmed the mischievous teenagers with his good temper and affection.

Zhang said with a smile, "My happiest memory from that time is always associated with the sweet aroma of expensive toffee candy which Zhu Chuanming brought to class."

Zhu would buy delicious food and share it with his students. But this was not always tolerated by the powers that be at the school.

After being reprimanded for doting on the students and giving them food, Zhu began wearing a long raincoat whether it was raining or not.

"Zhu would breeze into class in the raincoat and conjure up ice-cream, candy and fruit like a magician after he took the raincoat off," Zhang said before bursting into laughter.

For Yue Meiti, maestro Yu Zhenfei was her father figure.

"Without his invaluable advice, I would not have obtained the fame I have today," Yue said.

After an informal performance in which Yue was cast as a young male scholar instead of her customary role of beautiful maiden, Yu suggested Yue learn to play "nu xiaosheng" young male characters played by female actresses.

Yue's initial reaction was one of frustration, as she believed her four years of study into playing the maiden were in vain.

Depressed, angry and afraid, Yue wrote a long letter to maestro Yu, in which she told him she was not ready to follow his advice.

But Yu just wrote an even longer letter back, explaining what great influence a "nu xiaosheng" can wield in the world.

Yue said: "I will remember to my dying day his most touching sentence, 'I suggest you switch your major in performing, so I will be responsible for what I have said, and I will take care of your growth in the artistic world all my life'."

The teacher even underlined the sentence to add emphasis.

And he lived up to his word, as Yue rose to become a star of the stage.

In the past two decades, both Yue and Zhang have taught young actors and actresses at the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe.

"Sometimes we seem very demanding of our students, I guess that is because I realize how heavy their responsibility is we have to prevent the art from losing its audience and dying out," said Zhang, who requires her students to pay excruciating attention to detail when performing.

The scene when Peking Opera maestro Mei Lanfang performed "lanhua zhi," a special gesture of the hand, left a deep impression on Zhang.

She said: "From Mei's finger movement, you could imagine him really touching a fragrant orchid."

So Zhang asked her students to practice "lanhua zhi" meticulously even though it is only a small part of the larger Kunqu Opera.

Zhang added that such stylized movement was the essence of Kunqu and Peking opera, which have a lot in common, saying, "We should not rashly change the essentials out of laziness."

Apart from strict attention to detail, the knowledge of an actor or actress is also crucial to the quality of the performance.

Yue said: "My teacher always encouraged me to take on more knowledge such as playing the Chinese zither, calligraphy and ink-painting, which would make the young scholar roles I was playing more convincing."

Since the age of 19, Yue has studied the Chinese paintings of various noted artists, which has refined her style and helped make her one of the most influential Kunqu Opera stars ever to take the stage.

(China Daily July 28, 2005)