MCLC: Canadian performs Tiger Mt.

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Matthew Robertson <mprobertson11 at gmail.com>
Subject: Canadian performs Tiger Mt.
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This may be of interest to MCLCers.

Matthew

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Source: The Epoch Times (2/11/13):
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/canadian-performs-red-opera-at-b
eijing-propaganda-show-346600.html

Canadian Performs Red Opera at Beijing Propaganda Show
Guided by regime-affiliated Confucius Institute, sings of raiding a
‘bandit’s lair’
By Matthew Robertson/Epoch Times Staff

Every year in China the communist regime stages a long variety show on the
only national broadcaster, China Central Television, ringing in the
Chinese New Year with a good helping of pro-regime propaganda.

Joining the gaudy hosts and crooning singers in their annual Spring
Festival Gala ritual this past Saturday was a Canadian opera virtuoso,
Thomas Glenn. He co-sung part of an old communist “red opera” that was
freighted with more meaning that he realized, or was told by his Chinese
handlers.

The performance Glenn participated in, along with Yu Kuizhi, a well-known
Beijing opera singer, was a section from “Taking Tiger Mountain by
Strategy,” one of the Eight Model Operas.

During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s Jiang Qing, also known as
Madame Mao, decided that these eight performances were the only permitted
forms of art in China, and they are heavily associated with that violent
and ideologically-charged period in Chinese history.

“Red songs” had in fact fallen much out of favor in Chinese popular
culture over the last few decades—though the now-felled Chinese politician
Bo Xilai had attempted a revival of Maoist singing in Chongqing.

As is typical in these performances, the first part of the song consists
of reflections on nature: Glenn sings a few lines about snow, mountains,
forests, and courage.

At about three minutes into the song the joint aria begins, with Glenn and
Yu singing the title, “Welcome spring, bringing change to the world.”
http://xiyou.cntv.cn/v-75833cba-7345-11e2-89a1-001e0bd5b3ca.html

And then it gets down to business. Yu Kuizhi sings: “The Party gives me
wisdom, gives me courage.”

He goes on: “To defeat the bandits, I first dress as one.” This tracks the
storyline of Tiger Mountain, where the revolutionary Yang Zirong
infiltrates an encampment of Nationalist soldiers (inevitably labeled
“bandits”) and then springs a bloody ambush. Set in 1946, the communist
insurgency was three years away from overthrowing the Nationalist
government and seizing power.

Glenn then rejoins for the second half of the duet: “Raid the bandits’
lair, absolutely turn it upside down!”

A bright red decorative cloth is projected onto the back wall and columns
as the camera pans out.

Later in the story the communist heroes “destroy the bandits and capture
the bandit chieftain Vulture,” according to a synopsis of the original
libretto, which was “carefully revised, perfected and polished to the last
detail with our great leader Chairman Mao's loving care.”

http://parslow.com/TigerMountain/ttmbs11.html

Incitement to Hatred

One of the main features of Chinese communist red operas is the incitement
to hatred, according to Xing Lu, a scholar of communications at DePaul
University who has written a book about rhetoric in the Cultural
Revolution. 

“Hatred permeates every model opera,” she writes. According to her book,
the basic message behind these pieces is that those designated as “class
enemies,” or “villains,” must be eliminated through violent struggle, so a
new society can be established. The plays were meant to foster a “deep
hatred for all class enemies and love for the Communist Party,” Lu writes.

Speaking on the telephone from his hotel room early on Monday morning in
Beijing, Glenn was surprised at the associations of the song, and said
that he was not aware of political or propaganda elements.

“I don’t feel like this piece was chosen to ignite any sort of
controversy,” he said. “I think the piece was meant to show an
intercontinental friendship... certainly I’m ignorant of any
propagandistic aspect.”

He said that his main source of information about the performance was from
his Chinese colleagues, and that he did not independently research the
background of the song.

Confucius Institutes

Organizations associated with the Chinese regime guided Glenn into the
performance.

He first learnt to sing that opera in 2011, as part of a Chinese
regime-sponsored program called I Sing Beijing, which inducted 20 Western
singers and had them perform Chinese opera
(http://www.webcitation.org/6EMJt0mAA). National Public Radio included
Glenn in a profile of I Sing
Beijing.(http://www.houstonpublicradio.org/articles/npr1315377087-Seeking-A
-Stage,-Western-Opera-Singers-Try-China.html)

One of the songs selected by the Chinese handlers was “Taking Tiger
Mountain by Strategy.” A video of Glenn practicing it is available on
YouTube. http://j.mp/VPFqmT

I Sing Beijing was founded by Hanban, an organization headed by the
Chinese regime which also runs the Party’s global network of Confucius
Institutes. (The latter attracted controversy recently in Canada after a
university closed its Institute down due to its discriminatory hiring
practices.) 
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/canada/canadian-university-to-close-confuci
us-institute-345521.html

“I gather CCTV got ahold of my performance through I Sing Beijing, and the
Confucius Institute asked me to do the performance for the Gala; it was
the Confucius Institute that was the liaison,” Glenn said.

Chinese netizens reacted angrily to the link. “These model operas were
Jiang Qing’s primary tool for attacking Confucius, and now the Confucius
Institute is having them performed,” one wrote. Another called it “raping
Confucian thought.” http://www.webcitation.org/6EMKLtsT7

The Confucius Institute connection seemed significant to Li Ding, a senior
researcher at Chinascope, a Washington-based organization that specializes
in translation and analysis of Communist Party documents.

He noted that there has been criticism in recent years about the global
expansion of Confucius Institutes, which is usually met with the response
that they are non-political, mere language centers. “But making an
arrangement for a Confucius Institute to organize this revolutionary piece
is a high-profile statement,” he said. “It’s as though they’re saying
‘Yes, we use Confucius Institutes to promote ideology—so what?’”

He said this action seems to coincide with Xi Jinping’s recently announced
“three self-confidences,” to wit: “Be confident in the path, be confident
in the theory, be confident in the system.”

Cheng Xiaonong, a U.S.-based scholar of the Communist Party, said that the
performance seems in part to show that Xi Jinping does not seek to deny
the Mao era—a matter that he stated plainly in a recent speech to new
members of the Central Committee, according to Cheng.

“If so, he’s more conservative than Deng Xiaoping, and it’s understandable
why the red song is there. It helps the regime establish some legitimacy,
affirming the achievements of Mao in the Cultural Revolution.” Cheng said
that a red opera has not been on the Spring Festival Gala for the last
three decades.

Foreign Face

Using a foreign face for the purpose adds to the propaganda value, Cheng
said. “Every year they try to find some foreigners, pay them, and ask them
to sing some songs that praise the Communist Party. That’s something that
the Soviet Communist Party never did. They had some dignity about their
communist rule.” 

The phenomenon of using foreigners to effect domestic propaganda was
documented at length by Anne-Marie Brady in her 2003 book “Making the
Foreign Serve China.” http://j.mp/Y71Vjr

When some of the political analysis by Chinese scholars was conveyed to
Glenn, he considered for a moment, then said: “That’s very interesting. It
puts me in an awkward position, at least with Chinese intellectuals. On
the other hand, to a foreigner like me it is just a song.” He said he had
fun.

Glenn continued: “To be perfectly honest, I’m largely ignorant of the
social context in which this comes into play. Know that I have a very deep
fondness for the Chinese people. From my experience they love this song,
and they love me singing it, and we had just a wonderful, wonderful time
together.”

Li Ding, who analyzes Chinese communist propaganda techniques and work
reports, felt that he understood Glenn’s position.

“I actually feel a strong sympathy for him. It's a typical confusion
between China and the Chinese Communist Party,” he said. “Many innocent
Westerners have thus been used to do propaganda for the Party, with their
good feelings for Chinese people and Chinese culture are taken advantage
of.”