5.A " Red Dancing Star " Bringing International Art to the Red Army

In 1931, there occurred two great events in the central Soviet area of Ruijin, Jiangxi: the birth of the first art school of the Red Army--Gorky Drama School, and the establishment of the first troupe of the Red Army--the August First Troupe.The founders were two servicewomen.They were the " red dancing star " Li Bochao and her classmate in the Soviet Union and a woman cadet of the Huangpu Military Academy Wei Gongzhi.Li Bochao served as principal of the drama school, wherein were set up drama, singing and dancing classes.There was also a professional troupe--the Soviet Troupe, viz.the former August First Troupe, and Li Bochao served as director.The school trained successively more than 1,000 students and over 60 troupes for the Red Army.Among these the most active and outstanding were the Soldiers' Troupe of the First Army Group, the Frontline Troupe of the Third Army Group, and the Forward Troupe of the Fifth Army Group of the Red Army.Most of the plays put on by the various troupes were written by

Li Bochao.Expanding the Red Army, Victory at All Costs, Union of Workers and Peasants, Go and Resist Japan Together and some other works written by her were all most popular and welcome plays in the Soviet areas.As the founder of the Red Army's first troupe--the August First Troupe, Li Bochao was at once a playwright, director, organizer of the evening parties and a chief performer.

Wei Gongzhi, Li's classmate, was also a very charming woman.She was good at play writing, directing, dancing and singing.What was beyond imagination was that this Red Army artist had two " liberated feet " --feet unbound, with injured phalanxes.When she said she wanted to have her hair cut and her feet unbound before she joined the revolutionary ranks, her big brother said sternly: " I'll cut off the head of anyone that wants her hair cut and her feet unbound." Still this girl with bond feet courageously signed up for the Central Military Academy in 1927 and received strict training according to the drill regulations for foot soldiers.After graduation, she threw herself into the famous Guangzhou Uprising.She spared no effort to shake off the yoke of the feudal society on women and traveled over a great distance to the Soviet Union to learn modern knowledge and modern art.The transformation from feet binding to the performing of modern dances reflected not only Wei Gongzhi's complicated and hard psychological journey but also the leap in centuries of the Chinese women's pursuit for their own independence and emancipation.

In the old society there was the saying that " good men don't go to the gambling house and good women don't enter the theater." A female actress was a synonym for " geisha." Even in performance, it was unorthodox for men and women to play together.In the composition of traditional Chinese operas, the Shaoxing opera troupe was purely female, and the Beijing opera was purely male.The " four famous female character types " were all male.If women had been allowed to perform Beijing opera on the stage, probably there wouldn't have been the famous Mei Lanfang.

The cultured servicewomen in the Red Army ate red rice and drank pumpkin soup, but the art they aspired after could be called " modern." At that time modern drama had just been introduced to China from the West and was termed " civilization show." It was performed mainly to intellectuals and young students in big cities and couldn't be seen by those below county levels.Yet the speed at which Li Bochao, Wei Gongzhi and others popularized and produced modern art in the Red Army could be termed a miracle in the artistic history.

The cite for the Red Armywomen's performance was naturally theatrical and creative.The stage was set up on the spot and the screen was pieced together with sheets.Pine trees were their lighting and one harmonica constituted the whole band.Even the costumes were tailored

by themselves.Lacking makeup paint, they used charcoal instead; without rouge they dipped red paper into water as a substitute.The hard conditions didn't weaken the effect of the troupe's performance.With the start of the program they created, program that reflected army life, people both on and off the stage became one, and sounds of slogans and applause echoed about.When Li Bochao and Wei Gongzhi performed dances brought back from the Soviet Union, Red Army Dance, Navy Dance, Ukranian Dance, and Against the Wall of Paris by the American dancer Duncan, they made a stir in the whole audience.The army and the people of the Soviet areas who had only heard folk songs and popular tunes and seen street performances and old shows saw for the first time " international art." Such performances became grand occasions in the cultural life of the central Soviet areas.

In the hard times of war, watching the performance of the servicewomen was a treat; the existence of the force of servicewomen was moreover invisible strength to the servicemen who fought bloody battles.What follows is a true and unembellished record of the crossing of snow-covered mountains during the Long March by a woman member of the propaganda team of the Red Army: " Before crossing the snow-covered mountains, we were awakened at 3 in the morning by the company commander and political instructor.The troops were to start at 5.We must get to the important places in advance so as to set up agitation booths.It was early summer, and each of us had only an unlined garment on.With a sparse population there, it was hard to find anything for food, not to say things to keep out the cold like strong drink or ginger.The company commander and the political instructor told us to find a stick each and to take each and to take out everything that could be put on in case of cold.Besides, each of us was given a piece of cloth and was told to wrap up out feet in it and then put on the straw sandals.They found from somewhere some hot peppers and cooked a cauldron of hot pepper soup.After drinking the hot soup, we started off with gongs, drums, and bamboo clappers.At the foot of the mountains, the temperature dropped drastically and the snow on the ground was frozen hard.Sticks touching the ground produced loud sounds of rat-tat. Halfway up the mountains, the wind howled and ice and snow flew violently.We were so frozen that we felt as if cut by knives, and even though we wrapped ourselves in everything available, it was of no avail.The higher we climbed, the thinner the air became, and the harder it was for us to breathe.Those who sat down to take a breather never got up again; and those who stopped to look into the distance were blinded by the shiny snow, and feeling dark before their eyes, fell down to the ground never to get up again.Seeing this, the company commander and the political instructor immediately asked us to take out our gongs and drums to cheer the troops on along the way, reminding

them not to stop, not to look up, and not to sit down, as was required by the army.The army leaders' summing -up and our agitation produced good results.Groups of Red Armymen passed on by us.Close to the top of the mountain, the storm wind became more violent and breathing was even harder.Heavy snow fell like balls of cotton.Not a few people, having exhausted all their strength upon getting here, fell weak in the knees and dropped into the canyon.To encourage the troops, we set up a propaganda station in the draught: 'Come on!

The summit is just ahead!' 'Who is a hero and who is a brave man, let's compete and see on the top of the snow-covered mountain!' Amid the wind and snow, we started singing enthusiastically Anthem of the Young Pioneers: March forward/Dawn is just ahead/Strive, comrades/....

It was hard already to breathe due to lack of oxygen on the high mountains. So when I held back my breath to sing, blood ran out of my nose and I felt ill in the chest as if it were stuffed with cotton. But I still gathered up all my strength and sang: Bravely forward/Steady in steps/Hold high the revolutionary banner. Seeing

us weak and young girls conducting propaganda and agitation in the draught, the Red Army soldiers were all deeply touched. The sick comrades, in particular, seeing us, nodded their heads with feeling and exerted every effort to climb towards the top of the mountain." The recorder is Wang Xinlan, the youngest servicewoman in the Long March who later became head of the radio station of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. Each Red Army solider who passed beside her during the crossing would surely remember her.

The 25,000-li Long March of the Red Army shook whole China and the whole world. It covered 12 provinces and cities and spread the seeds of the revolution into the hearts of the people. The servicewomen in the Red Army, in particular, attracted worldwide attention. In 1936, Saving the Nation Times of Paris published a news report by journalist Yang Dinghua "From Gansu to Shaanxi," in which he wrote: "What was especially interesting here was the attitude of several peasant women of the Han and Hui nationalities towards the Red Armywomen who were carrying on political work. They judged these soldiers to be women by their words and deeds, but they felt suspicious when they saw their martial attire, linen shoes, puttee, pistols and their valiant looks. Hence several peasant women cordially led a servicewoman to their house. Before long all the servicewomen were led by the local peasant women of the Han and Hui nationalities back to their respective houses. Since they still had some doubt as to the sex of these servicewomen, the peasant women started a 'check' on them. The red Armywomen were confused at first, but then they burst into an uproar. Having made the 'check,' the peasant women became even more cordial, inviting the Red Armywomen to be seated on their kang. Moreover, they served a very

delicious dinner to the women soldiers. I think this is not only due to the closer ties among females but also due to the boundless admiration and reverence the peasant women held for the women soldiers taking part in the Long March."