Mei Lanfang was exposed by the explosion of fashion and rare swimsuit photos.

　　　　Mei Lanfang’s swimsuit photos taken during her stay in the United States.

　　　　Mei Lanfang improved the hairstyle and clothing of the new fashion drama, and added fashion elements to the Beijing drama.

　　　　For the modern young audience, Mei Lanfang is just a symbol. From the textbook, we know that he is the first of the four famous artists and represents the culture of Peking Opera. Perhaps many people can’t tell the difference between Mei Lanfang and Anita Mui. In fact, Mei Lanfang is not only a master of art, but also the most popular fashion star of the year. Recently, some netizens exposed a group of unknown old photos of the Peking Opera master in real life in the forum. In this group of photos, a rare photo of Mei Lanfang wearing a swimsuit is particularly eye-catching.

　　Mei Lanfang loves fashion to take swimsuit photos.

　　　　The netizen said that this swimsuit photo was taken in Shanghai in the 1930s, when the social atmosphere was not so open. On the other hand, the shooting background seemed to be out of place with the word swimsuit. However, some netizens said that in Shanghai in the 1930s, fashionable people would take a few swimsuit photos. At that time, people often saw the appearance of swimsuits from those fashionable cigarette cases and moon cards. As a well-known Peking Opera actor at that time, Mei Lanfang was naturally unwilling to lag behind, and generously took such a swimsuit photo by the swimming pool.

　　　　According to the historical records of that year, in 1926, the public swimming pool in Hongkou, Shanghai was opened to the public, and men and women traveled together in Shanghai. By 1930, Gao Qiao Beach had been built, and swimsuits had long been the equipment of Shanghai-style figures. At that time, almost all the stars and celebrities-Shang Guanyunzhu, Ruan Lingyu, etc.-had fashionable styles in swimsuits. Mei Lanfang’s swimsuit photo was produced under such an "open" historical background, even though it was not taken in Shanghai but in the United States on the other side of the ocean. In 1946, when Drama Illustrated published this swimsuit photo of Mei Lanfang during her stay in the United States, it also caused quite a stir.

　　Love to take pictures, generous show camera

　　　　Mei Lanfang’s hobby of spare time also keeps ahead of the trend. In old Shanghai, it was fashionable to take photos in a photo studio, not to mention owning a camera. Cameras were a luxury at that time, and families who could buy them must be rich and fashionable enough. Mr. Mei Lanfang’s camera, which seems to be inadvertently painted, is also put into the photo to some extent as an ornament that embodies a kind of taste and shows off.

　　Singing Beijing Opera in Modern Costume

　　　　Besides taking photos, Mr Mei Lanfang used fashionable elements in Beijing Opera, and he was once called the "originator of fashion dramas in Beijing Opera". At that time, he personally created a new play "The Waves of the Evil Sea", and at the same time he created his own hairstyle and clothes for the new fashion play, which was true to others. It is understood that Mei Lanfang rehearsed three new fashion plays, among which "Deng Xiagu" and "A wisp of hemp" received great response. For a time, Peking Opera dressed in modern clothes became fashionable, and it did not lag behind the vernacular drama at that time.

Editor: Sun Jie