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When De Ling and Rong Ling were only a few years old, Yu Geng hired a tutor for them. Rongling is young, smart and lively. One day, the teacher was explaining Chinese to her and found that she didn't listen at all, just humming and dancing. Teachers know music and also play the lyre. He couldn't help saying, "Little Gege, you sing well and dance lightly. If there is music accompaniment, it will definitely add a lot of color. Let me accompany you. " The lyre music is melodious and makes people dance. Since then, the young Rongling has created and performed many dances, and the teacher became the first tutor to support her in dancing.
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When Yu Rongling 12 years old, Yu Geng became the ambassador to Japan and led his family to Japan.
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In Japan, Rongling often goes to dinner with her father. At a banquet, a famous Japanese maiko performed a Japanese classical dance. Rong Ling was deeply attracted by her graceful dancing, which was the first time in her life that she really enjoyed dancing. Rong Ling wanted to tell her parents that she wanted to learn dance, but she didn't have the courage. Because her father was a senior official in the Qing Dynasty, she would never let her daughter learn to dance. She was very upset about it.
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At this time, there happened to be a young Japanese maid in her house who could sing and dance well. So Rongling secretly learned Japanese dance from the maid. In a short time, Rongling learned several kinds of dances and was able to accurately grasp the style and characteristics of Japanese dance. One day, the wife of Mr. Earthwork, the Japanese palace minister, came to visit Mrs. Yu. Rongling wanted to take the opportunity to show Mrs. Turku the Japanese dance she had learned, so she went back to her room and put on a Japanese kimono and came to the living room. Rong Ling said, "Mrs. Earthwork, in order to welcome you, I will perform a Japanese classical dance, the crane turtle dance." Mrs. Turku praised her after watching the performance. Unexpectedly, after the guests left, her mother scolded her and said, "Why don't you have any tutor?" Who told you to dance without the permission of an adult? " I'm so wronged that tears are coming out. Father dotes on his daughter, saying, "Since you like dancing, you can dance as a pastime, but you can't perform on stage." And Rongling has secretly made up her mind to become a dancer. Soon, my father invited a famous dance teacher from Hongye Hall, a first-class restaurant in Tokyo. After attending Chinese, Japanese and other courses every day, Rongling and her sister Deling happily learned Japanese dance with their teachers.
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Yu Geng was appointed Minister to Japan.
Four years later, he was transferred to France. So their family went to Paris, the capital of France. Once, a diplomat's wife visited Yu Geng's house and saw that Rongling and Deling were both beautiful and lovely, especially Rongling Miaotiao's figure and elegant demeanor. The wife said, "isadora of America? Duncan teaches dance in Paris. I have two daughters, and so do you. We can give these four girls a class and let Duncan teach them. " Rong Ling was not nervous when she saw the modern dancer. She improvised several dance steps for Duncan to see. Duncan saw her elegant and free dance and body that was good at expressing her feelings, and said in surprise, "Oh! This China girl has an extraordinary talent for dancing. I will teach you for nothing. " ?
After three years of hard work, Rongling has achieved excellent results, surpassing all her classmates. On one occasion, Duncan made up a dance drama based on ancient Greek myths and legends. When Duncan was looking for an actor, he thought that Yu Rongling was the most suitable actor, so Rongling played the leading role in this dance drama. Soon, this ballet came out, and her parents were invited by French friends to see it. When Yu Geng and his wife saw a girl with long hair fluttering, a long skirt wrapped in white gauze and half an arm barefoot, it turned out to be her little daughter Rong Ling, and they immediately suppressed their anger. As soon as Rong Ling came home, Yu Geng said angrily, "You are a princess of a duke. You must reflect at home on who made you show off on the foreign stage. " So she was locked in a room, and the servant sent some bread and water to Rongling every day. She was locked up for a week. But this punishment did not shake Rong's desire to become a dancer. She said to her father, "I want to dance anyway, and I want to learn ballet!" " "Yu Geng saw that her daughter was determined to win, but she couldn't beat her, so she agreed to study ballet at Sanafni, a famous professor at the French National Opera House. So Rongling embarked on the road of ballet art, and then entered the Paris Conservatory of Music and Dance for further study. Yu Rongling finally performed publicly in Paris. She performed two programs: one was Greek dance, and the other was Rose and Butterfly.
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Yu Geng's term in France expired and his family returned to China. Soon, his wife, De Ling and Rong Ling became Empress Dowager Cixi.
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At the beginning of the three girls' entry into the palace, one day after watching the play in Le Shou Hall, Cixi asked them about the etiquette of foreign courts and asked Lady Yu, "Do you like music? What do you think of today's play? " Mrs. Yu said, "This play is excellent, but it's a pity that I don't study music. My second daughter doesn't study well, but she likes music very much. I studied music and classical dance abroad for several years. " Cixi said, "Great. I have always wanted the princess of Wang Fu to learn to dance, but I can't find the right person. " Since Rongling can dance, let her learn to dance in the palace. "At that time, RongLing was a layman to China dance. However, the acting activities in the palace created favorable conditions for Rongling. Palace practice, every day, 15th, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Qixi Festival, New Year's Day, Cixi's birthday, Emperor's and Empress's birthday. Tan Xinpei, Yang Xiaolou, Wang Yaoqing and others are famous actors who often perform in the palace. Whenever Cixi watched the performances of these famous actors, Rong Ling always stood by and watched, and soon she learned Kunqu Opera and many operas and dances.
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Yu Rongling participated in the biggest performance of the court in the early days of the Russo-Japanese War. At that time, Cixi was uneasy and worried. Li, the eunuch and general manager, came up with an idea to relieve the boredom of Cixi and said to Mrs. Yu, "All five girls can dance. Let her show it to Lafayette to relieve the boredom." Mrs. Yu told Rongling. Rong Ling said: "I have practiced Chinese and foreign dances several times, but there is no band." Li said to him, "Foreign music is not a problem. Yuan Shikai has a western band. You can call them from Tianjin. "
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On the fourth day of the fifth lunar month, on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, the spring is strong, and the flowers in the Summer Palace are in full bloom, which is very beautiful. The "stage" is located in the courtyard of Le Shoutang, in the middle of which is the throne of Cixi, and the melancholy Guangxu sits next to Cixi, with the queen and Fujin and Gege of each palace standing on both sides. There is a big red carpet in the open space in the yard. On one side is the China Band, and the player is the eunuch. On the other side are more than 20 western bands of Yuan Shikai.
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Yu Rongling's first dance was Spanish dance. The second program, Ruyi Dance, is based on the dance of China traditional operas and ancient paintings. She wore a red embroidered robe, combed her hair, and held the red "Ruyi" symbolizing good luck in her hand, accompanied by music with China national characteristics, and her dance steps were elegant. After the dance, she slowly jumped in front of Cixi, knelt down gently and raised her hands. Eunuch Li took "Ruyi" and handed it to Cixi. Cixi is really happy. Then, Rong Ling changed clothes and danced the Greek dance he learned in France. This kind of performance made Cixi very satisfied. Empress, Fujin and Gege admired Rongling's performance, which once again caused a sensation in the whole court. Since then, Rongling has often performed dances in the palace.
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Lady Yu, De Ling and Rong Ling were female officials in the palace for three or four years. Later, due to the recurrence of Yu Geng's old illness, they told Cixi to let them go out of the palace. 1 year later, Guangxu and Cixi died one after another, and the three of them never returned to the palace. Rongling's dance art activities also stopped.