In Henan, there is a 7-year-old Yu opera (Henan opera) performer named Zhang Yiyi, affectionately known as "little opera master." If you ask her how long she has been studying opera, she will seriously tell you, "Eight years."
You heard that right. She is only seven, yet she says she has studied for eight years. Because—"I started learning when I was still in my mother's belly."
Yiyi's parents are both professional opera actors. For her, the sound of gongs and drums is not noise, but a heartbeat; the stage is not a strange place, but the first playground of her life.
Opera props as toys–"No one can match that drive"
One day, when Yiyi was two years and eight months old, her parents thought, "Why not take her to experience opera and see if she likes it?" Unexpectedly, while other children played with building blocks and dolls, Yiyi's toys became opera handkerchiefs, fans, and even spears and swords. Her interest was not in cartoons, but in "the spears and swords of opera."
When Yiyi first started learning opera, she cried herself to sleep because the training was too hard. But not long after, her teacher noticed something different about this little one. "She takes class more seriously than ten-year-olds. Her eyes are fixed on the teacher, without blinking. That drive, no one can match it."
When she was just over three years old, Yiyi made her first appearance on the famous Henan Television opera program "Liyuan Chun." At that time, she couldn't even speak a complete sentence. But once on stage, every lyric and every word was articulated more clearly than an adult, drawing gasps of admiration from the entire audience.
To avoid vomiting, she chose not to eat or drink
Head wrapping is an extremely crucial hair and makeup technique in traditional Chinese opera, performed by professional "head wrappers." It involves tying up the hair tightly, "Diao Mei (eyebrows with raised upward tip of the brows)," and wearing ornamental headpieces (such as hairpins) to shape the delicate facial features and dignified bearing required for classical opera characters.
The hardest part of opera is not the physical training, but the "head wrapping." To firmly secure the wigs, ornaments, and helmets to the head, straps must be tied very tightly, a discomfort that even many professional actors find hard to bear. Some headpieces are very heavy, and wearing them all day long leads to headaches, neck pain, and exhaustion–a true ordeal.
Once, during one competition, Yiyi had her head wrapped from 2:00 pm until 6:00 pm. After the competition, there was also an awards ceremony. She cried from the pain and even vomited because it was too tight, feeling extremely unwell. Her parents felt great distress for their daughter. Her father once asked with concern, "How about we stop studying?" Yiyi's answer was always the same, "No, I can persist."
To alleviate the suffering caused by head wrapping, Yiyi would later stop eating and drinking from noon onwards whenever she had a performance or competition. She had discovered that an empty stomach made her less likely to vomit when her head was wrapped tightly.
"She's not Nervous–She enjoys the stage"
Many children get nervous on stage, but not Yiyi. Her father says, "She's not nervous–she really enjoys the stage." After every performance, the judges would say, "This is the youngest child, but she performed the best." At that moment, her parents felt it was all worth it.
However, in her teacher's view, this child's success is not only due to her talent, but also inseparable from her self-discipline, which surpasses that of her peers. Yiyi's teacher told us that in a large class with dozens of children, "You don't need to supervise her. Every movement, every kick, every song, she is doing it seriously and putting in 100% effort."
When DDN reporters asked Yiyi what her dream was, she answered without hesitation, "My dream is to go to the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts." In reality, her parents never intended to push their child into becoming a star. "We don't know how far she will go. We just want to give her an extra hobby, an interest. So that when she communicates with others in the future, she won't be so timid or shy."
Zhang Yiyi, this 7-year-old little girl, has even performed at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. Her story is not a prodigy legend, but a true fairy tale about passion, persistence, and family support.
(Reporters: Kiki, Sammi; Camerapeople: Sammi, Anna Li; Editor: Anna Li; English Editor: Kiki, Darius)
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