"Playing a god when you should play a god and a ghost when you should play a ghost, each in its proper part-that's the only way an actor can be considered first-rate," he said. In addition, keeping strictly to one's part and not stealing the scene is a supporting actor's duty-or every actor's duty, Li would say. That's why some famous actors in the past used to have their own private supporting actors. In fact, supporting roles are in no way easier to play than leads. And his stage presence and chemistry with the other actors he credits to his work as a young man in supporting roles. Opera connoisseurs all say that Li's "kungfu is solid" and his "steps are good," abilities which he attributes to his diligent early training and practice. "You've got to be completely on top of your stuff before you can really 'click.' Otherwise, you'll be losing your breath, worrying about dropping lines, and stepping out of rhythm. "It's like an athlete training for the 100-meter dash by running laps," Li said. In his own experience, once the fundamental skills had been thoroughly "trained," the next step was "polishing." This so-called "polishing" meant practicing and performing day and night.
"Only then can you go on to talk about 'performing,'" he said. Li T'ing-ch'un believes that the old-style education by the stick may seem harsh, but that it does make the basic movements become instinctive to a child. His own skills were trained into shape under the unsparing rod of his exacting father. "There's no other way to learn opera: besides talent, the only key is 'training,'" he said. His father and older brother were both well-known Peking opera actors on the mainland before the war, and the younger Li was practicing acting movements by the age of eight and performing on stage at nine. Li's background in the theater is a rich one. "You see those tassels on the sides of the hat? They're a specialty of the 'Li school.'" he added. In 1981 we even got ourselves put on a postage stamp!" The photo showed a quintessential Kuan Kung-red face, "blue-green dragon" sword, left hand stroking a long beard. Just after dinner, in the living room of his second-floor apartment, Li T'ung ch'un pointed to a blown-up color stage photo from a Kuan Kung opera and exclaimed in the loud, clear voice of a Peking opera actor, "It hasn't been easy, let me tell you. On stage, his portrayal of Kuan Kung, the heroic general from the Three Kingdoms Period, has earned him the epithet of "a living Kuan Kung." And in life, Li is broad-featured, forthright, robust, and willing to talk about just about anything. Peking opera actors are said to take on some of the characteristics of the roles they play.
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