Female Magician Conjures Entertainment

Li Jie is the director of Hangzhou Magic Troupe which is just over one year old. But she is from a family that has had master magicians for five generations over the past 100 years.

Family Tradition

Magic is the family tradition which started with her great great grandfather. Her great grandfather Li Liansheng was awarded a gold medal for his magic performance at the First West Lake World Expo held in 1929. Her grandfather was best known for his ventriloquist tricks and a performance in which he took off his cloths and water seemingly flew out of nowhere. Her father is a celebrated magician in Nanjing.

The family has many stories to tell about their magic performances and about some celebrated audience members.

Li Chuanfang， her grandfather， was one of the Big Three magicians in Shanghai in the 1940s. In the late 1940s， then Chinese president Chiang Kai-shek sent his son Chiang Ching-kuo to Shanghai to crack down upon ripe corruption. As his mission went nowhere Chiang Ching-kuo became frustrated. One evening， he decided to have Li Chuanfang over from Suzhou and watch some magic performances to get his mind off his failure. Li Chuanfang’s program that evening was to catch fish out of nowhere. No sooner had the magician caught a fish from near the feet of a lady in the audience than Chiang Ching-kuo waved him over and asked him to perform in front of him. Li Chuanfang moved the fishing pole magically and pulled a fish out from under the chair of Chiang. Thinking Li had hidden a fish somewhere under the chair， Chiang ordered to have his chair checked thoroughly， turn on all the lights， and have his guards stand around his chair. Now Chiang wanted to see how Li Chuanfang could catch any fish. Li repeated his magic. Chiang was utterly amazed.

In the 1950s and 1960s， Premier Zhou Enlai and Foreigner Minister Chen Yi often came to Shanghai and Nanjing on their tours accompanying foreign guests. Li Chuanfang often staged shows to entertain foreign guests and Chinese hosts. One night， Chen Yi， a military marshal and frank and straightforward man who frequently disregarded regulations and secrets， came onto the stage and wanted to take a look under the robe Li Chuanfang wore. Li Chuanfang refused to let the cat out of his bag. The two thus pushed themselves into a standoff when the premier came over and advised the magician to keep his secret tight. The premier broke the dilemma by saying that magic was as top secrets as military campaigns and therefore its tricks should be well guarded. Chen Yi laughed and let go. Chen and Li became friends.

Magic is the family tradition and part of the tradition was that only sons were allowed to learn the family’s magic secrets. Li Jie was left out and was allowed to learn to be a dancer. But she watched and practiced secretly by herself. While she was in senior high school she participated in a provincial magic competition and won a gold medal. It was not until then that her father realized that the daughter was talented and destined to be a magician. The father decided to forget the taboo and open the door of magic to his daughter. Li Jie also took magic lessons from Du Linsen， her uncle and celebrated magician based in Hangzhou.

Li Jie has won numerous gold medals of r her charming performances and the magic programs she created. She has staged her shows in countries and regions such as France， UK， USA， Japan and Taiwan.

Hangzhou Magic Troupe

This troupe is an all-women group. It is also China’s first professional all-women magic troupe. All the programs highlight the regional features of the south of the Yangtze River Delta. Under the tutelage of Li Jie， some women magicians are now able to perform at big important shows.

Like numerous troupes in Zhejiang that make a living by competing on rural showbiz market， Hangzhou Magic Troupe makes a living by traveling and staging shows around Hangzhou. Over the past year， the troupe has traveled more than 2，000 kilometers and put on more than 100 performances in districts and counties and cities under the jurisdiction of Hangzhou. More than 50，000 people watched magic moments. The most attractive items at these shows were staged by Li Jie herself.

And the troupe travels and performs mostly in the summer. Sometimes the shows are held outdoors in rural areas during daytime. Audiences are enthusiastic and spellbound despite the scorching heat. Magicians are happy because they get standing ovations.

The troupe sometimes performs free of charge for the general public. An incomplete statistics indicate that Li Jie has participated more than 500 public performances over years. She is awarded for her active participation in such activities.

Her Magic

As a magician， Li Jie owes her success to her creativity. She gets her inspirations from history and culture of Hangzhou. “Playing with Fish at Flower Harbor” is based on Emperor Qianlong’s seven visits to Hangzhou; “Floral Fragrance All Year Round” portrays the paradise city’s scenic beauty in all seasons; the humorous “Learning Crafts at Hefang Street” brings audience back to the everyday life of the street in ancient times; “Kongfu Sword” retells the legend of Phoenix Hill， an ancient folktale of Hangzhou; “Prehistoric Fishing” tries to recreate the fishing story of our ancestors at Hemudu， Zhejiang. Local audiences find these performances attractive and delightful.

Li Jie spares no efforts to seek beauty in her performance and it is unanimously agreed that her performance does look beautiful. She enriches her performance with elements from other art forms and never hesitates to use modern technology. With the assistance of modern technology， she increases the difficulty of her tricks. In one performance， she conjures up more than 2，000 small peonies， 20 large peonies and 2 large bundles of flowers seemingly out of nowhere. No other magician in China can pull so many and so big flowers out of nowhere. □