梅蘭芳（1894-1961）は京劇の女形として活躍した俳優です。清方は、大正8年（1919）に帝国劇場で行われた来日公演を観覧しました。「天女散華」はその時に演じられた一幕三場の舞踊劇です。清方は、天女が舞いながら花駕籠から花びらを舞台に巻く第三場の場面を描きました。梅蘭芳の「なよやかな舞臺姿」（「金鈴社（一）」『續こしかたの記』）が印象に残り、この作品のほか、同じ年の金鈴社第4回展にもこの舞台に取材した《天女の舞　悼花の歌》を出品しています。
清方は、道成寺物に代表される歌舞伎舞踊を好んで描きましたが、本作のような京劇の舞踊に取材にしたものや、朝鮮の舞姫・崔承喜を描いた作品もあり、舞台芸術全般への関心の高さをうかがうことが出来ます。

Mei Lanfang/Tennyo-Sange (1919)
color on silk; hanging scroll
111.9 x 38.2 cm
The Beijing Opera actor Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) specialized in female roles. During the actor’s visit to Japan in 1919, Kiyokata saw him perform Tennyo-Sange, a one-act dance drama in three scenes (hitomaku sanba) at the Imperial Theater. Kiyokata drew the third scene, in which the celestial maiden dances while scattering flowers from a basket on the stage. The impression made by Mei Lanfang’s “graceful stage presence” lingered with Kiyokata (“Kinreisha ichi” [Kinreisha Chapter 1], Zoku Koshikata no ki [Thoughts on the past 2]). In addition to this painting, he also produced another work based on this performance: Tennyo-no-mai/Tōka no uta (Dance of the Celestial Maiden/Song of Mourning Flowers), which was shown at the fourth Kinreisha Exhibition in the same year.
Kiyokata enjoyed drawing kabuki dances such as the dōjōjimono based on the legend of Dōjōji temple, but this work, which depicts a Beijing Opera dance, and his paintings of the Korean dancer Choi Seung-hee (also known by her Japanese name Sai Shōki) suggest that he took a great deal of interest in all performing arts.