Chapter 38 The third part: "The Tale of the Red Lantern" with one chants and three sighs after several ups and downs "The Tale of the Red Lantern" in Guangzhou and Shenzhen

In a blink of an eye, the vigorous "Cultural Revolution" movement swept across the country.All movies have been labeled as "poisonous weeds", all stages have been forced to close the curtains, and all literary works have been sealed up or burned. This unprecedented political movement will touch different classes, genders, and ages. deep in the soul of every Chinese. Jiang Qing, who has always been active in the literary and artistic circles, jumped to the front stage even more frantically, calling herself a "literary and artistic standard bearer". She ordered all the local operas she was most interested in to be adapted into modern Peking operas.Carry out the so-called "Peking Opera Revolution" with a brand new face.The main themes selected first for this "Peking Opera Revolution" were all the most popular revolutionary struggle themes and contemporary life themes at that time. important plot.Therefore, the ones listed by Jiang Qing as one of the first batch of "Eight Model Operas" are the "Eight Model Operas" that have left a deep impression in the minds of audiences across the country through various art forms such as story films, modern Peking Opera, and modern Shanghai Opera. "Red Lantern".

During the subsequent official performances, Jiang Qing always "raised his eyebrows and raised his eyes", repeatedly accused A Jia and Li Shaochun of changing the trick in front of the deputy director Zhang Dongchuan, and ordered immediate revision.Accompanied by Minister of Culture Zhou Yang, Vice Ministers Lin Mohan, Xu Pingyu and others, she watched the rehearsal again and was furious at some revisions that did not follow her opinion.Jiang Qing then deliberately brought the matter to Premier Zhou, and it was the Premier who came forward to mediate and the matter came to an end. On the evening of November 6, 1964, Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and other party and state leaders personally watched the performance of the Peking Opera "Red Lantern" in the small theater of the Great Hall of the People. The two scenes of "Struggle in the Execution Ground" were the most emotional, and after the performance, he shook hands with the actors one by one and took photos with them.Soon, Chairman Mao, accompanied by Jiang Qing, watched "The Story of the Red Lantern" performed by the Shanghai Aihuahu Troupe in Beijing.

Since then, this modern Peking opera "The Tale of the Red Lantern" has been exclusively performed by a troupe of the Chinese Peking Opera Troupe. Of course, the Kunqu opera "The Legend of the Red Lantern" derived from the same period will be quietly released.Therefore, Jiang Qing took the "eight model operas" that he had stolen and established for himself, and made another "reform" that was worthless and worthless.Actors have undergone the necessary rotation for the second time. The former Li Shaochun was defeated at the beginning of the movement because he was a representative of "ghosts and snakes". He played Li Yuhe and was replaced by Qian Haoliang. Du Jinfang was Mei Lanfang's personal biography Disciple, let her stand aside, and Liu Changyu replaced Li Tiemei. Only Gao Yuqian, who played Grandma Li, and Yuan Shihai, who played Hatoyama, "survived" temporarily at that time, and could continue to play the same roles on stage as before, and Perform with young actors who have just appeared on stage.

In the frightening and full of "Cultural Revolution" movement, because the directors of many literary and art groups proceeded from the reality of life and made partial adjustments in individual details, the minions of the "Gang of Four" tried to be loyal to their masters. , forcefully labeled them "counter-revolutionaries" who sabotaged model plays, and suffered a catastrophe.Jiang Qing once viciously threatened: "Not a single word of the revolutionary model drama is allowed to be changed!" However, for her own purposes, she deliberately made it clear in the plot of "Red Lantern" out of fear that others would say that she was stealing her reputation. The story of the story happened in a certain place in Northeast China, but it was superfluously changed to a certain place in North China.At the same time, Jiang Qing also had an artificial hatred for the history of the revolutionary struggle of the Northeast "North Manchurian Anti-Union". "Volunteer Army" clearly praised the bloody struggle of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces against the Japanese invaders. The lyricist Tian Han was not only defeated because of his disagreement with Jiang Qing, but also committed suicide a year ago.Therefore, Jiang Qing will never allow the "revolutionary model opera" set up by herself to have any traces of involvement and connection with it.

In February 1965, shortly after the Spring Festival, the Chinese Peking Opera Company, led by its vice-president Zhang Dongchuan, went south to Guangzhou and Shenzhen to perform.As the southern gate of China, Guangzhou's cultural heritage has become more and more profound after thousands of years of accumulation. At a time when literature and art were gloomy, the first-class Peking Opera Theater in the capital came to perform, which naturally produced a great sensation.At that time, Shenzhen was just a desolate and remote border town separated from Hong Kong by a bridge. Apart from the wild grass spreading all over the mountains and plains, there was only the sound of the ebb and flow of the sea.The Chinese Peking Opera Company originally planned to stay here for one night, just for a cutscene. However, it was unexpected that not only many local fishermen came early, but the news spread to Hong Kong, and the residents there also ran across the Luo Wu Bridge one after another. When they were young, they rushed to the Shenzhen Theater in Dongmen Old Street, a bustling commercial street in Shenzhen, to watch the modern Peking Opera, which was very curious to them.Through the development of the plot on the stage, through the singing of Peking opera that they are not familiar with, and through the emotional performance of the actors, they not only understand the theme of the story of the play, but also understand the revolutionary struggle that has taken place in the mainland in the past years. The story is very interesting, so whether it is a local fisherman in Shenzhen or a resident from Hong Kong, everyone's palms are red, and people's emotions are high. The rapid adaptation to this modern Peking opera from unfamiliar to familiar is the performance unit. Unexpectedly by the Chinese Peking Opera Company.Many audience members stood up in unison when they heard the actors singing the lyrics praising New China and the Communist Party. It was in the middle of the performance that this kind of "improvisation" on the spot was forced to interrupt for a moment. This made the crew members naturally think of the scene of the boiling sea of ​​parades and shouting slogans in the early days of the "Cultural Revolution" movement everywhere in the motherland. , and this kind of uproar in the theater that resonated strongly with the audience, although its content and essence are completely different, but this performance effect far exceeded the expectations of the crew, which really surprised the crew.After the performance, many audiences rushed to the backstage and asked to shake hands with the actors. The crew decided to hold a symposium for the audience that had not been planned before, and many spectators actively participated in the symposium. He sighed and said: "To be honest, I looked at the mainland's red propaganda with an attitude of watching jokes at the beginning. I didn't expect that we would unknowingly blend into the plot, which gave us a profound education. And I fell in love with this modern Beijing opera all of a sudden..."

The trip to Guangzhou and Shenzhen really gave the crew a very unexpected surprise. After they returned to Beijing, they quickly reported the situation to the superiors in a timely manner. Therefore, this modern Peking opera has also received more attention from the theater circles.Then, it performed 40 consecutive performances in Shanghai.In the one year since the play was re-run with a "makeover", there have been more than 200 articles commenting on "Red Lantern" published in newspapers and periodicals from all over the country.The Chinese Dramatists Association carefully selected 41 articles and compiled a collection of "Peking Opera (Red Lantern) Reviews" with about 200,000 words, which was published by China Drama Publishing House in June 1965.It was rare to publish a special collection of reviews for a play.