Chapter 41 Part Three: One Chant and Three Sighs "The Story of the Red Lantern" from the Shanghai Opera "Ludang Tinder" to the Beijing Opera "Shajiabang"

In the winter of 1963, the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe, which had just returned from performances in Hong Kong and Macau, unexpectedly received a Shanghai opera script "Ludang Fire" transferred from Jiang Qing's hand from the relevant superior department, and asked them to hurry up and adapt it into a modern version. Peking Opera. For the Shanghai opera "Ludang Tinder", Beijing Peking Opera Troupe quickly learned that it was first based on a revolutionary memoir "Blood Stained Names-A Documentary of the Struggle of Thirty-Six Wounded and Sick" written by Cui Zuofu.The article focuses on the true story of 36 wounded and sick members of the New Fourth Army under Tan Zhenlin's troops who persisted in the revolutionary struggle in the enemy-occupied areas at that time.As early as the late 1950s, after reading this article, Wen Mu, a professional screenwriter of the Shanghai People’s Shanghai Opera Troupe, thought that not only the event was special and the story was touching, but also that it was very suitable to write as “theme of revolutionary struggle” in the literary and art circles at that time. A modern Shanghai opera full of local characteristics and complicated plot.Therefore, Wen Mu wrote and created collectively. In a short period of time, using this revolutionary memoir as the material, he recreated a complete Shanghai opera script "Clear Water and Red Flag", and quickly put it into rehearsals. To meet the needs of brevity and the appearance of characters, the number of wounded and sick was changed from 36 to 18, and many relevant historical materials were referred to, taking the place where the revolutionary memoirs took place as the axis, incorporating other real events from a large number of sources, and using artistic He has created a complete story, and carefully created positive and negative characters with outstanding personalities such as Guo Jianguang, Mrs. Ah Qing, Grandma Sha, Hu Chuankui, and Diao Deyi.When it was officially performed in 1960, the title of the play was changed to "Ludang Tinder" on the posters posted all over the street. The famous Shanghai Opera actor Ding Shi'e played the heroine A Qing in the play, and Shao Binsun played the male lead Guo Jianguang in the play.

The Shanghai opera "Ludang Tinder" mainly describes that in the autumn of 1939 during the War of Resistance Against Japan, 18 wounded and sick members of the New Fourth Army headed by instructor Guo Jianguang lived in Shajiabang in Changshu, Jiangsu. Commander Hu Chuankui and Chief of Staff Diao Deyi secretly colluded with the Japanese invaders and went to Shajiabang to search for the wounded and sick of the New Fourth Army.A Qingsao, an underground party member and secretary of the Party branch, used the identity of the proprietress of "Chunlai Teahouse" as a cover to use the contradiction between Hu Chuankui and Diao Deyi to fight wits and courage with them, and managed to transfer the wounded and sick to Luweidang safely.After Guo Jianguang and other 18 people recovered from their injuries, they further developed the armed forces against the enemy, and finally cooperated with the outside world to eliminate Hu Chuankui and Diao Deyi in one fell swoop, and liberated Shajiabang.After the play was staged, it caused a great sensation, and naturally it attracted the attention of Beijing.The Beijing Peking Opera Troupe also learned that this script was personally recommended by the "First Lady", and felt that the task of adapting this script was a top priority.As the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe affiliated to the local leaders, among the cast members are Ma Lianliang, Tan Fuying, Qiu Shengrong, Zhang Junqiu, the "Four Beams", and Zhao Yanxia, ​​Tan Yuanshou, Ma Changli, and Li Shiji, the "Four Pillars".The troupe decided to jointly adapt the Shanghai opera script by Wang Zengqi, Yang Yumin, Xiao Jia, and Xue Enhou. The pianist Li Muliang designed the singing, and focused on the main line of the underground struggle in the Shanghai opera. The adapted Peking opera script was named "Underground Liaison Officer". It is directed by Xiao Jia and Chi Jinsheng, with Zhao Yanxia as Mrs. Ah Qing, Gao Baoxian as Guo Jianguang, Zhou Hetong as Hu Chuankui, and Wan Yiying as Grandma Sha.At the beginning, Wang Zengqi participated in the adaptation and re-creation of the script. He was temporarily drawn in by the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe after returning from the Shalingzi Agricultural Science Research Institute.

Due to the sudden adaptation of the script, the time was short, and the rehearsal cycle was very short, so Beijing Mayor Peng Zhen, Chief of Staff Luo Ruiqing, and Jiang Qing, who was in charge of literature and art, were invited to watch the first rehearsal of the play However, everyone felt that this Peking Opera performance, which had high expectations at the beginning, had obvious shortcomings. Jiang Qing, who was greatly disappointed, kept a tense face and did not say a word when meeting the actors on the stage, and then ignored it. Ask, and then, as soon as he patted his butt, he went to the south to recuperate.Mayor Peng Zhen, as well as relevant leaders of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and the municipal government who accompanied the audience at the time, all agreed that the foundation of this play was quite good, and it was a pity to leave it for nothing. Come to the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe, encourage and support them not to be discouraged, and comfort them with the principle of "a play that lasts ten years", hoping not to give up this play, but to improve it and rehearse it again.The several calls from Peng Zhen and others were of course a kind of spiritual encouragement to the party committee and crew of the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe. They readjusted the cast, added and deleted some plots different from the development of Shanghai Opera, and the troupe The famous actor Tan Yuanshou plays Guo Jianguang, and Ma Changli plays Diao Deyi. In January 1961, taking advantage of the opportunity that the Ministry of Culture arranged for the Shanghai People's Shanghai Opera Troupe to perform "Ludang Tinder" in Beijing, the crew rushed to the theater and watched it repeatedly every night, and then met together during the day the next day. Then conduct repeated discussion and research, talk freely about the experience and feelings of observation, and express their respective suggestions and opinions.After a period of painstaking processing, in the rehearsed play "Underground Liaison Officer", no matter from the script, director, performance, and music, all have been significantly improved and improved on the original basis.The crew also believed that the title of "Underground Liaison Officer" was too simple, and the main characters included not only Mrs. Ah Qing, who was a liaison officer, but also Guo Jianguang, an instructor of the New Fourth Army, and Grandma Sha, a revolutionary mass at the grassroots level. Tinder" is the most appropriate.At the end of March of that year, Peng Zhen and other Beijing leaders were invited by the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe to re-examine the completely new Peking Opera, which was renamed "Ludang Tinder". Moreover, he also greatly appreciated the completely different perception effects of the same theme and different dramas, and immediately approved the public performance.

In April 1964, Beijing Peking Opera Troupe's modern Peking opera "Ludang Tinder" was officially performed in Beijing, and it also caused the same sensational effect as Shanghai opera. The plot development is the same or different from Shanghai opera, and even the stage set design is extremely rich in local characteristics. Grandma's chorus "You treat your comrades like a family", A Qing's wife, Hu Chuankui, and Diao Deyi's aria "Wisdom Fighting", A Qing's aria "It's hard to find when you go far away", "I will be able to defeat stubborn enemies and overcome difficulties", Guo Jianguang and others sang "I want to learn from the green pine on the top of Mount Tai" and Grandma Sha's aria "Shajiabang will be liberated one day". Because of their beautiful singing and catchy singing, they soon became popular among the people like pop songs. And widely sung.Mrs. Ah Qing's special role and unique distinctive image, together with the popular "Wisdom Fighting", had a far-reaching influence. The play has been performed for more than 100 times in a row, which is unprecedented.

In mid-April 1964, the National Peking Opera Modern Drama Performance Conference was about to be held in Beijing. On the evening of Jiang Qing’s rush back to Beijing from Shanghai, he went to the Beijing Workers’ Club to watch the Peking Opera "Ludang Tinder" being performed by the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe. He was also very satisfied with the play, and included this play in the eight "revolutionary model plays" that he was planning and burgeoning. On April 27, 1964, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, Dong Biwu, Chen Yi, Lu Dingyi, Deng Zihui, Nie Rongzhen and other party and state leaders, as well as Zhang Zhizhong, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, watched the Peking opera "Ludang Fire".After the performance, they happily stepped onto the stage to take photos with the actors, and they were full of praise for the play.

On July 23, 1964, Chairman Mao Zedong and other party and state leaders Peng Zhen, Tan Zhenlin, Kang Sheng, etc. watched "Ludang Tinder" performed by Beijing Peking Opera Troupe at the National Peking Opera Modern Drama Performance Conference.After the performance, Chairman Mao Zedong personally went to the stage to shake hands with the actors, took a group photo with them, and praised: "Sister-in-law Ah Qing did a good job, Guo Jianguang did a good job, and Diao Deyi did a good job." Said: "The reeds are full of water, how can the revolutionary fire start a prairie fire? Besides, the situation of the anti-Japanese revolution at that time was no longer a fire, but a flame." Before that, Tan Zhenlin also raised opinions on the title of the play. I think that I have personally experienced this story in the plot. The revolutionary situation at that time has become a prairie fire, and the use of "fire" obviously creates a feeling of being too thin and weak to the audience.For this reason, Chairman Mao personally gave three instructions for this play: first, the music image of the soldiers of the New Fourth Army should be clearly highlighted, and the drama that strengthens the relationship between the army and the people should be strengthened; Using Hu Chuankui to get married, disguised as a trumpeter and bearer, and made an unexpected attack.When it was first adapted into Peking Opera, it was also handled in this way.In this way, the ending becomes a farce, and the whole play becomes two parts with different styles.It should be changed to the New Fourth Army attacking from the front.We must highlight the role of armed struggle and emphasize the use of armed revolution to eliminate armed counter-revolutionaries.The end of the play has to be typed in.Third, the story takes place in Shajiabang. There are many operas in China with the title of the place, so this play is named "Shajiabang".

A few days later, Jiang Qing rushed to the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe again and personally conveyed Mao Zedong's "important instructions" on the play.Jiang Qing took advantage of the topic to emphasize that the crew should focus on Guo Jianguang's armed struggle. For this reason, at the end of the performance, Mrs. Ah Qing led people to disguise themselves as a bride-giving team, mixed in with the enemy, and then wiped out Hu Chuankui and his gang in one fell swoop. The plot is changed to Guo Jianguang and others recover from their injuries, cooperate with the large army to kill the reeds, win by surprise, attack Hu Chuankui, and finally win an all-round victory. The stage curtain is a round of red sun rising amidst the collective appearance of all the actors playing positive roles Slowly pull together.In addition, Guo Jianguang's vocal design was added to the play, making Guo Jianguang truly a hero and heroine on par with Mrs. Ah Qing in the play. At the end of 1964, the modern Peking Opera officially named "Shajiabang" was staged again. In order to show his personal achievements, Jiang Qing arbitrarily ordered that all the "screenwriters" be written as "collective creation" on the grounds of "don't emphasize utilitarianism".