Chapter 43 Part Three: The Indissoluble Bond between Wang Zengqi in "The Story of the Red Lantern" and "Shajiabang"

In the late spring and early summer of 1966, Wang Zengqi, as the "black ghost", "little Deng Tuo" and "black minions" in the Beijing Peking Opera Theater, together with Ma Lianliang, Zhao Yanxia, ​​Yuan Shihai and other master-level "reactionary authorities" and "drama bullies", He was taken to the streets to demonstrate to the public, and was brutally criticized every day in his work unit.Because he is just an inconspicuous little person, and he has suffered from being wrongly classified as a "rightist" in his work unit, so his words and deeds have always been cautious.Every time there is a criticism meeting, he just plays the role of a companion.Wang Zengqi's mood at that time was really cold and gloomy to the extreme. When he heard that the famous writer Mr. Lao She jumped into Taiping Lake in Shichahouhai because he couldn't bear the humiliation, he also thought of dying.

Destiny is often so strange and inconceivable that Wang Zengqi never expected that he would be "liberated" suddenly and unexpectedly.At noon in the midsummer of July when he was dragged out, Wang Zengqi received a notice from a young revolutionary general, asking him to clean up at 4 o'clock that afternoon and go to the office of the theater army representative.Wang Zengqi hurriedly got a haircut, took a bath, and changed his clothes. Thinking that this trip must be a disaster, who would have expected that when he walked to the office of the military representative respectfully, he first recited a quotation from Chairman Mao, "Serve the people, and fight for selfishness." Afterwards, the military representative announced to him with a serious expression: "Now the party and the people give you a chance to face your crimes and make meritorious deeds, and to be a new man." Afterwards, before Wang Zengqi could fully realize whether what happened in front of him was true or not At this time, they were taken by a young soldier, and together they boarded a black car and drove directly to the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse outside Ganjiakou. He stopped in front of the office and was personally received by Jiang Qing, the "literary standard bearer".Wang Zengqi and Jiang Qing did not have any personal contacts, and they were summoned this time as an exception. It turned out that with the deepening and needs of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution movement, Jiang Qing wanted to highlight his personal achievements, further intensified the in-depth creation of "revolutionary model operas", and organized them as soon as possible. Through various literary and artistic forms, extensive publicity and popularization are carried out.For the Peking opera "Shajiabang", she will make necessary revisions again. In the play that has been revised and staged, the original No. 2 character Guo Jianguang and No. 1 character A Qingsao will be set up as the hero and heroine respectively. In addition to the equal parts of the characters in the play, in order to highlight the central character of Guo Jianguang, we should also work hard on the design of his singing, because this is related to the armed struggle leading the secret work, or the secret work leading the armed struggle major political issues.It was precisely because of the need to add arias to Guo Jianguang that Jiang Qing suddenly remembered Wang Zengqi, who had made great contributions to the script transplantation, adaptation and revision many times. Liberation" mystery.Therefore, in order for him to continue to participate in and revise the work of the modern Peking opera "Shajiabang", Jiang Qing made great efforts to establish the "eight model operas" she single-handedly focused on.The "Shajiabang" selected among them happened to be a repertoire that Wang Zengqi had been exposed to as early as 1963. Therefore, it is precisely because of this that he was "turned over" this time.

After being a "gangster" for half a year and transporting briquettes for half a year, Wang Zengqi had already put aside the Peking Opera repertoire, thinking that he would never have anything to do with these from now on. He has been engaged in the creation and research of Peking Opera repertoires, so he quickly adjusted his mentality and resumed his old career.Immediately afterwards, in the Qianmen Momochang Hutong and in the theater, Wang Zengqi and others obeyed the dispatch of the "literary standard bearer" at any time, and improvised the surprise modification and rehearsal of "Shajiabang".During each rehearsal, Wang Zengqi carefully accompanied Jiang Qing, who was sitting in the "Guanghe Theater" in person, watching the crew members sing, do, read, and beat on stage, and then, detail by detail. According to the needs of real life and stage art, it will be modified and deliberated until it is passed.At that time, accompanying Jiang Qing to watch the rehearsal, and sitting on both sides of Jiang Qing like a patron saint, were Chen Boda, the head of the Central Cultural Revolution Team, Kang Sheng, the Central Cultural Revolution Advisor, Xie Fuzhi, Minister of Public Security, Yang Chengwu, Acting Chief of the General Staff of the PLA, and Xiao Hua, Director of the General Political Department. , Fu Chongbi, Commander of the Beijing Garrison, Li Xuefeng, Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, and Wu De, the later Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, as well as Wang Li, Guan Feng, Qi Benyu and others who were the main members of the "Central Cultural Revolution".Premier Zhou Enlai also accompanied him to watch twice, but left temporarily due to busy affairs.Every word Jiang Qing said, no matter it was important or unimportant, these people would record it in their notebooks respectfully and fearfully, for fear of missing a word, and sometimes they really missed a word, and they did not dare to say it in front of Jiang Qing. Instead of conducting inquiries in person, they compare each other in private when she is not present, lest they misinterpret the meaning.Sometimes, rehearsals need to exchange military uniforms, guns and other props from places such as military museums. These generals who once commanded thousands of troops back then rushed to execute orders without fear of losing their dignity.Even if he was a little careless, he would be scolded mercilessly by Jiang Qing.During the rehearsal process, the audience only heard Jiang Qing yelling loudly to the stage: "Stop, stop, Guo Jianguang! Why does your libretto sound so awkward? The literary talent is not enough!" Then he turned his head and sat opposite each other. Wang Zengqi, who was at the side, said: "Old Wang, you can write a new paragraph now!" After a pause, Jiang Qing's voice echoed in the theater again: "Grandma Sha! Your white is too white, you have to change it to rhyme." Bai! Lao Wang, you can change it to Yunbai now." Wang Zengqi is indeed an expert in this field, he will embellish a piece of libretto or confession on the spot, and after Jiang Qing is satisfied with it, Immediately upload it to the hands of the actors, and let them rehearse immediately. Every libretto and narration of "Shajiabang" was finalized bit by bit under Jiang Qing's various nitpicking, one by one, one by one, one by one. Jiang Qing really took great pains for this.

In the Great Hall of the People, a seminar on the finalization of the Peking Opera "Shajiabang" was also held.Jiang Qing, Yao Wenyuan, Ye Qun, and the military representatives of the "model regiment" specially established for this purpose, the leaders of the Revolutionary Committee, and officials from the cultural department of the State Council at that time, plus the leaders of the Peking Opera Theater in Beijing, and Tan Yuanshou from the crew of "Shajiabang" , Hong Xuefei, Wan Yiying, Ma Changli, Zhou Hetong and other main actors all attended the meeting. As one of the main creative personnel, Wang Zengqi is naturally indispensable.At the meeting, everyone gave a copy of the script printed in the No. 2 imitation Song style big characters. Hong Xuefei and Wan Yiying took turns to recite with both voice and emotion. In other words, if Jiang Qing feels dissatisfied, she will point to Wang Zengqi on the spot as before and ask him to make changes immediately.If the corrections were not made well on the spot, or if they were not approved by Jiang Qing, just mark the place that needs to be changed, and make the most of the time after the meeting to continue to revise. How many times did he change it until Jiang Qing nodded with satisfaction.

In order to rehearse "Shajiabang", Jiang Qing gave an order that the "model troupe" must go to the places where the story took place--Suzhou and Changshu to experience life. She repeatedly emphasized that going to the local area to experience it on the spot is better than performing on the stage. Hundreds of times it still works, and it can strengthen the sincere feelings of the proletariat.Before this play was rehearsed on the stage, many members of the "model troupe" had already been to these places. However, as the main repertoire of the "revolutionary model play", it is of great significance to go here again this time , and together with their worth, they have also become worth a hundred times with the supreme title of "Revolutionary Model Opera".They walked round and round in the reed marshes of Yangcheng Lake, and visited some ordinary people who had sheltered the wounded and sick of the New Fourth Army, and asked them to tell the revolutionary stories they had heard countless times.After listening carefully, I often hold meetings and organize individual speeches, and everyone talks about their experience. Whether it is a staff member or an actor, they really do their best to regard this as a glorious and sacred political task. , and feel very lucky and honored that I was lucky enough to be a member of the "model group".

On May 21, 1970, the people of Beijing held a grand rally in Tiananmen Square. The theme of the meeting was to support Chairman Mao Zedong's statement entitled "Unite the people of the world to defeat the American aggressors and all their lackeys" issued by Chairman Mao Zedong the day before the rally, that is, "5.20 Statement". Tan Yuanshou, Hong Xuefei, and Ma Changli, the main actors of the "Shajiabang" crew, were invited to climb the Tiananmen Gate as guests.On the same day, Wang Zengqi was ordered to write a "big man" experience article in the name of the "Shajiabang" crew of the Beijing Peking Opera Theater. The script of "Bang" was published together.Just as Wang Zengqi, who had not received the invitation notice, was writing this article at home, Jiang Qing suddenly sent a military representative to rush Wang Zengqi to the tower of Tiananmen Square.On the same day, the Xinhua News Agency sent a telegram report on the gathering of millions of soldiers and civilians in the capital at Tiananmen Square at home and abroad, and temporarily added Wang Zengqi's name to the end of the long list of participants.