Chapter 45 Shandong: Artists perform "Dengzhou" live

"Fighting Dengzhou" is a play that is often performed in the Peking Opera circle. It is a very common story about the Tang Dynasty.This is a play made up by people, not a real event in history.However, during the Revolution of 1911, people in the drama circle really staged a "beating Dengzhou", not on the stage, but took down Dengzhou on the border of Dengzhou with real swords and guns.Previously, it was only heard that Xia Yueshan, Xia Yuerun brothers and Pan Yueqiao, the new figures in the Shanghai actor circle, participated in the revolutionaries' attack on the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, but this kind of participation was generally in the nature of helping and booing.However, winning Dengzhou was completely arranged by the artists, so it cannot be said that it is not a miracle.

Although entertainers often have a bit of sarcasm towards those in power, needless to say, officials, even the emperor, are often ridiculed once or twice.However, such sarcasm and sarcasm are usually based on the previous dynasty, and absolutely no one dares to openly make fun of the dignitaries of the current dynasty.In the process of growing up, Peking Opera received special care from the royal family of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, after Peking Opera became the leader in the theater circle, the general tone of the entire theater industry was supportive of the government.Some of the top figures in Peking opera have such a good relationship with princes, nobles, and dignitaries that they get tired of it. Even if they don't talk about political inclinations, but only talk about personal feelings, they still tend to the nobles.The Empress Dowager, since the Reform Movement of 1898, has been hated by everyone in the intellectual circles, whether constitutionalists or revolutionaries. However, the Peking Opera circle always appreciates the kindness of Lafayette——Lafayette did treat them well. Without Lafayette, Peking Opera decided to There is no later national quintessence status.Back then, Beijing opera was composed and performed for Lafayette in its core. Not only was the empress dowager sage, but even the eunuchs were good people in the play—even Li Lianying, a celebrity around the empress dowager, was also praised.A little earlier, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was in trouble, although most of the people in the world did not have the surname Aixinjueluo.But the Peking Opera actors wholeheartedly supported the imperial court.At the beginning, there was a very popular play "Iron Rooster", which was about the Qing army fighting the Taiping army.

Artists generally have no political stance, and even if they have a bit of a national stance, most of them come from drama.But they have moral sentiments, and such moral sentiments often don't have much to do with politics.Whoever treats them well, they will treat them well, and they will repay their kindness.Like the revolutionaries, they can completely separate personal grievances from national interests, and like Xu Xilin, they can shoot at those who have favored them. Artists can't do it.From the point of view of self-interest, the "open mouth" of singing can only be eaten well when the political situation is stable and the government supports it.When the chaos came, people had no time to escape, so who would go to the theater?Therefore, it seems natural for artists to support the government.However, China in the late Qing Dynasty was a place catching up with changes unseen in three thousand years.Foreigners have come, foreign gadgets have come, and the Chinese have changed, especially the intellectual world.Not only scholars went to the sea to sing operas, but also civilized operas from outside.In the midst of the changes, a place like Shanghai with a mix of Chinese and Western cultures has emerged, where you can’t live without pursuing fashion. Even if you sing Beijing opera, you need something new.Take the real scene and play some flower work.Pan Yueqiao and the Xia brothers who participated in the attack on the Manufacturing Bureau were entertainers who sang new plays.Pan Yueqiao especially likes to insert speeches full of new words into the plays. Although it has nothing to do with the plot, the audience always cheers and applauds.In Shanghai, when the revolution came, it became fashionable. Even newspapers could not report the defeat of the revolution.Therefore, it is normal for artists to participate in the revolution.The inscription after Pan Yueqiao's death reads: In the battle against the manufacturing bureau, "in the autumn wind and rain, galloping alone, the first death squad, the second vanguard... The four police teams, the five merchant teams, all 3,000 people, the king is the commander, Resist the manufacturing situation. The heavy door and the key, like the Great Wall, attracting all the troops, like a big enemy. There are many disciples from Huxiang, and you stand in front of the crowd, knowing the righteousness, and weeping with a sense of saltiness." He also said that he went around to The fire behind the manufacturing bureau was also done by Pan Yueqiao.It may be a bit exaggerated to write the inscription, but it is true that people did participate.

There are also artists who are more enthusiastic about revolution than Pan Yueqiao, and they conquered Dengzhou.The entertainers playing in Dengzhou are performing civilized dramas.The so-called civilized drama is somewhat similar to modern drama, and it can be regarded as the prototype of drama when it was introduced.Civilization drama was started by Chinese students studying abroad in Japan. The famous Chunliu Club has pioneered in the history of drama.What people can remember now is Li Shutong, Master Hongyi. At that time, Li Shutong played La Traviata, which was all the rage and attracted many fashionable men and women.At that time, there was a civilized opera artist at about the same time as Li Shutong, named Liu Yizhou, who was also a student studying in Japan and a graduate of Waseda University in Japan.After returning to China, he neither entered politics nor academia, but became obsessed with singing.A theater troupe was organized to perform new plays everywhere.For example, the sensational "Zhang Wenxiang's Stabbing the Horse" is their specialty.Civilized dramas did not decline until the Republic of China, but in the late Qing Dynasty, they were quite popular, so they can rely on this to make a living.Few of the students studying in Japan back then, especially those who pursued fashion, were not members of the revolutionary party, and Liu Yizhou was no exception. Therefore, when the gunfire of the Wuchang Uprising was fired, he also thought of something.Civilized dramas learn from the West, and the real scenes and props are the same as the real ones. Therefore, their props are both real and fake, and sometimes they walk around with real guns.One day, when his theater troupe was heading south from Dalian on a Japanese ship and passing through Dengzhou, he suddenly got excited and asked the captain to come to the shore.The captain told the Chinese comprador that there was no station in Dengzhou, so he used force, took out the box and fired it into the sky.With no other choice, the captain had to dock at Dengzhou Wharf.It was midnight at that time, and suddenly, sirens blared and gunshots rang out.After the Wuchang Uprising, Dengzhou officials and defenders, who were originally frightened, were frightened overnight. When they heard gunshots, they didn't know where they were. They thought that the Revolutionary Party was coming to attack by boat. The revolutionary party coaxed together again, and Dengzhou was restored in this way.According to the report of the local Customs and Taxation Department, Liu Yizhou and the others performed in Yantai before, and they were very popular. In the theater, they forced the local magistrate to hand over power, but failed.Another report said that the leader of those who landed and occupied Dengzhou was a Japanese (probably the eyewitnesses mistook Liu Yizhou in a suit and leather shoes for a Japanese).Anyway, Dengzhou was taken by the Revolutionary Party.Afterwards, Liu Yizhou sent people to take down the nearby Huang County, so the artist Liu Yizhou became the governor of Denghuang.As soon as "Da Dengzhou" was played live, it was easier to act than to sing an opera. No one was broken or injured, and the revolution in an ancient city was successful.Of course, a person who likes acting cannot always be an official.Soon, Liu Yizhou gave up the governor to Lan Tianwei who brought the soldiers, and continued to play in the clouds by himself.

This story was told by Mei Lanfang, a representative of the drama world, as an honorable event in the 1950s.In fact, at that time, what Liu Yizhou did was not necessarily welcomed by the theater circle.