Chapter 4 Part II - 2

one When I was very young, I saw Kunqu opera once in Shanghai. It was the second year after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Mei Lanfang returned to China for the first time and performed at the Shanghai Majestic Grand Theater.Majestic is the first-run theater in Shanghai, and it specializes in showing western films on weekdays. Mei Lanfang's performance of Kunqu opera in Majestic is an exception.During the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War, Mei Lanfang avoided going to Hong Kong to grow a beard, and refused to act for the Japanese, so his return to Shanghai performance was particularly sensational. It is said that black market tickets sold for a gold one.The audience admired Master Mei's art, and I'm afraid they also had some patriotic feelings, admiring his integrity, just after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, everyone was easily excited.Mei Lanfang has always performed mainly Beijing opera, and occasionally performed Kunqu opera, but that time the plays were all Kunqu opera: "Si Fan", "Thorn the Tiger", "Broken Bridge", and "A Dream in the Garden".Many years later, Yu Zhenfei, a master of Kunqu Opera, told me that Mei Lanfang had never sung opera during the Anti-Japanese War, and he was not very sure about his voice. Because the key of Kunqu Opera is relatively low, there is an unprecedented grand performance of Yu Meizhu in the Majestic Theater.What I went to see with my family happened to be "A Dream in the Garden".Since then, I have formed an indissoluble bond with Kunqu Opera, especially Kunqu Opera.I didn’t know much about opera when I was a child, but the graceful and charming tune [Zao Luo Pao] in “Yu Yuan” was deeply imprinted in my memory, so that many years later, when I heard this piece of music, The flute and flute were raised leisurely, and one couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.

The second time I watch Kunqu opera in Shanghai, it will be forty years later.I returned to Shanghai in 1987, just in time for the last performance of "Shang Kun". The version of "Shang Kun" has just been lined up for more than three hours, with Cai Zhengren and Hua Wenyi playing Tang Minghuang and Yang Guifei respectively.As soon as the play was over, I stood up and clapped and applauded. I was still reluctant to leave until the other audience had dispersed. The performance of "Shang Kun" is wonderful, but what excites me the most is that I saw Kunqu Opera, the most exquisite and elegant traditional drama art in China, after the catastrophe of "Cultural Revolution", It can also be reborn from the ashes and shine on the stage.The kind of emotion at that time was extraordinary. I felt that I had experienced a rebaptism of the mother culture and a conversion of the national spiritual civilization.During the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the rise and fall of Tianbao appeared in front of us for a while.Literary associations are also linked to Du Fu's "Sorrow at the Head of the River" and Bai Juyi's: "Life is filled with tears and tears, but the rivers and rivers are not the end";When the band played "Chunjiang Huayueye", it really reached the point of "how embarrassing".

In the past, Concubine Yuan visited her relatives and ordered four operas: "Family Banquet", "Qiqiao", "Xianyuan", and "Lihun". Later, I found out that these were all Kunqu operas, and they came from the legendary book popular at that time: "One "Holding Snow", "Handan Dream", and so on.Cao Xueqin wrote the book during the Qianlong period, which was the heyday of Kunqu Opera. From the nobles such as the Jia family to the ordinary people, the love for Kunqu opera spread from south to north, and the whole country was crazy.Suzhou was the center of Kunqu opera in the Ming and Qing dynasties. During the Wanli period, there were thousands of professional actors in Suzhou alone. It is no wonder that the Jia family went to Gusu to buy a group of opera girls for the concubine Yuan's family meeting.Zhang Dai was there, and recorded the grand occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival Nocturne Competition in Huqiu Mountain in Suzhou every year. There were thousands of participants, and the cheers were thunderous and lively.At that time, kunqu a cappella was a national movement, probably as popular as karaoke singing in Taiwan today. It can be seen that the Chinese were once a nation that loved music and singing.From Wanli in the Ming Dynasty to Qianjia in the Qing Dynasty, Kunqu Opera dominated the Chinese theater scene and flourished for two hundred years. It has been widely spread and lasted for a long time.Moreover, due to the large number of upper-class literati involved in the play, Kunqu opera was promoted to "elegant department", and it became an exquisite art that can be appreciated by both refined and popular.Unlike Yuan Zaju, many of the authors of Ming and Qing legends were Jinshi and high officials.Cao Xueqin's grandfather Cao Yin also wrote the legendary "Continued Pipa", which shows that writing scripts was still an elegant thing for the scholar-official class at that time.There are more than 700 legendary writers in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with nearly 2,000 kinds of works, and more than 600 of them have survived, which is quite amazing. Among them, famous works such as , , , , etc. have already become literary classics.But what is surprising is that Kunqu Opera once penetrated deeply into the people and had such a huge impact on our culture. Such an exquisite performing art, in the early years of the Republic of China, it was almost lost and became extinct.Professional performances are only supported by dozens of artists of the "Kunqu Opera Institute" and "Biography" generation. After the Anti-Japanese War, those artists were displaced, and Kunqu Opera basically disappeared from the stage.Mei Lanfang's grand Kunqu opera performance in Shanghai after the war was just a flash of inspiration.

Nanjing was also an important city of Kunqu Opera in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.The 30th chapter writes about Du Shenqing, a famous celebrity, who held a singing competition at Mochou Lake, a scenic spot in Nanjing. More than 130 professional theater troupes participated, and there were 60 or 70 dan roles in the performance, and all of them wore makeup. performance.At night, hundreds of bright horn lamps are lit, and they shine like daylight.The singing sound is ethereal, straight into the sky.The wealthy people in the city came to join in the show when they heard the news, and hired a boat to watch the play in the lake. When they were happy, they all cheered in unison, and the quarrel did not end until dawn.This paragraph can't help but make people look amazed. It turns out that there were such scenes in Nanjing during the Qianlong period.The winner was Zheng Kuiguan, Xiaodan of Fanglin Ban, and Du Shenqing rewarded him with a gold cup with the words "Yan Duo Cherry" engraved on it.This Master Du Shiqi is famous all over the south of the Yangtze River.Jinling is a famous cultural city for thousands of years, and Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, once established his capital here.

two When I revisited Nanjing in 1987, I saw another wonderful performance of Kunqu Opera: "Three Dreams" by Zhang Jiqing of the Jiangsu Provincial Kunqu Opera Theater——"Startled Dream", "Insane Dream".Before I came to Nanjing, I had heard about Zhang Jiqing’s name for a long time. An expert friend told me: “When you come to Nanjing, you must watch her ‘Three Dreams’.” After forty years, I had to return to the old capital. , of course not letting go.So I entrusted someone to talk to Ms. Zhang Jiqing, and finally she gave a special performance to save face.That night I went with Chen Baichen and Wu Bai, two old drama seniors from Nanjing University.Erlao is an expert in Chinese opera, he knows that I love Kunqu opera, and he appreciates it.Mr. Chen talked about the decline of Kunqu Opera in mainland China, and said angrily: "Chinese college students should be ashamed of not watching Kunqu Opera!" After the opening, Chinese college students are probably busy dancing disco.In the theater that night, I happened to meet Professor Ye Jiaying who was lecturing in Nanjing. Mr. Ye was my teacher when I was at National Taiwan University. I went to the Chinese Department to attend her ancient poetry course and benefited a lot.Over the years, Mr. Ye has toured around the world to give lectures on Chinese classical literature. With the sad wish of continuing to perish, he has spread the roots and seedlings of traditional Chinese culture among Chinese children.That night, I watched "Three Dreams" by outstanding Kunqu opera artist Zhang Jiqing together with these senior teachers who care about the future of Chinese culture.

Zhang Jiqing's art is really amazing, and he performed "Insane Dreams" superbly, and he fully played the character Cui Shi in the play.This is a highly difficult workmanship drama, an inner drama that tests the actor's real kung fu. Zhang Jiqing is famous both at home and abroad for his performance in "Insane Dreams". "Infatuated Dreams" is a twist of the legend "Lanke Mountain" in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. It is based on "Hanshu Zhu Maichen Biography" and the folk story of splashing water in front of a horse.Zhu Maichen, a Confucian scholar in the Western Han Dynasty, was nearly half a hundred years old, and his fame was not yet achieved. His wife Cui was impatient with hunger and cold, so she was forced to retire and remarry. The madman threw himself into the water.This is a typical Chinese-style ethical tragedy: poor and lowly couples mourn for everything.If it is said that Greek tragedy originated from the conflict between man and God, Chinese tragedy originated from oil, salt, firewood and rice, which is closer to the human world.The story of Zhu Maichen divorcing his wife went through many twists and turns when it was turned into a drama. "Han Shu Zhu Maichen Biography", after Cui's remarriage, he still supported his ex-husband with meals and drinks, and after Zhu Maichen became an official, he also treated Cui and his later husband kindly. Zhu Maichen and his wife are very kind and civilized. But this is not tragedy material.The Yuan Zaju "Zhu Taishou's Story of Fishing and Fishing in the Wind and Snow" finally reunited Zhu Maichen and his wife and turned it into a comedy.It is still the legendary "Lanke Mountain" that grasped the tragic connotation of this story, but when the "Forced Retirement" in the old book of "Kunqu Opera" was folded, after Cui got the divorce letter, he actually drove Zhu Maichen out of the house in the heavy snow , it is difficult for such a fierce woman to make the audience sympathize.The script of Kunqu Opera Theater of Jiangsu Province is the best (the name of the play is "Zhu Maichen Divorces His Wife"). It portrays Cui Shi, an ordinary woman who loves vanity and can't tolerate poverty and lowliness. .It is not an easy task for her to play a villain role so that people feel pitiful and pitiful, and it depends on her real skills.Zhang Jiqing plays the Cui family in "Zhu Maichen's Divorce of Wife", which is obtained from the true biography of Shen Chuanzhi, a master of the "Biography" generation.Shen Chuanzhi's family has a long history. His father is Shen Yueting, who is honored as "Mr. Big" in the "Kunqu Opera Institute". He himself is also a famous "drama burden", Gong Zhengdan.Zhang Jiqing not only received the guidance of a famous teacher, but also added his own deep thinking, and finally he was able to accurately project the ever-changing and complex emotions of the character Cui Shi at every turn.Because she completely entered the role, even if Cui became crazy and crazy because of her dream in the end, it still makes people feel that it is real and not just acting. "Zhu Maichen Divorces His Wife" has become Zhang Jiqing's signature play, and it deserves its name.After we finished watching her "Insane Dreams", everyone was amazed, and Mr. Ye Jiaying also praised her repeatedly.

In Nanjing, I actually saw "A Dream in the Garden" on the stage again!The circumstances of life are so unpredictable.During the day, I just went to swim across the Qinhuai River, the Confucius Temple, and also found the Deyuetai Theater, which was famous for its a cappella. These places of interest are being renovated.Deyuetai is on the banks of the Qinhuai River. It was a very popular a cappella venue in Nanjing during the Republic of China. Those girls who sang Ping opera and Kunqu opera in those days flew to the branches and became big stars and official wives.Movie star Wang Xichun was born in a cappella.The platform is also a testimony to the prosperity of the Qinhuai Waterside Pavilion in the Republic of China.I went to Wuyi Lane and Taoyedu again, and visited Meixianglou, the former residence of Li Xiangjun, who "sent the bottom of the peach blossom fan to the Southern Dynasty".

To revisit Nanjing is to find the footprints of childhood.I flew from Chongqing to Nanjing with my family in 1946 when the National Government returned to the capital after the war.At that time, just after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the whole city of Nanjing was filled with the excitement and joy of being reborn after the catastrophe. The hidden dangers of Yuyang drums were still far away.From the muddy yellow mountain city of Chongqing, we suddenly came to the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties. The places of interest and historical sites everywhere are really dazzling.I will never forget the excitement of climbing on the backs of the huge stone horses and elephants in the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty. On the Yuhua Terrace, I dug out a rouge crystal clear colored stone, that colored stone with bloodstains , has followed me for many years and has become a token of my memory of Nanjing.That year my father led our whole family to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, and climbing up the more than 390 stone steps was a solemn ceremony.Many years later, I realized my father's state of mind when he visited the mausoleum and comforted the father of the country for his victory in the Anti-Japanese War.Forty years later, I returned to Nanjing in a whirlwind, and climbed to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum again. I saw the gloomy and green under Zhongshan Mountain, full of rivers and mountains, and there is nowhere that does not contain the sorrow of history.Probably because of a special feeling for Nanjing, I wrote "A Dream in the Garden" very early, which can be regarded as an endless remembrance of the old capital.On the stage, Du Liniang, played by Zhang Jiqing, is singing "Zao Luo Robe":

It turns out that the flowers are blooming everywhere Like this, everything is ruined Good days and beautiful days Whose house is it? In the audience, I had already heard it out of my wits, and I didn't know where I was thinking. three On the eve of leaving Nanjing, I hosted a banquet for several professors from Nanjing University, including Zhang Jiqing, in order to thank her for her wonderful performance.I asked NTU to handle the banquet, but they chose "Meiling Palace". "Meiling Palace" is located on Meiling Linyuan Road in the eastern suburbs of Nanjing, not far from Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. It used to be the villa of Song Meiling, Mrs. Chiang, and is now open for business.It was a two-story building in the style of an antique palace. It was built on the hillside. The building is elegant and solemn, and it is very grand.The roof is made of green glazed tiles, with angled eaves and carved beams and painted buildings.Going up the stone steps outside the house, there is a large platform in the south. The platform is paved with tiles and surrounded by carved railings.The Grand Hotel in Taipei somewhat imitates the architecture of the "Meiling Palace".The banquet is set in the living room downstairs, which is quite large and can accommodate up to two hundred people.Chen Baichen, Wu Bai and several old gentlemen also arrived. While everyone was chatting and laughing, I felt more and more familiar with the surrounding environment.I have been to this place!Suddenly the door of my memory opened.It should have been December 1946. Mrs. Chiang Kai-shek Soong Meiling held a Christmas "party". My mother took my fourth brother and me to the banquet. It was in this "Meiling Palace" that the living room was crowded. For adults and children, everywhere is red and green, gold and silver are flying, it is all the joy of Christmas.Madam Jiang and her mother were both dressed in short jackets and long skirts in the early Republic of China, but Madam Jiang Soong Meiling wore a black satin dress embroidered with red begonia flowers to look better than others, because of the grace revealed in her every move. Luxurious, the world is not as good as.The children were all very happy that night, because there were endless games, the fourth brother won the championship by grabbing the chair, and I remember he won the prize by squeezing the other boy's butt at the end.The climax of that night was Santa Claus distributing gifts. Santa Claus seemed to be played by Huang Renlin. He came out with a big bag on his back, and each of us got a gift in a small red bag.There were all kinds of candy in the bag, some of which I had never seen before.That red cloth bag was very cute, and it has been hanging in the room since then to store things.It is unimaginable that there was such a lively scene in the hall of the "Meiling Palace" 40 years ago.While toasting the wine of the old gentlemen of NTU, I couldn't help but feel that time and space are completely disordered. The reversal of these decades has completely disrupted the order of history.After the banquet, we went upstairs to visit. It is said that the bedroom of Mrs. Jiang Soong Meiling has been completely maintained. The thick green velvet sofa is still the same as before, but the owner is not there. The whole "Meiling Palace" makes people feel that they are alone. The quietness of the building is exuded by a "Gong Hua Lonely Red" scattered.

Four In the past few years, Kunqu Opera has shown signs of revival in Taiwan. The inheritance of Taiwan Kunqu Opera has been due to the efforts of Mr. Xu Yanzhi and his disciples for many years.It was a difficult time. I saw with my own eyes that Mr. Xu was running around on a bicycle under the sun in order to teach Kunqu Opera. It was a moving scene.After the opening of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, under the vigorous promotion of Taiwan's caring people Fan Mannong, Zeng Yongyi, Hong Weizhu, Jia Xinyuan and others, the appreciation of Kunqu opera in Taiwan has developed significantly. The six major Kunqu troupes from the mainland have come to Taiwan to perform, causing a sensation every time.I watched Kunqu Opera several times in Taiwan, and saw many young audiences completely intoxicated by the melodious flute, singing, and dancing. I was really happy: Taiwanese audiences finally discovered the beauty of Kunqu Opera.In fact, Kunqu Opera is an art that best expresses the lyrical, freehand, symbolic, and poetic aspects of traditional Chinese aesthetics. It can combine songs, dances, poems, and plays into such an exquisite and beautiful performance form. Among other performing arts, I I haven't seen it before, including Western opera and ballet. Opera has songs but no dance, and ballet has dance but no songs. After all, it is a bit of a pity.Kunqu Opera, however, can express the most complicated emotional images on the simplest and plain stage.Take a look at Zhang Jiqing's performance of "Te Te Ling", which is full of flowers and plants on the stage with a single fan. This symbolizes the highest state of art and is also the most powerful part of Kunqu Opera.In the twentieth century, Chinese people inevitably have a sense of cultural decline in their hearts, because our cultural traditions have been uprooted in this century, and the injuries have been serious.Kunqu Opera is the oldest existing drama art in China. It once had such a glorious history. We should cherish it, protect it, keep its artistic life alive, and leave a spark for the comprehensive revival of Chinese culture in the next century.

Originally published in "United Daily News Supplement" on November 21, 1999