Chapter 34 Reba actor's new life

The "Reba" actor on the prairie sat across from me, telling me about his past.While listening to his story, I was admiring his expression.Dance artists are different after all.He has thick curly hair, a pair of flexible and deep eyes, every raise of his eyebrows, every movement of his eyes, and the wave of his arms and hands, all make the story out of his mouth, which is first sad and then joyful, with twists and turns. More real and moving. A young Tibetan dancer, Omegacan, his hometown is Batang on the border of Sichuan and Qamdo, but he left there when he was very young.His grandfather was a farmer in Batang. More than 40 years ago, he and three other Tibetan compatriots took the lead in rebelling against the local reactionary rule. This small mountain town was looted and more than 300 people died. Sacrificial, his grandfather escaped with the whole family.Omi Jiacan spent his childhood in Rimu, where his parents were serfs of Lama Zhongza.

When he was nine years old, one day, when he heard that the Red Army had walked through the snow-capped mountains, the common people ran out to watch.He gestured with his hands and said excitedly: "I remember clearly: There are snow-covered peaks on the top of this mountain, and boundless deep forests below, and a green grass dam in the middle.A very long, dark green procession walked slowly on the grass dam, and the procession lasted for almost a day. "After the Red Army passed, for some unknown reason, Lama Zhongzha suddenly accused his father of stealing a cow from the temple, and aggressively demanded from them the rent arrears over the years. Well, the rent and tax are always unpaid. When I failed to pay the rent a few years ago, I borrowed 50 yuan in Tibetan coins from the lama. This debt is like a green snake wrapped around my body. It gets tighter and tighter. Among them, interest was added to interest, and the amount owed had increased to more than 1,500 Tibetan coins. The lama took away all their belongings and threatened to take away his three sisters. At this juncture, they secretly borrowed a horse from their grandmother's house, carrying all the "property" of a family of eight, and quietly left Rimu sadly on a dark night in the forest, and started a wandering life.

They walked through the vast grasslands, dense forests, and the rolling Jinsha River. In the wind, rain, ice, and snow, the family carried wooden bowls and begged everywhere. At night, they curled up next to each other in caves to keep warm.The oppression of the reactionary regime escaped temporarily, but the bone-chilling hunger and cold still followed closely. The father sighed and said to the mother: "There is no way, let's dance 'Reba' and ask for money!" "Reba" is a folk dance loved by farmers and herdsmen on the grassland. "Reba" people are always welcomed by them when they come, and they are considered auspicious.But the upper class despises "Reba" artists very much, and regards them as the most despicable and inferior people who are not as good as pigs and dogs.When Omegacan was thirteen years old, he, his three older sisters and two younger brothers learned about this art form loved by Tibetans by watching their parents and other "Reba" artists dance.Their family formed a team and lived a life of performing arts and begging.

He himself once wrote: "'Reba' was the most despised in the past. We have experienced untold hardships, endured destruction and humiliation, and wandered around... We have no food or clothing all year round, and we live in other people's cattle pens and sheep pens; no matter it is winter, summer, sunny or rainy, we wear the same clothes. Set of tattered clothes.Stay wherever you can eat a meal, the next meal is always unpredictable.Not to mention a meal of buttered tsampa and milk tea. " Just starving and freezing, life is still tolerable. One day, Omi Jiacan’s string was broken. He picked up a broken horn behind a lamasery, and was about to cut off the tip of the horn to make a support. A ferocious lama suddenly appeared behind him and asked viciously, "Is this a place where you can come?" With the whip in his hand, he whipped the poor boy rolling all over the ground!While he was crying, his mother ran over, covered him, and was whipped by the lama thoughtlessly.

Crying and begging, his mother finally pulled him back to the tent, untied his bloody clothes, stroked the red and purple scars on his body, and cried out choked up: "Omi Jiacan, I am miserable... a miserable child!" Another time, in Lijiang, a group of Kuomintang officers and soldiers asked them to dance "Reba". After dancing for a long time, they were sweaty from exhaustion, and finally sent them out with bayonets under a burst of contemptuous laughter! In these miserable days they can only sing with tears: But who thinks highly of "Reba" people? And we don't want to tell those who have no conscience about our pain!

However, deep in their hearts, they still earnestly hope for a happy and beautiful life in the future. They comfort and encourage each other and sing: Don't be so sad, my heart is like yours; it's useless to suffer--the sun of happiness will rise behind the pain! In this way, while performing arts and begging, they walked through Bengziyang, Weixi, Lijiang, Dali, Xiaguan, Zhongdian... China was liberated, and their 17 or 18 years of wandering and painful life came to an end.In Zhongdian, they saw the "sun of happiness". On the Duanyang Festival in 1953, there was a grand festival gathering of various ethnic groups in Zhongdian. Omega participated in this jubilant festival and met the "National Art Troupe".The leader of the Art Troupe invited him to join the Central National Song and Dance Troupe as a Tibetan folk artist.He came from Yunnan to Beijing, which he longed for for a long time, and started a close family life of actors of all ethnic groups. This young wandering artist has grown up vigorously under the meticulous care of the government.

Recalling this great turning point in his life, he said excitedly: "From now on, I have become a glorious national literary and art worker. I no longer feel that I am a person who is insulted and helpless, and I am already a member of the society and the country." Master; I no longer have to worry about my own life and my child's illness, but I can contribute my strength to the socialist construction of the motherland with peace of mind!" When it comes to "children's illness", Omega participated in a painful experience: in the years when he was a vagabond, his first five-year-old child fell ill. "Children of poor people are also treasures." The little savings gained in exchange for blood and sweat were sent to the lamasery to chant scriptures for the children to ward off disasters. When the money was spent, the children died.His second child was born in Beijing.Once the child was also seriously ill, but he was cured after an injection in the hospital.This made Omega love this new society even more, and he hated the ignorant, oppressive and exploitative Tibetan serf system even more.

In the past few years, he has traveled to many places in the motherland, saw the vast and magnificent land of the motherland, and witnessed the vigorous development of various construction projects, especially the ethnic minorities have established their own under the brilliance of the government's ethnic policies. The autonomous region is developing its own nation's politics, economy, and culture at a rapid pace... All these make him love this splendid and solemn motherland even more. When Omega was a child, he had a sincere wish to go to Lhasa.After liberation, he had another strong desire to come to Beijing.

After he arrived in Beijing, he felt that Beijing was more solemn and beautiful than he imagined. In his own words: "The longer you live, the deeper your love." In 1956, the Central National Song and Dance Troupe accompanied the Central Delegation to Lhasa to congratulate The Tibet Autonomous Region Preparatory Committee was established.On the way to Tibet, Omega was more joyful and excited than anyone else. But when he arrived in Lhasa, his mood became depressed!The Potala Palace, a Buddhist resort, is majestic and beautiful, but blind beggars with missing noses, broken arms and legs can be seen everywhere in Lhasa. Yi's life has become an extremely strong and sharp contrast!Compared with the vigorous development of rural areas in the interior, the desolate scenes of the rural areas in Tibet that he saw along the way were bright and brilliant on the one hand, and dark and depressed on the other.Recalling his painful life before liberation, he felt the greatest sympathy for his compatriots, and expressed the deepest love for the Chinese Communist Party that liberated him.

In 1959, after the rebellion in Tibet subsided, millions of serfs started a new life.Omega's happy mood is unimaginable!He wrote a sincere letter to a group of Tibetan students at the Central University for Nationalities who returned to work in Tibet, saying: "I was liberated by the party from the lowest level of Tibetans, but I saw in Tibet that the Tibetans there suffered more than I did. If the Tibetan people do not smash the serf system, they will never stand up. You Go ahead, bring democracy, freedom, and happiness to them, and let the Tibetan people enjoy the same peaceful and happy life as the people of all ethnic groups in the interior..."

It should be specifically mentioned here: In July 1956, after returning from Tibet, Omega joined the Communist Party of China with honor! Since he ended his career as a begging artist and joined the revolutionary work team, as the Tibetan proverb says: "Those who have survived the night know the loveliness of the day; those who have been tortured know the true happiness." He thinks it is Being treated as a human being, his love for the party and the new society poured out from the bottom of his heart.He put all his heart and soul into his work. When the Central Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe went on tour in various ethnic areas, he worked tirelessly all the way: setting up tents, carrying props, chopping firewood, cooking... In addition, he also actively He learned Chinese and culture more and more, and he talked more and more deeply with comrades of the Han nationality. Under the kind teaching and training of the party, he understood more things, and his desire to make progress became more urgent. He finally asked to join the party. When the party organization enthusiastically asked him about his understanding of the party, he was a little at a loss. He had to think about it deeply. At that time, he still didn't know what role a party member should play. In 1955, on the way to perform in Xinjiang, he watched several films brought by the troupe and showed along the way. Among them, he watched the film "Dong Cunrui" five times. He was attracted by the glorious image of this Communist Party member. .He thought: A Communist is a person who can sacrifice himself for the revolutionary cause.Dong Cunrui is a poor boy, and I am also a poor boy. If he can do it, I must do it too!Regarding this event that he joined the party that he will never forget, he wrote: "From now on, my life has become more meaningful. The party has given me another new life with a deeper meaning. How could I have done all this in the past?" Thinking of dreaming? The kindness of the Party and Chairman Mao is just like what the majority of Tibetan people sing: like the Yarlung Zangbo River, it will never end!" He talked for a long time, but never touched his artistic creation, the Tibetan folk dance "Reba on the Grassland", which won the third prize at the 6th World Youth Gala.I can't help but mention that I really like one of the songs in this dance: The lads on the hillside here jumped up and sang happily, wishing happiness and auspiciousness to people all over the world. When it comes to "Reba", he is radiant!He talked to me about Tibetan dances.He said: When he was young, he first learned "Xianzi". "Xianzi" is a musical instrument, much like Erhu, but the bow and strings are made of horsetail.When singing "Xianzi", the playing, singing and dancing are all arranged by one or two artists.In terms of artistic skills, "Xianzi" is more beautiful than "Reba". "Reba" is a folk dance loved by farmers and herdsmen, accompanied by strings, tambourines and bells. Although "Reba" artists are despised by the upper class, they are envied by the peasants.The peasants sighed and said: "You are really like birds in the sky, flying around, how free you are! We are tied to the land and sent to hell!" Omega Chan smiled and said, "Our background is better than that of serfs after all. We danced and sang, immersed in the atmosphere of art, and sometimes lost our feelings. Even at the beginning, I also loved my "profession". Because it not only solved my food and clothing problems, but also gave me considerable energy comfort, and let us give great joy to these poor peasants." "Reba on the Grassland" created by him describes the "Reba" artists who symbolize auspiciousness and harvest come to the grassland in spring, and the farmers come out to welcome them. Young boys and girls danced to the music played by "Reba".The artificial barrier is gone, and the artist and the masses are full of enthusiasm. This also shows that after liberation, all people are equal, and "Reba" artists and art have been reborn. Omega is still working hard to learn and create. He earnestly studies the songs and dances of his brothers, such as the long dance of the Yao people and the wedding dance of the Miao people.He studied hard and pondered over and over again, relying on this tenacious spirit, he successfully mastered the playing and dancing of other nationalities.There is another dance he is writing: "The Serfs Are Laughing" - which describes the new happy and beautiful life of Tibetan farmers. "Girl Carrying Water" - is the story of a Tibetan girl who went to the snow-capped mountains to carry water, describing the Tibetan people's love for the People's Liberation Army, and "Tibetan Dance" - is a description of the passionate feelings of Tibetan youths defending their homes and the country.What he is looking forward to in his mind is "Spring to Tibet" and "The New Life of Tibet" and so on.He waved his hand and said with a smile: "A few days ago, when I went to Hohhot, I saw how it had transformed from a desert grassland into a beautiful modern city. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, we have such beautiful snow-capped mountains, such deep and wide forests, so many cattle and sheep, such rich minerals, so many rivers, oh, the bright future of Tibet, my heart is full of illusions and passion. I want to sort out and improve the folk art I am familiar with, and completely melt into these ideals. I have endless dances and endless lyrics..." His emotions are so unrestrained...I hope Looking at the eyes shining with youthful happiness, I seem to have been sitting in front of the brightly lit stage, watching the beautiful poetic and picturesque Tibetan songs and dances one after another!What's more true is that from his shining eyes, I can see his love for the socialist communist society, and I can see another new life with a deeper meaning given to him by the party! (This article was originally published in Hong Kong's "Ta Kung Pao" on March 15, 1963.)