Chapter 81 Shocking Thunder is Resounding in Japan——Comments on Japanese Repertory Troupe's Performances in China

The Japanese repertory troupe, which visited China again, met with tens of thousands of audiences in the capital Beijing with a stronger and more rigorous lineup.At a time when China’s movement to support Vietnam’s anti-American patriotic struggle is surging, the arrival of the Japanese repertory troupe, a fighting ally at the forefront of Japan’s anti-American struggle, is an encouragement and support for the Chinese people. Armed with the sharpest and most powerful weapons of literary and artistic warfare, the Japanese Repertory Theater Troupe, composed of 15 theater troupes, entered Beijing in a mighty manner as a demonstration against the US imperialist invasion of Vietnam and against the "Japan-Korea Talks". inside!Together with Chinese literary and art workers, they held high flags, placards and huge color cartoons, sang high-pitched revolutionary songs, and shouted passionate anti-American slogans. They walked on the broad streets of Beijing, attracting countless passers-by, Shout and clap with them.

This impressive performance has already made the people of Beijing look forward to their wonderful performance every day. The four plays they brought are: "Gunjo Peasant Uprising", "Ghosts of Japan", "Day" and "Bamboo Girl", all of which reflect the lives and struggles of the Japanese people in various historical periods.What I have seen is the exciting three-act historical drama "The Peasant Uprising in the County". In the middle of the 18th century, the peasants in the 130 villages in the Japanese prefecture could not bear the excessive expropriation and forced labor, and finally set off a great resistance struggle because of the cruelest rent collection system of "assessment of property and fixed rent". .This struggle continued for five years.In the middle, the village chiefs representing the peasants surrendered, and the rich peasants fell behind, while the poor peasants raised their class consciousness from the failed struggle and persevered more unitedly.This arduous struggle, which persisted for five years, was a prominent banner among the 1,200 peasant uprisings in the Edo period!

It was the first time for me to see the image of Japanese farmers on stage.Seeing so many industrious, simple, determined and brave farmers, men and women, from their own painful experiences of generations, expressed their views in the most straightforward language on the view of farmers as "sesame seeds and farmers get more and more oil". The hatred of the reactionary ruling class, the disappointment and contempt for the village chiefs and rich peasants who surrendered and left behind, and the sympathy and love for the brothers and sisters of their own class. ——especially the flag with the characters "hungry" and "bitterness" as the farmer's family emblem, in the deep pain, it also carries the lively and humorous meaning of the farmer—and the sound of the majestic drums, and A neat and powerful dance that expresses angry unity.All these brought the hearts of the Chinese audience to the county under the rule of the feudal town two hundred years ago.Together with the farmers in the county, we looked at the green rice fields in front of us, and felt happy because the rice could be ours for the time being.The shogunate above the feudal town, because they had conflicts with the feudal town and the peasants, they replaced the feudal lord and executed the peasant leader with one stone.When we saw the vicious hands of the shogunate, we hated it together with the peasants in the county.When the cage of Jojiro, the leader of the peasant uprising, was closed and slowly lifted down from the hillside, many farmers in coir raincoats surrounded him with grief and indignation amidst the heavy snow.From the hole in the cage, the calm and courageous Jojiro Singujiro shot out his angry eyes, looked at his comrades-in-arms, his mother, his wife and daughter, and declared to them in a voice like a bell: "I want to live. In any case, I have to see with my own eyes the cancellation of property appraisal and lease agreement before I can die..." At this moment, the entire audience was so excited and moved!In the last scene, the heads of the three beheaded leaders of the peasant uprising were placed on the table, with a notice from the shogunate hanging on it.The peasants knelt on the snow in silent silence, and Jojiro's wife knelt at the table, reading the notice, and finally she cried out:

"You're showing off to the public! The feudal lord has changed, but the 'Assessment and Rent' has not been cancelled..." She repeated three times, "It has not been cancelled", and then harbored a deep hatred that was bigger than the mountains and deeper than the sea. Qiu gritted his teeth and danced slowly and powerfully the dance of the peasants in the county. The peasants kneeling on the snow also stood up one after another and joined in the dance silently. This huge dance team danced silently and powerfully. Their hands and feet show their anger!As one Japanese drama critic put it, "The real anger was visualized after this work appeared." "Listen to the thunder in the silent place", the thunder is ringing in Japan today!A Japanese friend said: "This revolutionary tradition has become a valuable driving force for the Japanese people who are now engaged in various struggles!"

We sincerely thank the Japanese Repertory Theater for conveying the determination and aspirations of the Japanese people for independence, democracy, peace and happiness to the Chinese people vividly and vividly through the real images on the stage, so that we can have more sympathy, admiration and understanding for them, and thus Consolidate the fighting friendship of our two peoples against U.S. imperialism like a rock! I wish the Japanese Repertory Theater a successful performance! Long live the fighting friendship of the Chinese and Japanese peoples!