Chapter 16 1958 "Guan Hanqing"

Genre: Drama Author: Tian Han Original publication: "Script" Published: May 1958 Premiere: June 28, 1958 Directors: Jiao Juyin, Ouyang Shanzun Performer: Beijing People's Art Theater In the history of drama from the founding of the People's Republic of China to the period before the Cultural Revolution, there were many works, but not many good ones.The only better works are "Growing in Battle" (Hu Ke), "A Thousand Rivers and Thousand Mountains" (Chen Qitong), "The Cuckoo Crows Again" (Yang Lufang), (Lao She), "Guan Hanqing" (Tian Han), "The Sentinel Under the Neon Lights" ( Shen Simon, etc.) and several other works.Under the slogan of "serving class struggle", many writers' efforts have been wasted with the changes of the times. Until today, only a few works such as "Guan Hanqing" and "Guan Hanqing" are still performed on the stage and loved by the audience. A cultural phenomenon worth pondering.

The era when "Guan Hanqing" was created was the era of "strengthening class struggle" and then setting off the frenzy of "Great Leap Forward".Under the influence of this trend, there has also been a "steaming" situation in the theater circle of "running literature and art by the whole people", "launching a mass creative movement", and "playing drama satellites".Under the slogans of "breaking all kinds of superstitions and holding high the red flag", "creation is not mysterious, everyone writes dramas", "politics is in command, new dramas come in large numbers", people are "crazy" and released "Satellite", the creation of "Leap Forward Index" doubles several times a day, no one is far behind, for fear of being denounced as "rightist".

However, under such circumstances, "Guan Hanqing" created by Tian Han actually succeeded. Tian Han, formerly known as Tian Shouchang, was born on March 12, 1898 in Changsha, Hunan Province.Influenced by Hunan Opera, puppet show and shadow puppetry since childhood, he has a soft spot for drama. In 1916, he went to study in Japan. Influenced by new Japanese dramas and Western dramas, he aspired to be "China's future Ibsen", started drama creation, and actively participated in the activities of the Young China Society and the Creation Society. After returning to China in 1922, he and his wife, Yi Shuyu, founded the Nanguo Bimonthly at their own expense, organized the Nanguo Society, and carried out drama activities. In 1930, he joined the "Left Alliance" and became the leader of the left-wing drama movement.He also organized a music group and founded "Yihua Film Company".His film works include "Three Modern Women", "Children of the Wind and Cloud", "Recalling Jiangnan", etc., and the lyrics include "Midnight Singing", "Hongbo Song" and so on. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1935.During the Anti-Japanese War, participated in the Third Office of the Political Department of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government led by Guo Moruo, served as the director of the Sixth Division, and was responsible for art promotion. His footprints spread all over Wuhan, Changsha, Guilin, Kunming, Chongqing, and Shanghai, and he was always at the forefront of the drama movement .After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Tian Han served as the director of the Drama Improvement Bureau of the Ministry of Culture and the chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association.The theme song "March of the Volunteers" he composed for the movie "Children of the Storm" was widely sung and became the spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was designated as the national anthem. On December 10, 1968, Tian Han was persecuted by the "Gang of Four" and died unjustly.

Tian Han is a great writer produced by the "May 4th" New Culture Movement. He is versatile and passionate. Remarkable achievement.On Tian Han's 50th birthday, Guo Moruo said: "He is an existence that we Chinese should boast about." ("Pioneer Tian Han", "Wen Wei Po" on March 13, 1947) Xia Yan said: "Tian Han is the modern Guan Hanqing. Call him the "Drama Soul" of China." ("Lazily Searching for Old Dreams", Life·Reading·New Knowledge Joint Publishing, 1985) "Guan Hanqing" is the peak of Tian Han's drama creation, and it is also an excellent work in the history of Chinese drama.

The play was written in 1958 and published in the May issue of the "Script" monthly magazine in the same year.When it was first published, there were nine performances, which were added to 12 performances in the same month, and published as a book by China Drama Publishing House; in June, it was premiered by Beijing People's Art Theater and then changed to 11 performances, and published by People's Literature Publishing House in 1961 .The story of the work started when Guan Hanqing saw the execution of a female prisoner Zhu Xiaolan by the government.Zhu Xiaolan, a poor girl, was framed by the traitor Zhang Lver, and was beaten into a trick by the government and beheaded.Guan Hanqing was filled with righteous indignation.He hates those dog officials who disregard human lives, and he also hates that he has no knife in his hand and cannot kill harm for the people.His friend Zhu Lianxiu, an opera singer, encouraged him to write this incident into a play, to expose those dog officials who were corrupt and broke the law, and to avenge the wronged women.He was worried that "after the play is written, no one will dare to act it", Zhu Lianxiu said firmly: "If you dare to write it, I will act it!" It's safe to write some "Fireworks Pink and Daisy" scenes.Guan Hanqing was unmoved, willing to take risks and rush to write.After the play was performed, the righteous people were encouraged, and the powerful traitor Ahema was also angered.He threatened Guan Hanqing to revise the script, "If you don't change it or act it, you will have your heads!" Guan Hanqing was not afraid, "I would rather not act than change it!" The brave Zhu Lianxiu still performed as it was originally.The two were arrested and imprisoned.Inspired by the righteous king, he shouted "eliminate harm for all people" and raised the banner to rebel and assassinated Ahema. Guan Hanqing and Zhu Lianxiu also followed suit, but they were not afraid of death. "Write green blood, write loyalty, become ghosts, eliminate rebels, this blood, turn it into the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, and share the soul with the hero!..." The whole play is in the struggle between loyalty and evil, justice and evil. Successfully portrayed Guan Hanqing's character of "steaming, cooking, hammering, frying, not bursting like a copper pea", and Zhu Lianxiu's staunch character of never regretting nine deaths, which fully embodies the power of justice.In terms of art, the author follows the combination of realism and romanticism in his creative techniques. On the basis of being faithful to historical facts, he gives full play to his artistic imagination, and even integrates his own life experiences and feelings into the shaping of Guan Hanqing's image. To the perfect combination of content and form.There are both vivid descriptions of historical facts and romantic lyrical style in the play.The song "Flying Butterflies" not only praised the fighting friendship and love between Guan Hanqing and Zhu Lianxiu, but also showed their optimistic fighting spirit in adversity.The play fully embodies the author's creative thinking of "pleading for the people" and the poetic style of drama creation.

On June 28, 1958, a meeting was held in the capital to commemorate Guan Hanqing, a world cultural celebrity.That night, the Beijing People's Art Theater performed "Guan Hanqing", directed by Jiao Juyin, Ouyang Shanzun, Diao Guangtan as Guan Hanqing, and Shu Xiuwen as Zhu Lianxiu.Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi and others watched the performance.The performance of the play immediately "caused a shock in the theater world".Ouyang Yuqian said that "Guan Hanqing" is "a successful show"!Guo Moruo praised "the writing was very successful".Ajia praised the success of the play with "the moving image of Guan Hanqing, a great dramatist, appeared on the stage".Soon, "Guan Hanqing" was staged in many operas across the country, such as drama, Yue opera, and Cantonese opera.

The success of "Guan Hanqing" has both subjective and objective reasons.From an objective point of view, it is people's expectations and stimulation of Tian Han. Since becoming the Director of the Theater Reform Bureau of the Ministry of Culture and the Chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association, Tian Han has been busy with trivial affairs all day long and has no time for creation.During the few years from the founding of the People's Republic of China to 1957, Tian Han did not publish any new plays, but only rewrote "The Story of the Golden Bowl" into "Legend of the White Snake", and co-wrote "The Story of the Golden Scale" with An'e.At that time, in addition to improvising poems anytime and anywhere, making reports and commemorative articles replaced his creative activities, and one after another "movement" also seriously disturbed his creative mood.He hasn’t been writing dramas for many years, and even he himself feels that “not only is he born with his hands, but he also seems to be unsure in his heart” (Tian Han, Guo Moruo, "Communication on "Guan Hanqing"", "Tian Han on Creation", Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, 1983).One day, Tian Han went to a dinner at the Indian embassy. His friend Chen Jiakang said to him: "Look at your hair is almost gray, and you can't write anything. Just write an old poem and give it to me." Tian Han smiled at that time Promise him, "but my heart is very painful."He asked himself: "Are you really unable to write anything?" ("Correspondence on "Guan Hanqing") He was not convinced, "Tolstoy wrote it at the age of 72, and I am not yet 60, and my physical strength is good. , how to eat, sleep, walk, and sit are not inferior to others... I am a writer, and the party needs us to write new works.”And said "I will write this year" (Li Zhiyan, "Side Notes on Tian Han's Creation of Guan Hanqing", "Side Notes on Tian Han's Creations", Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House, 1994). The character of "not accepting the old" and the playwright's sense of mission made Tian Han make up his mind, and immediately started writing scripts, and created the drama "Guan Hanqing" in that year (1958).

From a subjective point of view, the creation of "Guan Hanqing" "fulfilled" Tian Han's "dream". Tian Han had a "dream" of being a dramatist since he was a child. In 1916, his uncle Yi Xiang (a member of the Tongmenghui) took him to study in Japan, hoping that he would study politics, but he liked literature and drama.In the process of getting in touch with new Japanese dramas, his "dream" became clearer. In 1920, he clearly stated in a letter to Guo Moruo: "My subsequent career may belong to many aspects, but not literary critics, dramatists, painters, poets, etc. I have been involved since I was a child. As a painter, but I haven’t played this tune for a long time, I’m afraid it can only be applied to the description of literature and art. In addition to being a literary critic, my first enthusiasm is to be a dramatist (dramatist). I try to sign myself as ABuddingIbseninChina. I know how I am presumptuous." ("Sanye Collection", Yadong Library, 1920) In March of the same year, Tian Han went from Tokyo to Fukuoka to visit Guo Moruo, who was studying at the Kyushu Imperial University School of Medicine. When the two were visiting Dazaifu Park, they "Hand in hand" imitated the appearance of the bronze statues of Goethe and Schiller and took a picture, and both of them "secretly expected Goethe and Schiller" in their hearts.However, this "heart covenant" of "secret expectation" in his youth has affected Tian Han all his life.Since then, Tian Han has made outstanding achievements in both drama creation and leadership of drama movement, but he always feels that this "heart promise" has not been fulfilled.He said to Guo Moruo in "A Correspondence About Guan Hanqing": "My achievements are too few and too shallow", "The more I read and watch Schiller, the more I feel that his art is not very good at catching up. easy". In 1957, Tian Han accompanied the group to the Moscow Art Theater to watch Dalasova play Schiller's "Marie Stewart", which made Tian Han feel that the great art of this German playwright "still shocked us with great power, His way of dealing with struggles and highlighting his character is so worthy of our study."And the Great Leap Forward Movement launched in China made Tian Han full of pride and eager to try.In order to realize his youthful wish-to become a writer like Schiller, Tian Han decided to resume his "long-lost" creative life.

The creation of "Guan Hanqing" is directly related to the commemoration of Guan Hanqing. In 1958, the World Peace Conference designated Guan Hanqing as a world cultural celebrity, and decided to hold a commemorative meeting for the 700th anniversary of his creative activities in June of that year.This is the glory of the Chinese nation and the pride of the drama world.Tian Han, the chairman of the drama association, was even more excited when he heard the news, because Guan Hanqing was a writer he admired.From January of this year, Tian Han began to prepare the report at the meeting to commemorate Guan Hanqing, and concentrated on reading "Yuan History", "New Yuan History", "Selected Songs of Yuan Dynasty", "Marco Polo's Travel Records", "Recorded "Ghost Book", "Guan Hanqing's Opera Collection" and other materials, carefully studied Guan Hanqing's plays, especially.Tian Han felt that Guan Hanqing dared to write about Dou E, a very rebellious woman in such a dark age, which is really commendable.From Dou E's libretto alone, we can see that Guan Hanqing "is indeed a dramatist who fights indomitably, a dramatist with clear love and hatred, strong emotions and anger. Whether you read his tragedies or comedies, you can hear him The sound of iron and stone colliding with the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty and the dark forces" ("Side Notes on Tian Han's Creation of Guan Hanqing").Guan Hanqing said in the song "Undefeated the Old" that he "is a copper pea that can't be steamed until it's cooked, but it can't be boiled or cooked.Tian Han believed that Guan Hanqing was indeed "an iron man", "his fearless fighting spirit has truly reached the point of being desperate".At the "Guan Hanqing Academic Research Symposium" held by the China Drama Association, Tian Han made a special report, and gave a high evaluation of Guan Hanqing's life and works. He believed that Guan Hanqing was one of the main founders of the traditional Chinese realistic drama literature. Many of his works are "excellent examples of the combination of realism and romanticism".In the report, drama workers were called on to learn from Guan Hanqing and "walk forward in the great footsteps of Guan Hanqing" ("Guan Hanqing, the Great Yuan Dynasty Drama Warrior", "Drama News", No. 12, 1958).The admiration for Guan Hanqing filled Tian Han with passion for creation, and he immediately had the desire to "write a play" for Guan Hanqing.

The creation of "Guan Hanqing" embodies Tian Han's creative thinking of "pleading for the people". In 1956, Tian Han wrote two articles—"We must earnestly care about and improve the lives of artists" and "Pleading for the actor's youth", which aroused great repercussions in the theater circle, and at the same time became Tian Han's "rightist" thinking. prove".Some people say that Tian Han stands on the opposite side of socialism, and thinks that his "pleading for the people" is "buying people's hearts".They said that artists should be managed by the party, and you don't need to manage them if they starve to death.To say that Tian Han "buy people's hearts" is to compete with the party for leadership. In June 1957, the Chinese Theater Association began internal rectification, and Tian Han became the target of internal criticism, and was almost labeled as a rightist in the "anti-rightist" movement.However, Tian Han does not think that his idea of ​​"pleading for the people" is wrong, so he still expresses Guan Hanqing's "pleading for the people" in "Guan Hanqing".

Tian Han's creation of "Guan Hanqing" only took more than a month from the beginning of conception in early March 1958 to the writing of the first draft.Although the time is short, the energy expended is very large.The biggest difficulty is that there are very few records of Guan Hanqing's life and deeds in history books.In the "Record of Ghost Book", which records the celebrities in the drama industry at that time, there are only a few descriptions about Guan Hanqing, and it is only said that he is "a man from Dadu, the Yin of the Taiyuan Hospital, and his nickname is Jizhaisou". "Analysis of Jin Zhi" said that Guan Hanqing was "suave and suave, erudite and literary, funny and wise, and romantic, and he was the crown of the moment".In addition, there are only his Zaju and Sanqu.It is difficult to create a script with such a small amount of material, but Tian Han is not discouraged.He carefully studied and verified historical materials, and sorted out the relationship between various characters.In order to find out the political background of the Yuan Dynasty, such as the political system, class relations, cultural policies, Guan Hanqing's activities and the situation of some people around him, Tian Han went to the Central Academy of Drama and Peking University to visit two professors, Zhou Yibai and Jian Bozan, and learned from them enthusiastic support.Zhou Yibai lent a copy of "Yuan Decree" to Tian Han. This book is very helpful for understanding the social conditions in Guan Hanqing's era.There is a reactionary prohibition of the Yuan Dynasty in the book: those who "compose lyrics and music indiscriminately and commit evil words" will be punished with death.Tian Han said: "This is a blatantly reactionary policy. My play needs this legal basis." He also found out from "The Brothel Collection" the materials of the female artists Zhu Lianxiu and Sai Lianxiu of the Yuan Dynasty who were "famous in most cities at that time", and solved the problem for Tian Han about the heroine of the play "Guan Hanqing". On March 15, 1958, Tian Han and his secretary Li Zhiyan took all the materials to Chang'an Temple (Guest House for Writers of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles) in Xishan to write.In the process of creation, Tian Han earnestly studied the historical materials while giving full play to his artistic imagination. He used the combination of realism and romanticism to organically combine the historical truth with the artistic truth, and integrated it into the drama movement he was engaged in in the Kuomintang-controlled area. His personal experience made the creation of the play complete in one go.Started writing the first act on March 21, and completed the first draft of all eight scenes of "Guan Hanqing" by March 31. On April 6, the director and actors of Beijing People's Art Theater Jiao Juyin, Ouyang Shanzun, Diao Guangtan, Shu Xiuwen, Xia Chun and experts from the Central Academy of Drama and "Drama News" were invited to Chang'an Temple to listen to the second draft of "Guan Hanqing".After reading the script, everyone applauded enthusiastically and praised Mr. Tian for "I haven't written a drama for many years, but once I wrote it, I became a blockbuster, and the writing is so touching."During the discussion, everyone also put forward some suggestions, thinking that Zhu Lianxiu is more touching than Guan Hanqing.Tian Han attaches great importance to everyone's opinions and is determined to revise it again. The May 1958 issue of "Script" monthly published Tian Han's third revised play "Guan Hanqing", which immediately "caused a shock in the drama world".The whole theater circle cheered for it: "Tian Lao is not old!" Guo Moruo "finished reading" "Guan Hanqing" in one sitting, and wrote a letter to Tian Han overnight, praising the script as "very successful".He said to Tian Han: "Guan Hanqing knows, he will be grateful to you. Especially Zhu Lianxiu, if she is alive today, she will definitely volunteer, from the actor." The letter also said: "You are 60 this year, " "Guan Hanqing" is a very good self-shou." ("Communication on "Guan Hanqing") Guo Moruo also put forward some specific opinions in the letter. On May 7, the editorial departments of "Drama News" and "Script" monthly jointly held a symposium, inviting a group of dramatists and historians to discuss Tian Han's "Guan Hanqing".According to the opinions put forward at the meeting, Tian Han revised "Guan Hanqing" again, and then sent it to the Beijing People's Art Theater for rehearsal. Once "Guan Hanqing" was performed, it immediately caused a sensation.Ouyang Yuqian fully affirmed Tian Han's creative spirit with the poem "Sixties are like a king's youth, heroic and son-in-law".He said: "As long as old writers are not old in mind and healthy in body and mind, they can make continuous progress and maintain youth." The title of "A Great Dramatist Appears on the Stage——The Moving Image of Guan Hanqing——A Brief Introduction to Learning from Chinese Opera in Talk Plays" praised the success of the creation of "Guan Hanqing".Immediately afterwards, Tian Han's "Guan Hanqing" was staged in many dramas across the country, such as drama, Cantonese opera, and Yue opera. In order to commemorate the world cultural celebrity Guan Hanqing and to promote the friendship between Japan and China in the Japanese drama circle, three famous Japanese theater troupes, namely Literary Academy, Comedian Theater and Folk Art Theater, jointly performed the drama "Guan Hanqing", directed by Chida Tetsuya.From January 9, 1959, it toured in Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and other places in Japan, and performed in Tokyo and other places from February 7 to 23.In the theater, many audience members wept, and some said excitedly: "Guan Hanqing touched me so much, I want to live like him." After watching the play, the audience enthusiastically bought the script of "Guan Hanqing".When performing at the First Theater in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan's largest broadcasting station, NHK, broadcast live recordings and TV, which met the requirements of the Japanese people.Chida also said in a letter to Tian Han: "Because the plot in the play has resistance to the ruler's oppression, interference with artists, opposition to repression, protests against unjust referees and today's revision of the Police Officer's Duty Execution Law in Japan, The current situation of the Matsukawa incident and the oppression of the US imperialists are completely in line with each other, which has aroused great repercussions." ("Guan Hanqing" staged in major cities in Japan", "Drama News", No. 4, 1959) In 1991, to commemorate the 94th anniversary of Tian Han's birth, the China Youth Art Theater staged "Guan Hanqing", directed by Chen Yong, with Chen Xiguang as Guan Hanqing and Wang Huiyuan as Zhu Lianxiu, which had a wide influence on the audience.The play was also invited to perform in Taiwan. (written by Liu Ping) Guo Moruo: "The Pioneer Tian Han", "Wen Wei Po" March 13, 1947 Meng Chao: "A Discussion on Tian Han's Plays in the Ten Years Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China", "Literary and Art Research" Issue 4, 1959 Wei Qixuan: "Scattered Notes on "Guan Hanqing" Created by Comrade Tian Han", "Script" May 1958 Dai Bufan: "A Bronze Pea That Resounds - Thoughts on Reading the Drama "Guan Hanqing"", "Literary News", Issue 16, 1959 Li Zhiyan: "Side Notes on Tian Han's Creation", Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House, 1994 Edition