After a heavy snowfall that is rare in the Jianghuai region, the wind on the Zhenfeng Tower is bone-chilling. Looking at the Yangtze River, the river is quiet. Qian Chengzhi, a poet in the early Qing Dynasty, saw this scene and blurted out: "The Yangtze River is the throat of thousands of miles, and Wu and Chu are the first states in Xinjiang." This poem has become the best portrayal of Anqing's connection to the north and south and the Yangtze River in Xiongzhen.
At this time, in the sunny and warm place of the river embankment, there was still a faint sound of Huangmei opera: "The little girl's surname is Tao, she fights pigweed every day, she got up late yesterday, and she has to be early today." ”
Don't say that this is a wild tune, open the 1954 book "Anhui Province to participate in the first East China Opera Observation and Performance Conference Selection and Rehearsal Special Issue" (Huangmei Opera Volume), it is written: ""Pigweed", Wang Shaofang, Zheng Lisong, Yan Fengying arrangement. ”
Some people say that Huangmei Opera was formerly known as "thirty-six books, seventy-two small books", and there are stories behind this book, and there are articles in every sentence. Counting carefully, this "Pigweed" was sorted out by three masters, and I don't know how many famous actors have sung it and how many audiences have heard it.
Huangmei Opera is a drama that is deeply rooted in the masses. "Playing Pigweed", "Blue Bridge Meeting", "Husband and Wife Watching the Lantern", "Push the Cart to Catch the Party" and other small dramas are all from the mouths of unknown artists, and then carefully selected and sung by the masters, widely distributed in Haiyu, and passed on to future generations. Because they are deeply loved by the audience, these operas have been sung all over the towns and cities of Gangcun, land and water docks, and have also been sung on the Korean battlefield and the national stage.
For more than 100 years, Huangmei Opera has developed from a minor tune of one-person self-entertainment, to a "two small opera" in which Xiaosheng and Xiaodan sing duet, and then a "string opera" that connects several small dramas, and then to a cost drama, and finally embarked on film and television, which swept the country.
The artists of Huangmei Opera don't care whether he has a mighty spring breeze or a cold winter snow, no matter whether I am full of flowers or a bumpy career, as always, I sing about my heart, the world, and the stories, in the orchestra, on the gongs and drums, accompanied by the audience's sad and joyful singing and crying, spitting out the blocks in the people's chests, saying that the loyalty and righteousness of the thousand autumns have finally sung this rural mountain song into one of the five major dramas in China.
1. National intangible cultural heritage.
Many professional works believe that Huangmei Opera originated in Huangmei County, Hubei, but Anqing people firmly believe that Huangmei Opera came from Anqing and came from Shipai Town, Huaining County, Anqing. "The children of Liyuan Jia, no stone can not be a class", which refers to the great contribution of Shipai Town to Chinese opera. In September 1982, Mr. Cao Yu, a dramatist, visited Shipai Town and said affectionately: "As an ordinary theater worker, I came here for a 'pilgrimage'. Nowadays, Shipai Town still retains the strong theatrical atmosphere of "going out for three or five miles, the sound of yellow plums everywhere", gongs and drums sound, thousands of empty alleys, foreign media called this "China's most famous village".
In fact, Huangmei County, Hubei Province is close to Huaining County, Anhui Province, and the first "Huangmei Dialect" comes from whom's house cannot be tested and does not have to be tested. Drinking the same Yangtze River water, coupled with the strong mobility of rap artists, who is the first voice of the new warbler out of the valley, this "lawsuit" is not even a fairy.
However, Anqing, as an important town in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, was the place where Wu and Chu fought in the Spring and Autumn Period, and was called "Wu Head and Chu Tail". In the 25th year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, it became the capital of Anhui Province. Since then, it has been cut or set up, and there have been several ups and downs, but the environment and status of Anqing's transportation hub, economic center, land of fish and rice, and cultural town have not changed. Due to the dense population, convenient transportation, and cultural integration, artists come and go particularly frequently. There are dramas in the counties and counties here, and the townships and townships have tones, and the tea songs have not stopped, and the fishing songs have risen again. According to historical records, in 1790, Anqing artists formed four "Hui classes", which entered Beijing from Yangzhou one after another, and soon caused a sensation in the court and enjoyed a reputation in Beijing with their superb acting skills, changeable singing voices, and gorgeous appearances. Since then, "Pi Huang" has prevailed, opening the curtain of the glory of Peking Opera.
Among the 13 most outstanding opera artists in the Tongzhi and Guangxu periods of the Qing Dynasty, Cheng Changgeng, Lu Shengkui, Hao Lantian, and Yang Yuelou are all from Anqing. Mr. Mei Lanfang, who later became a master of Peking Opera, and his mother, Ms. Yang Changyu, are also from Tongcheng, Anqing.
The "Hui class" that entered Beijing is like a bright moon rising from the end of the world, and it is brilliant. The artists who are in the Jianghuai River are also like stars scattered for nine days, shining brightly. Cai Zhongxian, Hu Puyan, and Ding Yongquan continue to open up the way of opera, synthesize the singing voices such as "Hui Tune", "Lotus Falling" and "Five Changes", enrich the configuration of the band, transplant the storylines of other dramas, and Huangmei Opera is becoming more and more mature. In 1932, Ding Yongquan led the class into Anqing City, and soon broke into Shanghai Tang, and Huangmei Opera finally appeared on the big stage of the city. What's even more remarkable is that in Ding Yongquan's team, a female ** who has reborn Huangmei Opera and turned into a butterfly stands out - she is Yan Fengying.
I originally lived in Penglai Village, and I came all the way to join my relatives. Who knows that relatives and friends are nowhere to be seen, and the end of the world is cold and sighing. As long as the eldest brother doesn't dislike it, I'm willing to marry you!”
The lyrics of the Seven Fairies in Huangmei Opera "Tianxian Pei" are almost Yan Fengying's self-portrayal: she was born in a picturesque village by the Yangtze River, and in her acting career, what she entrusted to her life was the Huangmei Opera she loved all her life, and it was unswerving.
Although she became famous at the age of 16 and became the youngest of the "Five Great Kundan" of Huangmei Opera at that time, what really made her shine and was known to women and children was the movie "Tianxian Pei".
In her more than 20 years of artistic career, Yan Fengying has continued to learn from the strengths of her brothers' operas, and has pioneered and innovated in singing and acting. He has starred in more than 70 stage plays and 4 movies of Huangmei Opera. Among them, the three iconic repertoire of "Pigweed", "Tianxian Pei" and "Female Concubine" have made Huangmei Opera achieve three leapfrog developments in positioning, fame and popularity, and climb to an unprecedented peak.
In Yan Fengying, we can almost see the excellent genes of Chinese artists: peerless on stage, excellence in art, laughter in life, and firmness and indifference in their bones. Like the lotus in the lake in her hometown, it is scorching and inviolable. "I have also been to the Qionglin banquet, and I have also beaten the horse in front of the street", free and heroic;"Everyone praises me Pan An's appearance, it turns out that the yarn hat covers Chanjuan", and there is some mischievous little pride in the playfulness;"I'm not afraid of the rules of heaven and the hard work of breaking up, I have one heart with you in heaven and earth", and chased the firm determination of "the three-life road on the peony pavilion".
In 1952, Yan Fengying, Wang Shaofang, Pan Jingli and others organized a troupe to perform in Shanghai, and Mei Lanfang, Zhou Xinfang, Gai Zhaotian, Xia Yan and other dramatists performed and were full of praise. Mr. He Luting, who was the president of Shanghai ** College at the time, wrote an article of appreciation: "In their performance, I seemed to smell the smell of the soil in the countryside and the fragrance of mountain flowers. ”
The Huangmei Opera performance artists represented by Yan Fengying have cultivated a young opera genre into a variety of forms and vitality.
Every progress in science and technology has led to the development of Huangmei Opera. It's true for movies, it's true for TV, it's true for the Internet. Two-time Plum Blossom Award winner, Huangmei Opera performance artist Han Zaifen said. Persistent in innovation, the "Huizhou Woman" series that she has devoted many years of hard work to not only won the Plum Blossom Award for the second time, but also made Huangmei Opera achieve a breakthrough in many aspects of art.
Unlike many traditional Chinese operas, Huangmei Opera has light makeup, few programs, and no genre. The face is less thick with oil paint, and the actor's expression is more vivid and natural. Less stylized action is used, and there is more room for theatrical innovation. There is no obvious genre style, and the characteristics of "one play, one character, and one play in the same style" are more prominent. Xie Bailiang, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Drama, said that Huangmei Opera is the most fashionable woman, and she will always follow the development of new technological audio-visual means, dance with the trend of modern consumption, and synchronize with the rhythm of the times.
The incomparable inclusiveness of Huangmei Opera makes it constantly novel and varied. In 1986, Queen Elizabeth II, who visited Beijing, performed the Huangmei opera "Much Ado About Nothing" starring Ma Lan, and happily took a group photo with the cast and crew. Nearly 400 years ago, Shakespeare's masterpieces were vividly interpreted by Chinese artists. Huangmei Opera sang the "London dialect", which was rumored to be a good story for a while.
Stills from Huangmei Opera "On the Sun Mountain". Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Anqing Municipal Party Committee.
Ma Lan, Wu Qiong, Yuan Mei, Wu Yaling, and Yang Jun were once known as the "Five Golden Flowers" of Huangmei Opera. While singing, they pushed Huangmei Opera to a broader stage and audience. Yuan Yuan, a student of Wu Yaling and a young actor at the Huangmei Opera Theatre in Anhui Province, is the youngest of the Huangmei Opera actors to receive the Plum Blossom Award. In her repertoire, there are not only "Tianxian Pei" and "The Female Concubine", but also "The Communist Manifesto", "Red Plum Praise", "May Flowers", "Youth as a Companion" and a long list of new drama names. He Yun, known as one of the "five golden flowers" of the new century, said that she now performs more than 400 times a year. In an article commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Plum Blossom Award, Yang Jun wrote affectionately: "Opera people are the same, as long as they are devoted, it is a lifetime. ”
When the reporter left Anqing, it was the first sun after the snow. Walking through the street square and the lakeside bridge, there is the sound of Huangmei Opera floating by from time to time. Yes, the river is rolling, and the deceased is like this. But no matter how the years change, Huangmei Opera has been singing and has never stopped ......
Reporter Cai Chuang, Chang He, Ding Yiming).
*: "Bright**" January 10, 2024 01 edition).
*Produced by - Chief Planner: Wang Huimin.
Co-ordinator: Xing Yuhao, Wang Simin, Liu Wenjia.
Reporter: Cai Chuang, Chang He, Ding Yiming.
Choreographer: Zou Lansi.
Voiced by: Wang Qian.
Acknowledgement: Propaganda Department of Anqing Municipal Party Committee, Anhui Province.
Editor-in-charge: Zhang Yongqun.
Editor: Sun Dai.