"Mountain songs are like long rivers, allowing dangerous beaches to bend and bend. "For audiences who grew up in the fifties and sixties of the last century, the theme song "Mountain Songs Like Spring River Water" from the movie "Liu Sanjie" is undoubtedly deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the image of Liu Sanjie in the film has become a precious memory for several generations.
As the first scenic ** feature film in Chinese mainland, the movie "Liu Sanjie" released in 1961 not only spread the story and song of Liu Sanjie throughout the land of China, but also let the national audience understand and feel the simple and natural life atmosphere of the Guangxi Zhuang people.
Huang Wanqiu, with the role of Liu Sanjie played in the film, has become a popular film and television star across the country. Her stills often occupy the front pages of major newspapers and magazines, and she is revered as a "national goddess".
However, many people don't know that when she started making this film, she was only sixteen years old, and this is her screen work. What's even more surprising is that this young actor has no love experience before this, but he was able to interpret the love story of Liu Sanjie and Brother A Niu affectionately, which is moving.
The success of the film made the cultural symbol of "Liu Sanjie" closely linked to Huang Wanqiu, and it was not until her death in Guilin on March 4, 2023 that the classic role on the screen completed the last performance of her life.
Now, let's walk into the legendary life of Huang Wanqiu and explore the story of "Liu Sanjie".
Huang Wanqiu: The Dream of Liu Sanjie of a Han Girl In 1943, Huang Wanqiu was born in an ordinary family in Yongfu County, Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Although she is not a Zhuang, Huang Wanqiu always has a dream in her heart, that is, to play the role of Liu Sanjie, a Zhuang folklore character.
Like her father, Huang Wanqiu has a deep love for singing and acting. She often spent her childhood singing at home, and her father's love influenced her, making her develop a strong interest in singing and acting.
According to Huang Wanqiu's brother's recollection, this "fourth sister" started her acting career before she went to school. She likes to play the princess the most, and always sings a few words, and is a little star loved by everyone in the neighborhood.
This enthusiastic little girl is the third sister we are familiar with.
When Huang Wanqiu was young, her aunt took her to study with Xiao Jinfeng, an old veteran of Guiju Danjiao, and this experience had a profound impact on her, which she said was the starting point of her theater career.
Huang Wanqiu showed her literary and artistic talent in elementary school, she took the initiative to become the backbone of the class, and won good results in the city's singing competitions on behalf of Guilin Affiliated Primary School many times, and was regarded as a "singing seedling" by the teachers and students of the school.
When she was thirteen years old, by chance, she saw an advertisement in the newspaper for the Gui Opera Troupe to recruit students, she was very excited, and after discussing with her family, she successfully participated in the admission examination of the Gui Opera Troupe.
It turned out that thirteen-year-old Huang Wanqiu stood on the stage, not only without stage fright, but also full of love and yearning for Guiqu performance. Although she did not meet the standards in the cultural class at that time, after the discussion of the leaders of the Gui Opera Troupe, she was finally admitted exceptionally.
Since then, Ms. Huang's fortunes have changed completely. In the Gui Opera Troupe for more than a year, Huang Wanqiu's growth is obvious to all, when she was fourteen years old, she played Su Daji for the first time in "Cutting Three Demons".
For her stage debut, Huang Wanqiu was very impressed. She said that this performance was related to her fate later, she was both nervous and excited, put on makeup an hour in advance, and even rehearsed the performance moves in her mind more than a dozen times.
The success of the debut was recognized by the teachers of the troupe, and since then, Huang Wanqiu has become the director of the Gui Opera Troupe"Small pillars", he performed on stage in plays such as "Flooded Golden Mountain", "The Legend of the West Chamber", "Drunken Golden Branch" and "Double Moon Worship", and became a rising star in Guilin's theater industry.
In 1959, the color drama "Liu Sanjie" was born, which immediately set off a boom in Guangxi, and various professional or amateur literary and artistic teams competed to rehearse. This trend even affected Huang Wanqiu's Gui Opera Troupe.
The story of Liu Sanjie has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of Guangxi, especially Huang Wanqiu, who often fantasized about being in the era of Liu Sanjie's life when she was a child, and now she finally has the opportunity to play this classic role.
In the casting process of the troupe, the young Huang Wanqiu could only play the C role in the color drama "Liu Sanjie". However, instead of being discouraged, she threw herself into rehearsals and gained a deeper understanding of the character's image.
During the rehearsal, she was successfully promoted to A corner with her outstanding performance. It was her wonderful performance in the color drama "Liu Sanjie" that won her the opportunity to act in the movie "Liu Sanjie".
But few people know that the original casting of the movie "Liu Sanjie" released in 1961 was not Huang Wanqiu, and there is a little-known story hidden in it.
Around 1960, the preparation for the filming of the movie "Liu Sanjie" was in full swing across the country, and Changchun Film Studio also paid great attention to this project. As the first film studio in New China, Changchun Film Studio decided to create the film version of "Liu Sanjie".
To this end, director Su Li, composer Lei Zhenbang and lyricist Qiao Yu went to Guilin, Guangxi Province to collect style, and finally completed the first draft of the script of more than 300,000 words.
The candidate for the protagonist of the movie "Liu Sanjie", director Su Li was once undecided. The crew initially tended to find a professional actor who was familiar to domestic audiences, but Guangxi strongly suggested that it would be more appropriate for a local to play this iconic role in Guangxi.
So the crew began to cast in Guilin, and Huang Wanqiu, who was in the Guilin Opera Troupe at that time, also got the opportunity to audition. Her youthful and beautiful, simple and natural performance left a deep impression on the director, but due to her lack of film acting experience, she only played the role of "Zhou Mei" in the trial shooting stage.
In the end, Fu Jinhua of the Guangxi Song and Dance Troupe successfully won the role of "Liu Sanjie". Fu Jinhua is a native of Guangxi Miao color performance artist, not only became famous earlier, but also enjoys a high reputation in the country.
She starred in the color drama "Liu Sanjie" and later performed four times in Zhongnanhai, Beijing.
In the preparation stage of the movie "Liu Sanjie", Guangxi film producers found that Liu Sanjie, played by Fu Jinhua, was not beautiful enough to sing in front of the camera, which may affect Liu Sanjie's image.
Therefore, the producer decided to let Huang Wanqiu, who played "Zhou Mei", replace Fu Jinhua. This decision has far-reaching implications for both Fu Jinhua and Huang Wanqiu. Although Fu Jinhua lost the opportunity to play Liu Sanjie, she participated in the film in another way.
Many people may not know that the dubbing of Liu Sanjie in the film was completed by Fu Jinhua, including the widely circulated song "Mountain Song is Like Spring River Water" was also sung by Fu Jinhua.
For Huang Wanqiu, this is undoubtedly a turning point in fate. At that time, she was only sixteen or seventeen years old and lacked experience in screen acting, but with the encouragement of director Su Li, Huang Wanqiu began to devote herself wholeheartedly to the role of Liu Sanjie.
In the summer of 1960, the film crew came to the birthplace of Liu Sanjie's story - the banks of the Li River. Huang Wanqiu, who was new to the scene, seemed a little nervous in front of the camera, and she was used to stage performances, she was unfamiliar with the camera position and angle, not to mention that this was her first screen performance, so Huang Wanqiu was a little restrained at the beginning of filming.
However, the experienced director Suri saw her problem and did not put too much pressure on her as a newbie, but patiently directed her, teaching her how to change her acting style and how to get into the role.
Huang Wanqiu later recalled that at that time, director Su Li told her that the reason why she was chosen to play Liu Sanjie was because she took a fancy to her natural and simple and unrestrained temperament, so she later unloaded her psychological burden and began to play casually, which made the film crew very satisfied, and her performance gradually reached the best state.
During the filming of "Liu Sanjie", Huang Wanqiu encountered a problem that made her feel a little embarrassed, that is, she had never been in love. This is the love rivalry between Liu Sanjie and Brother A Niu, Huang Wanqiu feels at a loss.
Audiences who are familiar with the movie "Liu Sanjie" should be deeply impressed by the scene where Liu Sanjie and Brother A Niu fell in love under the big banyan tree, especially the expressions and movements of Liu Sanjie throwing hydrangeas, which are very expressive.
What is surprising is that this "Liu Sanjie" is a little girl who has not opened her love in real life, which is enough to see Huang Wanqiu's great efforts to show Liu Sanjie's sincere and unrestrained treatment of feelings.
In addition to the difficulties in acting, the climate of the Li River was also in the scorching heat at that time, and although Huang Wanqiu was a native of Guangxi, the intense shooting task still made her faint from heat stroke on the set.
However, Huang Wanqiu and the rest of the film crew still overcame many difficulties and finally dedicated this Chinese mainland's first scenic ** feature film "Liu Sanjie" to the national audience in 1961.
Liu Sanjie" immediately caused a sensation across the country after its release, and the box office of the film in many places was amazing, and the grand occasion of thousands of empty alleys was also impressive. The film highlights the image and singing voice of Liu Sanjie, making the Guangxi Zhuang a well-known regional cultural symbol in the country, and Huang Wanqiu has become the dream lover of many young men at that time.
As a film featuring scenery, ** and story, "Liu Sanjie" has won high praise in many places at home and abroad, and is known as the domestic film with the largest circulation at that time.
The success of this movie has also brought Huang Wanqiu's acting career to a new peak, and it can even be said that Huang Wanqiu's name has been closely linked to Liu Sanjie.
In 1963, Huang Wanqiu won the Best Actor Award at the 2nd Hundred Flowers Awards for her outstanding performance in "Liu Sanjie", and became an instant hit. Since then, Huang Wanqiu has returned to the stage of color dramas, and has starred in classic plays such as "The White-Haired Girl", "On the Jinsha River", "Osmanthus and Shilang".
However, just as she was going all out to devote herself to her acting career, the changes of the times quietly came, turning her life upside down.
You must have heard the story of Huang Wanqiu and Liu Sanjie. In the mid-60s of the last century, Chinese society entered a special historical period, and all walks of life were affected.
And "Liu Sanjie" starring Huang Wanqiu was criticized as a negative example at this time, and she fell from the spotlight of the stage to the tragic situation of being criticized by the public in an instant.
In the past ten years, Huang Wanqiu has had the idea of giving up many times, but her husband He Youcai has become her haven during this period. Although He Youcai is not as famous as his wife Huang Wanqiu, and he is 6 years younger than Huang Wanqiu, he is a very considerate husband.
In an interview, He Youcai once said that he is willing to be the moon that illuminates Huang Wanqiu, and Huang Wanqiu is the sun in his heart, and he is willing to protect it forever. In real life, He Youcai did fulfill his promise, he accompanied Huang Wanqiu as a driver and assistant, assisted her in handling life and career affairs, and became her strong backing during the most difficult period of her life, just like the character in the movie "Brother Niu", selflessly protecting her.
With He Youcai's care and support, Huang Wanqiu was able to regain her life stage, and after the haze dissipated, she returned to the audience's sight again as "Liu Sanjie".
In November 1977, the re-staging of the color drama "Liu Sanjie" was not only a gift from God for Huang Wanqiu, but also the second spring in her life.
Although the years have carved traces of 34 years old on Huang Wanqiu's face, and her figure has also been out of shape due to childbirth, the charm of playing Liu Sanjie back then is still radiant. However, the most important fact is that if "Liu Sanjie" is put on the stage again, then no one can be more suitable to play this role than Huang Wanqiu.
In the past ten years, although Huang Wanqiu has left the stage, she has not stopped understanding and interpreting Liu Sanjie. In order to bring the new "Liu Sanjie" to the audience, Huang Wanqiu re-choreographed the dance movements, and finally presented a novel and unique artistic effect.
In the following years, she starred in nearly 300 performances of "New Liu Sanjie" at the Lijiang Theater, and then composed the Zhuang opera "Hundred Bird Clothes", thus starting her second artistic career.
On March 4, 2023, 80-year-old Huang Wanqiu died of illness in Guilin, and Liu Sanjie's story seems to be coming to an end, but the reality is that the story is not over.
Huang Wanqiu's husband, He Youcai, decided to sort out Huang Wanqiu's decades of creation and performance materials, and publish the story of her and Liu Sanjie into a book, so as to pass on the spirit of Liu Sanjie.