Riding the wind of rebirth

"The place we are going to today is the former residence of a famous Sichuan opera singer and old artist." Because they wanted Lin Wanqiu to indulge in the house hunting addiction, Yang Dequan and Zhou Zhi were in the same car with Lin Wanqiu, and they introduced along the way: "The name Ouyang Youhe, I don't know if you have heard of it. Have you ever?"

Zhou Zhi knew that the Sichuan Opera character was Guan Ma, but he knew nothing else, and Lin Wanqiu didn't know anything about her at all.

Yang Dequan said: "Ouyang Youhe's stage name is 'Xiao Tongfeng' from Pengzhou. When he was young, he took classes in Manzhou and Ziyanghe.

"He is a drama genius, with a broad range of dramas and both civil and military skills. Whether it is a boudoir, Qingyi, ghost fox, sword horse, Hua Dan, or Nu Dan, he can do it all and is both civil and military."

"His singing voice is both simple and strong, smooth and stretched, mellow and unique. While maintaining the commonality of high-pitched voices, he can also express the personalities of different characters. He can understand the dramatic roles thoroughly, so that the performance can be full of emotions, coherent, and rich in inner activities. Colorful; pretentious but standard, and the selection of programs is handy. Do you understand what I said?"

"I can almost understand it." Zhou Zhi drove and followed the Soviet pickup truck in front of him: "It's just like calligraphy. It follows rules and regulations, but it can express one's own personality. This is the skill of dancing with shackles, one after another."

"I'm not tired talking to my elbow." Yang Dequan smiled and said, "That's what I mean!"

"In addition to singing skills, he added his own unique insights into scripts, performances, dances, costumes, and make-up of Sichuan opera. He actively reformed and innovated, and made great contributions to Sichuan opera. Soon he emerged in the 'Ziyang River' and reached the peak. It has reached the point of 'kicking the gong to win'."

"Master Yang, what does it mean to strike the gong to win?"

"Oh, this is a term in the ticket industry. It means that when the angle is large enough, you don't need to see people or hear the sound. As long as the opening gong is rung, you can win the applause of the whole house. This is 'kick the gong to win'. "

"So that's it." Zhou Zhi smiled. In later generations, there was a term called "brainless fans." Aren't these just brainless fans? "If Da Jiao'er is a big fan, he should be very rich, right?"

"This is not a big role." Yang Dequan is probably a senior fancier, and he talked about it like this: "According to common sense, it is enough to perform in a township troupe like 'Ziyang River', but he always feels that it is not a long-term solution. , although several Dao Ma Dan and Hua Dan operas are appreciated by the local people, they are not well-known."

"So he began to pursue 'changing the drama', and the best modification was "Jinshan Temple"."

"This play attracted the attention of a playmate named Yang. The playmate later became a good friend with him, and helped him rewrite "Jinjiang Tower" and "Xiang Tu", and also taught him how to pronounce words and accents. , seems quite good at it.”

"It wasn't until one day when they were drinking tea and chatting, that friend surnamed Yang mentioned lightly: 'If you are brought to Yuzhou in the next day, I think you will become popular'."

"Ouyang Youhe is well aware of the battle at the Yuzhou Wharf, and he said with concern: To Yuzhou? This water is not good!'"

"Yang, however, seemed very confident: 'Don't be afraid, your "Jinshan Temple" is both civil and military, unique, and it will be a hit in Chongqing.'"

"Soon, he was introduced to the mountain city of Yuzhou by someone. I found out afterwards that the person who recommended him was that fancier surnamed Yang."

"This person turned out to be the 'opener' of Chongqing's Zhanghuada Stage - similar to the current host and on-site director, no wonder he is so familiar with Sichuan opera; at the same time, he is the sworn brother of the theater manager Dai Tuanzhang, no wonder He dares to guarantee it."

""Jinshan Temple" was originally a Wudan opera that almost all troupes have. The stage style and skills are also similar."

"Ouyang Youhe started from the appearance of the white lady, all the way to martial arts, skills, and performances. He tried every means to be unique, which refreshed the audience."

"For example, the clothes, the common "Jinshan Temple" White Lady, are all wearing 'dayi', the advantage of 'dayi' is that it moves neatly, but the disadvantage is that the whole body is tightly curled up and down, and the light is protruding, which is always unattractive , giving people the feeling of ordinary Wudan."

"Ouyang Youhe believes that "The Legend of the White Snake" is a mythological drama, which should have a different color and a special atmosphere. So Bai Suzhen was asked to wear a sun mask with bubble flowers on her head; she wore a white soft satin tight-sleeved top and white trousers on her lower body. There are white cloud shoulders on the top of the clothing, two layers of white ribbons are tied under the clothing, and the white clothing is decorated with silver bright lines, so when dancing like this, the silver light flashes, which is very refined."

"The edges of the cape, cloud shoulders, and streamers are all embroidered with patterns of fish scales, which symbolize the environment and specific identity of the white snake."

"In addition, four strands of snow-white long silk are used from head to toe, and they are used to walk on stilts. Whenever you make a sharp turn, with the help of the flying ribbons and long silk, a fairy aura will arise spontaneously."

"In the part of the play where the boat goes up the Jinshan Mountain, I wear a white Indian silk poncho, which opens and closes and flutters during the march, spinning in various poses, and has the momentum of riding the wind and waves."

"In the plot, there are interspersed hard stunts such as 'reversing the person', 'rolling the Zen stick', 'inverting the chair', 'lifting', etc., abruptly interpreting the White Snake from a simple Wudan to a beautiful and warm woman with a literary character in her martial arts. , a 'righteous demon' with softness in the rigidity and flattery in the strength."

"This play has been performed continuously, and it really became a hit in Yuzhou. Mr. Fu Sangan, a highly respected Sichuan opera predecessor, happily recommended it to his colleagues and his disciples. There are texts in it, and the characteristics of the characters are performed."

"Xiao Tongfeng became famous in one fell swoop. At this point, it is considered a role."

"I heard that Mei Lanfang was invited to play with ten gold bars back then. They must be rich, right?" Zhou Zhi asked.

"Ouyang Youhe was later called 'Mei Lanfang of Sichuan Opera'. When he became famous, there was no shortage of money." Yang Dequan said with a smile: "But having money does not necessarily mean you have status."

"It seems that Mei Lanfang's status is not low?"

"That's because he lives in a capital city where the folk customs are quite open." Yang Dequan said with a smile: "It's different in Sichuan."

"Before liberation, Bai Yuqiong, one of the successors of the Sichuan opera 'Huanpai', was reported to the police station for wearing a Chinese tunic suit in public, and was summoned and wrote a review."

"At that time, opera performers were in the lowest class of society, and they were called 'low jobs' along with prostitutes and beggars."

"The "Six Prohibition Rules for Excellent Talents" promulgated by the Bashutong Provincial Police Headquarters requires that artists are not allowed to treat guests or gather people to drink, whether they are in public places or at home; they are not allowed to wear costumes on the street; Departmental reports and registration. The "Rules for Talents" promulgated later was even more stringent, and also required artists to be prohibited from riding sedan chairs, and added punishments for violations on the basis of the "six rules": hard work, fines, and not going to the police station for reference Yes, artists and troupe managers will be punished by detention."

"So Bai Yuqiong could only review and promise not to dress like this again in the future. The police also 'ordered to inform the industry', asking other artists not to behave similarly, and clearly instructed 'it is necessary to know that actors and Qi Min are different', and this situation must not happen again." , otherwise we will be severely punished.”

"However, the money is real. The three major theaters, including Yuelai Tea Garden in the capital of Shu, perform in the first month of the year every year, and the military pay after fifteen performances totals [-] oceans!"