Liu Xiaolingtong's First Autobiography: The Walker

Chapter 4

Luohong is not a heartless thing,
Turn it into spring mud to protect flowers more.

——"Miscellaneous Poems of Ji Hai"

Take the golden cudgel from the second brother
When I was born, my father didn't intend for me to inherit the mantle, or even to learn acting.When I was a child, I didn't show much talent for acting.

The second brother is the most suitable successor of the "Monkey King" identified by his father, and his father puts all his energy on him.But when the second brother's life was about to shine, the sky was jealous of Yingcai, and leukemia took his life.In grief, my father slowly turned his eyes to me.

Unexpectedly, just as I was about to take over the golden cudgel from my second brother, fate played a very dramatic trick on me.

In 1966, the "Cultural Revolution" kicked off, and my father was suppressed under the "Five Elements Mountain", wearing four big hats: "big opera bully", "big rightist", "reactionary academic authority", and "counter-revolutionary revisionist".The father was deprived of the right to be on stage, and was censored in isolation.

During my father's "renovation", one day, he asked me to follow him to pull wood to the sawmill to saw boards.Waiting for the interval, my father found a remote place and taught me how to practice the exercises one by one.He also picked up a thin wooden stick from the sawmill as a golden cudgel, and taught me how to dance the stick.On this tricycle, our father and son opened up a mobile classroom.

That year, I was 12 years old.

During the period of being locked up in the "cowshed", my father was anxious and tried every means to write a letter to his family, asking me to go directly to his teacher, Mr. Xue Dechun from the Shanghai Theater School.I found Teacher Xue and became his closed disciple without any suspense. Our father and son were taught by the same teacher, which is a good story.

At that time, my family was in a very difficult situation. My father, who was treated unfairly, could only get 15 yuan a month for living expenses. I had no money to pay the tuition fees, so I had to "pay by installments". The tuition fee of 6 yuan a semester had to be paid in three installments.Every time I pay the tuition to the teacher, I feel very embarrassed.But Teacher Xue still accepted me and taught me to practice the exercises wholeheartedly and without reservation.

Teacher Xue and I both thought of the story in "Journey to the West" that Bodhi Patriarch secretly taught Sun Wukong to learn art in the middle of the night, and we decided to do the same.The difference is that Sun Wukong learns in the middle of the night, but I learn at 5 o'clock in the morning.

We don't have a dedicated practice room, so I practice in a remote corner of People's Square on sunny days, and in a bicycle shed on the promenade in front of the Shanghai Clothing Company on rainy days.Regardless of the scorching sun or the biting cold wind, I persist in practicing exercises every day.

One day, I went to People's Square before 5 o'clock, and suddenly remembered the single forward jump I practiced two days ago.Previously, this action was done under the protection of the teacher, why not try it out by myself this time, is it possible that acting on stage requires the protection of the teacher?So, I started to practice, but I accidentally exerted too much force, my head hit the ground, a big cut was made on my forehead, and I fainted immediately.When the teacher came, he was shocked to see my head was bleeding, and rushed me to the hospital, where I had 8 stitches.There has been a scar forever in the middle of my forehead ever since.Later, I parted my head and sometimes wore a hat to cover my scars on purpose.

My father couldn't bear to watch the exercises, but my mother took away the small alarm clock

On September 1971, 9, Chairman Mao personally liberated his father from the "Five Elements Mountain" by name.My father was free, and although he was not yet able to perform on stage, he was finally able to teach me how to learn art.I also came to Shaoxing to study in No. 12 Junior Middle School.

Once, my father fell ill and was hospitalized, so the Shaoxing Second Hospital ward where he was staying became my practice room.Regardless of his serious illness, my father always taught me a lesson every day, and every time he taught me, my father was extraordinarily energetic.

After my father was discharged from the hospital, I used my home as a practice room again, hanging rings on the porch, doing somersaults and splits in the small courtyard, holding a big top by the wall, and standing on the table and turning down.As a result, I made a mess at home: footprints on the walls and tables, hot water bottles and full-length mirrors were often broken by me.

I felt that there was no place to "practice martial arts" at home, so I came to Shaoxing Yuewang Terrace.The field here is large and free, but this field has a fatal disadvantage, that is, it is easy to get injured.Because of this, I hurt my arm, injured my urine, and bruised my scalp... All the difficulties can only be resolved with the words "struggle with pain".But I still hope to have a practice room where I can practice day and night no matter it is windy or rainy.Finally one day, I plucked up the courage and timidly came to the practice room of Zhejiang Shao Opera Troupe. Unexpectedly, the actors there welcomed me very much.

In order not to affect the normal practice of the actors of the Zhejiang Shao Opera Troupe, I went to practice at 5 o'clock every morning and kept practicing until they went to work before leaving.Many times when I came to the gate of the troupe, the masters in the reception room didn't get up, so I just waited at the bridgehead outside the gate while pressing my legs.I have been practicing qigong unremittingly for many years, and I have been seen by the kind and honest doorkeeper.In his opinion, the son of the former head of the troupe practiced so hard, he was more diligent than the regular students of the Shao Opera Troupe, and he would definitely be more promising than anyone in the troupe in the future.

Later, someone asked me: "Is your father very strict in teaching you to practice qigong? Did he beat and scold you to practice qigong like many masters?" I said, "It's not like that. On the contrary, he dotes on me very much."

Every time I took the big top, I said it would take half an hour. I just finished it for 10 minutes, and the sweat came down. My father felt distressed when he saw it, and said, "Get down, come on, it's done."

My father is also very reluctant to watch me practice, especially when I practice those dangerous skills, he always avoids watching.Because he couldn't bear to watch, he was afraid that something might happen to me, but he had to practice, so he had no choice but to "out of sight is out of mind".

Therefore, my father was jokingly called "Grandma Master".I knew in my heart that the reason why my father doted on me was because he was scared by the death of the two older brothers.

My mother is also not very supportive of my learning monkey show. I know she cares about me and it is for my own good.When I was in Shaoxing, one winter, it was snowing heavily and it was very cold. I knew my mother couldn’t bear to let me practice, so I kept the alarm clock by my hand, and when the alarm clock sounded, I immediately got up and went to practice alone.I thought my mother didn't know, but she did.My mother felt sorry for me, and after I went to sleep, she secretly turned off the alarm clock. I didn't know at first, thinking that it was stopped when I touched the button while I was sleeping, and I didn't know what was going on until later.So, when she came to turn off my alarm clock again, I pretended to be asleep and didn't know it. After she left, I quietly adjusted it back, and went out before dawn.Seeing this, my mother had no choice but to watch me leave home with tears in my eyes.

My father and mother are not particularly strict with me, and have never scolded me. I understand that artistic things are not produced by type, nor are they forced out.There is no need for them to force me to do anything, everything comes from my self-consciousness.And this kind of self-consciousness is entirely out of a sense of responsibility and obligation of the family. I want to inherit my father's career and fulfill my brother's last wish, so I must act as the real Monkey King!

Hukou moved out of Greater Shanghai, repeated defeats and battles
After graduating from high school, I returned to Shanghai.According to the environment and situation at that time, I should go to work next, and I can get a solid job in Qingpu County, Shanghai, but I still insist on becoming an actor.Except for my father, almost everyone in the family objected to this, but I have made up my mind, the same sentence: I must play the Monkey King, I must be Monkey King!

After the "Cultural Revolution", his father was rehabilitated and still served as the head of the Zhejiang Shao Opera Troupe.But at this time, I made an amazing decision: In order to facilitate the exam, I will move my household registration from Shanghai to Shaoxing, where I will start my art journey, because the first three generations of our family are all from Shaoxing. Walk on the stone road to the "Road to the West".

When I went to the police station to go through the registration transfer procedures, the household registration policeman there was very surprised. He didn't understand what kind of temptation could make a young man abandon the decent big Shanghai and go to Shaoxing, a small water town.

The household registration policeman held up the special stamp for household registration transfer and said to me: "Think about it, once you knock out this stamp, you will be 'moved out' of Shanghai, and it will be difficult to come back."

I nodded without hesitation.

Back in Shaoxing, I became an unemployed youth with no job and no income.I started to design my acting career with all my heart, and the first step was to apply for the theater troupe.However, this first hurdle got stuck.

Zhejiang Shao Opera Troupe recruits people, but stipulates that they do not recruit the children of artists.

The Shaoxing Sports Committee came to recruit gymnasts. I took the running test and fell down halfway through the run.

There was an acrobatic troupe who offered me, but they wanted me to be the base of the acrobatic troupe.

The Shanghai Yue Opera Troupe agreed to take me, but it also stipulated that I must have a Shanghai household registration—I couldn’t help but sigh: If I knew it now, why bother?Is fate playing a joke on me?

In this way, I waited for 3 years.When I moved out of the household registration, it only took a second to get an official seal, but the 1 years I was waiting for work in Shaoxing was so long.I couldn't help but lose self-confidence, feel confused, hesitate, and feel inferior.I have a vague feeling that I may not be suitable for acting, but at the same time, there is also a vague sense of mission that drives me to fight repeatedly.

Failed again and again, sought again and again, fortunately, I never gave up.My goal is to join a troupe to learn and act. My highest ideal is to join a troupe of Shaoxing. If I can’t get there, other troupes are fine.Finally, when the Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe recruited students, I easily passed the entrance examination with the help of Mr. Zhang Zhiming, who played the role of Emperor Taizong of Tang in "Journey to the West" with the help of years of hard work.

finally see the light
On August 1978, 8, I reported to the Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe, and was arranged in a dormitory for four people.What I didn't expect was that I was going to participate in the performance that night.This is the first official appearance in my acting career, and I want to play a role in "Fifteen Guan".

Although I've acted before, this was my first professional appearance, so I really valued this performance, and the extras worked really hard. The performance of "Fifteen Passes" was a success.Several teachers commented on me: "The appearance is handsome, and I am quite like a father, but it doesn't take so much effort to act the part."

In March 1981, Mr. Zhou Chuanying, the head of the Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe, and others decided to let me start a monkey show and at the same time let me take the lead in rehearsing a Kunqu opera monkey show.Three months later, the Kunqu Opera monkey show "Borrowing the Banana Fan Three Times" was successfully premiered in the Great Hall of the People in Zhejiang.Yu Zhenfei, a famous Jingkun art master, wrote an inscription and praised my performance as "both form and spirit".

The Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe decided to adapt all the main stories of "Journey to the West" into Kunqu opera monkey plays within ten years.In other words, we will rehearse the entire Kunqu Opera "Journey to the West"!Isn't this what I have always dreamed of?So excited.A grand blueprint of the complete Kunqu Opera "Journey to the West" spreads in my heart, and I am gearing up to put all my energy into it. I want to put the essence of "Journey to the West" on the stage in the form of Kunqu Opera Monkey Show.

God loves me so much and gave me such a chance to show my strength.Unexpectedly, there is a bigger surprise and a more magnificent mission waiting for me——

Just when I was about to show my talents in the field of Kunqu opera monkey drama, a phone call from Beijing not only made me give up the plan of Kunqu opera "Journey to the West", but also changed my life, and even changed the fate of the whole monkey king family .

China's first draft in my house

In 1981, the Japanese version of "Journey to the West" was broadcast on CCTV.The oriental masterpiece that the audience sees in this play looks like this: Sun Wukong, played by Zhengzhang Sakai, was born with dark skin like an orangutan, and often yells when he speaks; Tang Seng and Tathagata are played by actresses; Kappa; Monk Sha has a father; King Jinjiao and King Yinjiao are a loving couple... All the characters and plots are the ideas of the Japanese masters. They did not realize that "Journey to the West" is the essence of ancient Chinese culture , I simply think that "Journey to the West" is just a live-action version of a fairy tale animation, so I set up scenes that only appear in Japanese animation dramas.Naturally, Chinese audiences didn't buy it, and there were more and more criticisms from all sides. The Japanese version of "Journey to the West" was stopped after only two episodes.This is unprecedented in the history of CCTV.

But this incident has brought inspiration to the Chinese: Our "Journey to the West" can be filmed by the Japanese, why can't we film it ourselves?At that time, CCTV had the idea that there should be four masterpieces made by itself, and decided to direct "Journey to the West" by senior director Yang Jie.The main creators agreed that the choice of Sun Wukong is the key to the success of "Journey to the West", because Sun Wukong is the most important character in "Journey to the West".

So, in order to find a suitable candidate for Sun Wukong, Director Yang Jie began to look for actors in Beijing.She had contact with many famous monkey performers successively, but she finally gave up due to differences in artistic creation.The main creators of the crew believe that the TV series "Journey to the West" is not an opera, but should be very life-oriented, "loyal to the original and cautious in renovating".In order to find the most suitable candidate, director Yang Jie went to great lengths.

When Director Yang Jie searched for "Sun Wukong" in many ways but failed, an ideal candidate suddenly jumped into Director Yang Jie's mind-my father "Southern Monkey King" Liu Lingtong.She once videotaped her father as an opera director in the 20s.Director Yang Jie believes that if the father is 60 years younger, then he is the best candidate for the role of Monkey King.

Director Yang Jie immediately called my father. After some pleasantries, and after explaining what happened, Director Yang Jie asked, "Does your little six-year-old child still act?" , but he did not show any signs of expression, and said to Director Yang Jie: "Please come to my place to have a look, I believe you will be able to find a suitable candidate for Monkey King here."

Director Yang Jie was very excited, and immediately said: "I'll go to your place tomorrow!" She had searched for too long, and no one had recommended a candidate to her with such confidence for a long time, not to mention that it was the "Southern Monkey King" who said this of.That night, Director Yang Jie bought a train ticket to Shaoxing.

On December 1981, 12, my father and I went to Shaoxing Railway Station to pick us up after we had just returned from performing in other places.

After receiving director Yang Jie at the train station, the three of us came to the house.Director Yang Jie couldn't wait to ask: "When will I see Xiao Liulingtong?"

The father suddenly looked sad, and said: "Xiao Liulingtong is my second son. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1966. This is my youngest son Zhang Jinlai, who is now in the Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe. Please take a look. Can he do it?"

Although Director Yang Jie is well-known for casting actors who are good at panning for gold in the sand, and I believe that this "Southern Monkey King" will not recommend people rashly, but I am still a little surprised that such a well-mannered child can play the all-powerful Monkey King well. ?

With a skeptical attitude, she asked me to improvise.I immediately picked up a stick and performed some of Monkey King's movements and expressions of joy, anger, sorrow and joy, and she thought it was pretty good.

Her father recommended to her the candidate to play Zhu Bajie——Zhang Jinyuan, the eldest son of my uncle Qi Lingtong (stage name: Qi Xiaolingtong).At that time, he was performing with the Shao Opera Troupe in Shangyu, so the three of them rushed to Shangyu at noon.Director Yang Jie asked Qi Xiaolingtong and I to perform.We only wore costumes and did a part without makeup.After watching it, Director Yang Jie said: "I can make a [-]% decision now, and eventually I will go back and report to the director of the station, and everyone will discuss and make a decision. You should prepare first and wait for my notice!"

During the more than a month of waiting for the notice, my father conducted "sharpening the gun" training for me.He took me to see monkeys in the park, and explained to me how the three attributes of Monkey King, man, god, and monkey are integrated together; he explained the stories of even one play in the 36 Shao operas "Journey to the West" he acted in.My father also took me to visit Cheng Shifa, a master of traditional Chinese painting, Wan Laiming, a master of animation and director of "Havoc in Heaven", Zhao Hongben, a famous comic book artist, Zhang Leping, author of "The Wanderings of San Mao", and other seniors in the art world. Learn from and learn from.

At that time, I was very confused about my future. To be honest, I was not sure about playing Monkey King Sun Wukong on TV.My father took me to practice exercises every morning, and I couldn't help but tell him the confusion in my heart.My father thought about it, and only said to me:
"You can act well!"

When I went to Beijing to rush for the exam, my father "knocked" the gong for me with his mouth
We were doing our best to prepare everything we could think of. At this time, the telegram from Director Yang Jie asking us to "go to Beijing for the exam" also arrived.

On the evening of February 1982, 2, we arrived in Beijing by plane and lived in a small three-story building in the third guest house of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee on Meishi Street.In the morning of the next day, the conference hall of the guest house was turned into an examination room, with Hong Minsheng, Deputy Director, Dai Yinglu, Zou Yiqing, Wang Xizhong, Xun Hao, Ren Fengpo and other famous people present.Before going on stage, I was very nervous, and my father said quietly: "Don't be nervous, you can act as you usually practice, and I will beat the gongs and drums for you."

There were no gongs and drums at the scene, so my father "knocked" the gongs and drums with his mouth.I got better and better amidst the sound of gongs and drums, and successfully performed one part of "Borrowing the Banana Fan Three Times".

I think I'm doing pretty well, and I'm a little complacent.At this time, director Yang Jie suddenly encountered a problem: asking me to perform a sketch at will without any accompaniment of gongs and drums, which actually pushed me from the category of opera performance to the category of film and television performance.Opera performances emphasize stylization, while film and television performances emphasize life.But before that, I knew nothing about dialogue drama and film and television performances.So I had no choice but to "casually" perform the action of monkey stealing peaches. Maybe I was too nervous and "casual". I actually compared the peach to the size of a watermelon, which made the people present couldn't help laughing.Then I also performed a supporting role with Qi Xiaolingtong.After the performance, Director Yang Jie asked us to go back to the room to rest, saying that they would discuss it and wait for the result.

Although the waiting time was not very long, it was a long torment for me.Because I found that in such a long time of preparation, I have fallen in love with the role of Monkey King deeply, and I have a strong desire to play him well and fulfill my second brother's entrustment.But the "examiner" didn't seem to move. The longer we waited, the more flustered we became, and the more we waited, the more we felt that there was nothing to do.And my father also did ideological work in advance for our failure, saying that even if we were not selected, it didn't matter much.

We were waiting anxiously when the director and director finally went upstairs.We eagerly waited for the director to tell us the result, but the director acted like a normal person, playing with us.He said to me, who was undressed, "I didn't expect you to be so young." After speaking, he talked with his father about the grand plan of "Journey to the West".After the conversation was over, the director and others turned around to leave, and I thought to myself: "It's over, it's over, they came here just out of politeness and comfort." Just when I was feeling disappointed and frustrated, the director suddenly turned his head and said:

"Oh, we decided to second you two to CCTV to film a movie, you go back and go through the formalities!"

That night, CCTV broadcast the news that the crew of "Journey to the West" selected me and Qi Xiaolingtong as the actors of Monkey King and Zhu Bajie.Later, due to various reasons, Qi Xiaolingtong failed to join the crew of "Journey to the West".From then on, I had my own stage name "Liu Xiao Ling Tong", because my second brother was already called "Xiao Liu Ling Tong". When it was my turn to choose a stage name, my father had to change the order of these four words. , Call me Liu Xiaolingtong.At that time, everyone felt awkward, and some fans even suspected that my surname was "Liu Xiao", but after a long time, everyone felt that it was natural again.

"Don't be homesick, unite with colleagues, and don't fall in love"

April 1982th, 4 was an ordinary night, but it was an extraordinary night for our Monkey King family, because I was about to board the train to Beijing the next day, and my father did something to me In his final confession before leaving, he said:

"This is a pie in the sky. On the stage of Shaoju Opera, I performed from "The Monkey King is Born", "Havoc in Heaven" and "Three Dozens of Bones" one by one. I have acted for decades. There is a movie "Three Fighting Bones". Since the novel "Journey to the West" was written more than 36 years ago, it is the first time that China's top media has completely recorded it. You are only 400 years old this year, and China has hundreds of millions of people. If you pick up such a big pie, it depends on how you make it well. Of course I will support you, and you can even step on my shoulders, but you have to walk all the way by yourself. You must To play Monkey King well is not only about you personally, but also about our entire Monkey King family, about the entire crew, and more about the inheritance and development of Chinese monkey opera art."

After finishing speaking, my father took out more than 1000 photos specially prepared by him, and solemnly handed them to me—these are photos of more than 1000 monkey shapes, which were carefully taken by my father to let me perform a good monkey show. I took the photos to the crew to study, but my father told me at the same time: "Don't blindly imitate, just treat these photos as a kind of material. In the crew, you mainly listen to the director."

In the end, my father and I made "three chapters": don't be homesick, unite with colleagues, and don't fall in love.

I nodded silently, and the next day, I boarded the train going north.

Since then, I have officially embarked on the "path of learning from the scriptures".This is an artistic journey that requires dedication. Sitting on the train to Beijing, I looked out of the window at my distant hometown, with mixed feelings in my heart.I recalled that in "Journey to the West", when Tang Seng left Chang'an City, the Tang Emperor asked him when he would come back. Tang Seng thought about it and replied, "Only in three years, I will go back to Shangguo." But as soon as he left, he went. 17 years.As if it was predestined, I didn't expect that the time span of filming this movie would be as long as 17 years.

(End of this chapter)