1. Watching the theater with my father
People’s preferences are the same as eating. Whatever you were used to eating when you were a child will be what you like to eat throughout your life. When I was a child, there were no movies or TV shows. If someone in the village had something to do, they would invite an opera troupe to sing. It was the best spiritual enjoyment and would make the whole village feel as happy as a festival. Opera plays a role in cultural inheritance and ethical education. People who have never been to school often learn about history and gain enlightenment in life from opera, and then have a basic recognition of cultural traditions and even their own ideals. They also form their own moral values ??and influence their lives.
My father has not read many books, but he has watched a lot of plays. No matter what TV series is on the air, at that point, he will definitely switch channels to watch the show. I would like to accompany my father to the theater, not because I like going to the theater, but because I feel that my father is lonely. Looking at his intoxicated look, I knew he was enjoying it. Therefore, I am also willing to let him know that I share his happiness. This is like someone who eats something and thinks it is very delicious, and wants you to try it and share it. If you say it is really delicious, then he must be very happy and satisfied; if you say it is not delicious, then he must be very satisfied. Will be very disappointed. This is why sharing happiness will amplify it and sharing pain will alleviate it.
However, I am not entirely duplicitous. Once I watched the Meihu opera "Zhang Lian Selling Cloth" with my father, and I found it very interesting.
The story is very simple. The fourth sister spins flowers and weaves cloth, and asks her husband Zhang Lian to go to the market to sell them. By the way, she buys some cotton and comes back to continue spinning and weaving to maintain reproduction. Zhang Lian's family was originally well off, but Zhang Lian was a gambler. When the fourth sister married Zhang Lian at the age of eighteen, the family situation had already begun to decline. Zhang Lian sold the cloth woven by his wife, but he met a gambler on the road and took him away to gamble again. He lost everything and felt very regretful on the way home. He didn't know how to explain it to his wife, so he had to go back and play blindly. Make it up. The fourth sister was very virtuous. When her husband came home, she handed him cigarettes and poured tea. She also asked about the money for selling the cloth and the cotton he bought back. Zhang Lian said yes! have! have! But I just couldn't get the money out, so I had no choice but to lend the money to others. The fourth sister knew that Zhang Lian was lying to her again and called him a robber! He complained about how he had ruined his family over the years. Zhang Lian is a smooth talker and can speak well. He attributed all the reasons for selling things and selling things over the years to the fourth sister's family. In short, all the money was spent on the fourth sister's father, mother and sister. He blamed the fourth sister for not being able to live a good life. This makes sense. Well-founded and clear-cut. The singing is very nice and lively, and there are some lines that make you laugh:
The fourth sister sings: Robber! What did you do with our big flood pond?
Zhang Lianchang: I think it only grows toads instead of fish!
The fourth sister sang: What did you do with our big iron pot?
Zhang Lianchang: I think it stirs up the mess!
The fourth sister sang: What did you do with selling our urinal?
Zhang Lianchang: I think you have to pee in the ditch!
……
When I was a child, I didn’t like watching plays, especially old plays. It's not that I don't like the arias in it, but I think the tempo is too slow. It takes such a long drawl to express a sentence or a meaning, and there are some southern operas that I can't even understand. Later, when I read Yuan Opera, I suddenly discovered that the opera's text is still very well written. In "The Peony Pavilion", "It turns out that the colorful flowers are blooming everywhere, but they are all abandoned by the broken wells and ruins. No matter how beautiful the scenery is in the good time, it will be a pleasure for everyone." The courtyard is full of morning clouds and dusk, clouds and green pavilions, raindrops and wind, smoke and waves painting boats...like flowers and beautiful families, like the passage of time." The lyrics are still intoxicating and beautiful when I read them.
After entering middle age, for some reason, I gradually became fond of Shaanxi’s local operas such as Qin Opera, Meihu Opera, and Wanwan Opera. I often wandered by the moat and listened to the self-music troupe. Even though I didn’t know the plot, I still remembered it. It's not about the opera, but you can tell who sings well and who doesn't sing well, including how good the banhu is. Although I only occasionally stopped to listen to a paragraph or a few sentences, I still felt that it was quite beautiful and enjoyable, so I also wrote a few sentences: "The autumn rains in Nanguo are late and the sun is clearing, and Qin is singing by the moat. Many events in the Thirteenth Dynasty are all in String songs and drums at dusk.
"Sometimes I would ask the knowledgeable theatergoers next to me what they were singing. They told me it was "Liang Qiuyan" or "Silver Lanterns and Colors." When I came back and turned on the computer and looked online, I remembered that I had heard my mother say, "After listening to Liang Qiuyan, I was so happy that I couldn't sing it for three days." "Don't eat", I couldn't understand what it felt like at the time. Now that I think about it, it might be the same as what Confucius said about not knowing the taste of meat after listening to Shao music for three days!
Internet and TV The impact of the media on opera is still great, making people feel that the development space of opera is getting smaller and smaller, and some are in danger of decline. Most people who like to sing and listen to opera are elderly. Sometimes I think, if one day the elderly Are they gone, will opera have no successor? The TV series "The Ex-Wife Comes Home" translated by Zhang Jia somewhat shows the current embarrassing situation of the opera industry, and it seems that there are still some of them like the old times. Those who work hard are still persisting and working hard, including the application of some new technologies in stage background, music, sound and light, etc., striving to adapt to the pace of life and sensory enjoyment of modern people. However, "there is no choice but to leave the flowers." Nowadays, people's cultural life is very rich, and they have many choices. Each cultural form has a specific audience. I can't remember who said that "opera is a fairy tale for the elderly" and young people don't watch it. , there are always some old people still watching. What's more, young people will become old people after experiencing the vicissitudes of life, and some people will inevitably enter this fairy tale world. Talented people fled, which also affected the emergence of new operas. After all, old operas and emperors, generals, ministers, talents and beauties cannot always be performed on the stage. People's spiritual world cannot always stay in the old era. On the one hand, it is innovation. New life and ordinary people’s lives also need to be expressed, just like "Liang Qiuyan"
2. Forever Qiuyan
I listened to "Liang Qiuyan" at night. I imagined the scene of Qiuyan digging wild vegetables in the fields on a March day. The liveness of the stage play is still different from that of the TV series.
After checking the information of this play, it turns out that this is the scene. The author of the play is Huang Junyao, the director of the Shaanxi Provincial Opera Research Institute. The story is based on Liang Meiye of Zhuzhang Village, Gaotang Town, Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province. In 1951, the Central Ministry of Justice went to the northwest to investigate the implementation of the new marriage law, and Huang Junyao participated. The northwest working group helped in the work in the Weinan area. During this period, they heard many cases, including the story of Liang Meiye's resistance to marriage, and based on it, the Meihu drama "Liang Qiuyan" was written, which was performed by the Weinan area art troupe and later became popular in Shaanxi Province. Arranged by the Academy of Chinese Opera, starring Li Ruifang, performed in Jinjing, it was a sensation in the northwest region. There is a saying that "I didn't eat for three days after watching Liang Qiuyan"
Unfortunately, Liang Meiye, the life prototype of Liang Qiuyan, did not live well. , Marriage autonomy and love freedom did not bring her happiness. As a typical eulogy of an era and a life prototype of a drama character, the contrast between the stage image and reality was huge, and the production team was soon overwhelmed. However, after the reform and opening up, life was still very poor. Even after giving birth to 6 children, they were not living well. The family still lived in a dilapidated cave dwelling and could not even build a house. In 2007, Shaanxi TV had a column called "Sister Zhou Helps You" that interviewed Liang Meiye. After returning home, the director asked Li Ruifang to watch the interview video. Li Ruifang didn't know who it was, but she felt that after more than 20 years of reform and opening up, there were still people living in such poverty. , very surprised! When the director told her that this was Liang Meiye, the life prototype of "Liang Qiuyan" she had sung for decades, Li Ruifang burst into tears with excitement and sadness, and then called the crew of the year to visit and provide some help. After that, the Hua County government also paid attention and helped him build a house, so his life should be better. What happened next is unclear.
Liang Qiuyan’s story takes place in Gaotang, Huaxian County. My father has told about this, and he has also been to that place. But he had never heard of what happened next. The Qiuyan in his heart was still the Qiuyan in the opera, and she should be happy and contented. During the Spring Festival, I told my father about Qiuyan’s subsequent situation. My father was silent for a long time, and I could see the tears in his eyes.