A college classmate who is far away in Guangdong wrote a diary "Not by the Plum Blossoms, but by the Willows". It also included a few photos she took while watching Kun Opera live, which immediately reminded me of that period. When I was obsessed with Kun Opera "The Peony Pavilion", my hands were itching unbearably. I couldn't help but talk about "The Peony Pavilion" and Kun Opera.

I am ashamed to say that although I have lived in Kunshan, the birthplace of Kun Opera, for many years, I was not a fan of Kun Opera before, and Kun Opera has indeed been in decline for a long time.

What really made me interested in "The Peony Pavilion" and wanted to know more about it was after watching "A Dream of Red Mansions". I remember "The Peony Pavilion" was mentioned in at least two places in the book. One of them is the four excerpts ordered by Concubine Yuan during her wedding ceremony. One of them, "Leaving the Soul", is a fragment of "The Peony Pavilion". According to Zhi Yanzhai's comment, "Leaving the Soul" is the death of Fu Daiyu.

Another place is that after Daiyu and Baoyu watched "The Romance of the West Chamber" together under the peach blossom tree, Baoyu was first taken away by the attacker. When Daiyu returned to Xiaoxiang Pavilion alone, she passed by Lixiangyuan , the young actor in it was rehearsing the Kunqu opera "The Peony Pavilion". When Daiyu heard the lyrics of "The Peony Pavilion", such as "Like a beautiful couple, like a flower, like a fleeting year", "You feel sorry for yourself in the boudoir", she was amazed by the beauty of the lyrics. Stay there.

After I actually read "The Peony Pavilion", I discovered that Cao Xueqin actually wrote a third place about "The Peony Pavilion", which was one of Xue Xiaomei's ten nostalgic poems about "The Peony Pavilion". "Peony Pavilion" is called "Plum Blossom View and Nostalgia", and the content is:

Not by the plum blossoms, but by the willows.

Who among them picked up the painting of Chan Juan?

Farewell to the west wind for another year.

Having said so much, what kind of story is "The Peony Pavilion" about?

I believe that many people, like me, are astonished by the title of the play, and are familiar with it. The content of the play is now known.

Then I will tell this story briefly:

Du Liniang, a descendant of Du Fu, was a beautiful woman who was raised in a boudoir and unknown to people. He Zhizhou: A Fair Lady, a Gentleman’s Love? After that, she began to have the feelings of a girl. On a bright spring day, Du Liniang, "Wandering in the Garden and Dreaming", wandered in her back garden and fell asleep under a plum tree unknowingly. She dreamed of a handsome young man holding a willow branch and met her unexpectedly. The two of them turned around in front of the peony garden, leaned against the stone edge of the lake and mountain, and came to the Peony Pavilion. They unbuttoned their collars and wore clothes. Bandwidth, patience and gentle sleep. ?

After Du Liniang woke up from the dream, she felt deeply lost and wanted to relive her old dream. However, she had no choice but to revisit her old place, but the good dream was still hard to come back, so she became lovesick and became increasingly haggard. While Chun Rong was still there, I drew a self-portrait and wrote a short poem, one of which was "Not by the plum blossoms, but by the willows". Du Liniang guessed that the young man's name must contain either the character "liu" or the character "梅", because she had the dream under the plum tree, and the young master was holding a willow branch in his hand.

When Du Liniang was dying, she told her maid Chunxiang to hide the painting by the lake and mountain rocks after her death. She also told her parents to bury her under the tree in the yard. Under the plum tree, this play is called "Leaving Soul".

There are two flowers, one on each side. It is said that Mr. Liu, a descendant of Liu Zongyuan, had exactly the same dream as Du Liniang, so he changed his name to "Liu Mengmei". This person originally lived in Lingnan. Because he was inspired by a dream, he came to the capital to take the exam. He happened to live in Meihuaguan. The so-called Meihuaguan was actually the back garden of Du Li’s mother’s family. After Liniang’s death, her parents took the exam for convenience. He performed rituals for her and built this Taoist temple. When Liu Mengmei stayed here, Du Liniang's parents happened to be sent elsewhere to protect the city. What a coincidence, naturally, Liu Mengmei not only lived in Plum Blossom Temple, but also got the painting while wandering around. The play is called "Picture Picking Up".

The next one is "Calling Painting". Liu Mengmei fell in love with the woman in the painting and called the painting "sister" when nothing happened.

Then there is "Young Coupling". Du Liniang's soul heard Liu Mengmei's call and came to have a tryst with Liu Mengmei every night.

Then, Du Liniang told the truth and asked Liu Mengmei to dig the grave, so Du Liniang was reborn. In the end, of course, Liu Mengmei, the number one scholar in high school and her lover, got married.

Their love has experienced the first life love in the dream, the second life love between humans and ghosts, and the third life love in reality, so it is? But love cannot be lost, on the Peony Pavilion Three lives. ?

After talking about "The Peony Pavilion", it's time to talk about how Kun Opera expresses this plot. Kun Opera has been evaluated as having the artistic conception of "ink and landscape painting", which means that its stage props are very few and there are large sections of blank space for your imagination. When Du Liniang sings "Flying in the morning and rolling in the evening, clouds and green pavilions", you have to imagine the sky full of red clouds; when she sings "Rain and wind, smoke and waves draw boats", you also need to imagine the misty rain and boats in the smoke. The looming appearance on the vast lake.

When Kun Opera expresses you and me, it is not like today’s TV movies, where you take off your clothes and belt, which makes people’s blood rush. Instead, two people swing their long sleeves to each other, and you pull Touch my sleeve, and I will twine your sleeve, using the lingering of the sleeve to express the lingering character of the character. It is very beautiful and romantic. You will not have distracting thoughts at all, but will be deeply intoxicated in the beauty of art.

After watching the Kunqu Opera "The Peony Pavilion", or especially Bai Xianyong's youth version of "The Peony Pavilion", the word "beautiful" has been the most commented by viewers. Beautiful lyrics, beautiful vocals, beautiful body, beautiful costumes, beautiful stories, beautiful music... After reading it, you will have a strong feeling: "This is the real art!"

It is said that the youth version of " After "The Peony Pavilion" toured at Peking University, Peking University raised "The Peony Pavilion" to such a high level that they divided people into two types: those who have watched the youth version of "The Peony Pavilion" and those who have not. "The Peony Pavilion". Peking University also offers an elective course on Kunqu Opera, and many modern Peking University talents have played the role of the ancient talent Liu Mengmei.

After the youth version of "The Peony Pavilion", Kun Opera ushered in its recovery. Kunshan has its own Kun Opera Theater, and Kun Opera classes have sprung up since elementary school. I was fortunate to see many different The amazing thing about this version of Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei is that you can watch it often and never get tired of watching it or listening to it. This is the mysterious magic of Kun Opera.

Author: Yang Chunyan

Public account: Yufeng Wenyuan