The drama "White School" was founded in the 1930s by Bai Yushuang, and its inheritor and developer was his adopted daughter "Little White Jade Frost".
Xiao Bai Yushuang is a descendant of one of the most influential genres in the history of Chinese drama criticism, the "White School". In 1953, after the establishment of the Chinese Critics Troupe, the play "Qin Xianglian" was arranged, and the image of Qin Xianglian she created was a sign of the maturity of her performing arts. In 1956, "Qin Xianglian" was made into a movie, and Xiao Bai Yushuang won the gold medal and became famous at home and abroad.
The original name of the commentary drama was "PingluZi Opera", commonly known as "Tangshan Luozi" and "Bouncing Opera", which was once the second largest opera genre in China, because the tune of the commentary was beautiful and beautiful, the lyrics were easy to understand, and in singing, reading and performing, they were full of strong breath of life, so they were loved by the masses.
Bai Yushuang, the founder of the commentary "White School", formerly known as Li Guizhen, was born in Guye, Luan County, Hebei Province. Born in Tianjin in 1907 to a family of artists who sang Lotus Fall, his father was Li Jingchun (stage name Pink Lotus), a Lotus Fall artist. Bai Yushuang learned art at the age of 7, and at the age of 11, he worshipped a teacher surnamed Liu who sang a big drum, and at the age of 14, he worshiped Sun Fengming, the head of the Sun family class, as a teacher and changed to commentary. Its stage name "White Jade Cream" was given by Sun Fengming. The 14-year-old Bai Yushuang debuted on the stage of opera in the sound of gongs and drums, and also stepped onto the stage of life. Bai Yushuang is tall and beautiful, and with a unique low-back and gentle, long and loud singing voice, it enhances the lyricism of the commentary, thus creating the "White School". She also added Nan Hu to the accompaniment instruments, and also had many innovations in makeup and performance skills. In the 1920s and 1930s, White Jade Cream was red all over Beijing and Tianjin and was known as the "Queen of Drama Criticism".
At the end of 1931, Bai Yushuang entered Beiping for the first time, performing plays such as "Hua Kui Congliang", "Horse Widow Opening Shop", "Double Butterfly", "Qin Xianglian" and other plays in Tianqiao and the city. In 1934, Bai Yushuang was expelled from Beiping because of the drama "Take the Fly", which was regarded as a violation of morality.
White jade cream
This is a well-known public case. In 1934, Bai Yushuang led the drama class to perform "Peach Blossom Nunnery", "Pearl Shirt", "Horse Widow Shop", "Take Flies" and other theater gardens in Beiping's Halfei and Guangde Lou, which were widely praised by people from all walks of life in Beiping, and box office revenue rose sharply. During this period, Bai Yushuang also acted in "Shoot the Camel Dragon" with the female bandit as the protagonist. At that time, the mayor of Beiping was named Yuan Liang, and he listened to the introduction of his subordinates, and Bai Yushuang was beautiful and good, so he came to Guangde Lou to watch Bai Yushuang's play, and as a result, he was attracted by Bai Yushuang and had evil thoughts. He came to listen to Bai Yushuang's plays one after another and tried to occupy her, but Bai Yushuang just wouldn't buy his account. This Mayor Yuan became angry and looked for an opportunity to take revenge. One day, he heard that Bai Yushuang would perform the play "Take the Fly" that night, so he carefully set a trap. That night, Yuan Liang did not show off as usual, but sat down lightly to watch the white jade cream performance.
The plot of "Take the Fly" is that a fly becomes a spirit, comes down to fall in love with people, and gives birth to a child, and finally is known by the Heavenly Court, and the Jade Emperor sends the Heavenly Soldier Heavenly General to capture this fly essence. Because this play is absurd and bizarre, a bit of a prank of the meaning of "The Legend of the White Snake", it is well received by the market, and the ticket price has risen again and again, from the triangle to one yuan, and the ticket price has been equivalent to Mei Lanfang's performance, and there is more than one posture. When starring, Bai Yushuang and the two actresses who played the beard wore "sanitary pants", red belly pockets, and a dozen lights, similar to exposing their arms and legs. Their outfits are at best similar to those of gymnasts or figure skaters. But in those years, it was already very inconspicuous. The play was only halfway through, and it was also at the bone of Bai Yushuang's most kung fu that Bai Yushuang made an outstretched appearance, revealing her close skin tone and clear lines. At this time, Yuan Liang in the audience gave his entourage a look and got up to leave the theater. Three days later, Mayor Yuan approved the Report of the Peking Opera Censorship Committee and ordered Bai Yushuang's expulsion from Beiping. On that day, several policemen with guns came to Bai Yushuang's apartment, and they could not say that they would escort Bai Yushuang to the train until Fengtai, and several policemen got off the train. Bai Yushuang helplessly entered Shanghai, this year is 1934, did not admit it, bad things became good things, this time leaving Beiping to shanghai, but achieved her career.
Bai Yushuang led An Guanying and Xiao Fuzi (Xiao Baiyushuang) to Shanghai, and after settling down, they performed on the Tian toad Stage. It was also at this time that Bai Yushuang became acquainted with the famous dramatists Tian Han, Ouyang Yuqian, Hong Shen and others, which brought her artistic career to its peak. Ouyang Yuqian wrote Pan Jinlian for her. Bai Yushuang cooperated with Peking Opera actor Zhao Ruquan to perform "Pan Jinlian", which was very popular with Shanghai audiences, and performed nearly 100 times in succession, with a growing reputation. Mr. Hong Shen not only wrote "Yan Po Xie" for her, but also filmed the first film of the review for her, "Begonia Red". "Begonia Red" was filmed by the Star Film Company in July 1936, starring Bai Yushuang, and Wang Xianzhai, Yan Gongshang, Shu Xiuwen and other supporting roles. This is the first drama review film in China, depicting the desolate and wandering life of a critic named Haitang Hong. The film premiered at the Shanghai Jincheng Grand Theater and immediately caused a sensation throughout the city. That is, in Shanghai, in order to adapt to the appreciation habits of southern audiences, Bai Yushuang changed the Daobai in the play from Tangshan dialect to Mandarin, and changed the title of "bungee jumping opera" to "commentary". These bold changes of hers have played a historic turning point in the development of the drama, and they have contributed to it.
As an opera artist in the old society, Bai Yushuang's fate was tragic. Her adoptive mother and class master only used her as a cash cow, doing everything possible to squeeze money out of her, regardless of her personal emotions and physical health. She has never been married in her life, and in order to survive she caters to the low-level tastes of the audience, and has performed some unhealthy plays. In July 1942 (the time is August 10, 1943), Bai Yushuang's uterine cancer was in its advanced stage, and halfway through a play called "Boudoir Persuasion", she was unable to support herself and was sent to the hospital.
Bai Yushuang's death was directly related to her being imprisoned as a political prisoner in the Red Mansion on the beach and suffering inhuman torture by the Japanese gendarmerie. According to relevant documents, after the Lugou Bridge Incident, the Japanese army occupied Peiping, and Bai Yushuang was framed by the gangster forces and imprisoned by the Japanese gendarmerie, where Bai Yushuang was brutally tortured. Bai Yushuang was devastated beyond human appearance, and it was also that torture that caused her to fall into a fatal root. Later, her family and relatives and friends spent a lot of money to buy a person surnamed Jin in the gendarmerie to rescue her from the Hands of the Japanese Gendarmerie. After Bai Yushuang was released from prison, his body weakened. Even so, in order to survive, she still had to sing, twice a day, wind and rain.
In 1942, Bai Yushuang fell completely ill. She was admitted to a German hospital in Dongjiaomin Lane, Beiping, and after being examined by doctors, she had uterine cancer. After staying in the hospital for a while and stabilizing his condition slightly, Bai Yushuang was discharged from the hospital. After returning to Tianjin from Beiping, she insisted on acting and rehearsing new plays. One day, she was performing the play "Boudoir Persuasion" in the Tianjin Beiyang Theater, and before she could perform it, she was bleeding all over the place. Soon, his condition worsened, and Bai Yushuang was admitted to the hospital again. A few days later, she left the stage forever.
After Bai Yushuang's death, her adopted daughter Xiao Baiyushuang inherited her artistic style and developed it. She learned to play with Bai Yushuang from a young age, and officially appeared on stage at the age of 14, living for Bai Yushuang to be "Lizi", and was the second-way role of the drama class.
In February 1937, Bai Yushuang, who was performing in Shanghai, was afraid of the bullying of the underworld leaders, and resolutely bid farewell to her beloved cymbal master Li Changsheng and fled to Baxian County, Hebei Province. But the drama class has signed a contract with the theater, and the tickets for a few days have been sold, and the drama team, in a hurry, renamed Li Zaiwen "Little White Jade Cream", topping the status of the protagonist of White Jade Cream and pushing her out hard. Xiao Bai Yushuang, who was only 15 years old, made his name and sang red in Shanghai. According to its own conditions, Xiao Bai Yushuang developed and improved the art of "white school" of drama criticism, making "white school" one of the main genres of drama criticism. In the minds of the general audience, the art of "white school" is only suitable for performing tragedies, but Xiao Bai Yushuang has made it have new developments and breakthroughs. She grew up in Qingyi opera, dressed generously, and her eyes conveyed the spirit, and successfully created many characters with different personalities such as Yang Xiangcao in "Little Son-in-Law" and landlord wife in "Nine-tailed Fox" on the stage.
Small white jade cream
In October 1951, Xiao Bai Yushuang, who was popular in Beijing for his performance of the commentary drama "Little Son-in-Law", was specially invited to attend the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and was received by Chairman Mao Zedong.
In June 1952, Xiao Baiyushuang and Xi Baokun and others formed the New China Drama Critics Working Group, with Xi Baokun as the chairman and she as the vice chairman. It was also in this year that the second Chinese people's condolence group went to the Korean battlefield to offer condolences, and Xiao Baiyushuang participated in the condolence group. Xiao Bai Yushuang is also the first actor in the critics circle to perform modern dramas such as "Brothers and Sisters Open the Wasteland" and "The Millennium Ice River Opens". In 1953, Xiao Baiyushuang joined the Chinese opera troupe led by Xue Enhou.
Since then, in cooperation with many critics, Xiao Bai Yushuang's "White School" art style has become more and more perfect, forming a unique charm. The "White School" singing voice with low back and gentleness, rigidity and softness, and long charm is like the "Cheng School" in Peking Opera, which is loved by the audience. Xiao Bai Yushuang's representative plays "Little Son-in-Law", "Qin Xianglian", "Du Shiniang", "Noisy Yan Mansion" and "Jinsha Riverside" have become the representative repertoire of the commentary.
In the performance repertoire, Xiao Bai Yushuang has always insisted on the simultaneous promotion of costume drama and modern drama. She has played many ancient female roles in traditional plays, such as Zhao Jintang in "Zhu Trace", Yan Lanzhen in "Haunting Yan Mansion", Du Shiniang in "Du Shiniang" and Qin Xianglian in "Qin Xianglian", etc., with distinct personalities and different images, which left a deep impression on the audience. In particular, her masterpiece "Qin Xianglian" absorbs and draws on the strengths of brotherly dramas such as Peking Opera, Zizi, and Quyi in performance, and enriches her own performing arts. During the filming of the movie "Qin Xianglian", she respected the director's need for the character modeling in the play, and without hesitation shaved off her eyebrows, removed her makeup and went home with a veil. The incident was rumored to be a good story in the theater industry.
In 1954 (published on June 16), New Observation magazine had a review article by Mr. Chen Mengjia entitled "Commenting on the Drama 'Qin Xianglian]", which commented on the play as follows:
The Chinese Critics Troupe's recent performance of "Qin Xianglian" has been appreciated by many audiences. Many people shed tears for the abandoned Qin Xianglian and hated the ruthless and unrighteous Chen Shimei, while pinning their hopes on the mythical figure Bao Gong to save Qin Xianglian. This is because the play "Qin Xianglian" has its fascinating success in the arrangement of the script, in the layout of the stage, and in the art of the actors. These achievements are not accidental, she accepts the advantages of traditional commentary, abandons some of the dross and cumbersome branches, and appears in a newer and more refined appearance.
Mr. Chen also commented on the genre of drama:
The advantages of the drama review, especially in the play "Qin Xianglian", are fully expressed in at least two points: one point, it is the words and sentences she sings, the audience is easy to understand, and at the same time, a good actor is easy to successfully carry feelings in the lyrics; one point, the story content has a compact continuity, so that the audience's emotions develop with the development of the story, and at the same time it is convenient for a good actor to manipulate her singing in a measured manner.
There is a large paragraph in the text that comments on Xiao Bai Yushuang's acting:
In terms of playing, Xiao Bai Yushuang develops according to the plot and shows the layer changes of his emotions to different degrees. When singing about the in-laws starving to death, the tone of voice is stable and desolate, when recounting the love of the couple, there is a trembling in the voice, the memories of past love have become mournful, and when the last request is made to take in the children, it has been seen that the husband's fierce heart has been mixed with sorrow and resentment. Therefore, when the husband said that the sword of Shangfang was unfavorable to you, there was a passionate complaint. In his remarks, he scolded Chen Shimei for being unfaithful, filial, unkind, and unjust, and was filled with indignation, which was extremely successful. When the audience arrived here, their hatred for Chen Shimei went to a higher level. Then sang "Scold the strong man you are too cruel", it was really tearful. When singing this paragraph, we see that in addition to the movements of the hands and feet, the protagonist's mouth muscles tensely open and close, expressing hatred and cutting teeth, and expressing the grief in her heart very expressively. Sound, movement and emotion come together. She sang at the end of the sentence: "Come home with me quickly", and was poking Chen Shimei's hidden pain, so she kicked her down and ended this struggle...
As an outstanding people's artist, Xiao Baiyushuang was not only received by Chairman Mao Zedong, went to the Korean front, served as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a director of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, but also was awarded the title of "Performing Artist of Drama Criticism" by the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Culture and the Beijing Municipal Party Committee. It can be said that Xiao Bai Yushuang was a first-class actor with the highest political status in the drama critics in the 1950s and 1960s, and was also the first old drama actor in the country to perform revolutionary modern plays; he was also the highest paid actor in the critics' circles, with a monthly salary of six hundred yuan, and it should be known that the average person's salary at that time was only a few tens of yuan.
Xiao Bai Yushuang's personal emotional experience is very unfortunate, she was once forced to work as the outer chamber of Bai Mou, an officer of the Tianjin Pseudo-Security Command, and later married a person surnamed Zhao, and soon separated due to the breakdown of feelings. After that, she has not been able to form a happy family, has not had children, and has only adopted a daughter.
Later, because she rehearsed the plays of the emperor and the general and the talented woman, such as "Pearl Shirt" and "Du Shiniang", Xiao Bai Yushuang was shocked and persecuted, and she swallowed a large number of sleeping pills and committed suicide at the age of 45. On her deathbed, she wrote two lines in the palm of her hand: "I have no culture, don't bully me." "There is no ashes left, no tombstone, but she has left an indelible shining image in the history of Chinese drama criticism."
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