【Past】Shanghai Wang Yaoqing - Hibiscus grass
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Zhao Tongshan (July 13, 1901 – 1966) was a Peking Opera performing artist, Peking Opera Danjiao, Peking Opera actor, known as stage name Furong Cao, Peking Opera Danjiao actor, named Jiulin (一作九林), Zi Tong shan (一作桐山), number Drunk Qiu, ancestral home directly under Dong'an (Anci, Langfang, Hebei, now Wuqing County, Langfang City).
In my decades of theater watching career, some actors who became popular at that time have a better feeling, but the times have changed, and they have gradually faded into oblivion. However, the exception is for the Peking Opera Danjiao performance artist Furong Cao (Zhao Tongshan). From the first time I watched his plays until I finally saw his performances, I always had an indelible impression. The drama performed by hibiscus grass is like a water hibiscus, which is different and beautiful, and has a different scenery.
Hibiscus grass has been famous on the Peking Opera stage for more than 30 years. In 1913, he studied art in the Beijing Sanle Society (later corrected music society), and together with Shang Xiaoyun and Bai Peony (later renamed Xun Huisheng), he was called "Zhengle Sanjie". When he was sitting in The Department, he starred in the Liantai play "Red Butterfly" (as Red Butterfly Zhao Lingru) in Shanghai in 1916, which was praised for a while. In 1918, he was released from the department, and in 1919, he performed with Mei Lanfang during his visit to Japan. In the early 1920s, Furong Cao performed with Ouyang Yuqiantai in Nantong, and cooperated with Yu Shuyan in Hankou. In 1927, in Beijing, he studied under Wang Yaoqing, a famous master of Peking Opera, and sought advice from Tian Guifeng, a famous lingling at that time, and his art was more advanced. Furong grass basically follows the path of Wang Yaoqing's opera, blending Qingyi, Huadan, Daomadan in one furnace, and is erudite and extensive, learning Kunqu opera, Zizi and Peking Opera in various trades (such as Lao Sheng and Xiao Sheng) to form its own artistic style. In his decades of performances, he has cooperated with many famous artists, not only the "Four Famous Dans" and "Four Great Su Sheng", but also the famous artists Zhou Xinfang, Gai Mingtian, Xiao Cuihua, Wang Youchen, Hao Shouchen, Huang Guiqiu, Xin Yanqiu, Zhang Shuyun and so on. What is more worth mentioning is that in January 1930, Furong Cao accompanied the teacher Wang Yaoqing to Tianjin and performed all of "Yanmen Guan" (performed in three nights) at the New New Grand Theater (now not existing), which was Wang Yaoqing's last appearance in Tianjin, Wang Yaoqing as Empress Xiao, and Lennie Grass as Princess Bilian, which won the praise of the audience.
Hibiscus grass voice is crisp and beautiful, the road is clear, the bite words are accurate, the body is strong and beautiful, there is a strong atmosphere in the softness, and the psychological portrayal of the people in the play is extremely euphemistic and delicate, vivid and touching. More than sixty years ago, when I first saw his play in Beiping, I felt extraordinary. At that time, he cooperated with Wang Youchen, and often performed such dramas as "Mu Ke Zhai", "Mu Tianwang", "Yuelaidian", "Nengren Temple", "Noble Concubine Drunk" and so on, which was quite prestigious. From these plays, it can be seen that his performing arts are quite exquisite. For example, in his performance of "Mu Ke Zhai", the martial arts are skilled and the workmanship is exquisite, which highlights Mu Guiying vividly. Mu Hangying's first horse running round field body, strong and generous and steady; the flip back bow used when shooting geese shoots arrows, which is both beautiful and handsome; the confrontation and confrontation with Yang Zongbao are very compact and quite imposing. In particular, the "Jing Yun Bai" used in the play is rich in musicality and rhythm, and pays great attention to the changes in the sound, spit and breath. Pod Rongcao played the thirteenth sister (He Yufeng) in "Yue Lai Dian" and "Nengren Temple", completely following Wang Yaoqing's acting method. He wears a phoenix hat, a red dress, a cinnabar red mole between his eyebrows, a bullet sac, a bow knife on his back, a waist scarf, a thin-soled red shoe on his feet, and a green silk horse whip in his hand, as a donkey riding a dark cloud and snow. Hibiscus grass grasps the personality characteristics of the characters, drops ink in a big way, renders intentionally, and wins the appreciation of the audience with meticulous expressions and beautiful body movements. For example, the thirteenth sister interrogated An Ji in the Yuelai store, and the hibiscus grass used a crisp and bright large section of Jing Yun white to show the spirit of this heroine among women, with rhythmic reading, personality, identity, and a strong breath of life. The fight between Nengren Temple and the monks is like an autumn wind sweeping away the leaves, light and swift. And when the thirteenth sister said kissing for An Ji and Zhang Jinfeng, Furong Cao used flexible eyes, free body movements and funny confessions, on the one hand, it showed the cheerful personality of the thirteenth sister, and also saw her feminine charm. The experience of hibiscus grass on the characters can be called deep into the bone marrow.
At the end of 1939, I left Beijing for Shanghai. By chance, I passed the Golden Theater (which does not exist today) and saw a large circle of actor's name tags hanging in front of the door, which was impressively listed in the hibiscus grass. But hibiscus grass is not a head card, but belongs to the "two-way Danjiao" tip. I think he may have suffered from his slightly older age, thin appearance, and not much popularity. I also thought that his art was a bit of a step backwards from the past. I watched several of his plays in a row and finally dispelled my thoughts. It is true that most of the plays performed by Hibiscus Grass are supporting roles, but as always, he is still as serious on the stage as when he plays the main role, going all out, and in each play, he is tightly sewn with the protagonist, neither "grabbing" the play, nor because the supporting role is irrelevant, he will take it lightly. A minor role, played by him, always has its own unique features. Therefore, some people refer to hibiscus grass as "licorice in medicine", and the drama where famous horns gather, with his participation, will look particularly glorious. I still think of several of his "masterpieces" to this day. Empress Xiao, played by Mei Rongcao, was quite prestigious at that time. In the scene of "Shiro Visiting Mother" and "Stealing Orders", Hibiscus Grass first sings [Xipi Guide Plate]: "The two countries do not fight with each other", high-pitched and bright, like the wind rising, full of skill, giving people a sense of grandeur. In the sound of [slow long hammer], the hibiscus grass slowly stepped on the field, dressed in a flag python dragon robe, wearing a golden tin studded with pearlescent jade, and the steps were dignified and luxurious, followed by a large section [Xipi slow board]: "Each is its master Jinjiangshan...", crisp and loud, and the sentences are beautiful. And when the Iron Mirror Princess deceived the mother queen to order the arrow, Furong Cao sang the last two sentences in the passage [Flowing Water]: "I order you to hand over the golden beryllium arrow, the five drums are immediately returned", in order to show that although Empress Xiao gave the princess the arrow, but she could not rest assured, to the end of the singing "immediate return" three words, the singing voice was long, repeatedly delayed. In the end, it stopped, and at the end of Empress Xiao, it showed the exquisite workmanship of the hibiscus grass. He stepped on the [rolling head] gong and drum, first walked towards the front of the upper door, one step, two steps, three steps, turned to the "Kowloon Mouth", then to the next door, the steps were slow and then urgent, the headdress swayed slightly, while pounding his waist, while stepping into the backstage, winning the applause of the audience.
Later, he also saw that Furong Grass cooperated with Huang Guiqiu and staged the "Wild Goose Gate Pass" personally transmitted by his teacher Wang Yaoqing. Empress Xiao, played by Hibiscus Grass, and Empress Xiao in "Silang Visiting Mother" can be called "double-handed". Like empress Xiao's defeat to Yang Jia beg and several scenes in the play, Furong Cao uses her eyes, gestures, and tired, decadent and powerless steps. Very meticulously expressed Empress Xiao's frustration and painful emotions that she had to seek peace with her opponents due to the defeat of the army, and really did enough of the trick.
In the winter of 1941, Xi Xiaobo, the "Four Great Su Shengs", came to Shanghai to perform at the Golden Tai Theater, and once the finale played Hou Yulan (as Di Yunluan) and Cheng Jixian (as Lu Kunjie) co-starred in "Proud Edge", Furong Cao played Lang Xiayu, when her daughter Di Yunluan told her husband that Lu Kunjie would want to go down the mountain to leave the cottage, Lang Xiayu was too surprised and asked her daughter's plan: "My son, what about you?" This sentence of white hibiscus grass was read louder and louder, and the sound shook the whole audience, firmly grasping the heartstrings of the audience, creating a strong stage atmosphere. After sending away Lu Kunjie and Di Yunluan, in order to show Lang Xiayu's desolate and sad mood, the hibiscus grass sent her eyes far away until she could not see the shadow, and then dragged the gun behind her, full of worries, step by step and extremely slowly into the backstage, completely bringing the audience to the play, leaving an endless aftertaste.
Hibiscus is not only good at playing positive characters, but also very good at negative characters. When he cooperated with Xun Huisheng in Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin, Xun Huisheng performed the tragedy "Fish Algae Palace" (writing the story of Lü Hou of the Han Dynasty who beheaded Qi Ji), Xun played the protagonist Qi Ji, and most of them were played by Furong Cao as Lü Hou. Lü Hou portrayed in hibiscus grass is violent and vicious. When Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, died of illness, Empress Lü would want to eliminate Qi Ji and then quickly. Lü Hou summoned Qi Ji into the palace and forced Qi Ji to call the emperor, and Qi Ji initially called out no. At this time, Lü Hou forced Qi Ji to call again with a hateful eye, and Qi Ji called again that she should not, and could not help but wonder if the emperor had passed away, but Lü Hou made Qi Ji call again for the third time, and when Qi Ji suddenly found that the emperor was dead, she was frightened and shouted, Lü Hou immediately stepped forward fiercely and slapped her, and Qi Ji had to be forced to kneel and beg for forgiveness. Immediately after Lü Hou decided to poison the hands and kill Qi Ji's mother and son. The hibiscus grass performs Lü Hou's tyranny, fierceness, cruelty and extermination of humanity on the stage. Wang Xifeng in "The Second You of the Red Chamber" is another successful negative image portrayed by Hibiscus Grass. Wang Xifeng hid the knife in his smile, poisonous and sinister. She earned You ErJie into the Rongguo Mansion, and when You ErJie gave birth, Wang Xifeng first made Yahuan Qiutong burn the baby to death, and even forced You Erjie to take a soup medicine with a gold ring as a medicine, causing her to die. Furong Grass portrays Wang Xifeng's ferocious mentality of jealousy and intolerance of others, adding a glorious stroke to the whole performance. It seems that being a "supporting role" is by no means easy, and it is difficult to be competent to show the "infinite" mood from the "limited" world.
Hibiscus grass has been performed in Shanghai for many years, and Bo has the reputation of "Shanghai Wang Yaoqing", which should be the audience's great admiration and love for him!