Gao Fengshan, a famous allegro book and cross-talk performance artist in China, became an orphan when he was a child, begged all the way to Beijing, and after performing allegro and cross-talk for Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou, why could he afford to buy a courtyard?
Gao Fengshan
Gao Fengshan was born on May 2, 1921 in Sanhe City, Hebei Province. He is a famous allegro book and cross-talk performance artist in China, his artistic attainments are very high, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he also performed allegro and cross-talk for Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou.
In fact, many people do not know that the fate of Mr. Gao Fengshan when he was a child was very miserable, and when he was 6 years old, his family died for various reasons. He became an orphan as a result. At a time of turmoil in China's integrity, Hebei, Beijing and other places were already relatively stable places. Since all his family members died, Gao Fengshan could only beg and wander around.
In this way, in 1928, he came to Beijing during a begging process. He was only 7 years old at the time, but fortunately he met Cao Dekui, nicknamed "Cao Mazi". Cao Dekui was also quite famous in Beijing Tianqiao at that time, and was known as one of the "Eight Strange Men". Cao Dekui saw that he was poor, so he adopted it. Although Cao Dekui was quite famous, the social status of "Counting Treasure" artists at that time was very low. Although he was sheltered by Cao Dekui and had temporary stability, he would often be bullied by some scoundrels.
Beijing Tianqiao sells art
After Gao Fengshan was adopted by Cao Dekui, he followed him to learn to sing "Counting Treasures", when Gao Fengshan felt that although the social status of this line was not high, he could support himself. Gao Fengshan has great respect for Cao Dekui and is very grateful to him for adopting himself. Cao Dekui was the first noble person Gao Fengshan met on the bumpy road of life, and the first of his many teachers. Usually, Gao Fengshan has a lot of eyesight, and in addition to learning art, he often does some chores such as washing clothes, cooking, and buying vegetables, and is also very filial to his master and master. Gao Fengshan studied art very hard, often not sleeping until midnight at night.
In this way, Gao Fengshan studied with Cao Dekui for almost seven years, because Cao Dekui taught very seriously, and Gao Fengshan was willing to learn, so during this period of time, his "counting treasures" skills laid a solid foundation. Cao Dekui saw that Gao Fengshan's learning skills were enough to support himself, so he let him go to school, and this year Gao Fengshan was only 14 years old. After he first graduated from school, Gao Fengshan's life was very difficult, so he also began to sell art, because he was a newcomer, so he was bullied.
Later, Gao Fengshan became acquainted with Gao Deliang, who was a titan in the cross-talk world, so he began to worship Gao Deliang as a teacher and follow him to learn cross-talk.
Gao Deliang
In fact, before Gao Fengshan left the master, he had already begun to perform with master Cao Dekui. Because Cao Dekui was still relatively powerful at that time, he also got acquainted with many powerful "big coffee" at that time, such as Ma Sanli, Luo Rongshou, Zhu Xiangchen, Sun Baocai and others. These people have traveled to Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan and other places, and they are all the leading "big people" in the local area. The acquaintance with them also gave Gao Fengshan a prerequisite for reaching a peak in art. After all, everyone knows that those who are close to Zhu are close to ink and those who are black!
For a long time, there is a widespread saying that the reason why Gao Fengshan came out of the school is because after each performance, Gao Fengshan has to give all the money he earns to his master Cao Dekui. In 1935, the vicinity of Beijing was already very turbulent, and there were Japanese people outside Guanxi, with the intention of annexing China at any time. And the internal warlords are fighting, and the Kuomintang government is not doing anything, so the people's life is not good. The people's life is not good, and the life of these "counting treasure" artists is naturally even more difficult. At that time, Gao Fengshan did not earn money during the performance and could not pay the bill, so he was worried that Master would scold himself. So he secretly fled Beijing and went to Tianjin.
However, although this statement is widely circulated, there are also many voices that have been questioned. Many people have done for him that Gao Fengshan is a person with extremely heavy feelings, and in his most difficult time, it was Master Cao Dekui who adopted him and taught him skills with all his heart, and he could not escape because of these things. Moreover, there is no information to show that Cao Dekui is not good for Gao Fengshan, but Gao Fengshan always shows gratitude to his master when he recalls Cao Dekui later. In fact, at that time, Gao Fengshan did go to Tianjin, and Cao Dekui also stayed in Beijing, but the reason for doing so must be another reason, not as the rumors say.
Beijing, 1937
Later, in 1937, Gao Fengshan returned to Beijing again, by which time his master Cao Dekui was terminally ill, unable to take care of himself anymore, and unable to perform again. Therefore, Cao Dekui also owed a lot of money to others, and Gao Fengshan had already gained a firm foothold at this time, so he helped Master pay off the money he owed to others. At the same time, he also asked Master to see a very good doctor, but these did not save Master's life.
After Cao Dekui's death, Gao Fengshan hired a car at his own expense and personally walked more than fifty miles to send the body of his master Cao Dekui back to his hometown "Daxing Qingyundian" for burial. From these things that Gao Fengshan did for Cao Dekui, it is not difficult to see what kind of person Gao Fengshan is, and at the same time, it also negates the authenticity of the rumors from the side.
The cross-talk and allegro circles pay the most attention to the inheritance of master and apprentice, and many people see that Gao Fengshan has feelings and righteousness for the master, so they also respect him very much. Gao Fengshan likes to study, coupled with the fact that his artistic talent is already very high, so his skills are becoming more and more mature, and his reputation in the circle is slowly rising. Later, according to statistics, Gao Fengshan's performance of allegro books and "counting treasures" was as high as more than 200, and many of them became classics sung in society.
Later, Mr. Gao Fengshan also published the book "Counting Treasures", which was regarded by many people as a guideline. Because Gao Fengshan was an orphan since childhood, he did not go to school for a few days, so when he planned to publish this book, he was helped by his master Gao Deliang and Wang Xueyi. Their help also made Gao Fengshan very moved, and he was very excited whenever he mentioned this matter!
After the founding of New China, the state respected these artists and gave them a great deal of dignity, which was not available in the old society. So in 1949, the 28-year-old Gao Fengshan and others actively participated in the "CrossTalk Improvement Group", during which Time Gao Fengshan became very enthusiastic, he presided over the compilation of many new songs, and he became one of the 11 initiators. Because he felt that what he was best at was allegro books and "counting treasures", he began to study these things.
Gao Fengshan's achievements are very high, he is not only the "first person to stand up and sing allegro" in the history of Chinese allegro, but he is also the founder of "Gaopai Allegro". As a pioneer of the genre, he has his own distinct acting style and characteristics. When he performs, he not only has playful language, tight rhythm and clear words, but also has a strong logic, and his performance is magnificent and magnificent. At the same time, the plate groove he plays is stable and at the same time rich in great changes, all of which come from his solid basic skills.
Before Mr. Gao Fengshan stood and sang the Allegro Book, the artists had to kneel on one knee before performing, and because of this, their social status was very low, and there was no connection between "Counting Treasure" and Allegro at that time, and usually performed their own performances. However, Gao Fengshan took a different path, absorbing the performance characteristics of opera and commentaries, and using them in the "counting treasures". This kind of "improvement" was instantly liked by many people. It also allowed him to find his own performance style, and at the same time established his status as a master.
In 1951, at this time, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea had entered the most critical time, and in order to boost morale, the state set up the "First Condolence Mission to Korea." Beijing's literary and art circles actively participated, and 23 people participated in the "Quyi Service Brigade", among which in addition to Gao Fengshan, there were many people, such as Gao Yuanjun, who was the founder of the "Shandong Kuaishu Gaopai", Hou Baolin, a cross-talk master, and Chang Baokun, a small mushroom. They actively performed for volunteer soldiers on the Korean battlefield.
They were not afraid of danger on the Korean battlefield, always showing up where they were most needed to perform for the soldiers. It was also during this performance that the little mushroom Chang Baokun unfortunately died on the Korean battlefield. Chang Baokun's sacrifice was a very great loss to our country, and for this reason, Liao Chengzhi, who was the leader of the condolence group at the time, cried even louder. At the farewell ceremony of Comrade Chang Baokun, the whole society in Tianjin was sensational. From these, we can also see the contributions made by these people to new China, because if the contribution is not large, how can so many people bid him farewell!
Qu Yi Troupe in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea
Mr. Gao Fengshan has also performed for Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou. Because at that time, new China had just been founded not long ago, and everything was in ruins to be rebuilt, so the chairman and the premier handled government affairs very hard every day. One evening the chairman and the prime minister suddenly mentioned Gao Fengshan while discussing crosstalk and allegro. Since the chairman and prime minister were very tired, the guards said that they could let these allegro cross-talk artists come and perform for the chiefs. At first the president and the prime minister refused, feeling that the night was too much trouble for them. Later, the guards insisted repeatedly, and the two and the other chiefs wanted to see it, so they agreed to the proposal.
For safety reasons, the guards did not tell them what to do with them when they went to invite them. Gao Fengshan heard someone knocking on the door, opened it to see that it was two People's Liberation Army, they said that they let Gao Fengshan wear a long coat and take a bamboo board to follow them.
Gao Fengshan was overwhelmed, but went with them, only to see the car slowly driving into Zhongnanhai. After entering Huai Ren Tang, Gao Fengshan saw that Luo Rongshou, Wang Changyou, Guan Xuezeng and others were all there, and only then did he realize that he was going to perform for the chairman and the premier and other central leaders. Despite the shortage of materials at that time, the central government prepared two steamed buns and a bowl of braised pork for each of them, which made everyone very moved. After the performance, the chairman and the prime minister sent everyone back, and when they left, they each gave a red envelope.
Huai Ren Tang
After Gao Fengshan returned home, he opened the red envelope and saw that it was 150 yuan, which was a big number at the time. Luo Rongshou got married for eighty yuan, while Mr. Gao Fengshan added a few tens of yuan and spent 220 yuan to buy a single-family courtyard in Beijing's Shangtangdao Hutong, which is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars. At that time, only 220 yuan was spent, which was enough to see how significant the 150 yuan red envelope given by the central government was at that time!
Later, in 1957, after the reorganization of the Beijing Qu Art Troupe, Gao Fengshan served as the new head of the troupe and began to work with Wei Xikui, during which time he created many popular works, and his artistic achievements also reached the peak.
On August 6, 1993, Gao Fengshan died at the age of 72, and this giant in the music and art world completed his life, and although he died, his spirit and apprentices still shine in the music art world.
In memory of Mr. Gao Fengshan
On March 22, 2008, the Beijing Qu Artists Association held a special performance of "Commemorating a Generation of Grandmasters Mr. Gao Fengshan" at the Chongwen District Cultural Center. In this performance, Li Jindou also performed on stage in order to thank Mr. Gao Fengshan for his help. It is reported that Gao Fengshan is one of the most important people in Li Jindou's life and has helped Li Jindou many times. At that time, Gao Fengshan also put down his body to praise Li Jindou, who was only a teenager. When Li Jindou forgot his words, cheered for him, and it was precisely because of These actions of Mr. Gao Fengshan that Li Jindou also became a generation of "masters"!
In addition to Li Jindou, famous cross-talk masters Shengjie, Wei Wenhua, Chen Yongquan, Meng Fangui, Wang Xueyi, and Gao Fengshan's disciples Cui Qi, Zhang Changlai, Zhang Wenfu, Li Shaojie, Li Shiru and others also participated in the performance. Together, they performed Mr. Gao Fengshan's masterpieces "Tongrentang", "Zhuge Liang Baobao", "Wusong Dadian", "Qin Qiong Selling Horses" and "Counting Treasures" and other excellent masterpieces!
Worship the Master
Generally speaking, Gao Fengshan and a group of artists of the older generation have very high attainments in literature and art, because they come from the masses of the people and they know what the general public needs most. He also knows what kind of works he should use to give back to everyone's love for them, so he can create so many classic works. Although the old man has been dead for 28 years, everyone has not forgotten him, he is like a monument, forever inspiring future generations to move forward!