When I was a child, I lived in a family of Chinese and Western fusion, which is called "middle school is the body, and Western learning is the use".
My father, uncle, and aunt attended the middle school in Beijing French School, similar to today's international school. The textbooks are in French, the teachers are French, and the classes are taught in French, so their French is good and their English is good. My uncle attended the French-run School of Medicine at Aurora University in Shanghai. My aunt taught the British consulate in Shanghai that Chinese, which further developed her spoken English skills.
My father, uncle, and aunt's bookcases were all french and English books, and they were dressed in Western-style clothes, in a western style. Usually at home, they talk to each other, often in English, I think, probably because they are afraid that their strict grandmother will hear about their private affairs! Sometimes they talk and speak Chinese, and suddenly a few French words pop up. Once I asked my uncle, "Why do you say Chinese you have to sandwich French?" "My uncle said for a while that there was no accurate vocabulary in the Chinese to express what he wanted to say, so he could only use French.
My father and uncle drank only foreign liquor, like whiskey, brandy, rum, etc. There are all kinds of wine bottles on the wine cabinet, some flat, some gourd-shaped, some peach-shaped, colorful and beautiful. It's all imported, a hobby in their interpersonal circle.
Eat bread, that is, be sure to grease or cheese. My father told me that when he was working at the German Inkock foreign firm in Shanghai, he stayed in the home of an old foreign woman, ate and lived together, and his eating habits gradually followed those of foreigners.
Judging from their appearance such as clothing, language, diet, etc., they have been completely Westernized. But in their bones, they are completely Chinese traditional and intoxicated with ancient national culture, so in my family's courtyard, a lot of interesting things happened.
A family of East and West
After my family moved to the West Huangchenggen Courtyard, I needed to buy furniture, except for the sofa and Simmons bed, which are Western-style, the others are traditional Chinese. First of all, the material they use rosewood and mahogany, and the style is mostly Chinese style hollow carving.
I remember that in the living room of the main house there was a mahogany round table, the center of the table was inlaid with marble with black stripes, and a circle of carved plum blossoms was carved around the perimeter, and a wooden pillar in the middle was connected with the log below, which could be rotated, and at the bottom was a carved circular base, which was very delicate. In the middle is a porcelain flower plate with a diameter of 60 centimeters, on which are painted the Eight Treasures of Buddhism: clouds, snails, umbrellas, lids, flowers, pots, fish, and intestines. The round table is also equipped with six fan-shaped mahogany carved stools, which surround the round table. The workmanship is very delicate, this is the craftsmanship of the carver that Qi Baishi learned when he was young, how long does it take for such a stool to be carved by hand! In the living room, there is also a large eight-immortal table, and a Taishi chair on each side. In addition to the carvings on the tables and chairs, there are also inlaid "screws" on the legs and armrests of the tables and chairs, that is, the conch shells and sea shells are ground into thin slices, carved into figures, flowers and birds, geometric figures or auspicious Fushou characters, and inlaid in mahogany grooves. The shell or shell is polished and made, which is smooth and dazzling, and can produce colorful light. It contrasts strongly with the dark red wood, and if there is sunlight or light, it is even more magnificent. When you change your perspective, the color changes with it.
There were three living rooms in the main room, and for a while I lived in one of the west ones, which were separated from the living room by partition fans, and each partition was framed with landscapes, flowers, birds and calligraphy works painted on silk. On the west wall opposite the partition is hung four screens of Chinese paintings, spelled together into a large painting, on which dozens of red goldfish are painted, swimming in the green aquatic grass, although there is no painting of water, but it gives people the feeling that the fish swim in the water, a school of vitality. On the left and right sides are cursive couplets, the upper link is "Xiao Sui Tian's Battle", and the lower link is "Twilight Imperial XiangGui". On the lintel leading to the West Ear Room, there is a wooden horizontal plaque, which is Liu Yong's writing of the "Room of Contentment and Lack of Knowledge". Dark brown background color, stone green words, antique. Because the font is grass, the stroke is a continuous pen, so the classmates came home to find me to play, saw this plaque, they all read it in passing: "Knowing is the room of knowing or not", and then looking at me inexplicably, the look is to ask: "What is this talking about?" "I always correct and explain over and over again.
At that time, the air in Beijing was dusty, and after a while, a layer of gray-white dust accumulated in the carved pattern. If you want to clean up, you have to use the corner of the wet towel, twist it into a thin strip, go deep into each hollow flower ornament, and pull the two ends with your hands many times to wipe the dirt inside. A table and stool with hundreds of carvings, wiped next to each other, how can it take two hours. Before the Spring Festival, my father let our children do this work, so that when I later looked at the carved furniture, I first thought of how to wipe it. I think this thing is good, it is okay to do art appreciation, and it is too impractical to do daily furniture.
Similar furniture includes eight immortal tables, dressing mirrors, Taishi chairs, coffee tables, beauty beds, strips, etc., all of which are exquisitely carved in this way. On the strips, there are ornaments such as large dusters depicting fulu shou figures and ruyi inlaid with jade. The layout and arrangement of the entire courtyard is completely Chinese. Without looking at the master, you have to think that it is the old master's yard wearing a robe and a horse's coat. In that era, Western-educated intellectuals, although their lives and languages had been completely Westernized, had a love and respect for traditional Chinese culture in their hearts.
Fascinated by the traditional art of Peking Opera
In the main room of my house, there was a cabinet-type phonograph, which was a phonograph on top and a double-door cabinet underneath, with hundreds of old records of vinyl wood.
Most of the recordings in the records are Peking Opera sheng, dan, net, and ugly singing voices. There are shengjiao Tan Xinpei, Yu Shuyan, Tan Fuying, Ma Lianliang, Yang Xiaolou they infused the "Empty City Plan", "Fishing and Killing The Family", "Shilang Visiting Mother", "Ganlu Temple"... There are Danjiao Mei Lanfang and Cheng Yanqiu singing "Feng Hui Chao", "Wu Jia Po", "Overlord Farewell", "Three Niang Godson", "Female Solution"... There are flower-faced Jin Shaoshan, Qiu Guixian, Hao Shouchen's "Lock Five Dragons", "Tanyin Mountain", "Chen Zhou Grain Release", "Bao Mian"... There are clown Xiao Changhua's "Beating the Nephew on the Grave" and "Lotus Bead Matching"... Open the phonograph lid, wind it with a hand crank (there was no electric phonograph at the time), put the phono's steel needle on the record, and the record rotates at a speed of seventy-eight revolutions per minute, and the sound comes out of the speaker. Jin Shaoshan sang the Peking opera "Lock the Five Dragons", "Roar a loud roar, tie up the tent..." The voice was as shocking as Hong Zhong Da lu. Mei Lanfang's "Phoenix Returns to the Nest" "Mother must not be too biased, and the daughter should listen to the root of her words...", feminine and gentle. I especially like these singing segments, and I sit next to them and play them repeatedly, and I can't get tired of listening to them. Now, I'm over eighty years old, and I can still blurt out some of these clips.
My father and uncle were real fans of Peking Opera. Every day after dinner, I gathered in the south house in the front yard, my uncle played the huqin, and my father sang the Danjiao famous section of Mei Pai. My uncle can also pull himself and sing, and he is also a mei school. I often sit next to my cheeks and listen to the sound of sharp wrists in their mouths, how can I not understand, how can a man make such a beautiful and pleasant woman singing voice? I think it's magical.
My uncle also often practiced the technique of danjiao walking in the courtyard, with small broken steps and cloud hands, and people seemed to float over the water. He also has long guns, short swords and other "handles" (peking opera pipes are called handles) used by Dao Ma Dan, and he holds these "handles" in his hand, flying up and down, practicing his body on the stage. For example, a sword dance by Yu Hime in "Overlord Farewell" is something he often has to practice. In order to adapt to the needs of performing on stage with his ticket fans, he often dressed his full outfit at home and sang and danced at the same time. I like to watch from the sidelines, watching his dancing posture, body and eyes, which is completely a feminine woman. In particular, his eyes, squinting and opening, looking left and right, convey the inner world of the characters in the play.
After such hard work, in the fifties of the last century, he officially performed on stage. That day, he played the folding scene in "The Phoenix Returns to the Nest", he played Xue'e, and another doctor (his colleague) played Xue'e's eldest wife. On the day of the performance, my adults and children all went to watch my uncle's singing. He wielded freely on the stage, whether singing or performing, he was calm and in place. Later, my father also sang "Three Niangs and Godsons" on stage, and we were also the whole family. For my parents, Peking Opera was a part of life.
Singing with the huqin at home, and performing on stage in costumes and makeup, it is very different. When my father came on stage to perform, I followed backstage to watch the hilarity and see the makeup process.
My father sat at the dressing table, first smeared a layer of white lead powder on his face, then smeared rouge on his cheeks, drew eyebrows, drew eye circles, and dot his lips. Because he plays the role of Dan Jiao, he also has to hang eyebrows, strangle water yarn, and then patches and comb big hair. On the spot, the makeup artist of the professional troupe was invited to help, but many specific operations still had to be done in front of the mirror. What "willow eyebrows", "apricot core eyes", "duck egg face", "cherry small bites" and so on. After such a makeup, a man, in a moment, will become a classical beauty. Putting on the costume again, the process takes about an hour.
As soon as the gong and drum sounded on the stage, the band led by Jinghu played the song cards of Xipi and Erhuang. About to debut, how to take the stage, what position to stand after the stage, how to grasp the timing of the opening, the cooperation with the band, the expression and action on the body, etc., it is really the same and cannot be wrong. I don't have a certain stage experience, but I really want to mess up.
Because my father and uncle were addicted to Peking Opera, they often watched performances, speculated about the every move of the actors on the stage, and also knew many famous characters of Pear Garden, and sometimes had exchanges to ask for advice, plus their hard practice at home, so they were familiar with all the matters of the performance. His father's performance that day was very successful and smooth, but after stepping down, he also said that it was Le Shuisha who hung his eyebrows upwards, feeling uncomfortable, which affected the normal play of the singing voice.
This amateur actor who sang on stage is called "ticket holder", they are pure interests, hobbies, and obsessions, but they have reached a new height compared to the fans. Some of the famous "ticket holders" later went to the sea and became official Peking Opera actors. But my father and uncle, after unloading their costumes, changed back into their suits as usual, spoke foreign languages, gold wire glasses, drove a Ford car, and engaged in their Western profession. These two contradictory images overlap harmoniously in my family's courtyard.
My love for Peking Opera has accompanied my fathers throughout their lives and has also influenced my love for Peking Opera. In the process of learning painting and calligraphy, I deeply realized that the movement of pens and lines in calligraphy is completely consistent with the rhythmic rhythm and rigidity and softness of Peking Opera singing. The difference is that Peking Opera uses a singing voice and calligraphy uses lines. When I teach calligraphy lessons, I always remind students that calligraphy lines are also rhythmic and emotional, which is also the experience of listening to Peking Opera and watching dance practice in the courtyard since childhood: art is connected. (Editor-in-charge: Li Zhengrong)