It has been more than 100 years since the birth of cross-talk, during which time was the most silent time when the art of cross-talk was the most silent? In the first five or six years of the Cultural Revolution, including crosstalk, many arts were missing. During that period, there was a period of cross-talk that came out and played the most critical role in the revival of cross-talk art, that is, "Ode to Friendship" said by Ma Ji and Tang Jiezhong.
"Ode to Friendship" is a typical song-and-praise cross-talk, showing the deeds of Chinese railroad people helping African people build railways. Although it sounds too positive today, and there are not many hard baggage, it is undeniable that without this work, xiangsheng would have been silent for many years during that extraordinary period.
So, how did Ode to Friendship come about? What kind of obstructions and setbacks have been encountered in the meantime?
01
Many of Ma Ji's cross-talks were completed independently by himself, and this "Ode to Friendship" was adapted. In the early 1970s, two authors of the amateur propaganda team of the Third Design Institute of the Ministry of Railways wrote a cross-talk of "Tanzan Railway Friendship". After hearing this, Ma Ji felt unique, and after consulting with the original author, Ma Jilai adapted it, and "Ode to Friendship" was created.
However, this work has gone through a very tortuous process from its creation to being heard by the people of the whole country.
02
The main obstruction came from the Gang of Four censorship. One day, several programs, including "Ode to Friendship", were censored at the Erqi Theater, and after some performance observation, the first few pads of this crosstalk were pointed out to be problematic.
In the line, Matthi said that he hadn't seen everyone for a long time. Tang Jiezhong said, but isn't it, where have you been lately? Matthi said, I went abroad.
The censorship argued that Ma Ji's words with one mouth made the audience realize that they had not seen these actors for a long time, reflecting Ma Ji's feelings for the Cultural Revolution.
Therefore, this pad was forcibly changed to -
Ma Ji said that revolutionary literary and art workers should learn from life. Tang Jiezhong asked, where have you been lately? Matthi said, I went abroad to study.
03
In addition to the rhetoric, the censorship opinion also made an almost complete denial of "Ode to Friendship". The opinion calls it a work of great power chauvinism, saying only that China aides Tanzania, which is incorrect. In addition, it is not appropriate for a dog to crow a duck in the line, because only imperialism is a dog, and it needs to be changed to "duck croaking in the water".
In addition, the crosstalk said why the man felt particularly hot, saying that he was leaning against the chimney of the ship. The censors asked, does the 10,000-ton giant ship have a chimney? For this reason, Ma Ji also asked the professionals specifically, and was told that of course there was a chimney. Even if there is a chimney, the censors say that the foreign aid personnel have nothing to do on the chimney, which is to destroy the hero's image. Later, this line was changed to be because African friends were enthusiastic about us, and our blood was boiling, so it was hot together.
04
If it is impossible for people to hear "Ode to Friendship" strictly according to this opinion, what kind of opportunity makes it have the opportunity to see the light of day?
At that time, every "May Day" and "Eleventh", beijing's major parks held garden parties, and the News Record Film Studio was responsible for shooting documentaries of live activities, interspersed with literary and artistic programs that needed to be filmed in advance. The film crew did not know the details, and listed "Ode to Friendship" as a subject, and Ma Ji quickly told them that the cross-talk was not censored.
And the film crew said that the shooting plan has been listed, anyway, it will be reviewed, let's shoot it first. Subsequently, the footage was placed in the documentary by another group of censors, but no opinion was given, and it was quickly approved. In this way, "Ode to Friendship" finally survived in the cracks.
Since the performance clips could be included in the documentary, the staff of the Central People's Radio applied to broadcast "Ode to Friendship" on the grounds that "Ode to Friendship" had been approved by the competent authorities. Then, this cross-talk was finally broadcast to the whole country.
After its broadcast, "Ode to Friendship" immediately caused a sensation across the country. People haven't heard crosstalk for years, and many people are running to tell each other, and they can hear laughter again.
05
It can be said that Ma Ji and Tang Jiezhong's performance of "Ode to Friendship" in 1973 sounded the clarion call for the revival of cross-talk art. For some young people at that time, they had never heard of crosstalk before that, and mistakenly thought that it was the pioneering work of crosstalk.
Since then, crosstalk has gradually gained sound, and from the late 1970s to the entire 1980s, a golden age of crosstalk development was ushered in.