The Paper's reporter Pan Yu
Zhang Jiqing, Kunqu performing artist and honorary president of Kunqu Opera of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, died of illness in Nanjing at noon on January 6, 2022 at the age of 83.
She is known as the "Queen of Kunqu Opera" and "Kundan Festival". In 1983, Zhang Jiqing brought her "Peony Pavilion , Frightening Dreams , Searching Dreams " and "Zhu Maichen Divorced Wife , Delusional Dreams" to Beijing to perform, and won the first plum blossom award, and has since had the nickname of "Zhang Sanmeng".
Zhang Jiqing
Today, "Zhang Sanmeng" is gone, but the Kunqu performing arts left by Zhang Jiqing, as well as her dedication and spirit to Kunqu art, have influenced generations of Kunqu opera.
Zhang Jiqing was born in 1939 in Zhejiang into a family of opera artists, young and drifting, at the age of 14, he studied art with his aunt in Shanghai Minfeng Su Opera Troupe, and later studied kunqu opera danjiao under You Caiyun and Zeng Changsheng.
In 1956, the troupe was officially renamed Jiangsu Sukun Opera Troupe and moved to Suzhou, and Zhang Jiqing has since become the first generation of Kunqu opera "Ji" actors trained after the founding of New China, changing its name to "Ji Qing". She was also taught and guided by Famous Kunqu opera artists such as Yu Zhenfei, Shen Chuanzhi, Zhu Chuanming, Yao Chuanqian, and Yu Xihou.
That year, Zhang Jiqing, who was only 18 years old, collaborated with Kunqu opera master Yu Zhenfei on "The Legend of the White Snake and Broken Bridge", without fear, and the famous Northern Kun masters Han Shichang and Bai Yunsheng praised after watching it that Zhang Jiqing was likely to become the future "Kunqu Opera Mei Lanfang". In 1978, Zhang Jiqing once again cooperated with Yu Zhenfei in "Horse Selling Ji • Sanla Group Member", and in the Kunqu opera boudoir Dan of the younger generation that Yu Zhenfei had cooperated with, in addition to Zhang Jiqing, there were only two Hua Wenyi.
After 1978, Zhang Jiqing's performing arts ushered in a brilliant period, although he was over 40 years old, but he shined on the stage. She studied from the kunqu master You Caiyun's "Peony Pavilion Frightening Dream", from the chuanzi generation Yao Chuanqian's "Peony Pavilion • Seeking Dreams", and Mr. Shen Chuanzhi's "Zhu Maichen Divorced Wife", which became a representative work of Zhang Jiqing's performing arts, she inherited the orthodox Kunqu style of the "Chuan" generation, absorbed the characteristics of each family, coupled with her own innovation, formed her own unique singing method, its line is gentle, the charm is timeless, and the words are clear, thus laying the foundation for her well-deserved position in the Kunqu Danjiao, And he is well-known at home and abroad for his outstanding performances.
In 1983, Zhang Jiqing became the first person to win the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award with these three plays, which not only impressed many peers, but also influenced many Kunqu opera performing arts artists of the same age. Kunqu opera performance artist Yue Meiti once recalled that she and Hua Wenyi made a more innovative version of "Peony Pavilion", but in this year, Zhang Jiqing's inheritance of the traditional "Peony Pavilion" won the love of more audiences, which also made them deeply aware of the greatness of traditional Kunqu performing arts. After that, they arranged and adapted a series of classic preserved plays based on traditional Kunqu opera, such as "The Book of Jade Hairpins", which has become the most popular works in Kunqu art.
And another Kunqu opera Danjiao liang guy Liang Guyin said that that year, it was precisely because he heard a song by Zhang Jiqing's sister "Leaving the Soul and Ji Xianbin" at a song meeting, and for a time he was shocked and found that this piece of music could be so good, which gave birth to the idea that he also wanted to perform "Leaving the Soul".
In that year, Zhang Jiqing's performance footprints spread all over the world, and he performed in Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Spain and other countries and regions many times. It even ended 15 times at berlin's Horizon World Cultural Festival, and was praised by the festival's secretary-general, Higrong, as "the performance can be written into the history of European art". The local media even issued praises that "today the whole of Berlin is praising Kunqu opera", "she brings the people of Paris an incomparable enjoyment", and "Europe cannot find such an actor at present".
In 1987, the writer Bai Xianyong was extremely touched to see Zhang Jiqing's "Peony Pavilion" starring Zhang Jiqing in Nanjing, claiming that he had heard "the soul flying out of the sky". In 2003, Bai Xianyong planned and produced the youth version of "Peony Pavilion", and specially invited Zhang Jiqing to be the art director. Zhang Jiqing also accepted three apprentices for the first time: Shen Fengying, Gu Weiying and Tao Hongzhen of the Suzhou Kun Opera Troupe. In 2007, Zhang Jiqing took Shan Wen from the Kun Opera House in Jiangsu Province as an apprentice.
Not long ago, Zhang Jiqing himself recalled that he was invited by Bai Xianyong to serve as an art director, saying, "I think this is a very meaningful thing. In the end, I took two people as apprentices. Although I have accepted apprentices, I am still the same as before, as long as someone wants to come to learn drama, I still do my best to teach, never hide private. When the 'youth version' of "Peony Pavilion" was performed, I almost went to the scene, found a problem, and came down to talk to the apprentice. In May 2005, I fell in the air while directing rehearsals at the Great Hall of the People in Nanjing, resulting in a fracture of the femur neck. Under such circumstances, I still insisted on participating in some activities of the 'Youth Edition' "Peony Pavilion", and since I became a master, I naturally had to be responsible for them to the end. ”
In her later years, Zhang Jiqing rarely performed, except for the performance of the master version of "Peony Pavilion" in 2014 and 2015, it was almost impossible to see her makeup performance.
2015 Master Edition "Peony Pavilion" Performance Scene Source: Le Shang Shan Ming
She herself said that after retirement, she put more energy into the inheritance of Kunqu opera. "After I retired in 2004, I put my main experience into bringing on the legacy of young actors. Shan Wen and Xu Yunxiu of Provincial Kun, Wang Fang, Tao Hongzhen, Shen Fengying, Gu Weiying, Liu Yu and a number of successors of Nankun Danjiao of Sukun have made certain achievements, so that Classic plays such as "Peony Pavilion" and "Zhu Maichen Divorce" in Nankun are still active on the Kunqu opera stage. Now not only the two great plays I learned, "Peony Pavilion" and "Zhu Maichen's Divorce", have been taught, but more and more young people are beginning to like and appreciate Kunqu opera. Someone asked me if I had any unfulfilled wishes, and I said that I had no other wishes, that is, to bring students. In the past, my main responsibility was acting, and I concentrated on acting well, but now my main responsibility is to be a teacher, and I teach drama well. I want nothing more than to pass on kunqu opera. ”
Zhang Jiqing in life is extremely low-key and simple, not good at words, she often said, my conditions are not good, but I am really serious about art. "Art, the most afraid of serious two words", has become Zhang Jiqing's famous saying in his life.
Today, Zhang Jiqing's students have also taken over the banner of Kunqu opera art. Among them, Shan Wen of Kun Opera In Jiangsu Province is a student of Zhang Jiqing who has spent a lot of effort, and she also won the top of the Plum Blossom Award in 2019, becoming a Kunqu opera girl who is very popular with the audience. After learning the news of Zhang Jiqing's death, Shan Wen was speechless, and she recalled, "Teacher Zhang is a noble person on my artistic path, because of her pointing, I have achieved today's performance. The teacher is a simple, virtuous and artistic Kunqu everyone, who is dedicated only to art, and most of her interactions with me are teaching, and she is particularly strict in this regard, never praising, only saying insufficient. But the teacher also loves good food, so every time I go to see her, I buy her favorite desserts. “
Zhang Jiqing and Yusaburo Bandong
Zhang Jiqing and Hua Wen
Kunqu opera clown master Li Hongliang has served as the president of the Kun Opera House in Jiangsu Province for many years, and Zhang Jiqing has been the honorary president of the theater for many years, plus Li Hongliang's old teacher Jixin is also a "successor", and Zhang Jiqing has always been a partner on the stage, so Li Hongliang and Zhang Jiqing are very familiar with it.
Li Hongliang recalled, "I often went out to act with Teacher Zhang Jiqing, and Teacher Zhang was a fairly low-key person in life, but on the stage and in art, she was absolutely refined and meticulous. Particularly rigorous. Sharing the stage with her is really the kind of state that forces you to play any role, even if it is a dragon running set, you dare not take it lightly. “
Li Hongliang said that Zhang Jiqing is particularly fond of all children who study hard, whether it is singing boudoir Dan or other professions, because she herself is also from a bitter child, so she will have a special preference for children who are willing to study hard and practice hard, and will give guidance and help orally.
"I remember very clearly, shortly after I entered the Kun Theater, it should be 1988, the first Taihu Spring Art Festival in Wuxi, there was a teacher and actor who was sick, he temporarily arranged my "Double Down the Mountain", I was the gong play, Teacher Zhang Jiqing was the finale, I was particularly nervous and afraid, because this play has a lot of skills. At that time, I was discovered by Teacher Zhang, she called me over and said, I have seen your play, the play is very rigorous, the skill level is very good, don't be nervous, how to play normally is good. ”。
"Another time, Teacher Zhang Jiqing and my teacher Fan Jixin's masterpiece "LuLin" was passed to my generation, Teacher Zhang watched several times, and once she said to me, your first step at present is to learn very similarly, but you have to think about it, the best thing about the teacher is not only the body and singing, but the charm of this character, so you not only learn to be like, but more importantly, the character should be like God."
Li Hongliang said that Zhang Jiqing's promotion of the younger generations bit by bit is unforgettable. In terms of artistic personality, he is also a master who plays a very important role in the artistic path of the younger generations. In terms of art, Zhang Jiqing has always had unremitting pursuits, especially her special emphasis on Nankun's artistic style, with the chanting and singing of Zhongzhou rhyme, coupled with the unity of the style of the entire singing of the performance, which is the artistic style of Nankun and zhang Jiqing's great artistic achievements.
Source: The Paper