The stage image of Fan Jinshi in the Shanghai opera "Daughter of Dunhuang"
Huang Xuhua's stage image in the drama "The Deep Sea"
【Hot Spot Observation】
On December 14, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his speech at the opening ceremony of the 11th National Congress of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the 10th National Congress of the China Writers Association, "Literature and art win with image, and the classic literary and artistic image will become an important symbol of the literature and art of the times." All literary and art workers who have the pursuit and ability to improve their ability to read life, constantly discover more new phenomena and new characters representing the spirit of the times, create art that originates from life and is higher than life, and create more attractive, infectious, and touching artistic images with the aesthetic style of combining realism and romanticism, leaving an unforgettable artistic classic for the times."
From ancient times to the present, whether it is a literary masterpiece or a drama classic, whether it is a film and television masterpiece or a stage masterpiece, it has always conquered readers and audiences with an unforgettable classic artistic image, and left a deep mark on the long river of history. 2022 has begun, reviewing the character portrayal and image shaping in classic literary and artistic works will help the majority of literary and artistic workers to launch more literary and artistic masterpieces at a new historical starting point, and create more artistic images that are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people for the times.
Classic images converge into the history of ancient Chinese literature
When it comes to classic literary and artistic images, it is natural to avoid the brilliant Chinese classical literary works. Countless classic literary images have not only converged into the long river of Chinese literary history, but also become an important symbol of various eras, influencing the growth of generations of Chinese.
Looking back at the history of Chinese literature, a large number of classics handed down from generation to generation are often integrated with classic character images and achieve each other's achievements, especially novels and dramas. Around the time of the Golden Yuan, yuan miscellaneous dramas were formed and gradually became popular, and the emergence of professional screenwriters with high cultural attainments such as Guan Hanqing injected new vitality into the creation of the script and achieved new breakthroughs and improvements in character portrayal. One of Guan Hanqing's masterpieces, "Dou E'e Grievance", can be described as the pinnacle of the portrayal of the protagonist Dou E. Wang Guowei believes that it is no less than to place "Dou E'er" in the great tragedy of the world. It can be said that the writer successfully shaped "Dou E", and "Dou E" made "Dou E'e" and the writer. The reason why such a classic character image has been passed down to this day is that the author uses the experience of "Dou E" to reveal profound social problems, attack the cruel oppression of the poor people in feudal society, and express the aspirations of the broad masses of the people for fair order and peaceful life. In addition to "Dou E'er Grievance", the "West Chamber" created by Wang Shifu in the same period has created many characters with distinct personalities such as Zhang Sheng, Cui Yingying, and Red Lady, showing a beautiful love story that breaks through the shackles of feudal etiquette with exquisite character shaping and ups and downs of dramatic conflicts. The breakthrough and success of the two works in image portrayal is also an important reason for the meta-drama to leave a name in the history of Chinese literature.
The most accomplished and influential ancient novel works in China are the four masterpieces, which have been adapted into various art forms and have always maintained a strong vitality, the reason for which is that the rich character map attracts, infects and impresses people. For example, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang, who is wise and resourceful, Liu Bei, who is generous and benevolent, Cao Cao, who is heroic and treacherous, Guan Yu, who is brave and loyal, and Zhang Fei, who is brave and violent... These extreme portrayals of "facialization" and "typification" have made a large number of classic artistic images synonymous with certain typical images, which have been praised by future generations. And "Water Margin" has a new breakthrough in shaping characters. Jin Shengsi commented that "people have their temperament, people have their temperament, people have their shapes, people have their voices", whether it is 108 good men of Liangshan, or Gao Li and other large and small characters, their identity, experience, speaking habits, etc. have their own characteristics, and the richness of the characters is also clearly reflected, such as Lu Zhishen, although violent, is often coarse and thin, and witty. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, works such as "Journey to the West" and "Dream of the Red Chamber" set off a new upsurge in the popularity of vernacular novels, especially in the portrayal of gods and demons, the growth and description of characters, etc., which greatly enriched the history of Chinese literature and had a profound impact on the creation of later generations.
Classic characters present the history of the Party for a hundred years
The prosperity and development of Chinese classical literature has provided rich nourishment for all kinds of literary and artistic creations, and in turn, the excavation and re-creation of the rich mines of classical literature by various literary and artistic forms has continuously pushed the current interpretation of classical literature to a new height and promoted the image of classic characters to be more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. For example, the four masterpieces have been adapted into film and television dramas, put on the stage, etc., especially the TV drama version of the four masterpieces launched by CCTV, which have successfully put the classic image of literature on the screen, and the figurative and three-dimensional screen image has been deeply imprinted in the memory of generations of Chinese. As many viewers said: "After watching Sun Wukong played by a six-year-old child, this is the Sun Wukong in my heart." ”
2021 is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and in the process of combing and summarizing the achievements of literature and art in the past century, a large number of classic artistic images have become an important basis for reviewing the history of the party in the past century, and have also become an important symbol of the spirit of the times.
As early as the founding of the Communist Party of China, the early Communists attached great importance to literary and artistic work. Especially after the Yan'an Literary and Art Symposium was held in 1942, the vast number of literary and art workers set off a creative climax, launching a large number of widely circulated classic works such as "White Haired Girl" and "Little Two Black Marriage". As the pioneering work of national opera, "White Haired Girl" not only makes a new attempt in art form, but also uses wonderful singing segments to create a new image of white haired women, singing a new theme of "the old society turns people into ghosts, and the new society turns ghosts into people", singing a new China. For more than 70 years, "The White-Haired Girl" has been adapted into a variety of art forms such as Peking Opera, ballet, and film, and still has strong vitality and appeal, and the classic characters of Xi'er, Yang Bailao, Huang Shiren and other positive and negative classic characters also continue to exude artistic charm.
Over the past 100 years, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the vast number of literary and art workers have sounded the clarion call of the times through one classic artistic image after another. Sister Jiang, who used her life to interpret faith and loyalty in the "Communist Textbook" "Red Rock"; Li Yumei, a revolutionary female figure with national qualities and flesh and blood in the movie "Daughter of the Party"; Gazi and Pan Dongzi, the young heroes Gazi and Pan Dongzi in the movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" and "Shining Red Star"; the images of Lei Feng and Jiao Yulu shown in various literary and artistic forms, etc., inspired the exploited and oppressed toiling masses to fight with blood and perseverance, and encouraged the Chinese people who stood up to rely on themselves and work hard to become strong. Encouraging hundreds of millions of people in the tide of reform and opening up to emancipate their minds and forge ahead, and encouraging the Chinese people in the new era to be self-confident, self-reliant, upright, and innovative, has played an important role in enhancing the people's strength and invigorating the national spirit. These classic images not only have excellent representatives of the Chinese Communists, but also epitomize the fine qualities of the broad masses of the people, who record the history of the Party and the country, and continue to exude the charm of the times in different periods.
The new art image depicts the atmosphere of the new era
On December 8, 2021, the editorial board of "Chewing Words" released the top ten buzzwords of 2021, and "the greatest change in a hundred years" topped the list.
Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Communist Party of China has united and led the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country to achieve the goal of the first centenary struggle and continue to advance toward the grand goal of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation; the cause of the party and the state has made historic achievements and undergone historic changes, and the Chinese nation has ushered in a great leap from standing up and getting rich to becoming strong. Especially in 2021, this year, we will win the battle against poverty as scheduled, build a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way as scheduled, and achieve the first centenary goal; smoothly start a new journey of comprehensively building a socialist modern country and marching toward the second centenary goal; solemnly celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, carry out in-depth party history study and education, comprehensively summarize the party's major achievements and historical experience in the past century; comprehensively promote major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, safeguard and practice genuine multilateralism, and strive to build a new type of international relations To promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
In the face of unprecedented changes in a hundred years, in the face of contemporary China, which has magnificent rivers and mountains, the people's heroism, and a great future, how the vast number of literary and art workers can create more attractive, infectious, and impressive artistic images, enthusiastically depict the magnificent atmosphere of the new journey of the new era, and leave unforgettable art classics for the times, which will become a new challenge. In recent years, a number of typical characters have been put on the stage and screen, and the vivid artistic image conveys the new spirit of the times, such as the Shanghai opera "Dunhuang Daughter" showing the "Mogao Spirit" of the Dunhuang people represented by Fan Jinshi; the drama "Deep Sea" showing the "father of China's nuclear submarines" Huang Xuhua's obscurity of the national cause; the movie "Shoudao" showing the patriotic dedication of "people's model" Wang Jicai for 32 years to guard the island. There are also some literary and artistic works that respond to the times and shape ordinary heroes belonging to the new era, such as Ma Defu, a grassroots cadre who has overcome poverty in the TV series "Mountains and Seas", and Zhang Jingyu, an anti-epidemic hero in the movie "Chinese Doctor".
An era has an era of literature and art, and an era has a classic artistic image of an era. In the new era, new journey, in the overall situation of the great rejuvenation strategy of the Chinese nation and the great changes in the world that have not occurred in a hundred years, we not only need the typical image of "typization", "face" and direct attack on people's hearts like the characters in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but also need ordinary heroes who are plump, real and grounded. The broad masses of literary and art workers should establish a great historical outlook and a great view of the times, clearly define the mission and responsibility of culture and literature and art, and with a strong spirit of historical initiative, write the creation of literature and art into the history of national rejuvenation and in the journey of the people's struggle, and leave more classic artistic images in the hearts of the people.
(Author: Liu Yang, Associate Professor, College of Literature, Shenyang Normal University)
Source: Guangming Daily