Wen 丨 Liu Yue'e
The large-scale modern flower drum drama "Confucius" produced by hunan flower drum drama theater was unveiled at the 7th Hunan Provincial Arts Festival, vividly interpreting the mental journey of scholar Zhang Jiuru from the Xinhai period to the Anti-Japanese War period with rich expressiveness.
Although "Confucius" is based on the traditional opera "Asking for Money", screenwriter Xu Ying reconstructs the relationship between the characters, takes a little "fun" and gives birth to a piece of "intention", "transforms" Zhang Jiuru, a pedantic literati who has been ridiculed in traditional opera, and outlines the life creed that the master has always adhered to, that is, the character characteristics of "living into a tendon" sung in the play, around the cases of opening and closing the school twice. The opera not only vividly shows the inner confusion and wandering, pain and anxiety, awakening and rebellion of the literati in the old era in the historical changes, but also highlights the light of the times radiated by traditional Chinese culture through the spiritual creed of "benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom and faith" adhered to by the master.
At the end of the premiere of "Confucius", the audience applauded thunderously, and the audience applauded. "Confucius" can achieve such results can not be separated from the outstanding performance of actor Zhu Guibing, he accurately grasped the spiritual temperament of the literati in the old era immersed in traditional culture, showed the embarrassing survival dilemma of a fallen scholar in the period of great social change, and at the same time placed the character on the heavenly title of individual life and death and national righteousness, providing an opportunity for the transformation of the character's spiritual personality, and also the key to the screenwriter's "image transformation" of the master. As an old person of the new era, the Master has experienced many major historical events that occurred in the first half of the last century, and has always been wrapped up in the trend of the times, always hovering between resisting change and adapting to the changes of the times. For example, he stumbled into the chaotic world of the late Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic of China, where the "banner of the changing king of the city head" was launched, and he was also subjected to drastic changes in the abolition of the imperial examination, the Xinhai Revolution, the split between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the War of Resistance Against Japan.
When the master, who failed the last imperial examination, was preparing to fight the examination again, he was told that the examination had been cancelled, and the master who was in a hurry had to find another way to make a living. In the chaotic world, the master with his own sour atmosphere not only wanted to make a living, but also wanted to maintain the dignity of the literati, and in order to ask for money for his studies, he was ridiculed and humiliated by Sister-in-law Chen. When Chen's sister-in-law's husband was sacrificed, she was characterized as a "co-bandit" woman, and when her life was at stake, the master put aside the ancient adage that "a boy has gold under his knees" and bowed down to save people with the compassion of "saving a man's life is better than creating a seventh-level floating massacre". He does not understand "human feelings and sophistication", which is "stupid without hair" in the eyes of ordinary people. He had a crush on Chen Dajie, but he "scrupulously abided by the obstacles of men and women", preferring to be "a gentleman's friend" rather than remarry Chen Dajie and ruin her reputation. The master has both the excellent genes in traditional Chinese culture and its unhealthy factors, which are both contradictory and harmonious, and the characters are both cute and pitiful, hateful and respectable, leaving an extremely deep impression on the audience.
The profundity of the script's ideas is also reflected in the sound side of the character of the master who is immersed in traditional culture. The screenwriter allows the characters to calmly move towards the highlight moments of the characters in the life and death, which is easy to be understood by the audience and easier to empathize. For example, when the Japanese army asked him to teach in Japanese and spread the so-called east Asian co-prosperity, he vowed to defend the national culture to the death. When the Master opened the school, from the beginning of his personal livelihood to the non-illiterate for his neighbors, and then to the non-declaration of being a slave to the country, the image of the Master became taller and taller, until the Master shouted out the voice of "Chinese does not die, China does not die", and the fate of the individual resonates with the fate of the home country. From safeguarding individual dignity to defending national dignity, the light of its character is the light of China's excellent traditional culture.
The screenwriter carefully set up Zhang Fuzi to hold the Confucius brand to jump into the lake, which has a profound meaning. Confucius is the founder of Chinese Confucian culture, his idea of "governing the country and the family and the world" is integrated into the blood of scholars, And Confucius Zhang embraces confucius and jumps into the lake without drowning, which is not only a natural buoyancy, but also a screenwriter Xu Ying who gave this tablet a new meaning: the rise and fall of culture maintains the survival of the country. It can be seen that the title of the play "Confucius" is not only an affectionate call for the return of China's excellent traditional culture, but also a display of Zhang Fuzi's integration of the individual's "pedantic atmosphere" into the universe's "magnificent righteousness", laying the foreshadowing of the character's personality transformation. Details such as worshiping Confucius's spiritual position and holding Confucius's spiritual position Shenjiang are the screenwriters' freehand way to promote traditional Chinese culture, implying the grand themes in the subtle plot and giving the opera extraordinary ideological character. What changes is the times, and what remains unchanged is the indomitable national integrity.
Especially at the end, the Japanese army forced Zhang Fuzi to spread the idea of so-called "east Asian co-prosperity" in Chinese, and the awakened master raised his arms and shouted "the three armies can seize the marshal, and the pifu cannot seize the ambition". The kind of heroism born for national integrity touched all those present, accompanied by Chinese characters from the stage, tenaciously penetrating into the eyes of the audience. The opera ends in the climax, giving people a feeling of inexhaustibility.
The first three scenes of "The Master" continue the humor and humor of the language of "Asking for Money". The dialogue and lyrics between Zhang Fuzi and Chen Dajie in the section of asking for money are full of rural slang interest, and the witty humor of Chen Dajie and the simplicity and pedantry of the master form a strong contrast, and the greater the contrast between the characters, the more obvious the comedic effect. The lyrics also have the same humorous style, combining the golden sentences in the Analects, the Three Character Sutra, and the Augmented Sages with vulgar vernacular, which seems nonsensical, but in fact portrays a pedantic and pedantic image. The personality of the inspector "wall head grass" is also in stark contrast to the master's discipline of "starvation is small, and the loss of discipline is big", and the language is lively and interesting, full of vitality and vitality. With the wonderful advancement of the plot, the language style gradually changed from lively to dignified and intense. For example, in the sixth scene, Chen Dajie's sister-in-law worshiped Chen Beard and sang poignant and sad lyrics; when the master led the villagers to confront the Japanese army, the lyrics were fierce and high-spirited, sonorous and powerful, and the appeal was very strong.
In general, screenwriter Xu Ying started from adapting traditional operas, and with the help of "Confucius", he paid tribute to China's excellent traditional culture, and the national integrity and noble sentiments displayed by the master who was cultivated by traditional culture also added a touch of "bright red" to the centennial birthday of the Communist Party of China this year. The flower drum opera "Confucius" closely combines traditional culture with the spirit of the times, and has both strong local opera characteristics and profound historical heritage, showing the beauty of opera.
Photo: Sun Bohui