Comrade Zhang Yifan's monograph "How a Drama Saves a Drama: The Beginning and End of the Adaptation and Performance of Kunqu Opera 'Fifteen Guans'" was published by the China Drama Publishing House, which is a gratifying thing. A few months ago, Yifan came to the door with the manuscript for me to review, which evoked many memories of my association with the classic work "Fifteen Guan" more than sixty years ago.
"How a Drama Saves a Drama - The Beginning and End of the Adaptation and Performance of Kunqu Opera "Fifteen Guan"", by Zhang Yifan, China Drama Publishing House, August 2021 edition.
I am a 14th graduate of Nanjing National Theatre College. In 1950, he entered the Central Academy of Drama and served as the secretary of Mr. Zhang Geng, the vice president. During this period, I had the privilege of listening to the course on the history of Chinese drama taught by Mr. Zhou Yibai, and led by Mr. Zhang Geng, I specifically asked Mr. Zhou about the "Legend of the White Snake".
In 1953, Mr. Zhang Geng was transferred to the China Academy of Opera as the vice president, and I went with him to the academy to continue to serve as his secretary, and from then on I gave up the study of drama and turned to chinese opera. In 1955, he was transferred from the secretary position and entered the repertoire room, still working under the guidance and guidance of Mr. Zhang Geng.
In the spring of 1956, the Kunsu Opera Troupe of Zhejiang Province organized and adapted the Kunqu opera "Fifteen Guans" into Beijing for performance, and its high ideological and artistic nature was soon praised by party and state leaders, experts and artists in the cultural circles, and ordinary citizens, reaching the situation of "arguing in the city".
Mr. Zhang Geng therefore instructed Comrade Yu Lin and I, who were also working in the repertoire room, to watch the play carefully, to seriously interview the main creative personnel Zhou Chuanying, Wang Chuansong, and Chen Jing, to conscientiously study Zhu Suchen's original legend and the Zhejiang-Kun stage performance book, and to write an article entitled "Some Experiences in the Adaptation of Kunqu Opera's "Fifteen Continuous" Adaptations", which was published in the Ministry of Culture's internal journal "Cultural Communication" No. 5, 1956. At the first national conference on opera repertoire held in June 1956, Comrade Yu Lin also introduced the experience of the "Fifteen Continuities" based on this article.
Mr. Shen Daren's close-up
I have always cherished this article, which was enriched and enriched, and later included in my collection of essays, "The Aesthetic Character of Opera" and "In the Face of Splendid Ancient Culture". This article follows the work style of heavy investigation and research carried forward by the play "Fifteen Consecutive", opens up the direction of my study of opera repertoire and commentary on opera art, and also makes me often remember Comrade Yu Lin, who once worked side by side but unfortunately died early.
With such feelings and pursuits, I read through the manuscript of "How a Play Saves a Drama Genre" and was very excited and felt that this was a very precious academic work. The whole book sorts out the information about the whole process of collation and adaptation of the Kunqu opera "Fifteen Guan" more than sixty years ago, narrates the details before and after, large and small, and clarifies the influence of the "Fifteen Guan" on various drama varieties (including drama and other opera dramas).
Here are a few more reading points:
Compilation of Fifteen Opera Materials
First, the introduction is very comprehensive.
The first chapter of the book, "The Origin of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties", makes a comprehensive commentary from the script "Wrong Chop Cui Ning" to the legendary "Fifteen Consecutive" ("Double Bear Dream") to the Peking Opera Transplantation. The reader thus understands the ins and outs of the play "Fifteen Continuities". The fourth chapter, "Striving for Excellence and Changing the Palace Business", talks about the overall situation of the stage of the 1956 Zhejiang-Kunming rectification book, and makes detailed and pertinent comments from the aspects of plot, structure, characters, music, stage art and film art treatment. After reading this book, we can understand the history of the dissemination of the "Fifteen Continuities" very clearly.
Second, the combing is very meticulous.
There are two very impressive points: First, the third chapter, "Glory in Beijing, Huayu, and Houkun," Comrade Yifan, through the collation of materials, has accurately grasped the work activities of the Zhejiang Kunsu Opera Troupe's rectification and performance of the "Fifteen Consecutive" performances to every day; in particular, he has sorted out the order in which Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou watched the drama in Beijing, as well as the situation in which the two leaders organized the central leaders to observe it repeatedly, and the two leaders paid attention to and attached importance to this play.
People's Daily editorial
Second, in the process of filming "Fifteen Continuities", such as the time of the official start of filming, the time of the first shot and the completion of the last shot, Yifan has also done meticulous research. In the fifth chapter, "A Drama Revives Hundred Industries", the effects of this drama after its fame are also very clear. It can be seen that Comrade Yifan has made great efforts.
Third, the misunderstanding has been clarified.
There have always been some misunderstandings about the adaptation and performance of Zhejiang Kun's "Fifteen Guans", and many people believe that from the very beginning, it was originally adapted around the legend of Zhu Suchen, but in fact it was rectified on the basis of the structure of the ten editions of the actual performance of the Zhejiang Guofeng Kunsu Opera Troupe, and Comrade Huang Yuan grasped it from beginning to end. This has not been clarified or even discovered in the past. People like this who have played a role in the history of the development of Kunqu opera cannot be ignored or buried.
Fourth, the key points have been highlighted.
This book makes a very solid introduction to the two people who have made the most outstanding contributions to the "Fifteen Continuities" of Zhejiang-Kunming Rectification, Comrade Huang Yuan and Mr. Zhu Guoliang, in the second chapter, "Discerning Ji Lai Zhu Huang", which is very necessary. The performances of the three key characters in the "Fifteen Guan" drama, Gong Zhong, Lou A Rat, and Tai Zhi, and the performances of Zhou Chuanying and Wang Chuansong, who played the first two roles, have been studied and narrated by the predecessors, but the introduction of Zhu Guoliang, who is too persistent, is missing.
Zhu Guoliang, founder of the Guofeng Kunsu Opera Troupe and overly persistent actor in the play (1903-1961)
Mr. Zhu Guoliang died less than five years after entering Beijing in the "Fifteen Guan", and everyone gradually forgot about him, but the study of him was indispensable. Comrade Yifan noticed this, and through searching for long-sealed documents and interviewing Mr. Zhu Guoliang's relatives and students who were still alive, he obtained a large amount of first-hand information, and for the first time disclosed many of Mr. Zhu Guoliang's little-known life deeds and artistic creations. So although this book has a lot of space and a large proportion of analysis of how Mr. Zhu Guoliang portrays too much, I think readers can also understand.
The book also tells a lot of things that have not been mentioned before, such as Lou A-rat's performance,—— the process of falling off the bench. Everyone sees and analyzes this classic action, but this action has rich accumulation and complex changes in the previous hundred years of performance. This point has rarely been discussed by some people in the past, but comrade Yifan can be detailed and detailed on these issues, which is invaluable.
Kunqu Opera "Fifteen Consecutive"
Finally, I would like to mention my dissatisfaction in reading: it would be more ideal if the book could comment more on the bumpy encounters of the 1930s and 1940s and the decline of Kunqu art. If Comrade Yifan can comb through his own combing, let the reader know more clearly how the Kunqu opera was once in a state of decline. In this way, the process of "how to be saved" is more comprehensive, more complete and more convincing.
According to Comrade Yifan, this book was written in a full two years after nearly ten years of accumulation, brewing, and preparation. I think it is very valuable for Yifan to do this, and we should make such a book so that more readers, especially young readers, can deeply understand the contributions and contributions of their predecessors.
The annotations made by Mr. Shen Daren when reading the manuscript before writing the book review
Through my many years of interaction with Comrade Yifan, I believe that his research on the history of Kunqu opera inheritance will not stop at this book. Comrade Yifan is the master of Mr. Zhou Yude, Niu Biao, and Mr. Zhou Huabin, that is, the re-disciple of Mr. Zhou Yibai and Mr. Zhang Geng. He also has an important advantage, which is that he is still very young. I hope that he can continue to uphold the research concept of combining theory and practice, and can write more new results in the future.
June 2021
Beijing Caoqiao Xinyuan