Reporter Liu Qing Picture Zhou Xi
"Founded on April 1, 1956, Zhejiang Kun Opera Troupe is the earliest professional Kun Opera Troupe in the founding of New China. In 1956, Zhejiang Kun rehearsed the Kun opera "Fifteen Guan" to sensationalize the whole country, and the People's Daily published a special editorial with "one drama saves one drama". On May 18, 2001, UNESCO awarded The Chinese Kunqu Opera the masterpiece "Oral and Intangible Heritage of Mankind". ”
The above is from the official introduction of Zhejiang Kun Opera Troupe (Zhejiang Jingkun Art Center). At that time, Zhou Chuanying, the performer of "Fifteen Consecutive", was the first "seal" of the new Chinese Kunqu opera standard song - at that time, Premier Zhou Enlai praised the play, watched it three times, and held a seminar at the Ziguang Pavilion in Zhongnanhai, attended by more than 200 representatives of the literary and art circles. Premier Zhou attended the meeting and delivered a speech lasting about an hour. On May 18, 1956, the People's Daily quoted the premier's original words and published an editorial entitled "From a Drama to a Drama to a Drama".
▲Zhou Xi
The story of the craftsman obtained by the reporter in this issue comes from the "seal" of the inheritance of this label - the third generation of the century-old Kunqu family: Zhou Xi.
Zhou Xi is the youngest granddaughter of Mr. Zhou Chuanying, who has been deeply influenced by art in the family since childhood and laid a good foundation. This is the "immersion" of childhood, the "presence" carved into life, as she said: "My life is with Kunqu." ”
"Kunqu, melt in my blood."
Talking about her relationship with Kunqu opera, Zhou Xi said that the prenatal education she received was Kunqu opera. Zhou Chuanying is a master of performing arts who has made outstanding contributions to the history of the revitalization of Kunqu opera in New China, and has become one of the outstanding representatives of kunqu opera after the founding of the People's Republic of China because of his superb performing arts and major contributions to the cause of Kunqu opera. Zhou Xi moved a small bench from a young age to sit next to his grandparents and watched them teach drama and educate people. The scene of Grandpa Zhou Chuanying teaching students by hand seems to be still in front of him: his personal demonstrations over and over again, his every action, every posture, every gesture, every look, every singing word, are still so clearly and deeply imprinted in the memory of me and each of his students. It is not only the hands, eyes, body, law and steps of Kunqu opera, but more importantly, it is taught artistic thought, the art of acting, the character of being a person and the spirit of selfless dedication.
▲ Zhou Chuanying just finished acting in "Too White Drunk Writing", and the young Zhou Xi ran to the stage to pour wine for his grandfather.
Grandpa Zhou Chuanying's greatest wish in his life is to "pass on" the kunqu opera art, the treasure of the motherland's national culture, from generation to generation. I remember when Grandpa was already bedridden, lying on the hospital bed and asking Zhou Xi: "Xi Xi, do you know what Grandpa is thinking now?" "How could Zhou Xi understand the minds of the adults at that time, I replied that I didn't know." Grandpa said: "What I want most now is to get up immediately and teach opera..." This is exactly the hope and firm belief of the older generation of artists in the inheritance of Kunqu opera.
"People ask me how much I love Kunqu opera? I felt like it was my breath. "For Zhou Xi, Kunqu opera flows through the body in the form of blood veins." So there is no need to deliberately say 'love', it and my life are mixed. ”
Zhou Xi is not a Kunqu opera actress, her job is to promote and promote Kunqu opera. Talking about the changes in Kunqu opera itself and Kunqu in the public's vision, Zhou Xi believes that the biggest change that modern Kunqu has made to the public is the moment when Chinese Kunqu opera has been listed as a world intangible cultural heritage since May 18, 2001. Since then, the state has invested unprecedented funds and attention to the protection of Kunqu opera, and there are more and more platforms and channels for the public to understand Kunqu.
For the expansion beyond the spread of Kunqu Opera, zhou Xi, a true insider, said that cohesion produces strength, communication creates value, harmonious common development, and repays society with affection. Continue to uphold the respect for Chinese Kunqu opera, with eagerness, perseverance, indomitability, and original intention, interpret every character, interpret every repertoire, polish every performance, convey every emotion, and create every ingenuity.
"I want to do my best to inherit the elegance and excellence of Kunqu opera all my life."
Kunqu opera from the original to the present, the positioning given by society is becoming clearer and clearer, from the original temple art, the art of the niche literati and scholars, to now it has flown into the homes of ordinary people, this is the process of "the soul of the people, the culture to transform it", which further enhances the aesthetic education function of Kunqu in society, which is the biggest difference that Teacher Zhou believes that Kunqu opera in today's day, the spiritual core of Kunqu itself cannot be discarded at any time.
Teacher Zhou shared her experience of going to the UK: she saw that the diversity of the cultural life of the local Chinese people was different from that in China, especially among young Chinese. They don't have more opportunities and channels to gain a deeper understanding of traditional Chinese culture. After a performance, the Chinese and overseas Chinese were very shocked and said: "We never thought that we could one day listen to a lecture on Kunqu opera so quietly, the United Kingdom needs such a Yaxing, and the Chinese people outside China need such cultural self-confidence." ”
Faced with the problem of the combination of Kunqu opera and modern life, teacher Zhou Xi expressed his affirmation. "We have such a good medium to use, why not use it?" But we should think about how to use it. ”
A water mill delicate and gentle, the legendary Kunqu Yabu is the right tone. One chant, three folds, one singing and three sighs. The north curve is strong, and the southern curve is entangled. There is no smoke and fire in the cavity, and the figure is graceful and graceful. As a master of Chinese elegant culture, Kunqu opera is undoubtedly the best business card. Zhou Xi remembers what his grandfather once said: "In the era of socialism, Kunqu opera is no longer a rusty antique, it should become a glittering combat weapon in socialist revolution and construction." ”
So now, for the combination of traditional culture and modern life, what we want to solve is not "why to use", but "how to use"; not the "new" of art itself, but the whole society understands its "new" and identifies with its "new". The simplest thing is: be willing to spend for it.
"Let's give my children to Kunqu first."
Although it has a history of more than 600 years and is known as the "ancestor of a hundred plays and the master of a hundred plays", the inheritance problem of Kunqu opera has always existed. "In addition to 'pushing out' my own children, I have also considered whether the identity of a century-old family can be better integrated with the modern world." Teacher Zhou Xi said.
"In the family's business of inheriting Kunqu opera, I am personally willing to inherit the upper and lower levels." Zhou Xi said.
▲ Qiu Hanzhe (nickname Changchang), who has been practicing and learning since kindergarten, is now studying at Suzhou Art School, and he is one of the fourth generation inheritors of the Zhou family of "Century-old Kunqu Opera".
Her son Qiu Hanzhe (nicknamed Changchang) has been practicing since kindergarten – watching a play for two hours and practicing for an afternoon is a daily compulsory course. Every day before practicing, he would go to Zhou Chuanying's photo and report: Grandpa, I have gone to practice. Zhou Xi did not specifically ask the teacher to teach the play at that time, nor did he open his body, "We hope that he will go with the flow and keep a blank sheet of paper before entering the school, so that the professional teachers of the school can teach him." Learning drama is very bitter, and many friends around her ask her: Are you really willing to let your children take this road? Zhou Xi also hesitated for a while. When talking to Chang Chang about learning drama and passing on kunqu opera? Chang Chang, who was still young, said: I am the only boy in the family, and this is my responsibility.
When he was a child, Chang Chang most admired Lin Weilin (Zhou Chuanying's student and Zhejiang Kun", an actor of the Zhejiang Kun "Xiu" generation), and listened to literary drama after watching martial arts. Zhou Xi found that his son had formed his own judgment and appreciation ability for performance, "it is not good to look at, the evaluation is very professional, and sometimes it is also a 'poisonous tongue'." ”
In 2019, nearly a hundred years after Zhou Chuanying entered the Suzhou Institute of Learning (1921), the Kunqu class of Suzhou Art School enrolled students, and Chang Chang became the youngest child in the school.
▲ Zhou Xi's second uncle Zhou Shiqun (third from the left, the second son of Zhou Chuanying) sent Qiu Hanzhe to school. The first left is Zhang Tianle, a Kunqu opera performance artist at Suzhou Kun Opera, and his grandson Zhang Shengzhi and Chang Chang became classmates
▲ Zhou Xi's cousin Zhou Haolu's daughter and Chang Chang became the fourth generation of the Zhou family together, one south and one north, once in life.
Zhou Xi's cousin is Zhou Haolu, director of the Innovation and Research Center of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre and a national first-class actor, and her daughter was also admitted to the Attached Middle School of the China Academy of Performing Arts in 2019. The two latest descendants of the Zhou family are one in the south and one in the north, once in their lives.
Zhou Xi is very confident in his son's Kunqu performance, but the only thing he is not assured of is the pressure from the Kunqu family, for the child, this is the biggest pressure, maybe he can't do a little bit, he will be amplified, do it well, in the eyes of others, it should also be. Therefore, she has always said since Chang Chang was a child: Whether you are good or not, you must have a strong ordinary heart.
▲ Chang Chang learned to play with Zhou Xi's great uncle Zhou Shirui.
When we are free to embrace all cultures, we need to have a sense of confidence from our own people, to be able to embrace all kinds of rivers, and we need to adhere to our own excellent traditions. Maybe the future is long, but she has already set off.
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