It is only the yue opera industry and the Shanghai school space in Shanghai that have made such a great artist.
Text | Wang Lingyi (Researcher, Shanghai Center for International Economic Exchanges, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)
The Wukang Building began to become an Internet celebrity landmark in Shanghai last year. In the past week, the torrential rains of the past few days have not stopped the worship of Yue opera lovers and Wang Pai opera fans in front of this ship-shaped building - a generation of grandmaster Wang Wenjuan suddenly disappeared.
In the old house of the E era lived a Lin sister
The tears of the fans of the foreplay in the Wukang Building infected me like the sea that broke the embankment. I actually only met Sister Lin (Wang Wenjuan's nickname and artistic avatar) twice: once when I was in elementary school, my father took me to watch the Yue opera "Chasing Fish", which was the first time I came into contact with Yue opera (Shaoxing opera) when I was nine years old at the time; when my father knew her, I had the opportunity to get in touch with this brilliant artist at zero distance in the background.
The second time was seven years ago: I remember Brazil hosting the Fifa World Cup and didn't want to go out for social events. However, on the National Cultural Heritage Day that year, I was warmly invited by Li Kan, then director of the Hunan Subdistrict Office (now the Secretary of the Party Group of the Xuhui District Ecological and Environmental Bureau), to attend the seminar at the Xuhui District Old House Art Center at No. 393 Wukang Road. The old houses or Western-style buildings in Shanghai that we are talking about mainly refer to all kinds of Western-style houses and office buildings built after the opening of Shanghai; if there is no cultural heritage day, they are now likely to be "hotels". In the follow-up practice of old house protection and neighborhood revitalization, I met Comrade Wang Wenjuan, a veteran party member who is enthusiastic about public welfare and cultural activities in the community.
Old houses in Shanghai are mainly concentrated in the historical areas of central urban areas such as Huangpu, Xuhui, Jing'an, Hongkou and Changning. For their scientific protection and cultural inheritance, the territorial housing management department and related streets are the basic forces. Wang Wenjuan was proud to tell me that the Hunan community in Xuhui is located in the Hengfu Historical and Cultural Landscape Zone, with a total of 773 old houses in the jurisdiction, as many as 55 of which are excellent historical buildings; and 15 roads that will never be widened. Among them, Wukang Road, where Ba Jin's former residence is located, was rated as the third "Famous Street of Chinese History and Culture" by the Ministry of Culture and the Bureau of Cultural Relics. At the same time, the Wukang Building where she herself lives is also extremely valuable!
Mr. Chen Baoping interviews the cultural story of the Wukang Building at Wang Wenjuan's home
However, how can this famous historical and cultural street make exemplary contributions to cultural inheritance and even Shanghai urban tourism, which has been difficult for many literati rioters who love old Shanghai. At the beginning of Li Kan's appointment as director of the new Hunan Subdistrict Office from the post of director of the Xuhui District Science and Technology Commission, he was also "confused"; he was deeply afraid that if he made a slight mistake, he would be ashamed of the "ancestors and ancestors". Reverence alone is not enough, there must be innovative means in the inheritance of culture and the protection of heritage.
Therefore, as a pilot area in Shanghai that year, the Hunan community took the lead in pasting the two-dimensional code on the nameplate of the excellent historical buildings in the jurisdiction with the support of collaborative innovation and relevant technical conditions with the municipal and district housing management bureaus. In this way, tourists from all over the area can scan through mobile phones to learn about the past and present lives of each old house and each road, and can also read the anecdotes of celebrities who once lived here. In addition, the WeChat platform is also equipped with a voice reading mode, allowing tourists to visit the old house while listening to its story; later, they can also watch drama and music nearby, which also initially realizes the urban cultural tourism personality of "Slow Shanghai".
"It's really good, but what's the benefit of being a community resident?" I remember that after the observation, I asked Lin Fudong, then director of the Xuhui District Tourism Bureau (now the secretary of the party group of the Xuhui District Sports Bureau). At that time, he replied: "Not only residents, but also citizens can also get some fragments of the old bungalows by slowly scanning the QR code on the old houses in the community, and after collecting the pieces to spell out an old bungalow in the community, they can get a set of Postcards on Wukang Road, and they can also get the current season tickets of the jurisdiction unit and the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center through 'Shake a Shake'." "I thought: Will this be the new style of Shanghai Lane? Now the new style of this alley is becoming the soft power of Shanghai culture, but there is no Sister Lin. But fans like my parents think that the story of Wang Wenjuan and Wukang Building should become the new tour guide!
Zhao Zhigang recalled: She always appeared like a relative
Wang Wenjuan, a generation of Yue opera masters, went away at the age of 95 to reunite with Mr. Sun Daolin, who was born at the age of 100, in heaven. Nevertheless, it still caused widespread grief and sentimentality in the Yue opera and literary circles. Zhao Zhigang, the prince of Yue opera (desert), sent three remembrance messages in the circle of friends on the same day, telling about the artistic merits of Wang Wenjuan's predecessors and his friendship that he had forgotten for many years.
Yue opera artist Zhao Zhigang (first from right) with Wang Wenjuan and Sun Daolin taking photos in Ningbo. Photo courtesy | Zhao Zhigang
In the year of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Zhao Zhigang happened to be my classmate at the Propaganda Party School of the Municipal Party Committee; according to the proposal of the party school leaders at that time, we were still paired partners who combined theory with practice (my theory, his practice). The Prince of the Desert was very serious about explaining to me the four major genres of Yue opera, including the Wang School, but I still couldn't tell the difference when I listened. The party school study time is not short, in order to enrich the spiritual life; I actually wrote four songs to the prince of the desert, "Walking on My Own Land" (in memory of Comrade Xiaoping), and after he personally composed the music, he held a performance at the Meilong Cultural Center. This was also my first successful collaboration with the Prince of the Desert, although he found it strange that I did not understand Yue opera but could write Yue opera singing; later his masterpieces were often written by me to analyze the charm of art.
After the farewell ceremony of Wang Wenjuan's predecessors was held in Shanghai, Zhao Zhigang, who was still in the mood waves, accepted my interview. He fondly recalled that he and Wang Wenjuan's predecessors were once colleagues of the Shanghai Yue Theatre, and the two had in-depth cooperation in art and work, and at the same time they were like mother and son in ordinary life; he also always called Wang Wenjuan "Mu Ma", the two artists were married to the mother and son when filming the TV Yue opera art film "The Nunnery Recognizes the Mother", and the film and television consultant of this Yue opera art film was Exactly Sun Daolin's predecessor.
Zhao Zhigang stressed to me: "Wang Wenjuan's predecessor is a very amiable artist, and it seems that she is not a generation of grandmasters in getting along, and she always appears next to you like a relative." What impressed me very deeply was Teacher Wang's tireless efforts. For example, in between rehearsals, she must be reading the script, singing back, and discussing with the director how to shoot the next shot, and then constantly figuring out her own sense of role. And this dedication of a generation of masters to art really touched me. Zhao Zhigang recalled: "The Nunnery Recognizing Mother" was filmed in Ningbo in the sweltering heat, and the conditions were particularly harsh! No air conditioning! During the shooting, I often got wet in my clothes, but I insisted on continuing shooting after blowing drying"!
Photo courtesy | Zhao Zhigang
Scenes with particularly harsh conditions seem to happen quite often! How hard is it? It just so happened that Wang Yueyang, the author of Wang Wenjuan's biography and a senior reporter of Xinmin Weekly, presented me with this biography.
In the book "Bright Moon Thousand Miles Together Chan Juan Wang Wenjuan", Wang Yueyang recorded Wang Wenjuan's memories in an epic way, such as when filming the TV series of the ancient talented woman Meng Lijun: "I play a seventeen-year-old girl at the age of seventy, and I get up every morning to put on makeup for three hours. In filming, I often shoot under the scorching sun, shoot for five or six hours in a high temperature of more than forty degrees, and my clothes are soaked inside and out; I can't eat at noon because of makeup, I can only suck juice for two and a half months to fill my hunger; sometimes I can't drink saliva or wipe sweat during most of the shooting." In this regard, Mr. Sun Daolin, who has always accompanied her, could not help but sigh: "In two and a half months, it was made into an artistic TV series equivalent to five movies, "Meng Lijun". ”
The author was presented with the biographical book "Wang Wenjuan" by Xinmin Weekly reporter Wang Yueyang
Zhao Zhigang said: "Like other Yue opera artists of other predecessors, Teacher Wang Wenjuan has paid great attention to and loved me and other young actors in the middle of my entire artistic career, and along the way, it is like supporting the students all the way to the center of the stage." Art has given us a lot of precious support and guidance, and life has also given us a lot of kind care. Zhao Zhigang also proudly emphasized that he participated in the genre concert of Wang Wenjuan's predecessors, which was a masterpiece of drama and the peak of the era of Yue opera on the Stage of Haipai Culture!
Qianli Gong chanjuan: Is an era going away?
Wang Yueyang's "Bright Moon Thousands of Miles Together" wang Wenjuan is a thick biography of an artist. This book has left us with many good stories of the artistic exploration, personality style, feelings of serving the country and deep affection of a generation of masters in our time, just like fine wine, which unconsciously makes people intoxicated. This book is one of the books in the Series of Maritime Talks and Art Records launched by the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and was first published by Shanghai Century Publishing Group in August 2016.
The first person to recommend Wang Yueyang's art monograph to me was Shen Wenzhong, the head of the History Department of Fudan University and vice chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Federation of Literature and Literature. Regarding Wang Wenjuan's departure, Shen Wenzhong said with great regret in an interview with me: "Her departure represents that an era has passed like this, that is, the first brilliant era of the former Yue opera performance master Rulin is leaving us." Now, it is difficult to find famous taidou-level artists at home and abroad like Yuan Xuefen, Fu Quanxiang, Xu Yulan and Wang Wenjuan in the whole country."
Regarding the husband singing and singing with women, Shen Wenzhong said with great emotion: "One is a talented son of Jiaxing, and the other is a beautiful woman in Shengxian County; their marriage and their mutual love are praised by artists as poems co-written by Schubert and Lin Daiyu. He also hoped that I would be able to make a new inquiry into how Sun Daolin, Wang Wenjuan and his wife, and the two great artists nourished each other and served the people together."
Shen Wenzhong delivered a congratulatory speech at the theme activities of the Federation of Literary and Art Associations
Like many Yue opera lovers, Shen Wenzhong himself particularly appreciates Wang Wenjuan's maxim as "making drama more complicated, being a simple person". He believes that such ten words and a simple sentence are the criteria for Teacher Wang Wenjuan to do things and act all her life. That is, only thinking about art, not thinking about people, thinking about people's sophistication. Teacher Wang Wenjuan has dedicated all her energy and wisdom to the art, stage and people she loves; the Yue opera industry and Shanghai's Haipai Space have made such a remarkable artist, and her exemplary style is particularly unforgettable!
Shen Wenzhong's feelings made me very inspired. However, I am still a little reluctant to judge that he said that "an era is going away". So I did the necessary social research. But the survey shows that the actual influence of Yue opera in the community and in the post-Expo generation is still not ideal.
Mi Ying, the principal of huishi primary school in Xuhui District, a famous school with a history of 151 years, told me that among her more than 1,000 huishi students, no one was found to be learning Yue opera, and no parents encouraged their children to learn to sing Yue opera; she herself felt that it was obviously not as strong as the spread of national Peking opera culture.
Cong Haiyan, director of the neighboring Tianping Street Young Workers' Committee, told that the Tianping Street Party Working Committee is still insisting on inheriting Yue opera, and major commemorative time nodes and major holidays will stage Yue opera sketches. However, Cong Haiyan is still worried that children will gradually move away from traditional drama under the pressure of homework, just like the treatment of dialects.
Cong Haiyan and Gao Lu, deputy to the Municipal People's Congress and secretary of the Party Working Committee of Tianping Subdistrict, discussed the topic of community art inheritance
What about the suburban heritage of Yue opera? It doesn't seem good either! Sun Cuiying, the second primary school principal of Jinshan Zhujing, is a fan of Wang Wenjuan's opera, and since she was a child, she has followed her mother to take a car for more than three hours to the city to watch Yue opera every trip. But now, Zhu Jing No. 2 Primary School and Huishi Primary School have no children learning to sing Yue opera. Sun Cuiying also said: She can mobilize children to learn to sing Yue opera, but with whom? Where do professional teachers come from? I know that the Yue Opera Troupe of Shanghai Yue Opera Theater and the National Civilized Village of Zhujing Town, Dameng Village, are paired partners in the construction of civilization, can I invite the Yue Opera Troupe to the campus to teach it? In this regard, Han Yadi, deputy secretary of the party committee of Zhujing Town, and Shen Jianming, general secretary of the party branch of Dameng Village, said: If it can be realized, of course, it is good! Yue opera is a representative of Jiangnan art and Haipai art, and just like Shanghainese, it should not be lost.
The Party organization of the Yue Opera Troupe of Shanghai Yue Opera Theater held an activity of going to the countryside for Yue opera art in Da mang Village, Zhujing Town
Also holding the same view were Xu Xiaoyan, the special principal and secretary of the party committee of Jinshan Middle School, Zhong Xiaoming, a national labor model and the old branch secretary of Dameng Village, and Li Changhong, a deputy to the Jinshan District People's Congress and an entrepreneur.
When the author was investigating in Zhujing Town, he and local cadres and Yue opera fans remembered a generation of grandmaster Wang Wenjuan
They all fondly recalled that Master Wang Wenjuan had visited Zhujing Town and Jinshan Middle School on December 16, 2016, along with artists such as Cao Peng, Ye Huixian and Mao Shanyu.
On the stage of the auditorium of Jinshan Middle School, Master Wang Wenjuan not only enthusiastically expressed her vision of the good inheritance of Yue opera art, but also sang an unforgettable opera text. These scenes remain in everyone's minds like a brand, just like she will always live in the hearts of the people.
Li Changhong, a deputy to the Jinshan District People's Congress (the man in red), planted a yew tree to express the memory of the villagers for Wang Wenjuan's eldest sister
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