Kang Wansheng: The bittersweet life of a big flower face
(NorthNet, June 10, 2007)
Famous Peking Opera performance artist, famous copper hammer flower face of Tianjin Peking Opera Theatre, national first-class actor... Any one of these titles would be breathtaking to put on a person, and they would all belong to the same person. He is Kang Wansheng, qiu pai flower face heir. The 62-year-old Kang Wansheng left the audience with classic songs such as "The Case of The Beauty of the United States" and "The Great Protector of the Country" on the stage, and he was also an ordinary person full of joy and sorrow under the stage. Recently, the reporter came to Kang Wansheng's home to tell readers the story of the bittersweet family life of a Peking Opera performance artist.
Kang Wansheng's home is located in an old-fashioned residential area in the city. When he came to this community, the reporter found that Kang Wansheng had waited at the door of the community early and was chatting with the security guards of the community. The community security guard wanted to learn Peking Opera with him, and Kang Wansheng said modestly: "You have time to find me at home at night, don't dare to study, let's make progress together." Mr. and Mrs. Kang Wansheng and their daughter and son-in-law live in two units on the same floor, and the house was bought by Kang Wansheng in order to facilitate mutual care in life.
Kang Wansheng's home is only simple decoration, the interior furnishings are very simple, and the dining table is still made when they are married. In the living room, there is a closet with a large wall, which is filled with Peking Opera CDs and DVDs, which looks more like the home of a Peking Opera lover than the home of a famous Peking Opera performance artist.
Kang Wansheng was born in Jilin in the northeast, and his original home was Xianghe County, Hebei Province. In 1952, when he was 6 years old, his whole family went to Tianjin to make a living. His father was a worker. When Kang Wansheng was in elementary school, every day he would pass by the newly opened Yaoyin Peking Opera Club, which was a very famous box office at that time, and many famous characters had gone there to sing, and Kang Wansheng couldn't help but listen to it every time he passed there. He especially likes flower faces, and dreams that he can sing flower faces when he grows up. In 1957, when Kang Wansheng was 11 years old, he was admitted to the Little Red Flower Children's Art Theater. A year later, he applied for the Tianjin Opera School. That year, Kang Wansheng was the youngest of the candidates, and he was also the smallest, and the other candidates stood on the floor and sang, and Kang Wansheng sang on a box. Perhaps because he was too immature, he failed this exam. Kang Wansheng thought that if he wanted to make achievements in Peking Opera, he must enter the Middle School Drama School. Therefore, from this year on, he studied drama more diligently, practicing three or nine in winter and practicing three volts in summer, except for the time to eat and sleep, he no longer thought about how to sing well at all times. The next year he applied for the exam again and was successfully admitted to the Tianjin Opera School.
Falling in love Is a matter of wind and snow When it comes to the marriage with his wife, Mr. Kang Wansheng laughed and said: "That is a matter of wind and snow. In 1974, Kang Wansheng met Song Meifu through the introduction of others. At that time, Song Meifu was a hardware factory worker, while Kang Wansheng, who was passionate about Peking Opera, worked in a bicycle factory. Kang Wansheng said to Song Meifu: "After you marry me, I will sing to you every day." Song Meifu thought to herself, this young man is quite reliable, stupid, and will not bully himself in the future. After meeting each other a few times, the two established a relationship. Song Meifu had no interest in Peking Opera and did not like to listen to It. At first, Kang Wansheng thought about Peking Opera with Song Meifu, until He didn't say a word to Song Meifu, and Kang Wansheng found that the girl was not interested in Peking Opera. Many years later, when Song Meifu talked about her feelings at that time, she said: "If it were not for the good character of others and the lack of bad eyes for people, I would not have made an object with him." Since you are not interested in Peking Opera, you should change your way of entertainment. One winter, they watched a movie in Ichinomiya. One ended, and another one was added. After the movie, it was already more than midnight in the morning, and there were snowflakes floating outside, and the snow on the ground had begun to freeze. Kang Wansheng pushed the bicycle and Song Meifu walked slowly. Although the weather is very cold, the two young hearts are warm. At two o'clock in the morning, Kang Wansheng sent Song Meifu to his home in Tong Lou. Song Meifu's grandmother was a split-headed and face-covering ideological education to Kang Wansheng, until she explained everything clearly, and Kang Wansheng pushed the bicycle back to his home. After that, Song Meifu decided to marry Kang Wansheng. This is how Kang Wansheng said that "a matter of wind and snow" came about.
In 1975, Kang Wansheng and Song Meifu married. The Kang family set up 13 tables of banquets in the compound, each table was 30 yuan standard, which was a good wedding banquet that year. The Kang family bought Song Meifu "big" dowries such as seagull watches and hongqi bicycles. After getting married, the watch was worn by Kang Wansheng, and since Song Meifu could not ride a bicycle, the bicycle was also ridden by Kang Wansheng. Kang Wansheng often joked: "These are all bought for you." And Song Meifu will also pick up a sentence: "You are stained with my light." Song Meifu did not know much about Peking Opera, so she did not pay much attention to Kang Wansheng's performance. A chance encounter allowed Song Meifu to understand her husband's hardships. That winter, Song Meifu went backstage to find Kang Wansheng, who was resting. He took off his little cotton jacket and bet on someone that he could wring out a warm pot of sweat. Everyone didn't believe it, someone brought over a warm pot, kang Wansheng in front of everyone, and really shengsheng wrung out a pot of sweat from the cotton jacket. This process was seen by Song Meifu, and she returned home without talking to Kang Wansheng. She cried all the way back, she never expected her husband to play so hard for the peking opera, she didn't understand him before, it was all her own fault. In order to make up for her previous mistakes, Song Meifu made a meal for Kang Wansheng and waited for him to return. Kang Wansheng went home and saw the food on the table, and a sense of happiness suddenly emerged. At this time, Song Meifu had already coaxed the child to sleep. From that day on, whenever Kang Wansheng returned home after the performance, he would eat delicious meals made by Song Meifu himself. This habit persisted until Song Meifu fell ill.
From not knowing anything about Peking Opera to talking about Peking Opera, his wife has become Kang Wansheng's confidant. However, in 1994, a change almost brought Kang Wansheng's stage art to an end. That year, Song Meifu suddenly suffered a cerebral embolism, and although she saved her life after rescue, she lost her ability to take care of herself. At that time, his daughter was still at work, and Kang Wansheng could only stay at home to take care of his wife, temporarily bidding farewell to his favorite stage. In order to treat his wife's illness, Kang Wansheng almost ran to major hospitals across the country. However, the doctor did not have a better way, but suggested that Kang Wansheng must take good care of his wife and let her recover slowly. Kang Wansheng misses the stage every day and misses the audience under the stage. But for the sake of his wife, he can only try his best not to let himself not want to, and he can't let his wife see the anxiety in his heart. As a wife, Song Meifu knows that her husband cannot do without Peking Opera, and she can't bear to tie Kang Wansheng to the house because she tied kang Wansheng to the house, so she let Kang Wansheng sing opera, saying that she had no problem staying at home. After much deliberation, Kang Wansheng made a particularly cruel decision. He said to his daughter Kang Deying: "You quit your job to take care of your mother at home, and I went out to sing and support my family." Unexpectedly, the daughter actually agreed to this decision. At that time, my daughter was working as a foreman in a big hotel, and her income was relatively high, and it really took a certain amount of courage to make the decision to resign. In this way, after saying goodbye to the stage for more than a year, Kang Wansheng finally performed on stage again. But his heart is still contradictory, for his career, his wife and daughter have made great sacrifices, and he can only live up to the efforts of his family by singing harder.
Two regrets in life The death of the old mother is still on the stage Kang Wansheng is particularly uncomfortable every year after the fifteenth day of the first month, that day is his mother's sacrifice day, and he also performed on the day of his mother's death. On the fifteenth day of the first month of 1989, Kang Wansheng's mother died in the early hours of the morning. Kang Wansheng and his brother handled his mother's funeral together. However, that night, Kang Wansheng still had a performance, and the tickets had already been sold and could not be changed. What can be done about this, on the one hand, the biological mother, on the other hand, the food and clothing parents. Kang Wansheng still decided to perform on stage, and then went to the funeral after the performance. When he went on stage, the audience did not know that something big had happened in Kang Wansheng's family, and Kang Wansheng temporarily forgot his grief and entered the play. That day, he played "Detective II", and Kang Wansheng played Yang Yanzhao. After the performance, the theater broadcast that Kang Wansheng's mother had died and needed to go home for mourning, and the audience gave Kang Wansheng a long-lasting applause. For this matter, Kang Wansheng is still very guilty.
In June 1989, when Kang Wansheng went to Hong Kong to perform, bad news came. Peking Opera performance artist and Kang Wansheng's teacher Fang Rongxiang died of a heart attack. When Kang Wansheng learned about it, he hid in the room alone and cried. Since 1979, when Mr. Fang Rongxiang was a teacher, although there were not many opportunities to meet with him (one in Tianjin and one in Shandong), the guidance given by Mr. Fang Rongxiang in art was of great help to Kang Wansheng, and the two often exchanged art over the phone. Kang Wansheng believes that Mr. Kang is the leader of his career, and it is a pity that he did not meet him on the occasion of his death.
Kang Wansheng, 62 years old, was born in Jilin Province and came to Tianjin with his parents when he was 6 years old. In 1957, he was admitted to the Little Red Flower Children's Art Theater, and two years later, he was admitted to the Tianjin Opera School and began to perform officially. Kang Wansheng specializes in Qiu Pai flower face, is a famous Peking Opera performance artist in China, a famous copper hammer flower face in Tianjin Peking Opera Theatre, and a national first-class actor. In 1968, Kang Wansheng was transferred to Tianjin Feige Bicycle Factory. In 1970, he joined the army and became a literary and artistic soldier. In 1974, he went to work in the Hongqi Bicycle Factory. In 1978, Kang Wansheng was transferred to the Tianjin Peking Opera Third Troupe. Kang Wansheng's representative works include "Chisang Town" and "The Case of Gongmei" and other famous songs of qiu pai. In 2004, Kang Wansheng held a solo performance, performing 38 segments of the flower face singing segments in 8 plays, fully demonstrating his skills and achievements.
As a famous Peking Opera performance artist, Kang Wansheng's family life is so pragmatic, which is really valuable to people of our age. What is even more valuable is that his career has gone through many tribulations, some of which can even destroy all one's beliefs, and this Peking Opera performance artist is still obsessed with his own artistic pursuits. Kang Wansheng's popularity among the fans is surprisingly good, because he really regards the audience as his own food and clothing parents. Sometimes even if his voice is dumb, he will continue to perform, and he can also ensure the quality of the performance. Even if his old mother died, he still insisted on performing, which shows why he has such a good reputation and artistic virtue. During the interview, the reporter did not feel that sitting across from him was a Peking Opera performance artist, who was like a kind old man in the community, answering every question seriously. Mr. Kang Wansheng said: "Treat people sincerely, so that others will treat you well." He is very modest about his artistic achievements, he said that he is not the most diligent, and he is a little ashamed to have today's achievements given by the audience. The elderly are very satisfied with today's life. He said that every day when he came home, he saw his wife waiting for him to come back, which was happiness.