In the minds of Peking Opera lovers, Tong Zhiling is an accomplished actress, and according to her play path, she has been recognized as an outstanding descendant of the Xun Sect.
The so-called Xun School is a genre created by Mr. Xun Huisheng in the four famous names of Peking Opera after a long period of practice, exploration, refinement and synthesis. In general, the plays of the four famous dans are all sung, read, done, and played, and there is no "shortcut" for those who learn. Only after practicing the basic skills that Peking Opera Danjiao must have, can actors choose a more suitable genre according to their own physical conditions, personality, voice and other physiological conditions, and continue their studies.
Since then, of course, the demands of the various factions have not been consistent. In terms of the Xun school, the duet does not seek to be clear and loud, play more long, but win with soft and gentle tone, and do not pay attention to the chanting of the white, but pay special attention to light and fluent, do not drag mud and water, but also use Jingbai, relatively close to modern colloquialism, the most important thing is to make a table, requiring thoughtful and meticulous, lively and vivid (naturally also changes with the different personalities of the characters in the play).
Tong Zhiling
For martial arts, the requirements are higher than those of the Mei and Cheng factions, and slightly inferior to those of the Shang faction. Although he did not jump out of the category of knife and horse dan, he also used the wrestling work in more than one scene, and sometimes even had to lean on. In addition, there are mostly comedies and fewer tragedies in the Xun Pai dramas, and there are more collaborators with Xiaosheng and clowns, and fewer collaborators with laosheng. From this point, we can also see the characteristics of the Xun school stage performance art.
Since the 1930s, I have followed Mr. Sha Dafeng and Yan Duhezhu, the predecessors of the northern and southern literary circles, and often watched Xun Huisheng's plays, which can be said to be not less, but limited to my own level, and my understanding is very shallow, and the brief introduction above is neither comprehensive nor may be wrong.
However, using these four points to measure Tong Zhiling, it can be said that the Xun School performing arts she has mastered are quite profound. To take a very obvious example, many of the protagonists of Xun Pai dramas are poor girls or young concubines who have just xie fengqian, and first of all, they must give people the impression of petite and exquisite, not shedding childishness.
Tong Zhiling's "Red Lady"
However, Tong Zhiling's figure is quite tall, and she can be regarded as a "big man" among female comrades. In addition to playing the female general Xue Men in "Fan Jiang Guan", there is no problem, playing other characters (such as red brides and jin yunu and the like), once they appear, the audience will feel that it is not appropriate, but the more the play is performed, the more the audience feels that the actor has become integrated with the character, and the "deficiency" in appearance has been covered up by beautiful acting skills, which is similar to the scene when Mr. Cheng Yanqiu's body is fat after each performance.
Of course, the reason why Tong Zhiling can become a veritable descendant of the Xun Sect also has some objective conditions that are more favorable than others.
First of all, she participated in opera activities earlier, and before Xun Huisheng was born, there were many opportunities to watch her teacher's performance, as the insider said, "Watching once is like saying ten times". In this regard, the younger Xun sect's other seniors, such as Song Changrong, including Xun Huisheng's youngest daughter Ling Lai, were not as favorable as Tong Zhiling.
Tong Zhiling worships Xun Huisheng as a teacher
Xun Huisheng can play a lot, that is, in terms of what he is best at, in terms of passing around the play, there are "Xin An Yi", "Huatian Mistake", "Deyi Yuan", etc., and the self-written small plays (in fact, more than the handwriting of Mr. Chen Moxiang) also have "Xun Guanniang", "Xiangluo Belt", etc., which can be listed into a very long list.
However, in recent years, Tong Zhiling has often performed only four or five plays such as "Red Chamber Eryou" and "Jin Yunu". The reason is beyond speculation. However, judging from her current age and the gradual tranquility of her artistic style, I think that "Dan Qingyin", "Baotou Feng", "Biography of Gengniang" and so on in the Xun Pai Xiaoben drama, if they can be rearranged, it seems to be very pleasing to the audience.
Tong Zhiling and Xun Huisheng
As for the traditional plays that Xun Huisheng often performed in his early years, such as "Little Cattle Herding" and "Thirteen Sisters", he also hoped that Tong Zhiling would participate in the relay race, and then "pass it on" to the future, trying to teach zhan Pingping, Tong Xiaoling, Liao Youtong and other rookies of the next generation (including her sister, Tong Baoling, an actor of the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe), so that the Xun Pai opera could be passed on for a long time.
February 1981
(The Sunset Collection)