"It's not just a letter, it's a footprint from the beginning of the art." On March 30, Zhang Yonghua, an 82-year-old performance artist from Qin Cavity Danjiao, was sorting out her art materials, including many letters sent to her by opera fans across the country, expressing her love for her and her feelings about Qin Cavity art. Every letter Zhang Yonghua cherished very much, and whenever he had time, he took it out and read it word by word.
"These letters are a great encouragement to me." Zhang Yonghua often said that the audience is her teacher, and the fans have accompanied her through many spring and autumn seasons, and everyone must be the confidence of her performance on stage. Sometimes the fans will talk about their understanding of the drama characters in the letter, and Zhang Yonghua will absorb the opinions and suggestions, try to capture and study the emotions and personalities of the characters, and improve their performance skills. Some fans "order the program" through letters, and Zhang Yonghua will also flip through relevant books and spend time focusing on practice.
Zhang Yonghua sorted out the art materials and showed the reporter the letters sent by the fans.
In 1949, Zhang Yonghua was admitted to the Yi Folk Society, and from then on she began her career as an artist. In the master's teaching and repeated practice, she understood the skills of Qin Cavity singing, and with the improvement of her skills, she was present in the performance field of the Yi Folk Society, and Zhang Yonghua gradually became the backbone of the drama club. In the 46 years until her retirement in 1995, she often toured all over the country, traveling all over Shaanxi, Gansu, Ning and other places, and her sonorous singing voice and unrestrained and delicate performance style made her gain a large number of opera fans.
When she was 9 years old, Zhang Yonghua came to the Yi Folk Society with her aunt to watch the play, when she was deeply attracted by the high-pitched and agitated long roar of the Qin Cavity artists on the stage, standing in the audience, she imagined herself standing on the stage to perform, and she felt that she had a special fate with the Qin Cavity. Then she was admitted to the Yi Folk Society with a clear and loud voice, and the first thing she did every morning was to practice her voice and review the teaching content of the previous day's master. Because of her diligent study and hard work, her skills have improved by leaps and bounds, and at the age of 12, she played the protagonist Bai Suzhen in "The Legend of the White Snake", and her thick and gentle singing voice and rich performances have won the attention of everyone, and since then, she has been the protagonist of the Yi Folk Society for decades.
After Zhang Yonghua retired from the Yi Folk Society, he was very reluctant to leave this place full of memories. Concerned about the inheritance of traditional art, Zhang Yonghua decided to retire behind the scenes as a teacher, and teaching qin lu became her most important thing. In 2015, Zhang Yonghua, who was rebuilt by the Yi Folk Society and moved to a new house, used a room of more than 40 square meters as a stage, and as long as there were students to ask for advice, she carefully guided one move at a time, and taught the technical know-how she had mastered over the years. In the 27 years since her retirement, she has never missed a student's performance rehearsal, insisting on attending the scene to guide the students to rehearse the play, sometimes changing into costumes, flicking water sleeves, cocking orchid fingers, and singing a song with the students.
He Yuxin was a proud protégé of Zhang Yonghua, who was only 16 years old when he entered the Yi Folk Society, and was the youngest student of Zhang Yonghua. Zhang Yonghua first met He Yuxin in 2012 at the 9th Children's Opera Little Plum Blossom Competition in Shaanxi Province, and as a judge on the spot, she fell in love with this little girl with a relaxed look.
In 2019, He Yuxin was admitted to the Yi Folk Society, and Zhang Yonghua regarded her as her successor, teaching strictly, demonstrating, and often taking out the letters from collectors of drama fans to encourage her.
Today, Zhang Yonghua's happiest thing is to sing Qin Lu with the students, and the students thrive under her guidance, which makes her see the future of the Yi Folk Society and the hope of the Qin Cavity inheritance.
During this year's Spring Festival, the Yi Folk Society held a performance of Qin Xianghuimin, and Zhang Yonghua rehearsed his masterpiece "Lady Xian" for the students. She took an old book about the legend of Mrs. Sin that she bought in Beijing in 1982 and printed it as teaching materials for distribution to students, so that students could understand the life of the characters from historical facts. When she sang this familiar play again at the rehearsal scene, the students also understood the character characteristics more deeply, and singed one by one. Looking at the students' serious efforts, Zhang Yonghua couldn't help but burst into tears.
"As an actor, I enjoy every moment of standing on stage and singing; as a teacher, I am very pleased to see that there are people who follow me on the road of art." Zhang Yonghua said that time cannot erase the love for Qin Cavity. From the age of 9 to 82, his life was spent in the hard study of Qin Cavity, the performance of Qin Cavity and the teaching of Qin Cavity, and his life has been deeply embedded with Qin Cavity.
Source: Herald Old Friends Weekly Lohas Edition
Intern reporter Liu Fanluan Reporter Zhao Jing Text/Photo