Hedong people tell Hedong anecdotes 丨 Yuncheng people listen to Yuncheng stories
Approaching Xiang Dong Qingli's two mouths
Feng Jianguo
I saw Kong Xiangdong two mouths, in the depths of the Shundi Mausoleum scenic spot, the trees are verdant, the environment is elegant, and the air is filled with the smell of spring. This is the station of the Salt Lake Pu Troupe, although it is far from the downtown, but it is a unique place for the actors, practicing their voices in the morning and doing work in the evening, which is an excellent place to go. When I went, the two of them had just finished teaching the students homework, and they were refreshed and radiant. Worthy of being a drama master, that look, that style, without appearing on stage, gives people a kind of spiritual inspiration.
The road depends on oneself to walk, the drama depends on oneself to sing, and the person relies on himself to do it. I am afraid that everyone understands this truth, but it is not so simple to do. For dramatists, people often like to use life as a drama, drama as life to describe. But in my impression, some people are, and some people are not. Some so-called famous artists are very good on stage, but offstage are dirty and despicable, and there are not a few. Although I don't have much contact with the theater industry, I have met or heard a lot of such people, and I often sigh at them.
I met about the two of them to the east, still some time ago. That time, Wu Junying, the winner of the first opera plum blossom award in the Yuncheng Pu opera industry, died, and he asked me to go. The first time I saw the two sons performing on stage, it suddenly brought me closer to them. Although I am a drama blind, Xiaosheng, Xusheng, and Laosheng can't tell the difference, and Lao Dan, Zhengdan, and Boumen Dan can't understand it, but seeing the two mouths' investment in dramatic feelings instantly makes me awe-inspired. From the two of them, I suddenly realized a truth: no matter what profession you are engaged in, without 100% effort, there will be no success at all.
For the art of opera, I have never been very enthusiastic, because I am incomplete in five tones, I do not understand the six laws, I only know that Pu opera is exciting, meido is euphemistic, as for singing, appearance, acting, etc., I only know it but I don't know why. And this little bit of drama subconscious, or when I was a child, I accumulated in the sound of my grandmother spinning threads. However, at the moment when Kong Xiangdong performed on the stage, I was impulsive, I wanted to write about them, to explore the story of their stage and offstage. In fact, the human heart is sometimes very lowly, and so is the literati. Some people pay you to write, you don't necessarily write, how much money you pay is not to promise; sometimes others do not necessarily ask you to write, but you are eager to try, and a nameless impulse will germinate in your heart.
Life is like that, maybe that's life. That day I came back in the car to the east, and they insisted on taking me to the door. Although the two sons to the east are younger than me, their fame is much larger, and being able to treat a person who rides in his car in this way is enough to prove the attitude of the two people in their daily lives from one side, no wonder among the fans and friends, their reputation is very good. For an actor, acting on stage and being a person offstage, but on stage can be called a performance; offstage, you must really be a person with heart, and you must not be a little false and contrived. However, not all artists can do this.
That's when I gave him an invitation to both of them, something I don't usually do. Who knows that before a few days, the yuncheng epidemic appeared, as the head of the Pu opera troupe in the Salt Lake District, Kong Xiangdong was busy, inside and out, up and down, arranging anti-epidemic matters, solving rehearsal performance activities, and it was easy to get together this chat time.
During the chat, my friends who went with me kept asking me what was the theme of this time? I said no, just talk to the two of them casually. I always feel that you don't have to set any preconceived themes in advance in order to get to the most essential things. Because artists are also human beings, there are also aspects of their daily life and work, bit by bit. And it is these inconspicuous aspects, bit by bit, that will outline a real person of him. As for those who are vain and false on and offstage, it can only mean that they are just a theatrical life performer, and they cannot be called real artists.
I don't know how other authors write about characters, but my point is not to elevate the image of a character too high, and not to deliberately demean a person's behavior. Everyone has their own aspect, and it can't be perfect and intact. Those who blindly portray someone's strengths and deliberately obscure his weaknesses can only write out characters that are in the mirror, shelved in the cabinet, and not grounded. The reader will only say that you are making a fool of yourself, playing with your tongue, and the image of the character you are writing will be damaged. Only by discovering his inner world and his behavior from their daily lives, from their little bits and pieces, can you write a real person who belongs to the protagonist himself.
Spring blossoms, the wind and the sun are beautiful, and the troupe's conference room is simple and bright. That day we were aimless, just a chat, southeast, northwest, spring, summer, autumn and winter, chatting as we went. Talk about the family life of their two sons, talk about their artistic careers, talk about their entrepreneurial paths, talk about their ideal pursuits, talk about their attitudes towards life... On that day, there were still a few theater fans present, and talked about the good deeds of their two sons, about their filial piety, about their word of mouth among the fans, about their love and care for the students, about the hardships and harvests of their founding of Puxianghong and Oriental Opera... In the process of small talk, the image of the two mouths gradually stood up in front of me, and gradually became clearer and clearer.
A cup of tea, a few idle people, chatting very happily. Emotionally, Xiang dong and Qingli improvised a meido drama "Twelve Sickles", which attracted everyone's applause. In fact, artists are the same, don't think of yourself too proudly, because you are also one of the ordinary people; but you can't think of yourself too vulgar, because after all, you are the people's idol, a public figure, your words and deeds and every move, not only represent you, but also represent the title of artist, but also affect people's feelings. Fortunately, Kong Xiangdong and Wang Qingli have achieved both virtue and art, and their voices are full of emotion, and they are worthy of being truly people's artists. I'm so proud of them!
Editor-in-charge of this issue: Feng Shaohua Photo: Xu Wenyuan
About the Author
Feng Jianguo, a member of the Chinese Writers Association, is fascinated by culture and loves his homeland. A fool who knows nothing but wants to do it, once did copywriting, and now a casual guest. He is a little lonely in his life, can scribble two sketches, and has more than twenty broken books, about 5 million colloquialisms. The most beloved one is "Millennium Hedong", and the most diligent one is "Walking All Over Hedong" (13 volumes). The most popular among readers is "The World of Ten Thousand People Is Extremely Guan Yunchang", and the most obstructed by the townspeople is "The Disaster Rises in the Great River East"... The road must still be moved forward, and may the reader have a good time.