Tan Yuanshou, a famous Peking Opera performance artist, died at the age of 92

Data chart: Tan Yuanshou spoke at the press conference of Tan Pai's fine repertoire. From left to right, Tan Zhengyan, Tan Xiaozeng, Tan Yuanshou and Tan Lizeng are in order. Photo by Beijing Daily reporter Fang Fei

At 12 o'clock yesterday (October 9), Tan Yuanshou, a famous Peking Opera performance artist, the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage (Peking Opera) and the fifth generation of Peking Opera Tanmen, died in Beijing due to illness at the age of 92.

As one of the few remaining veteran artists in the Peking Opera circle, his departure is not only a mourning of the Tan men faction, but also a disgrace to the entire Pear Garden.

At the age of 5, he took the stage and continued to write the legend of Tammen

Fu Jin, a famous opera critic, said: "If you want to write the history of Peking Opera with the Seven Dynasties of Tan Men as a clue, this chapter of Tan Yuanshou is about the longest and the most tortuous. ”

Tan Yuanshou was born in the most prestigious Tan family in the Peking Opera world, and his great-grandfather Tan Xinpei founded the Tan School, and his father Tan Fuying carried forward the Tan School. Tan Yuanshou is destined to pass on this family glory as well. Since he was a child, he studied drama with his uncle and Tan Paisu Susheng Song Jiting, and at the age of 5, he took the stage and performed "Fenhe Bay" with his grandfather and father.

In 1938, at the age of 10, he entered fulian chengke class, where he studied under Lei Xifu, Zhang Lianfu and Liu Shengtong, and studied martial arts with Wang Lianping and Ru Fulan. Father Tan Fuying has always been very strict with him, once Tan Yuanshou was beaten 30 boards when Fu Liancheng was studying drama, his ass was broken, and the flesh and blood stuck to his pants, Tan Fuying looked at it but said: "You are called being beaten?" It's less than a third of mine. ”

After leaving the department in 1945, Tan Yuanshou once "carried the knife" for Xun Huisheng and participated in Qiu Shengrong's class club. In 1949, he chose his own class, and in 1954, he joined the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe (now Beijing Peking Opera House), and in the collective of masters, his acting skills became skillful year by year, and gradually became the climate of everyone.

Tan Yuanshou's voice is high-pitched, his skills are solid, he has fully inherited the artistic style of the Tan School, and he has learned from the performance of Li Shaochun, a descendant of the Yu School, and he can be said to be a qualified successor who is both literate and martial. Not only is he familiar with the Tan men's plays such as "Dingjun Mountain", "Nanyang Guan", "Zhan Taiping", "Lost Street Pavilion, Empty City Plan, Chopping Horse Rumors", "Asking The Qiao Noisy Mansion , Beating sticks out of the box", "Mulberry Garden Senders" and other plays of the Tan Men Sect, but also "Playing Gold Bricks", "Wild Boar Forest", "Serial Set" and other plays that also test kung fu are also very good at it.

In the 1980s, after the resumption of traditional opera performances, Tan Yuanshou, as an old artist in the Peking Opera circle and the main actor of the Beijing Peking Opera House, played a role in carrying on from top to bottom. He has successively starred in plays such as "Black Water Country", "Dragon and Phoenix Chengxiang" and "Heroes of the Crowd", and has made a soundtrack to nearly 20 old plays, which has made great contributions not only to the Tan School, but also to the development of Peking Opera.

In 10 years, he has performed nearly 1,000 performances of "Sha Jiabang"

Tan Yuanshou often said before his death: "Without "Sha Jiabang", there would be no me today, this is the drama of my destiny." Guo Jianguang, who played in the modern drama "Sha Jiabang", is the most well-known role for the public.

"Sha Jiabang" is adapted from the Shanghai opera "Ludang Tinder", which was adapted by the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe in 1964 into the Peking Opera of the same name. In 1965, the play was renamed "Sha Jiabang", and the protagonist of the play changed from Ah Qing's sister-in-law to Guo Jianguang, the instructor of the New Fourth Army. Tan Yuanshou, who was filming the movie "Qin Xianglian" in Changchun at the time, suddenly received a telegram asking him to return to Beijing quickly and play Guo Jianguang in "Sha Jiabang".

Singing high-pitched, but also have a martial arts background, Tan Yuanshou recalled afterwards, perhaps these two let him become Guo Jianguang's role candidates. Lu Songling, who designed the singing voice for "Sha Jiabang" in his later years, and Tan Li, the second son of Tan Yuanshou, recalled: "At that time, the singing voice designed for your grandfather was particularly difficult, but he still had a surplus in singing. ”

In order to arrange this play, Tan Yuanshou moved all the rolls to the troupe. At that time, the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe was located near today's Hufangqiao Workers' Club, and the Tan family lived in Dashilar, but one or two stops away, and he was stunned that he had not returned home for several months. Sometimes Tan Li used to send him clothes or something, but he couldn't even talk. The picture of that summer remains in Tan Lizeng's memory, and his father rehearsed sweatily in a big vest.

"Sha Jia Bang" is a modern drama, but Tan Yuanshou did not completely separate modern drama from traditional drama, but brought the stylization of traditional drama into "Sha Jiabang", and the actor's figure and martial arts have the shadow of traditional drama. In the play, Guo Jianguang has a scene of the end, he did not go down in the modern way, but used the traditional drama method to step down. This small change makes the drama more intense.

"Sha Jiabang" premiered in Shanghai, because of its popularity, it was performed 40 times in a row. Guo Jianguang's role in the play is very heavy, and the "persistence" fold is almost all high octave singing, not to mention 40 performances, that is, 4 consecutive performances, many actors can not stick to it. "I don't know how I came to be, it's all because of my youth!" Tan Yuanshou once recalled himself at that time, and he felt a little strange.

Other roles in the crew have B-corner actors, only Guo Jianguang's role, because can not find the right actor, nearly a thousand performances in 10 years, are Tan Yuanshou alone, until 1974 Geng Qichang entered the crew.

Carry the responsibility of inheritance on your shoulders for a lifetime

"Tan Men descendants" is a halo, but it is also a heavy responsibility, how to better inherit the Tan school, better spread the art of Peking Opera has always been the most important thing in Tan Yuanshou's heart.

In order to better inherit, his requirements for his son Tan Xiaozeng were as strict as his father was to him. Tan Xiao once said that the biggest praise he received from his father over the years was "not bad."

He named his grandson "Zhengyan" in the hope that he would inherit the art of the Tan School. In Tan Zhengyan's growth path, he not only had to face the doubts of the outside world, but also had the strict requirements of his grandfather at home. "Over the years, Grandpa has never praised me, and there are many criticisms." When the famous Peking Opera performance artist Wang Rongrong and Tan Zhengyan performed "Sha Jiabang" together, they saw Tan Yuanshou, who was in his eighties, sitting by the upper door of the entire performance, staring closely at the stage to hold the stage for his grandson, and truly felt the importance that the old man attached to inheritance.

In this kind of tempering, Tan Zhengyan grew up not easily, but it was also more solid. In 1984, Tan Yuanshou, Ma Changli and other Peking opera artists rehearsed the Peking opera "Red Rock"; In June 2020, the new drama "Xu Yunfeng" of the Beijing Opera House premiered on the online live broadcast platform, starring Tan Zhengyan.

"Xu Yunfeng" network live broadcast sold nearly 10,000 tickets, but what made Tan Zhengyan most excited was the affirmation from his grandfather, "Grandpa watched the live broadcast again, watched the replay again, when he called my father, while shedding tears, he said, Zhengyan is mature, I am sorry for you, I did not help anything." The old man who has carried the responsibility of inheritance all his life has finally waited for this scene that makes him happy.

"The old man walked very peacefully, and walked steadfastly and very confidently." Tan Xiao once said. Although his grandfather has just passed away, Tan Zhengyan's "Xu Yunfeng" that will be performed on the 11th is still rehearsed and performed normally, "My father will be very pleased to see us doing this in the Spirit of Heaven, which is also an example for our ancestors to do." Tan Xiao once said.

Beijing Daily reporter Niu Chunmei