Peking Opera master Li Bingshu.
Mention the name "Li Bingshu" to think of the "sample play" of the Cultural Revolution, "Ode to the Dragon River". Playing the glorious secretary of the party branch of the rural production brigade in the play, Li Bingshu is extremely well-known in the era of "800 million people only watching ten plays".
Now that we have entered the twenty-first century, what is the current situation of the actor who has impressed hundreds of millions of Chinese audiences? In May 2007, with the concerns of the audience, the reporter finally got permission to interview Li Bingshu, a master of Peking Opera, at the Shanghai Peking Opera House.
When I first saw Li Bingshu, I was surprised that although she was 65 years old, her pride was undiminished, and her style was especially strong: she walked delicately and was as light as a goose when she moved; When speaking, the Beijing accent is Beijing flavor and the voice is soft; A pair of beautiful big eyes are clear and agile, and people want to see her handsome appearance and graceful posture on the stage. Lee Byung-sook still works every day, and in addition to working as a business coach for young actors in the hospital, she also has many social positions and activities, and she is very busy all day. At the time of the interview, comrades from the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles came from Beijing to select stills for one of her upcoming albums.
First, Chairman Mao was concerned about her growth
Before the interview, I learned about Li Bingshu, especially her growth had been cared for by Chairman Mao.
Li Bingshu is a native of Suxian County, Anhui Province, born in 1942, at the age of 14, he entered the Peking Opera Troupe of Su County to study opera, and later transferred to the Bengbu Peking Opera Troupe and Gong Qingyi. In 1959, he took the art to shanghai opera school for 2 years, and was taught by Yan Huizhu and Yang Qinong, and then successively worshiped Wei Lianfang and Zhang Junqiu as teachers. By the time she graduated in 1961, she had become a prodigy in the industry. At that time, the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe insisted on staying together, while the Anhui Opera Troupe insisted on not letting go, and the two sides could not argue back and forth, and the "lawsuit" actually hit Chairman Mao. In 1960, Chairman Mao watched her performance and said to Zeng Xisheng, the governor of Anhui Province: "Li Bingshu is not from Anhui, nor from Shanghai, but from the state. Shanghai has strong teachers, I think I will stay in Shanghai! With Chairman Mao's "hammer and tone", Li Bingshu's artistic path has become wider and wider.
In 1961, Li Bingshu, who had just graduated, went to Hong Kong with the Shanghai Youth Peking Opera Troupe to perform "The Female General of Yangmen", and his heroic image of Mu Guiying became a hit, sensationalizing Both Hong Kong and Shanghai, and was known as "the rising star of National Opera". Subsequently, "Ode to the Longjiang River" became a representative repertoire of Li Bingshu, and she created the art classic Jiang Shuiying in "Ode to the Longjiang", who sang the red river north and south of the river "a round of red sunshine between the chests".
On July 30, 1972, Li Bingshu met Chairman Mao again, and in the large study where he had met former US President Nixon, Chairman Mao smiled and greeted Li Bingshu: "Little Li, we haven't seen each other for several years." But I've seen your five live shows of "Ode to the Dragon River" tv broadcast! "Chairman Mao Zedong spoke in a thick and cordial Hunan dialect and began a casual and humorous conversation with Li Bingshu." It seems that your 'cake' is fully ripe and ready to eat. Chairman Mao Zedong, who has a good memory, remembered that at the evening party held in Shanghai in the early 1960s, he accidentally heard Li Bingshu's classmates calling her "Ah Bing", and immediately humorously confused the words "Bing" and "cake" to show his recognition and congratulations to Li Bingshu, whose artistic level had matured.
Second, no complaints and no regrets, "Ode to the Dragon River"
Lee Byung-sook plays Jiang Shuiying in "Ode to Long Jiang".
During the Cultural Revolution of the last century, the Shanghai Peking Opera House became a "model troupe" and performed "Wisdom to Conquer the Tiger Mountain" and "Harbor", but only "workers" and "soldiers", and lacked the image of peasants. In order to make up for this deficiency, the play "Ode to the Dragon River" created in the early 1960s was selected for processing, and Lee Byung-sook was also included in the crew.
At first, Jiang Shuiying's A role was played by Tong Xiangling's wife Zhang Nanyun, and later, because Li Bingshu's temperament was closer to the person in the play, Jiang Shuiying, he jumped from the B corner to become the A corner. To star in a "model play" is nothing less than being tasked with accomplishing an arduous and glorious mission, not to mention that the singing voice of jiang Shuiying, who has been created several times by the "three prominences", is much more than the singing of all the other characters in the play combined. In order to play Jiang Shuiying well, Li Bingshu has gone deep into the countryside five times to experience life. Subsequently, "Ode to longjiang" was put on the screen. The success of "Ode to the Dragon River" on stage and on the screen has made Lee Bingshu famous and a household name.
However, with the end of the Cultural Revolution, Li Bingshu became the object of "exposing and criticizing" because of "Ode to the Longjiang", saying that she was a person cultivated by the "Gang of Four", and the congress would criticize her, from 1977 to 1978, at the age of 35, she stood on the side for a whole year in the heyday of art. Li Bingshu just didn't accept this reasoning, "I am a young actor cultivated by the party for seventeen years. During this period, some people advised her to talk to the central and municipal leaders, but she firmly believed that the eyes of the party and the masses were bright, did not make a phone call, did not write a letter, and still insisted on practicing and hanging her voice every day. Later, the organization finally came to the right conclusions about her question. At the end of 1978, the courtyard rehearsed the modern Peking Opera drama "Butterfly Love Flower", she was selected as the protagonist to play Yang Kaihui, and after transplanting in Beijing, she returned to Shanghai to perform successfully. The majority of "fans" were happy to see their "Jiang Shuiying" debut on stage, called and wrote letters to encourage her, and she received two hundred letters from the audience in a day at most.
A century later, Li Bingshu still has a fondness for her ten years of acting in "Ode to the Dragon River", and has no regrets. She told reporters, "Giving up a small family, protecting everyone, and carrying forward the spirit of communist cooperation, this 'Longjiang style' is still worth advocating to this day."
Three. Leader of the inheritance and reform of Peking Opera
Lee Byung-sook played Mu Guiying in "Yangmen Female General".
After the smashing of the "Gang of Four", Peking Opera resumed as the essence of the country, and Lee Byung-sook, like many old artists, gained a new life. In 1979, she was named by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China and participated in the crew of the first Peking Opera "Yangmen Female General" after the Cultural Revolution, playing the main role of Mu Guiying. Soon, she got another golden opportunity---- played Bai Suzhen in the movie "The Legend of the White Snake". After the film was released, it set a record of more than 700 million attendance of opera films a year after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and won the "Popular Film" Hundred Flowers Award and the Ministry of Culture Best Opera Art Film Award. Since then, she has successively starred in meipai dramas "Cosmic Front", "Feng Hui Chao", "Qin Xianglian", and "Three Niang Godsons", singing opera with a round and clear voice, gentle and gentle, this evocative Meipai singing art has won the favor of the majority of opera lovers. Lee bye Won the third National Golden Disc Award in 1995 and the First Asian Outstanding Artist Award at the Lincoln Center for the Arts in New York in 1999.
However, with the development of the times, people's living needs and appreciation tastes are also changing, and Peking Opera is facing the impact of a variety of new literary and artistic forms. The Shanghai Peking Opera House is also facing the test of survival and development due to its conservative mechanism and large team. In 1983, in the tide of Peking Opera reform, the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe mobilized Tong Xiangling and Li Bingshu to lead the contracting of the first and second regiments respectively, operating in accordance with the laws of the market economy, and striving to find a way to revitalize Peking Opera under new conditions. However, everything was difficult at the beginning, she had no experience, no funds, and only personal fame. In order to complete the indicators and make up for the deficit, as the protagonist, she went on 196 of the 264 national tours, and even reached three times a day, until the voice was broken before resting, and she contributed more treatment but did not take much, insisting on only taking 1.5 yuan per show like ordinary actors. After a year of contracting, the 72 cast members in the regiment not only guaranteed salaries and bonuses, but also handed over 180,000 yuan to the hospital, and this time "going to the sea" was exchanged for a public opinion: "To make money, find Li Bingshu."
Fourth, to revitalize the essence of the country and run for the shout
Li Bingshu was a deputy to the Fourth and Fifth National People's Congresses, vice chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Theatre Association for two consecutive terms (just gave way to other drama genres this year), and now she is a member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Whatever her title, her biggest responsibility is "Peking Opera Revitalization". In the interview, she said worriedly that Peking Opera has now reached a low point again, the attendance rate is not good, although there are still performances due to expensive tickets, and the good seats in the middle and front rows are empty. The prosperity of Peking Opera mainly depends on young people, but the salaries of young actors in the troupe are only more than 1,000 yuan. Under such conditions, they can still rehearse the play with peace of mind, which is really valuable. Through her and her colleagues' appeals, the state and Shanghai set up the Peking Opera Development Foundation, through raising a little in the society, a little subsidy from the state, a little sponsorship from overseas compatriots, and a little more income from the performances in the troupe, raising funds from many sources to increase the income of the actors, so that young people can feel at ease to rehearse operas and have successors to Peking Opera.
Referring to the preservation of the national essence, Lee Byung-sook talked about Japanese kabuki. Kabuki, she said, is Japan's oldest genre of drama, like a living fossil of art, she has seen it on both visits to Japan, and the pace from the afternoon to the evening is very slow, the content is lengthy, and it is very tiring to watch. It is said that the ticket price is very expensive. However, due to the publicity in place, it has become an indispensable reception content for foreign guests to visit and receive tourists. Kabuki actors are family-style, have very high salaries, receive state subsidies, and do not rely on the box office. Therefore, it can be preserved in the original state. Lee byung-sook argues that we should learn from Japan's practice of preserving Kabuki.
Not long ago, Li Bingshu served as the chairman of the newly established "Shanghai Revitalization Peking Opera Promotion Association". At the beginning of her tenure, she closely relied on a large number of senior artists in the Shanghai Peking Opera circle to actively rescue and inherit the valuable artistic resources of these artists. She said that in the future, we will continue to organize demonstration performances by famous Peking opera artists, excavate and sort out classic repertoire that is on the verge of being lost, create new screenwriting repertoire suitable for artists' performance styles, and train and promote potential young actors to promote the revitalization and development of Peking opera art in various ways.
Li Bingshu's artistic image of "Jiang Shuiying" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Fifth, eternal love in the family's troubles
Just when Lee Byung-sook's artistic path is in full swing, the misfortunes of family life are constantly attacking her. First, her husband Li Yongde was bedridden due to illness. This old student of Yu Pai, who was personally taught by Li Shaochun and Yan Shaopeng, graduated from the same school as her and performed on the same stage as an excellent actor who has performed "Erjingong", "Feng Hui Chao" and "Wu Jia Po", suffered from cerebral infarction and diabetic complications, and was unable to walk and live for ten years. During those 3650 days and nights, Lee Byung-sook coped with the busy performances on the one hand, and on the other hand, she also had to do the responsibility of a wife and take care of her husband in the hospital bed. However, the misfortune is not alone, Li Bingshu has accumulated fatigue and become ill, and a tumor the size of an egg has grown in his right kidney, and in 2000, an authoritative doctor of Ruijin Hospital surgically removed a right kidney.
The family crisis plummeted, and the seriously ill couple was severely tested. In the most difficult days, these two life partners and artistic confidants were forced to leave the stage, still supporting the spiritual world with their favorite Peking Opera. Li Bingshu said: "During that time, although we were all sick at home, our love for peking opera art did not diminish in the slightest, and the drama program of Channel 11 of Central Radio was the patent of my husband and I every night. "
Li Bingshu is a national first-class actor who enjoys special allowances from the State Council, but her salary level is not high compared with her peers, and the total is only a little more than 3,000. The hospital carried out wage reform, the basic salary was 1000, plus performance subsidies, and 800 for a big play and 400 for small plays. But she has been sick since the reform, and she can't act after the operation, so the monthly salary is only more than 1,000 yuan, and later everyone reflects that the trade union also supports it, so she adjusted the salary to 1500 yuan. Who dares to believe that a "big name" like her also has the problem of "expensive and difficult to see a doctor".
In 2004, Li Yongde passed away. Li Bingshu endured great grief, actively cooperated with the hospital treatment, and after a period of meditation and recuperation, her body recovered quickly, and she had to re-perform on stage that year. People were amazed that she had such a good voice, and Lee Byung-sook said her health secret: love life, love art. She said that "Peking Opera is her spiritual sustenance, as long as she takes the stage, she is ten years younger."
Lee Byung-sook's family portrait.
Sixth, selfless dedication to cultivate new people
Lee Byung-sook's focus now and in the future is on "nurturing young people." In the hospital, she brings several young actors every year, explaining that it is purely duty and dedication. She personally brought five drama school students and said to the students, "As long as you are willing to learn, I will be willing to teach." It's okay for you to come to my house on Sunday, and you'll take out the tube for lunch." She truly responded to every need and did not take anything, sacrificing a lot of her spare time to teach students the classic fragments of "Yangmen Female General", "Ode to Longjiang", "The Legend of the White Snake", "Cosmic Front", "Three Niangs Godson" and other dramas. Sometimes rehearsing performances in the courtyard, she stood behind the scenes to carefully observe the performances of young actors, and after the scene, while enthusiastically encouraging, she pointed out shortcomings, and often went out of her way when she said the play, and even taught by hand.
In 2006, the Shanghai Opera School hired her as a part-time professor, but the school's funds were limited, and she could only give 38.5 yuan for a class. She did not think so, and regarded this work as a career, and the preparation and teaching were very serious
Speak every day from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 noon. The school was very embarrassed and always said, "I'm really sorry for you, the funds are always not approved, let you, the big professor, take such a little money." If you feel aggrieved, don't come next time. Li Bingshu replied with a smile: "I will not come for money." Whether you give money or not, I have to do a good job in class. ”
With a high sense of professional responsibility, Li Bingshu has brought out generations of young actors, but she has not cultivated her only daughter. Daughter Li Wei, smart and beautiful, excellent temperament. Although he lived in a famous Peking Opera family, he did not receive the inheritance of his parents. Li Bingshu and his wife have been participating in performances outside for many years, and their daughter can only be entrusted to her sister to take care of, missing the opportunity to teach Peking Opera. However, she grew up in the Shanghai Peking Opera House and learned to sing a few times, and everyone who heard it clapped her hands and regretted that she could not be a regular actress. Now the daughter works as an accountant in a company and has taken on the obligation to repay the mother's kindness with her husband.
The author took a group photo with two teachers, Lee Byung-sook and Kim Yong-qin.
Seventh, noble drama virtue and exemplary society
Li Bingshu under the reflection of the sunset can be described as highly respected in the Peking Opera circle. In order to record the artistic achievements of peking opera masters in their lifetimes, CCTV produced and broadcast the "Peking Opera Caixia Project", which included Li Bingshu's album. However, since Li Bingshu worked part-time in the Shanghai CPPCC and the Xiqu Association, she was busy with government affairs, and the audience has rarely seen her beautiful figure on the stage.
The audience missed Lee Byung-sook. Faced with thousands of letters every year, Li Bingshu was very uneasy in her heart. She said that the audience is my food and clothing parents, and if I can, I will try to participate in as many performances as possible to repay them.
Lee Byung-sook performed a "charity performance" of great political significance. During the "1998 Flood Fight" in the last century, she insisted on participating in the disaster relief charity performances organized by the state despite her illness, performed dozens of consecutive performances in Beijing, Wuhan, and Hefei, and even moved the "Ode to longjiang" to the Yangtze River embankment to comfort the flood fighters.
Another time, the Shanghai Jingkun Art Center was established and invited to sponsor the performance for the opening ceremony, but she was hospitalized but gladly agreed. The daughter said incomprehensibly, "Don't forget that you are a patient." Lee Byung-sook said, "This meeting is of great significance, and I can't borrow the illness not to go." The daughter sighed, "As long as it is the needs of the organization and the audience, my mother has never said no." She had taken care of others a lot in her life and considered herself too little. ”
At the end of 2006, the China Peking Opera Foundation organized a performance of "The Lady of Yangmen" in Macau, when the young actors who starred in Cheshire were temporarily absent, and the central leadership was about to censor. In a hurry, someone recommended Li Bingshu, but I knew that she had been playing Mu Guiying since she was young, and had never played a supporting role, and everyone was afraid that she would not accept the role. However, when receiving the call, Li Bingshu first thought not about his own face, but about the drama of an old actor: "The role is no size, and saving the scene is like putting out a fire." Immediately said, "It's imminent, send the book here." Cheshire Lord's words are fragmentary, and if they are not picked up, they must be hung on the table. I am older, my words are not as good as young people, and I must prepare early. The other party was very moved, "I didn't expect that you had such a big wrist and such a small role." "Lee Byung-sook lived up to expectations, as a supporting role, she held the play very well, had depth and weight, and the performance was a great success. Relevant leaders of the central authorities praised that the old actors suddenly put up the drama when they appeared. Liu Changyu, director of the China Peking Opera House, told the media, "Teacher Li Bingshu does not care about fame and fortune, and is bent on promoting future generations and playing for young actors, which embodies the 'high wind and bright festival' of an old actor." ”
Lee Byung-sook was interviewed by himself.
Postscript: Lee Byung-sook now lives with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson, and is very sweet in the same house. Speaking of future plans, in addition to continuing to support young people, Li Bingshu is planning to publish an autobiography to summarize his theatrical life and leave some spiritual wealth for the cause of Peking Opera in China.