Mr. Hou Baolin is a recognized cross-talk master, respected as a pioneering generation of masters, and enjoys a lofty position in the cross-talk industry. In his 60-year-long artistic career, he has devoted himself to the study and development of cross-talk art, bringing laughter to generations of audiences, making a group of cross-talk artists represented by him bring the art of cross-talk to thousands of households, and also making cross-talk reach an eye-catching height.
Mr. Hou Baolin
Mr. Hou Baolin came from a poor background and had a very difficult life. But even though the environment was harsh, he studied art from teachers everywhere, worked tirelessly, and learned Peking Opera and cross-talk with extraordinary perseverance. In 1933, he successively studied with the cross-talk artists Chang Baochen and Zhu Kuoquan, and slowly accumulated popularity with his talents.
Since 1940, Mr. Hou Baolin has been pairing up with Guo Qiru and co-starring in cross-talk. The two have a tacit understanding and complement each other, and have cooperated for more than 20 years, which has also become a good story among their cross-talk peers.
In the old society, because of the perennial war and the government's harsh taxes and fees, the people did not have a good life and their lives were difficult. In order to survive, many cross-talk actors have to give up the bottom line, often at the request of the audience, saying many passages with "meat mouths". This also exposes the limitations of content in traditional crosstalk. Mr. Hou Baolin, on the other hand, is sincerely in the style of cross-talk, and it is absolutely not the same. The cross-talk he said truly achieved the common appreciation of elegance and customs, suitable for all ages.
Hou Baolin and Guo Qiru
After the founding of New China, in order to make cross-talk get rid of "vulgarity", Mr. Hou Baolin and other cross-talk actors set up a cross-talk reform group, which removed the dross in many traditional cross-talk passages, improved the style and fun of cross-talk, made the precarious cross-talk get a turnaround, and also let cross-talk enter thousands of households. At the same time, they called on their peers to improve their cultural quality, change the positioning of artists in the old society, and demand themselves as "people's actors".
At that time, with the support of Mr. Lao She and others, Mr. Hou Baolin, together with Sun Yukui, Luo Rongshou, Gao Fengshan and others, created a number of new cross-talks, such as "Marriage and Superstition", "Consistent Tao", "Second Landlord" and so on. These cross-talk passages closely followed the situation at that time, reflected real life, and also cooperated with the propaganda work of the country at that time, and were warmly praised by the audience.
Hou Baolin and others have succeeded in reforming cross-talk, not only making cross-talk new, but also improving the status of cross-talk peers. At that time, Zhang Shouchen, the king of cross-talk, once praised: Hou Baolin was meritorious to cross-talk.
Zhang Shouchen
While improving the level of cross-talk art, Mr. Hou Baolin also attaches great importance to comprehensively sublimating the aesthetics of cross-talk. His cross-talk is not only elegant in language, but also "learning to sing" to convey the spirit. Thanks to the fact that he studied Peking Opera in his early years, Mr. Hou Baolin learned to sing the genre of Peking Opera when performing, which was deeply rooted in the essence. For example, "Changing Careers", "Empty City Plan", "Drama Miscellaneous" and other paragraphs have many "singing" paragraphs. Mr. Hou Baolin fully demonstrated his familiarity with various genres of Peking Opera and his mastery of singing, and his performances can be described as exquisite and deeply loved by the audience.
After liberation, Mr. Hou Baolin recruited a wide range of disciples, such as Ma Ji, Ding Guangquan, Jia Jiguang, Shi Shengjie, Yu Shiyou, hao Aimin and so on. Among them, Ma Ji inherited the mantle of Mr. Hou Baolin, became the leader of the new generation of cross-talk, and through his own efforts, with the help of radio, television and other technical means, cross-talk has entered thousands of households, and also made cross-talk reach the top of the music art from the end of the music art and entered a historical peak.
From left: Hou Baolin, Liu Baorui, Ma Ji
Although Mr. Hou Baolin only attended primary school for three years, he was diligent and studious. It is said that once, in order to buy a Ming Dynasty joke book "Tanlang", he ran all the book stalls in Beijing and failed to buy it, and later when he found out that the Beijing Library had this book, he decided to copy the book back. In the cold winter, he braved the severe cold and ran to the library for eighteen days in a row to copy books, and a book of more than 100,000 words was copied by him, which showed that his perseverance was amazing.
Through long-term study and research, Mr. Hou Baolin has sorted out and improved many traditional cross-talks, which has revitalized the old passages.
Mr. Hou Baolin wrote a book for cross-talk, wrote or co-authored "Cross-talk Performing Arts", "Introduction to Qu Art", "Cross-Talk Traceability", "Drama Miscellaneous", "Drunkenness" and other monographs, which not only summarized and summarized the history and laws of cross-talk, but also theoretically completed the improvement of "cross-talk is a language art", so that cross-talk climbed from the city to the elegant hall and reached an essential leap. And his own artistic level has also reached the point of pure fire, becoming a famous linguist.
Mr. Hou Baolin
Because Mr. Hou Baolin has made outstanding contributions to cross-talk, he is often invited to give lectures or participate in symposiums in various places. People often find that he wears a pair of sunglasses on many occasions, what is the reason for this? Is it deliberately for fear of being recognized by everyone?
In fact, it is precisely because of Mr. Hou Baolin's specific profession and relatively high popularity that when he comes on stage to speak, the more serious his expression is, the more the audience wants to laugh. Someone once suggested that Mr. Hou Baolin was fortunate to be consistently funny, but Mr. Hou Baolin refused. He said: "This is also the distress of our industry, just put it aside in the old society, anyway, it is looked down upon, and people can do whatever they want." Now that we are a new society, we have not only become masters, but also known as artists, and even top universities such as Peking University have hired us as visiting professors. Do you think, is the burden on our shoulders light? There are many things to worry about, let alone serious, some things are not urgent! Yes, the more serious we are, the more people laugh, who is uncomfortable with this matter, but you can't help it, you can't always talk and talk and shout coldly: "Don't laugh!" "Laughter is everyone's right. But we also have our tricks, the next time we have a meeting, I will put on the sunglasses first, cover half of the face, see if you still smile? ”
It turned out that wearing sunglasses was a method that Mr. Hou Baolin had to take to solve the problem of the audience's "laughter".
On February 1, 1993, Mr. Hou said a deep goodbye to the national audience on the television screen, saying:
"I haven't eaten in vain in my life... I Hou Baolin said a lifetime of crosstalk, studied a lifetime of crosstalk, my greatest wish, is to dedicate the best art to you...
"I can't repay the audience who raised me, loved me, and helped me for decades... Now, Hou Baolin is leaving, I wish everyone good health, all the best - ruyi! ”
After speaking, Mr. Hou looked serene. At the end of his life, he gave the audience the final explanation, and also gave the last explanation of his life. Three days later, Mr. Hou Baolin left, leaving his beloved crosstalk and the audience he had in mind.