When it comes to Zuo Dayue, perhaps many people don't know who this is, but if you mention the Guanyin Bodhisattva in the classic TV series "Journey to the West", everyone praises it. Zuo Dayue is the "Guanyin Bodhisattva" in the play.
She is a deeply rooted Guanyin, the first opera performer in Hunan to win the Plum Blossom Award, and an old friend of Chairman Mao.
One is the "Guanyin" on the screen, and the other is the beloved people's leader, Chairman Mao first met her, Zuo Dayue was only 13 years old. This "drama fate, the friendship of forgetting the year" originated in Zhongnanhai...
Picture| "Guanyin Bodhisattva" played by Zuo Dayue
First meeting with Chairman Mao
Chairman Mao likes to listen to opera, has a deep love for opera, in addition to the daily management of all opportunities, busy work, listening to opera is a way for him to rest and pastime, listening to theater for decades, Chairman Mao bought more than 1,600 records of drama, opera, song and dance with interest, more than 400 tapes, he listened to the quintessence of the country, Peking opera, but also listened to local opera.
Hunan opera is one of the traditional opera genres in Chairman Mao's hometown of Hunan Province. In 1956, Chairman Mao enjoyed Hunan opera at Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai, and was responsible for performing a group of young actors from the provincial Hunan opera training class led by Tian Han.
Performing and reporting to Chairman Mao Xiang Opera, this group of young actors was so excited that they couldn't sleep for several nights. On the day of the performance, a young actor on the stage sang while looking at Chairman Mao in the audience, and was in a great mood, and accidentally recited the lines memorized in advance several times.
Chairman Mao listened to the play very seriously and found this "flaw", he quietly asked Tian Han next to him: "What's wrong with this little ghost?" Why do you always read this sentence? Forgot your lines, right? ”
Tian Han hurriedly said: "This little devil, maybe peeking at you and forgetting his lines." Chairman Mao laughed, not caring about this "small mistake", his smile was more like a kind elder, making it easy for people to approach.
When the performance was over, Chairman Mao left the venue, and a group of children rushed out from the back of the stage, all crowded to the seat where Chairman Mao sat, vying to sit in this position, and among this group of excited and excited little actors, there was a child, Zuo Dayue.
This year, when Zuo Dayue was 13 years old, she met the people's leader Chairman Mao for the first time, and Zuo Dayue did not need to perform on stage, so she and other young actors hid behind the curtain next to the stage, staring at Chairman Mao with their eyes hooked.
That is Chairman Mao, whom everyone admires! Unexpectedly, in the third year of studying drama, Zuo Dayue met Chairman Mao.
Pictured| Various records and tapes of famous opera artists collected by Chairman Mao
Three years ago, in 1954, his mother Zheng Fuqiu took 10-year-old Zuo Dayue to the Xiang Theater to do business, Zheng Fuqiu is one of the four famous Dan of Hunan Opera, and Zheng Fuqiu worked as an actor in the provincial Xiang Opera Troupe after liberation. On the way to the Xiang Theater, Zheng Fuqiu and Zuo Dayue passed by Munanyuan.
Munan Garden is the first experimental school built by the People's Government of Hunan Province to train Hunan opera actors, and when Zheng Fuqiu took Zuo Dayue into Munan Garden, he happened to see a group of children wearing practice uniforms bouncing on the lawn, and Zuo Dayue, who was about their age, was instantly attracted.
Zuo Dayue broke free of his mother's hands, ran to the group of children and looked up, teacher Tan Junshi, who was taking the children to do training, noticed Zuo Dayue, she walked to Zuo Dayue and asked: "Child, do you want to be an actor?" ”
Zuo Dayue didn't speak, but still watched seriously.
Teacher Tan Junshi said with a smile: "Look, how fun they are, wear the same clothes, there are cotton clothes and hair in winter, no money for meals, and 4 yuan per month, children live together, practice together, learn culture together, are you willing to come to the training class?" ”
"I do." After listening to Teacher Tan's words, Zuo Dayue nodded repeatedly.
Pictured| Old photo of Zuo Dayue
Zuo Dayue sang and danced in front of the school examiner, showing her movements, her performance was not satisfactory to everyone, under the argument of teacher Tan Junshi, Zuo Dayue finally entered Munan Garden as she wished.
Her mother, Zheng Fuqiu, told her: "Da Yue, since you have entered the Munan Garden, you must be prepared to suffer hardship. If you want to be an actor, you must aspire to be a first-class famous actor. ”
"Mom, don't worry, I'm not afraid of hardship, I must be an actor." The young Zuo Dayue said firmly to his mother.
She began a hard practice career, every morning before dawn, Zuo Dayue practiced her voice against the wall, even the basic skills, the teacher was very strict with her, no tolerance, every time Zuo Dayue was tired to the point that her face was red, the morning practice would end. In the morning, I followed the contact, and in the afternoon I studied cultural classes, and the days of practice were arduous and difficult.
When the basic skills were almost practiced, Zuo Dayue began to learn drama. In 1956, when Zuo Dayue first met the leader Chairman Mao, she had not yet performed on stage.
The experience of meeting Chairman Mao made her remember deeply, and Zuo Dayue did not expect that she would meet Chairman Mao in the future and have a cordial conversation with Chairman Mao.
Pictured| Left Dayue
Chairman Mao and Zuo Dayue's "year-end friendship"
In 1957, Zuo Dayue graduated from the training course and was assigned to the Hunan Provincial Xiang Opera Troupe, where he studied a lot of drama under the famous Yang Ju actor Peng Linon. Whether it is the scorching heat of three volts or the bitter cold of three or nine, Zuo Dayue insists on exercising hard. Two years later, Zuo Dayue has become a well-known Xiang opera actor, and often has the opportunity to perform on stage.
One day in 1959, Zuo Dayue was suddenly notified to go to the Hunan Provincial Communication Office (now Xiangjiang Hotel) to perform the Hunan opera "Life and Death Card", and Zuo Dayue played the protagonist Wang Yuhuan. Before going on stage, Zuo Dayue didn't know who was watching the performance, she just felt that she must be an important person.
When she got on the stage and began to sing, Zuo Dayue, who glanced at the audience under the stage, saw a familiar face, which was Chairman Mao she had looked at from a distance a few years ago, and Chairman Mao who she loved but never approached.
Zuo Dayue was surprised and excited, she almost forgot the words when performing on the stage, Zuo Dayue quickly suppressed the feeling of excitement, quickly calmed himself down, and concentrated on finishing the opera.
Chairman Mao understands drama, and he praised Zuo Dayue's performance: "The one who makes the jade ring, the performance is delicate, the singing voice is beautiful and moving, and he is a promising Hua Dan actor." ”
Pictured| Chairman Mao
After the acting, Zuo Dayue returned to the backstage with a happy heart to remove her makeup, ready to clean up and disperse, when suddenly a lesbian walked up to her and asked: "You are playing Wang Yuhuan, right?" ”
Zuo Dayue nodded.
The lesbian then said: "Chairman Mao likes your play very much, so you can dance with the chairman later." ”
Dancing with the chairman? Zuo Dayue froze in place when she listened, on the one hand, her heart was surging to get close to Chairman Mao, and on the other hand, she was worried that she couldn't dance, and she told the lesbian with a sneer: "But I can't dance." ”
"It won't matter, I'll call someone to teach you to dance, it's easy to learn." The lesbian said.
Under the guidance of the lesbian, Zuo Dayue was brought to Chairman Mao's guard Xiao Cover, and Xiaofeng taught her to dance, and the two danced and chatted at the same time. Zuo Dayue asked curiously, "What is the name of the lesbian who brought me here just now?" ”
Xiaofeng told her that the lesbian was called Hou Bo. Hou Bo is the head of the photography section of the Security Bureau of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and a full-time photographer for Chairman Mao, which surprised Zuo Dayue.
Pictured| Left Dayue (front row, right)
After Zuo Dayue studied for a while, Hou Bo came to call her and brought her to Chairman Mao. Originally, Zuo Dayue still thought of a lot of things to say to Chairman Mao, but when he really came to Chairman Mao, Zuo Dayue's heart beat faster nervously, and he was at a loss, and the whole person could not say a word.
It was Chairman Mao who spoke first: "Doll, dance to move, you can't stand all the time." The chairman's warm words made Zuo Dayue feel more cordial and gradually relaxed.
Zuo Dayue sneered, and then danced to Chairman Mao's dance steps. Zuo Dayue is the first time to dance, Chairman Mao is more experienced, as early as Yan'an Chairman Mao began to learn to dance, throughout the dance process, Zuo Dayue was careful, for fear of jumping wrong, his eyes were tightly staring at the feet below, did not look at Chairman Mao much, after a song danced, Zuo Dayue's body had long been sweating.
When Chairman Mao danced, he asked her, "Where is it?" "When did you learn to play?" ...... Zuo Dayue concentrated on dancing, not even bothering to answer Chairman Mao's question.
When Chairman Mao came to Hunan again in the future, he would often think of Zuo Dayue, and Zuo Dayue would come to sing to him and dance with him.
Pictured| Zuo Dayue dancing with Chairman Mao
Once, Chairman Mao asked, "Your surname is Zuo, so who is Zuo Zongtang?" Seeing Zuo Dayue shaking his head, Chairman Mao asked without giving up: "Then who are you Zuo Lincang?" ”
Only then did Zuo Dayue reply: "He is my uncle." ”
Zuo Dayue's father, Zuo Zonglian, was once a confidential secretary of Cheng Qian and Li Mo'an, awarded the rank of major general and senior counselor, and was stationed in Changde, Hunan with Li Mo'an's troops in early 1949; In August 1949, Cheng Qian and Chen Mingren jointly telegraphed the list of uprisings and included Zuo Zonglian.
Another time, Chairman Mao asked her, "Why are you surnamed left and not right?" "Chairman Mao has always been a very humorous person, likes to joke, and makes people have no sense of distance.
Zuo Dayue replied directly: "My father's surname is Zuo, and my surname is Zuo." ”
Pictured| Chairman Mao
Chairman Mao asked again, "Why do you call Zuo Dafen?" ”
Zuo Dayue's "Zhuo" has always pronounced "bin", and when he heard Chairman Mao call her that, Zuo Dayue hurriedly questioned: "Chairman, you pronounced the word "bin", this character should be pronounced "bin", not "fen". ”
White eye characters, that is, the meaning of homonym characters, generally dialect pronunciation will be replaced by the corresponding pronunciation of words, or foreign pronunciation will be replaced by Chinese characters.
After listening to Zuo Dayue's "questioning", Chairman Mao said with a smile: "Doll, you go back and ask your father, this character is a polysyllabic, and it can also be pronounced as 'fen'." ”
According to the data, "玢" has two pronunciations, one is "bīn", that is, the pronunciation of Zuo Dayue, which means a jade pattern, jade texture; The second is "fēn", which means a colorless and transparent cellophane.
In other words, Chairman Mao was not mispronounced. However, this also reflects that Zuo Dayue and Chairman Mao are already "acquaintances", and there is no restraint and uneasiness when they first met.
Pictured| Left Dayue
In May 1963, Chairman Mao left Beijing and went south, just in time for Changsha, Hunan Province, where he had time to listen to the play. During the Xiang opera performance, Chairman Mao did not see Zuo Dayue, so he asked the people around him: "Where is Xiaozuo?" ”
Zhang Pinghua, the secretary of the provincial party committee who accompanied him, told Chairman Mao that Zuo Dayue had gone to perform in the countryside around Yuanling in Xiangxi, so Chairman Mao could not see her.
The next day, Zuo Dayue came to see Chairman Mao, and as soon as he saw her coming, Chairman Mao kindly handed over his teacup and cared about her: "You performed for the peasants, you worked hard!" The two sat down and began to talk about performing for farmers and serving the people.
During the conversation, seeing Chairman Mao smoking, Zuo Dayue even "disciplined": "Chairman, you need to smoke less." Saying that, he snatched the half of the cigarette butt from Chairman Mao's hand, and Chairman Mao just smiled fondly and did not say anything more.
Pictured| Chairman Mao
Every time Chairman Mao returned to his hometown of Hunan, Zuo Dayue would often see him, and the two would chat sentence by sentence. When Chairman Mao drank tea, the tea leaves stood in the cup one by one, and Zuo Dayue was very curious: "Chairman Mao, what kind of tea do you drink, why is it all erected in water?" ”
Chairman Mao smiled and told her: "Doll, you don't know this, right?" I'll tell you, this is Yueyang's hair tip, and it's a fine tea." ”
Zuo Dayue replied with disgust: "I'm thirsty, I also want to drink your tea." ”
"You drink, drink, let's have a cup of tea." Chairman Mao was very fond of her.
It was another dance, and when Zuo Dayue and Chairman Mao were resting between dancing, he took Chairman Mao's hand and studied it intently: "Chairman, how many baskets do you have?" ”
The two people counted seriously, and at the end, Zuo Dayue directly exclaimed: "Chairman, you have ten baskets, no wonder you are the 'emperor'." Chairman Mao laughed heartily, and the young Zuo Dayue also laughed along with Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao's "year-forgetting friendship" with Zuo Dayue is often such a smiling picture.
Picture| "Guanyin Bodhisattva" played by Zuo Dayue
The director and actor of "Journey to the West" who became acquainted with Chairman Mao
Many people are familiar with Zuo Dayue because of the Guanyin Bodhisattva in "Journey to the West", but they don't know that there is also a help from Chairman Mao behind this.
Chairman Mao was sick in bed in his later years, and he could no longer go to the venue to listen to the play, so in order to let him hear his favorite Hunan opera, the actors recorded the singing scenes, filmed them into videos, and sent them to Zhongnanhai to be shown to Chairman Mao. The central staff went to Hunan to record programs for Chairman Mao.
Yang Jie is the recording director, Zuo Dayue is the actor of Guanyin in the traditional drama "Chasing Fish" in Xiang Opera, Yang Jie is very satisfied with Zuo Dayue's performance, Zuo Dayue was 33 years old that year, he was already a very good actor in Xiang Opera, her performance was impeccable, Yang Jie couldn't help but appreciate: "You played Guanyin like a lot!" In the future, if I film Guanyin's play, I will definitely ask you to act. ”
Yang Jie, the director of "Journey to the West", 6 years later, that is, in 1982, "Journey to the West" began to be prepared, and Yang Jie thought of Zuo Dayue, who played Guanyin at the beginning.
Picture| "Guanyin Bodhisattva" played by Zuo Dayue
Yang Jie warmly invited Zuo Dayue to come to Beijing, in Beijing, Zuo Dayue, with the help of makeup artists, dressed up as Guanyin, Zuo Dayue's kind eyebrows and eyes, plus makeup and hair modification, everyone praised: "Like, you are too much like Guanyin Bodhisattva, you don't need to try makeup at all." ”
In this way, Zuo Dayue entered the crew of "Journey to the West" and became an actor who played Guanyin Bodhisattva, because he used to play Xiang opera, Zuo Dayue's eyes always slipped around, which is very spiritual power on the drama stage, but when it comes to Guanyin Bodhisattva, this is a shortcoming.
Director Yang Jie said of her: "Your eyes are too alive. Zuo Dayue began to practice constantly, trying to control his eyes and not let it maintain the habit of turning before. In addition, whenever the crew went to a place, Zuo Dayue would go to the temple to study and figure out Guanyin's gestures.
All unremitting efforts will come to fruition. When "Journey to the West" was broadcast, Zuo Dayue's "Guanyin Bodhisattva" was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and everyone admired her for acting like it. And her fate with Guanyin, in the final analysis, must be regarded as Chairman Mao's thread.
Pictured| Group photo of directors Zuo Dayue and Yang Jie
Since then, Zuo Dayue has another name, and everyone likes to call her "Guanyin". It is reported that one year, Zuo Dayue went to the temple to Shangyin, was recognized by tourists, and everyone shouted "Guanyin is coming." Everyone's eyes fell on her at once, and even some people bowed down to her, and for the sake of order on the scene, Zuo Dayue quickly left the scene.
This is enough to show how deeply the "Guanyin Bodhisattva" shaped by Zuo Dayue is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Today's Zuo Dayue is not only a famous actor, but also an outstanding Hunan opera performance artist, just as her mother told her after entering Munan Garden: "If you want to be an actor, you must aspire to be a first-class famous actor." After all, she did not live up to her mother's sustenance, nor did she live up to her own determination.
In 1984, eight years after Chairman Mao's death, the 41-year-old Zuo Dayue officially joined the Communist Party, raised her right hand, read the oath, and made another determination. In 1987, Zuo Dayue was rated as a national first-class actor.
Teacher Zuo Dayue not only contributed many excellent works, but also cultivated many new generation forces in our country, her name will forever be passed down in the history of art, and her "year-old friendship" with Chairman Mao will always become a good story for future generations!