September 11, 2021, is the third anniversary of the death of His mentor Mr. Shan Tianfang. Looking back, the teacher's earnest teachings often echoed in my ears. At some point, it was as if he was still around, teaching me to modify the folding fan by hand.
Although I was the youngest disciple of Enshi, I knew Enshi relatively early. It was the first half of 1995, when I was still in elementary school. At that time, my father had cooperated with his mentor to establish Beijing Shan TianFang Art Communication Co., Ltd. My father greatly appreciated the art of enshi, and naturally wanted me to learn it, so I had my first meeting with enshi.
I remember that day when I walked into the studio, I saw a grandfather wearing a coat on the stage through the one-way glass, and a folding fan in his hand changed endlessly, sometimes as a knife, sometimes into a sword, sometimes into a gun; speaking of characters, vivid and vibrant. What a wonderful book!
After recording a book, the teacher woke up and shot it, walked out of the broadcast room, and took off his coat to catch his breath. At this time, my father took me forward and greeted my mentor. What embarrassed my father at the time was that after introducing me, I did not speak for a long time. Or the teacher paused, and first said: Hello, little friend!
It wasn't until the teacher shook hands with me that I timidly said: Grandpa Shan is good! I have been calling this name for 15 years, even after the formal worship, I can't change it for a while.
The author took a group photo with his mentor Shan Tianfang as a child
The grandfather in front of him is very kind, and the feeling of being on the stage is completely different. I noticed that his robe had been soaked in sweat in varying shades. Sweating so much, is it to say that books are tired? I think.
Seeing that I was curious about this place, the teacher invited me to walk around the stage and touch the waking wood and folding fan. As soon as I took the stage, all the headlights above my head were turned on as I had been recorded, and I was immediately shaken open and sweaty by the heat of the lights. No wonder Grandpa Shan was soaking wet, who could stand it?
Not long after, the recording of the next episode began, and the teacher was on the stage again. Later, I heard my father say that to record an episode of commentary, the teacher would bake on the stage for 20 minutes, and the book would exceed 100 episodes.
This meeting gave me a glimpse of the hardships of storytellers. As a joke, I was frightened by the experience of the teacher's fatigue, so I did not dare to visit the teacher easily. It was also this meeting that made me feel the charm of the book review, and finally went around for 15 years, or in 2010, I officially visited the teacher and came to the road of book review.
Since I didn't start from elementary school, after I started, my mentor thought of many ways to teach me. At the beginning, Enshi taught me a long, two short and three-paragraph commentary, the long one was "Hou Junji Makes a Big Fuss in Sanhua Town", and the two short sections were "Frightened" and "Zhang Zuolin's Hand Black". The teacher taught very freehandly, between chats, the state switched at any time, one moment became the storyteller on the stage, and the next moment he cut back and taught me the doorway of the performance. For example, he said that when Zhang Zuolin was angry in "Frightened", the posture of twisting his eyebrows and glaring could not be like fighting with people, but there should be a mighty wind that made people look at it and feel that their lives were not in danger at any time.
I studied absolutely seriously at that time, but as soon as I acted, I was timid, and I could play up to 30% of my skills. Especially in the section of "Hou Junji Makes a Big Fuss in Sanhua Town", which has the plot of Hou Junji fighting with his opponent, I performed stiff, straight forward, and the mantra of "this, that" appeared from time to time, which was a typical lack of stage experience.
In order to encourage me, the teacher specially told some stage stories that he personally experienced: "Your mantra, just slowly overcome it, it is not a big deal." I've seen more exaggerated, some mr. storyteller talking, hey, forgot, what to do? Dear viewers, let me say a weather forecast! Hey, come to the weather forecast, relax. When the report is over, come to the state, continue to talk about the book! Oh, yes, you have to be careful when you punch and kick, don't look good after that, first do it freely! There was a book review actor before, characterized by a big effort, asked him why? He said, "Have fun!" As a result, when I performed a performance, I couldn't hold back, and when I kicked it, I kicked it to the corner of the table, and I broke my bones at once, and I was sent directly to the hospital before the book was finished. ”
The teacher also taught me a change technique about folding fans. The teacher said that the book only pays attention to its own kung fu, and does not pick the material and value of the props. But for some commonly used fans, he still made a small change: remove the fan nails, then use the wire to pass through, tie into a circle and then start to reverse the line, and finally cut the line, and fix it in two strands. Between this retraction, it is much easier to use than ordinary fans. We have always retained this technique of transforming folding fans.
Shan Tianfang's transformed folding fan
In his later years, he also had a comfortable time, and his favorite was to raise dogs and chase dramas. I still remember that when he first arrived in Beijing to officially settle down, he immediately brought his family dog, the tiger (Jingba), to Beijing, and the tiger was not young at that time. Later, the teacher raised a white pine lion dog, the big bear. Sometimes, when guests come, the big bear still has to shout twice, and the teacher will scare it: Don't be angry, you stinky old bear! The tone is intimate, really like family. The mentor died, and the big bear also left with the mentor more than a month later.
Shan Tian Fang and his dog Big Bear
When it comes to chasing dramas, many viewers of Enshi's early years of chasing Korean dramas know. At that time, Enshi's familiarity with Korean dramas and Korean stars was far higher than that of a young man. After the rise of domestic costume dramas, Enshi also followed up with popular dramas such as "The Biography of Zhen Huan", "The Legend of Mi Yue", and "Langya List".
For why young people watch TV series, Enshi frankly said: "Watching these TV series, you can understand what young people like now, grasp their psychology, and know how to say future books." ”
The teacher's words are to the point that the inheritance and development of the book review depends on young people, whether it is the actors or the audience. It is precisely because of this that the teacher's commentary attracts a large number of young audiences. Even after absorbing new knowledge and concepts, the teacher still had the idea of reworking the classics "The Tyrant of the Troubled World" and "A Hundred Years of Wind". Unfortunately, when he had thoughts, he didn't have enough physical strength and energy.
The teacher has been gone for three years, and many people are still reminiscing about his commentaries. I made a poem "Xi Jiang Yue" to recall the art of book review by enshi:
Propagate loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness, analyze the art of war and power, point out the Spring and Autumn of the Jiangshan dialect, and discuss who will rise and fall.
A lifetime of bitterness, commentaries say that enjoy revenge, a hundred classics of the Proud God State, the audience heard and waited!
Source Beijing Daily Supplement WeChat public account | Author Xiao Putao
Edited by Li Tuo
Process Editor Liu Weili