Peking Opera "Fire Bull Array" is based on the Warring States Period Le Yi Fa Qi and Tian Dan Fu Qi as the background of the performance, the original is two plays, one is "Golden Platform", also called "Tian Dan Savior" and "Va qi Dong", one is "Fire Bull Array", also called "Le Yi Fa Qi", these two plays are often performed consecutively, constituting a continuous story, concentrated in three places: Linzi, Jimo, Jucheng. The general story line is that the king of Qi Tang favored Concubine Zou, indulged in wine, ignored the government, and the eunuch Yi Li abused power. King Yan Zhao appointed Le Yi as the commander of The Qi, and Yi Li asked The Eastern Palace Shizi Tian Fazhang to discuss the strategy of retiring the army, but was humiliated by Shizi, and Yi Li used Concubine Zou to frame the great change in shizi's morality, and the son wanted to adulterate his father and wife. King Qi Tang was furious and ordered Yi Li to kill Shizi. Shizi escaped from the Eastern Palace, met the patrol city of Godadan, took Shizi back to the palace, disguised himself as his sister, and concealed it from Theraku search; he accompanied Shizi to buy the castle guard, escaped from the castle pass overnight, and was scattered by the army. Shizi surrendered to the post of Taishou Yinshang and secretly married Yin Shang's daughter Hui'e. Tian Shan first used the reverse plan to make Yan return to Le Yi as a marshal, and then used the fire bull array to break the Yan soldiers and restore the State of Qi. Taishou Yin Shang sent Shizi to Jimo to meet Tian Dan Junchen, and knowing the identity of Shizi, he allowed him to marry his daughter Hui'e.
The main characters in the play, except for Zou Fei and Yi Li, are really people in history, but the story has no historical facts to examine. The first half is mainly the contradiction and conflict between Yili and Shizi, the history of Yilidu is unspeakable, and the story is naturally fictional. According to historical records, Le Yi cut qi and broke 72 cities, only Jimo and Jucheng were not broken, Shizi followed King Qi Xiang all the way to Jucheng, and after King Qi Xiang was killed by the Chu general, Shizi changed his name to taishi's family as a servant, and made a private life with Taishi's daughter. There is also no conclusive corroboration of the story of the Fire Bull Array. Historia. Tian Jingzhong's "Completed Family" says: "Tian Dan attacked the Yan army with jimo, welcomed the king of Xiang, Yu Ju, and entered Linzi. Qi's homeland was restored to Qi, and Qi Fengtiandan was An Pingjun. "There was no mention of the Fire Bull Array. There are some records in other literature, but it is difficult to determine. For example, the "Qi Cheng" records, "Ancient Jimo City, sixty miles southeast of Glue County, Zhengtian Single Fire Niucheng also." In the north, there is Le Yi City, which was built when Yi Wei was inked. "The ancient Jimo City mentioned here is now located in Dazhu Mao and other villages in Gudan Town, Pingdu City. The battlefield of the Fire Bull Array is usually identified as the town of Huashan in the current Jimo City, where there is a Niuqibu Village, and there is a hill called Wanhua Mountain next to the village, which was the battlefield at that time. From the distance point of view, it was close to 100 miles from the ancient Jimo City, and it was on the east side, while LeYi's camp was on the north side, and the siege line would not be stretched so far.
Peking opera is not history, do not be too attached to historical facts. In order to pursue dramatic effects, this play fictionalizes some characters and plots, thus forming a comedy with complete business, singing and playing, and obvious traditional drama characteristics - in addition to the deplorable sacrifice of two small characters, although the contradictions and conflicts of the characters are fierce, or even life and death, they are almost childlike and humorous. The setting of the character line in the play is also very interesting. The king of Qi Tang used literature to work ugly, very rare, although the historical king of Qi Tang was not so dim-witted in the play, the overall situation was not good, so give him a lewd image, so the treatment is very distinctive. Eunuch Yi Li is a rack flower face, suitable for showing the arrogant side, but a mouthful of Jingbai, but also exuded a kind of humor. Shizi used Xiaosheng, but in order to escape for his life as a man and a woman, most of the time was the performance of DanJiao, which increased the difficulty of the role and increased the point of view, which was also suitable for such a "silly white sweet". After the restoration of the historical Shizi Tian Fazhang, he was made king, that is, the King of Qi Xiang, which was also very mediocre, and the State of Qi passed down from generation to generation in his place, and was destroyed after his son took over. The officers and soldiers guarding the city gate used a pair of clowns, and after the two people appeared, it took nearly a quarter of an hour just to raise the bar, and the audience was like listening to cross-talk, and this kind of place can be interspersed with some live words, shaking the baggage and amusing, amplifying the unique characteristics of traditional drama. Such a design is not purely funny, but also shows the ecology of the feudal grassroots officialdom in that period, with a certain cognitive value, so that Tian Dan and Shizi rely on bribes to mix out of the city gate is reasonable.
"Fire Bull Array" is a traditional Ma Pai repertoire, the role of Tian Dan throughout is generally played by Ma Pai Laosheng, there are many singing sections, Xipi, Erhuang have a strong Ma Pai charm, many of which have the conditions to become classic famous segments, but unfortunately this drama has been performed for many years, there is not much singing, it is not widely circulated, and it cannot become a classic famous segment. The more complete recording that remains now is Mr. Ma Lianliang's 1954 performance, which was super strong, and Jiang Miaoxiang, Hao Shouchen, Zhang Junqiu, Xiao Changhua, and Ma Fulu were all chosen for a while, making the performance colorful. The officer and soldier guarding the city gate are Xiao Changhua and Ma Fulu's master and apprentice, the apprentice plays the old master, the master plays the soldier, and the soldier plays the old man in a circle. A few years ago, Mr. Zhang Xuejin led the matching, and made an audio-visual matching, which did not have a great impact, so at various Peking Opera concerts, it was rare to hear the singing section of this play. Until 2014, 60 years after Mr. Ma Lianliang's performance, Zhu Qiang of Beijing Peking Opera House led the way, chen Junjie, Li Hongtu, Dou Xiaoxuan, Huang Baixue, Sun Zhen, etc. joined and presented this play on the stage. This version led by Zhu Qiang, in addition to the deletion of the opening part, the addition of two singings of Shizi, the overall slight compression, is basically original, maintaining the characteristics of this play, with a strong sense of ornamentation.
I look forward to the various Peking Opera troupes in Shandong, whether they dare to challenge this play, Shandong story Shandong performance, there is a strong sense of geography, and this play requires as many roles, no matter how big or small the theater group, can almost mobilize the elite forces to present a lively classic drama.