Author Liu Xinyang
Among the many ugly masters, there is no one who can be called a successor to the past, carry on the past and have a far-reaching influence.
Xiao Changhua (1878-1967), originally from Xinjian, Jiangxi, was born in Beijing. His father, Xiao Yongkang, was an ugly man who once worshiped Lu Shengkui, an old student of the Sanqing class, as his righteous father. From the age of eleven, Xiao Changhua successively learned Kunqu Opera Xiaosheng, Peking Opera Laosheng and Lao Dan, at the age of eighteen to learn clowns from Song Wantai, began to perform in Xiaohongkui class the following year, joined Yucheng class at the age of twenty-five, and was in the same class as Thirteen Dan, Xiang Jiuxiao, Jia Honglin, Wang Lengxian, Li Jirui, Daffodil, Jin Xiushan, Wang Changlin and so on. Xiao Changhua is good at playing Fang Jian ugly, and the roles of Jiang Gan and Tang Qin are deeply praised by insiders and outsiders, and have the reputation of "living Jiang Gan". After 1922, Xiao Changhua cooperated with Mei Lanfang for a long time, and assisted Ma Lianliang, Yu Lianquan, Shang Xiaoyun, Tan Fuying and other people to perform, because of their exquisite skills, they were highly respected, known as "Xiao Pai", and were once known as the "Three Great Heroes of Ugly Behavior" with Ci Ruijin and Guo Chunshan.
Xiao Changhua's voice is high-pitched and loud, and he reads white and soft, and retains a lot of characteristics of early old schools such as Cheng Changgeng, Wang Guifen, Sun Juxian and Wang Xiaonong in his clown singing voice, so that in his singing cavity, he has both the emblem rhyme of Cheng Changgeng and Wang Guifen, the remains of the "old folk" Sun Juxian school, and more Wang Xiaonong's rhyme of suppressing ups and downs.
Xiao Changhua casual clothes photo
In "Old Huang Please Doctor", Xiao Changhua plays Liu Gaozi
Xiao Changhua is not only a clown master of the Founding Sect, but also an educator who has long been committed to the teaching of Peking Opera. Beginning in 1904, Xiao Changhua was employed as a teacher in the Xilian Cheng Class (later renamed Fu Lian Cheng) for 36 years. In addition to teaching clown plays, Xiao also taught Sheng, Dan, Jing and other professions, and choreographed plays such as "Colorful Public Opinion", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Proud Edge", and "Rouge Judgment" for Fu Liancheng. After the founding of New China, Xiao Changhua successively served as a professor, vice president and president of the Chinese Opera School, and many of his teachers were taught, contributing his life's energy to the development of peking opera, so Xiao Lao also had an honorific title in the field of education - "Zushiye". After Xiao's regular repertoire, he was compiled into "Xiao Changhua's Selected Plays", and his son Xiao Shengxuanzi succeeded his father and was also a famous clown artist in Peking Opera.
Xiao Changhua as Jiang Gan in "The Heroes of the Crowd"