Note: This article is excerpted from "Zhang Pai and Zhang Pai Inheritance", dictated by Cai Yinglian, the title is proposed this time, and the original text is published in "Guoyun Peking Opera - Oral History of Liyuan Disciples", Xueyuan Publishing House, 2021 edition; The image material originated from the Internet, invaded and deleted.
Cai Yinglian
Among the four famous dans, Mr. Zhang Junqiu and Mr. Xiaoyun were the first to meet. When Mr. Fashion heard about a Zhang Junqiu, he went directly to see his play, and at a glance he took a fancy to the teacher, saying that I will teach you the play tomorrow.
So Mr. Shang taught him his singing and dancing plays, such as "Hauni Pass", "Fan Jiang Pass", "Lost Son", and "Concubine Hanming". The teacher's "Golden Mountain Temple" was learned from Kunqu opera, and the scene of holding a knife and a gun in it opened up his theatrical path.
Shang Xiaoyun
Mr. Shang liked the teacher very much, and was not only the first of the four famous dan to teach him play, but also adopted him as a righteous son.
Mr. Mei saw the teacher's performance in Shanghai and taught him Mei Pai opera the next day. Later, Mr. Cheng went to the teacher's house at night to see him.
Mei Lanfang
Only Mr. Xun, the teacher did not directly learn from him, but listened to his voice a lot. Mr. Xun's colloquial, daily and natural pronunciation and singing make love to skill, rather than blindly pursuing skill.
At that time, the four famous dan all hoped that the teachers would sing their masterpieces to promote and promote their respective genres. Invisibly, they all regarded the teacher as their beloved disciple and taught him without reservation, so the teacher absorbed the nourishment of these genres and turned it into his own.
Ma Lianliang
After the teacher became red, all four great students came to bring him. The first is Mr. Ma Lianliang. At that time, Danjiao, who sang the second card for Mr. Ma, was also a famous artist, but his health was not very good, and later Mr. Ma took the opportunity to perform abroad and took the teacher away, performing "Shiro Visiting Mother".
Most of the Tsing Yi operas are cooperated with old students, such as "Red Mane Fierce Horse", "Da Tan II", "Shiro Visiting Mother" and "Trial Head Thorn Soup", all of which are opposite plays with old students.
Zhang Junqiu Tan Fuying Dragon Play Phoenix
Mr. Ma's voice is exquisite, his voice is flowing, not particularly thick, and he sings from a bright high position, singing dashing and playful. The teacher shared the stage with Mr. Ma and was greatly affected.
There are many allegro plays with old students, such as "Wujia Po", which is a duet, and the two quarrel with each other to sing Allegro. Some of the stacks of Peking Opera are three words in one beat, and they cannot sing without a good voice, good strength, and bad kung fu in their mouths.
The play that the teacher cooperates with Mr. Ma, whether it is "Wujia Po" or the Allegro of "Shiro Visiting Mother", you sing I take it, I sing you take it, it can be connected tightly, and even the teacher later developed to the fish biting the tail, that is, grabbing Mr. Ma's tail word, which is more rigorous.
Wang Yaoqing as Dou Xiantong
When the teacher studied with Mr. Wang Yaoqing, Mr. Wang was very good at Allegro. He saw with his own eyes that Mr. Wang hung the student's throat and took a ring ruler to beat it, and if he couldn't keep up, he had to follow, and he could slowly keep up. So the teacher also went to Taoranting Yaotai to shout his throat and practice Allegro three times a day. So when he sang "Shiro Visiting Mother" with Mr. Ma, it worked very well.
Once, the teacher and Meng Xiaodong sang "Shilang Visiting Mother", Meng Xiaodong is an old female student, her voice and singing style are particularly good, and his teacher Li Lingfeng did not dare to listen to it, for fear of singing bald. But the teacher was very accurate in his heart, and sang closely with Meng Xiaodong, and the audience stood up and applauded, and Li Lingfeng took down the hand that blocked his ear.
The cooperation between the teacher and the old student sang the best at a fast pace, because he had a good voice, a good breath, a good use of dantian qi, a clear word in his mouth, and learned from Mr. Ma how to sing dashing and playful.
Later, the teacher also sang with Mr. Yang Baosen and others, as long as the performance time did not conflict, you can take classes at will, and they all welcomed the teacher very much. In this way, the older generation takes the younger generation, and the audience knows that Zhang Junqiu also wants to see newcomers, and the box office is even more popular.
Tan Fuying borrowed the east wind
The "Four Great Students" - Ma Tan Yang Xi, the teachers have cooperated. Mr. Tan Fuying comes from a family and has been passed down from generation to generation since Tan Xinpei, and he has collaborated with teachers in many plays. Mr. Tan's voice is very good, his quacks are particularly smooth, and he is particularly free on stage.
The teacher once said that I have a bottom in my heart to whoever I sing with, but when I sing with Mr. Tan, I have to pay special attention. He is very free, dashing, natural and changeable, and he may not be able to catch it tightly when singing, and it is easy to miss the first cooperation. So I have to keep an eye on him at all times, pay careful attention to where his every word falls, and have a rhythm and board in my heart, and take the initiative to pick it up when it's time to pick it up, otherwise I'll be thrown out.
The teacher said that when singing "Fishing and Killing Home", Mr. Tan has a very good kung fu, he didn't wait for me after he appeared, he ran the circle when he came up, and he ran very fast, I had to pay attention to him after I came on the field, and hurry up, otherwise it would not be okay to pull too far away from the front and back.
The teacher said that there was no need to be nervous when singing with Mr. Ma, because he was very stable after his appearance, and he stopped when he appeared, waiting for the two of us to walk together and maintain the shape of the boat.
Mei Lanfang, Yang Baosen, Wu Jiapo
The promotion of the teacher by the "Four Great Must-Students" benefited him a lot, which was of great help to him in finally creating the Zhang School. The teacher's voice cavity has many old students' voices, that is, he invisibly absorbs the singing methods of old students' various genres.
Working with Lao Dan, he learned Mr. Li Dokui's voice. Working with the flower-faced Qiu Shengrong, he learned Qiu Pai play. Whenever he cooperates with others, the teacher will learn the singing of each actor on the same stage in order to pick up the other party's lines. In this way, the teacher imprinted the style of Baijia, different professions, and voice cavity into his mind.
These are far from enough, teachers will also listen to drums, huangmei opera, commentary, opera, ballet and drama.
There was once a legend that the four famous dan paid special attention to the growth of the teacher, such as what play he rehearsed, where he went to perform, how the performance was effective, and so on. They took turns watching the teacher's play, and when they returned, they got together to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of his play, including the audience's reaction.
The reason why they paid so much attention to the teacher was because they all regarded him as their apprentice, teaching him his own school of art.
Once the teacher performed "Liu Lanzhi" and won the first prize in Beijing. At that time, Mr. Mei secretly went to watch the performance, and the next day the four famous dan sat together to discuss, and Mr. Mei said this sentence: "Tell you, tying the throats of the four of us together is not as good as Zhang Junqiu." "
Whether this story is true or not, it indirectly shows the teacher's personality voice, which is really unprecedented. It is precisely because the teacher has this good voice that he can create his genre singing voice.
"Wangjiang Pavilion" is a masterpiece of the teacher, created in the mid-50s, and is the first work to create a genre. When the teacher created his own play, he transplanted the local play, in his words, to take a closer path.
The success of a play lies first in the script, and the second in the vocal cavity. The teacher adapted the book of "Tan Ji'er" and divided it into three performances as Qing Yi, Hua Shirt and Hua Dan, and the difficulty lies in the integration of the three genres.
The teacher's ability to make up (now it should be called composition) was learned from Mr. Wang Yaoqing. When Mr. Wang created a vocal cavity, he waited until the guests had finished at 12 o'clock at night, leaving only the teacher by his side to give him a small stove rap cavity alone.
Mr. Wang's voice is to read the book first, and then arrange the singing tone according to the mood. Later, when the teacher created a new play, it was created according to the pattern of Mr. Wang's choreography, according to the singing voice of the four great students and the four famous dan in his mind, so "Wangjiang Pavilion" can be a success.
The genius of the teacher, I think there are few in the world. In the past, many famous artists made up their own voices, and each genre had its own creations. The teacher's artistic foundation is very thick, so the materials he makes up are particularly rich, and the vocal cavity of Peking Opera, Pingju Opera, Opera, and Folk Songs can be used by him.
The teacher always told me that learning art should not be afraid of hardship and difficulty, learning art is that the teacher gives you gold, you have to put it in your pocket, don't refuse. The teacher has influenced me deeply in this regard, I have to read books every day, and I am willing to listen to other professions.
Therefore, I also hope that my students can watch more plays, read more books, have more hobbies, including calligraphy and dance, and noble arts are all connected.
The teacher once said that the art of the predecessors is not that it cannot be changed, but that it cannot be changed indiscriminately and arbitrarily, and it must be changed better, otherwise it is a waste of the art of the predecessors.