Editor's Note: The author of this article is Mr. Zhang Yonghe, a dramatist, who commissioned me to publish this article here. The original title was: Guan Yu's "Walking maicheng" was lost because of "carelessness". In the process of editing, only the relevant part of the Peking Opera "Walking Maicheng" was retained.
Among the more than forty "Guan Gong Dramas", the most influential, the most difficult to perform successfully, and the most important for the audience to sigh for the wisdom and courage, benevolent Shu general Guan Yu Guan Yun is "Walking MaiCheng". This drama, also known as "Maicheng Ascension to Heaven", or "Crossing the River in White Clothes" and "Jingzhou Missed Counts", is a big drama, including several folding plays. Among them, there is also a folding play that can be independently composed of chapters, which can be performed in the whole play, and it can only be performed in this fold, which is called "Scraping Bone and Healing Poison", which is also a "red life drama" that shapes the character, is difficult to perform, and is good to hear and good.
Many "Guan Yu plays", from "Guan Yu Was Born" to "Flooded Seven Armies", and even "Scraping Bones to Cure Poison", a total of more than forty plays. According to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Three Kingdoms Zhiping Dialect", and the plays about the "Second Prince" in the YuanQu, as well as the legends circulating in folklore and many other materials, Wang Hongshou, the "originator of the Red Life" in the south, put all these stories of "Guan Laoye" on the stage. But there was only one major event, that is, Guan Yu's last battle, the defeat of Maicheng, the capture of Eastern Wu, and the simultaneous murder of his beloved son Guan Ping, even if this story is also a historical fact, no one has ever made it into a play, including Wang Hongshou, the big name who specializes in "Guan Lao Ye Drama", who does not have the courage to do so. A few red students in the north who only paid attention to singing workers did not even dare to think about it.
But over time, the New Culture Movement has flourished. Affected by this, on the Beach of Shanghai, which was the first to gain the wind, the Haipai Peking Opera was in full swing. Among them, there was a wenwu veteran, who not only had a variety of ideas for reform and reform, but also participated in the armed struggle against the Qing in Shanghai, and together with many people attacked the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau of the Qing court with weapons, he was Xia Yuerun in the famous "Brother Xia" in Shanghai Beach. Xia Yuerun's father, Xia Kuizhang, was originally a famous martial artist in beijing's Sanqing class, known as "living horse chao". At the same time, he has a voice and can sing wen and martial arts. The owner of the Shanghai opera restaurant took a fancy to this good actor with a wide road and good at literature and martial arts, so Xia Kuizhang came to Shanghai and became popular as soon as he became a hit, which was very popular with the Shanghai audience. When the contract expired, the owner of the theater insisted on staying in Beijing, so Xia Kuizhang stayed in Shanghai to sing opera and pass on the art. All of his sons have eaten drama and are excellent actors, especially the second son Xia Yueshan and the youngest son Xia Yuerun.
The image of Guan Yu played by Xia Yuerun
Xia Yuerun is also both literate and martial, and Wusheng and Laosheng kick. He dressed handsome, his voice was powerful, and he worshiped under the door of Wang Hongshou, the "Red Life Taidou", and was good at acting in Guan Yu's play. At the same time, he also runs a new-style theater and is a famous person with a pioneering and innovative consciousness. He thought that all the deeds of "Guan Laoye" had been put on the Stage of Peking Opera, only the disgraceful matter of losing Jingzhou and walking Maicheng, no actor dared to move this theme to the stage. Moreover, Li Yuanxing is very respectful and pious to "Guan Laoye", and there are many taboos in normal times, and he cannot call him by his name directly on stage, not to mention the "back" of Guan Yu's capture and killing. Xia Yuerun had asked his teacher Wang Hongshou to create the script of the play, but Wang Hongshou believed that the play was insulting to the glorious image of "Guan Laoye" and refused to write it. However, this historical fact was depicted by the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as tragic and poignant, touching, and very dramatic, so Xia Yuerun, who had scientific and democratic ideas, wrote, directed, and performed this new "Guan Yu drama" - "Walking MaiCheng".
The first performance was smooth and well attended, and the theater was full of pits. It is said that the time was April 8, 1914, and the venue was the new stage of Nine Acres of Land in Shanghai. However, there is also a saying that on April 8, 1914, "Walking In MaiCheng" had not yet been performed, and it was planned to start the next day. Unexpectedly, the Night Theater West First Restaurant (said to be a noodle restaurant) caught fire, which affected the theater, so the saying that "Guan Gong appeared to be holy and burned the theater garden" suddenly arose. But Xia Yuerun was not moved, persevered, and was bound to perform this play. On June 24, 1914, he competed for the stage to perform "Walking Mai City". He first changed the appearance of "Guan Laoye". In the past, "Guan Yu drama" Guan Yu did not lean on and did not plant a flag. Xia Yuerun's "Walking Maicheng", "Guan Laoye" tied a big leaning, with eight flags inserted on his back, four long and four short, implying the eight mighty winds of the great general. Xia Yuerun is a very good martial artist, and it is a golden year, so in this newly created "Walking MaiCheng", his martial arts field is quite wonderful. Guan Yu on the stage was brave and loyal, preferring to die unyieldingly, which deeply touched the audience and the performance was a great success.
But Xia Yuerun was still not satisfied, and he asked his teacher Wang Hongshou to serve as an art director and rehearse the play. Mr. Wang has adjusted and innovated the singing voice, watchmaking, martial arts, character modeling and scene structure of this play, and even Guan Yu's costume has been greatly modified - still restoring Guan Yu's dress of only soft leaning and not hard leaning, and the four big and four small flags behind it have all been removed. This is very appropriate, Xia Yuerun's back insertion of eight flags looks very messy, and it has been ridiculed as "Xia Eight Roots". Wang Hongshou also made a demonstration performance for his beloved disciple. Xia Yuerun saw that whether in shaping characters or in showing singing and dancing, he had a big gap with the teacher, and Fu Ru was far away, so he resolutely gave up and transferred this play to the teacher. Wang Hongshou also no longer prevaricated, and poured his heart and soul into this drama, dismantling and washing it again and again, so that this "Walking Mai City" not only became his masterpiece, but also became the heaviest drama full of tragic implications in more than forty "Guan Yu Plays".
"Hongsheng Originator" Wang Hongshou
How does the plot of "Walking in Mai city" begin and turn? After Liu Bei established himself as the king of Hanzhong, he made Guan Yu the head of the Five Tiger Generals and ordered him to carry out the Northern Expedition as the division of Jingzhou. Guan Yu attacked Xiangyang and forcibly attacked Fancheng, where Cao Cao was too defensive. Cao Cao sent Yu Ban and Pound De to lead the Seventh Army to help. Guan Yu took advantage of the rising waters of the Xiang River, flooded Cao Jun, and was captured by Forbidden and Pound, imprisoned in Prison, and swore to die. This is "Flooded Seven Armies", which is generally performed alone. Guan Yu continued to attack Fancheng, where Cao Ren was dead, but was unfortunately shot by a poisonous arrow fired by Cao Ren, and his right arm was bruised and swollen and could not be turned. The famous doctor Hua Tuo rushed to treat Guan Yu, but he needed to scrape the bones with a knife to remove the poison. Guan Yu nai played against the strategist Ma Liang, stretched out his arms to scrape his bones, and talked and laughed freely, which greatly admired Hua Tuo and the Generals of manying. The above is "Scraping Bone to Cure Poison", which is performed continuously with "Walking Mai City".
Cao Cao was afraid of Guan Yu's military might, and he and Sun Quan cut off the land to make peace, hoping that Sun Cao's alliance would attack Guan Yu. Sun Quan was a capricious man who did not hesitate to destroy Sun Liu's alliance for many years. Qia Guanyu also refused to allow Sun Quan to marry his daughter-in-law, so Sun Quan hung up Lü Meng as a marshal and secretly attacked Jingzhou. However, Guan Yu set up a beacon tower along the river to be heavily guarded, and Lü Meng was ill, and recommended Lu Xun, a scholar, to act as the governor. Guan Yu was light enemy and dispatched Jingzhou soldiers and horses to participate in the battle of Fancheng. Lü Meng took advantage of the illusion to make the sergeants cross the river without wearing military uniforms and disguise themselves as ordinary people in white clothes, and stole Jingzhou. Guan Yu's generals Mi Fang and Fu Shiren, because of their gap with Guan Yu, actually opened the city and surrendered to Wu, and Lü Meng took possession of the two important towns of Gong'an and Nan County without spending a single soldier and an arrow. Guan Yu was attacked by the Wei generals Xu Huang, Cao Ren and Lü Meng, and retreated to Maicheng in a big defeat. Yu general Liao Hua broke through and went to Shangyong to move his troops for help. The guards Liu Feng and Meng Da only cared about self-preservation and did not move, and Liao Hua had to cry out of Shangyong And go to Chengdu for help. Guan Yu waited for a long time to rescue the soldiers, so he had to lead Guan Ping, Zhao Lei, and others to break through the snow night, Lü Meng sent Pan Zhang and other ambush paths, Guan Yu's father and son were captured, resolutely did not surrender Sun Quan, and the father and son were killed, so this play was also known as "Maicheng Ascension to Heaven" in the past, basically based on the seventy-fifth to seventy-seventh times of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
When Wang Hongshou was 20 years old, he went north to Jinmen and became popular for his performances of Guan Yu plays such as "Ancient City Society" and "Flooded Seven Army", and has since become famous for acting In Guan Yu plays. The reason why guan yu he played can be praised is because he carefully studied Guan Yu's images. It is said that he once obtained 66 portraits of Guan Yu dancing with a knife from his father's friends, and if he obtained the most precious treasure, he studied day and night and pondered with his heart, melted his understanding, and on the basis of inheritance, there was a breakthrough development.
I was also late in life, and I did not see Wang Hongshou's performance of "Walking Maicheng". It is said that Guan Yu on the stage with the Green Dragon Crescent Knife is his creation, the knife grip is longer than the general large knife, the knife shaft is black and gold, the knife head is made of splint, and add a three-dimensional sense of green dragon and sea water Jiangya, the dragon head is also inlaid with red beads that can be rotated, and there are small bells attached to the copper hearts on both sides of the knife head, and a trembling knife shaft makes a roaring sound. Such a novel and majestic knife is completely consistent with The Guan Yu face and costumes designed by Wang, which sets off a mysterious atmosphere for the performance of the play.
Li Hongchun demonstrates "Guan Gong Drama"
Stills from "Flooded Seven Armies", Li Hongchun as Guan Yu
Li Hongchun, a disciple of the Wang clan and known as the "Red Life Taidou", had no chance to watch "Walking Maicheng" because it was rarely staged after the founding of New China. However, Mr. Hong Chun once performed "Scraping Bone and Healing Poison" at the Zhongshan Park Music Hall at the age of more than 90 years old, and I had the privilege of enjoying it. Although Guan Yu was supported by the actor who played Ma Liang, singing a few words of "blowing the cavity", especially a few of the recitations, was still sonorous and powerful, and it was decent. When scraping bones, Guan Yu tried the knife, did several dancing knife movements, Shen Wu was skilled, and there was still Jia Yuyong, which attracted thunderous applause from the audience. Mr. HongChun's disciple Song Yuchun plays Hua Tuo, although the role is not much, but a Confucian medical demeanor, so far, set off moderately, for the author to see the best Hua Tuo.
Stills from "Huarong Dao", Li Wanchun as Guan Yu
The one I watched the most in this play was Mr. Li Wanchun, who was not tall, but played Guan Yu's extraordinary temperament. In the first half of the play, such as sealing the five tigers, refusing to accept the marriage contract, and taking charge of the second general, he won with the majesty of the work frame and the charm of the rainbow; in the second half of the play, in the martial arts scenes of Zhan Xu Huang and Zhan Lu Meng, he was a "rambling head", the knife was extremely fast, and the flag of the enemy general was cut down, and if the other party's head was slightly slower, the helmet on his head would be cut off. Mr. Wan Chun performed the two most wonderful scenes of the play, one is "refusal to surrender", when Zhuge Jin of Eastern Wu came to persuade Guan Yu to surrender Wu when he was in danger, Guan Yu was awe-struck and vowed not to fall, a dialogue said: "Jade can be broken and cannot be changed, bamboo can be burned and its festival cannot be destroyed!" Guan Mou, it is better to crush the jade than to be complete! You, go out of the account! Its syllables were solemn, the sound of the golden stone landing on the ground, and the bones and coils of Guan Yu's loyalty to the taoyuan and the oath of death were brought out, which made the audience all moved; and then there was the final breakthrough night battle. Although Guan Yu fang had only four people: Ma Tong, Zhao Lei, Guan Ping, and Guan Yu, the combined forces with Wu Wei were quite fierce. At that time, Ma Tong was played by Xiao Mingxuan, who drifted with the bucket, danced fast with the double knife, and a "stall" came down full of "good" sounds. Next, ma Mingzhe's zhao lei and the enemy general's "fast gun" plus "turn over" duel, as fast as the wind swept away the leaves. On Guanping, I have seen Wu Mingshen, Li Xiaochun, Jia Shouchun and other famous martial artists dressed up, first flipping, spinning, and shaking a soft gun like a strange snake out of the hole, creating enough atmosphere. Then Guan Yu took the knife on the field, three circles of large circles, and the horse fell into the pit. Mr. Wan Chun had several hard forks, and his legs fell into a word. Then another soft fork, several times unsuccessful, fully demonstrated the sadness of the battle, and drew a tragic ending for the Guan father and son.
(Note: Due to limited picture information, Li Hongchun and Li Wanchun's Guan Yu plays use other repertoire photos.) ）