This year marks more than 60 years of the stage career of Peking Opera artist Chen Shaoyun, as the head of the Qi School in the Peking Opera industry today, Chen Shaoyun is recognized as the contemporary master of Peking Opera who can best embody the performance characteristics and spirit of Peking Opera master Zhou Xinfang.
Poster of "Qipai Chen Shaoyun Academic Symposium on Performing Arts Achievements".
On April 10th, the "Qipai Chen Shaoyun Performing Arts Achievement Academic Seminar" was held in Shanghai, bringing together theater experts from all over the country, as well as theater artists and practitioners who have worked with Chen Shaoyun.
As old colleagues who have worked with Chen Shaoyun for many years, whether it is Peking Opera artists Shang Changrong and Shi Yihong, Lu Su, the younger generation of Qi School descendants, as well as Ma Bomin, Li Zhongcheng, Sun Chongliang and Shan Yuejin, the former directors of the Shanghai Peking Opera Company, they all talked about Chen Shaoyun and his performing arts in their eyes very sincerely at the seminar.
The scene of the "Qipai Chen Shaoyun Performing Arts Achievement Academic Seminar".
Shang Changrong (Peking Opera Performing Artist, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association):
Brother Shaoyun and I have been friends since the 80s, and in the 1980s, one of my teachers told me in Shaanxi and Beijing that there was an excellent leader in the Nanjing Theater who was both civil and military, and was good at performing the Qi School, but unfortunately at that time the opportunity to cooperate was lost due to various reasons of the troupe.
Finally, in Shanghai, a hot land for promoting the art of Peking Opera, Brother Shaoyun and I joined the Shanghai Peking Opera Company at the same time. I remember that Wang Zhengping's eldest brother once said that Beijing is the birthplace of Peking Opera and Shanghai is the development place of Peking Opera.
Shanghai is a hot land that can do things, and it is a hot land that can do great things. We are all Qi fans, I watched our old dean's play in Beijing when I was a child, and I was still young at that time. Later, when I was a teenager, I watched a few more plays, whether it was his old man's "Chasing Han Xin" or "Four Jinshi", he began to be obsessed with the Qi School since he was a child, and later whether it was a traditional drama or a new repertoire, it was naturally used. I said that the art of the Qi School is broad and profound, it is like the flame of the red sun, like the vastness of the ocean, and it is an inexhaustible artistic subject that cannot be studied.
We live and work in Shanghai, and at the same time in Shanghai, the Shanghai Peking Opera Company inherits and studies the performances of the old dean, and more importantly, we must learn from the old dean's acting skills, his ideas, and concepts, which is really a topic that cannot be studied. Our Brother Shaoyun is a man of both virtue and art, inheriting the art of Qipai, and his professionalism and wonderful performance on the stage have won the love, support and admiration of his peers and the audience.
Today's meeting would like to pay tribute and admire to our Brother Shaoyun, and with the inheritance of the old Dean Zhou Xinfang and Brother Shaoyun from generation to generation, I think it is the fourth generation in front of us, and the generation should have this ambition, and the generation will strive to be stronger than the generation. Because we now have to keep pace with the times, guard, and innovate, and have a long way to go.
Today is indeed a meeting to exchange, learn and discuss the development of our Peking Opera art, as well as the inheritance and research of the art of the old dean Qi School, which is a grand event with practical significance and more historical significance.
Shang Changrong spoke
Ma Bomin (Director of Shanghai Jingkun Art Development Advisory Committee, Former Director of Shanghai Peking Opera Company):
I'm too early to be the dean, the dean in 1984.
The first time I met Comrade Chen Shaoyun was in a simple piano room of less than 10 square meters on the original site of the Shanghai Peking Opera Company, which could only be placed with a bed, a table and a chair. When I went to see him, I was very uneasy, after all, Shaoyun was an excellent actor recommended by Mr. Jia. I know that Chen Shaoyun is not only the head and star of the Hunan Peking Opera Troupe, but also a very influential cultural celebrity and advanced model in Hunan Province. The Hunan government gave him excellent treatment in terms of housing and other life, but in comparison, his accommodation in the Peking Opera Company in Shanghai was too poor. At that time, the Shanghai Peking Opera Company could only provide him with such living conditions.
Shaoyun gave me the only chair in the room, and he sat on the edge of the bed by himself, and we started talking. To be honest, I'm guilty. While welcoming Shaoyun to Shanghai for rehearsals and performances, I expressed my apologies for not taking good care of his life, but Shaoyun's statement surprised me very much. He told me that the conditions in Hunan are indeed very good in all aspects, but I have too few opportunities to perform, and the Qipai repertoire is even less, and I can't always sit there in a daze. I came to Shanghai to act, in order to better inherit the Qi School, I will be content to have a play, this is his original words.
Desperate for acting, willing to endure hardships for the art of the Qi School, and not giving up, such a persistent and strong Chen Shaoyun stood in front of me, I was both emotional and moved, I really felt that the new generation of Qi School successors was expected at that time, which we Shanghai Peking Opera Company longed for.
How many years have passed, Shaoyun has done what he says, he never cares about personal gains and losses, and has delivered his whole body to the stage of Peking Opera and the art of the Qi School. I think that if an artist wants to achieve great atmosphere, it must be hard work and talent, both of which are indispensable. That's right, hard work and talent have made Chen Shaoyun successful, and he has both.
With Shaoyun's lifelong hard work, he has a very good basic skills of Peking Opera actors, whether it is the round field water sleeves, singing lines, or in the performance strength, speed, and explosiveness, Shaoyun has always been able to control it freely and perform easily, even if he is over 70 years old, he will sing after the big round, and he will never be out of breath, which shows how deep his skills are.
In addition, the modesty and studious have greatly helped Chen Shaoyun's growth, since the 80s of the last century, Mr. A Jia's discerning talent personally guided the "Oolong Courtyard", Shaoyun has a new understanding of the art of the Qi School, and has made a qualitative leap in art. Less than five years later, Shaoyun won the Chinese Plum Blossom Award with a play "Qingfeng Pavilion". When he arrived in Shanghai, Shaoyun was still modest and studious, and successively sought advice from his predecessors such as Xiao Wang Guiqing, Zhao Lintong, and Zhou Shaolin, and a number of Qipai classic repertoire were inherited and landed.
What is even more commendable is that Shaoyun learns opera in a solid place but never deliberately imitates, he always integrates the essence of Qipai performing arts into the repertoire and characters he participates in according to his own conditions. He started by experiencing Mr. Zhou Xinfang's charm and temperament, and sang with his good voice the vigor and vigor of Qipai's singing. He is good at finding the right positioning, emphasizing the personality of the characters, and shaping the stage image of the characters from the inside out, so the traditional repertoire performed by him is never outdated and always refreshing.
Whenever there are few clouds on the stage, they are full of tension and vitality, and this characteristic is even more obvious in the new repertoire. Shaoyun has an innate talent to integrate himself with the character, he is the loyal and courageous Chen Lin, he is the spicy and resourceful Xiao He, he is Wu Zhaoqian, who is still in nature, including a large number of original plays and characters such as Liu Luoguo and Su Dongpo created in cooperation with the brothers. So many originals have become Mr. Chen Shaoyun's representative repertoire and representative roles.
On the screen, Mr. Chen Shaoyun is also shining, with the launch of Peking Opera films and opera audio-visual projects, there are many actors with their classic repertoire to the screen and screen, and then can not stand the test of the camera, always feel that it is not as good as the stage, and some actors have lost their original brilliance. But no matter how the role played by Chen Shaoyun on the screen and on the screen is magnified and pushed to the eyes, his expression never plays, and his eyes never let go.
Chen Shaoyun's comprehensive and flexible application of the spirit of Qi School art to his innovative repertoire and character creation is such a successful repertoire, and each vivid character has established Chen Shaoyun's artistic status as the first successor of the Qi School today.
I also want to say in particular that Chen Shaoyun not only inherited the art of Mr. Zhou Xinfang, but also inherited the artistic virtues of the old dean. Mr. Zhou Xinfang has always been well-known for his supporting role on the stage, regardless of the size of the role. The audience of the older generation knows that as long as Qi Lao comes to stage, there is no character who is not brilliant, no matter how small the role is. The same is true for Chen Shaoyun, he plays a supporting role, and he goes all out to take it seriously. When the young actors of the Shanghai Peking Opera Company starred, they always hoped that Chen Shaoyun would help them on the stage, and he basically responded to his requests.
Chen Shaoyun's disciples are all over the world, not only in the Peking Opera industry, but also in the local opera industry, and there are also a number of Chen Shaoyun's personal students. Many of them have become the pillars of youth in various academies.
Under the careful teaching of Chen Shaoyun and the efforts of several young people, they have made gratifying progress and growth, not only began to act in big operas on their own, created new repertoire, and new roles are becoming more and more mature.
Chen Shaoyun has always been serious and strict in teaching and passing on opera, and not every artist can do this, this is his principle of life, and it is also the embodiment of his noble artistic virtues.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity today to once again thank Mr. A Jia and a group of senior experts in Beijing, without their insight and strong recommendation, Chen Shaoyun would not be where he is today. There is no Shanghai Peking Opera Company to inherit and carry forward the art of the Qi School today. Early next year, since January 2025 will coincide with the 130th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Zhou Xinfang, I hope that starting from today, starting from the study of Chen Shaoyun, during this year, I can launch a number of opera performances and various artistic activities to promote the commemoration of the 130th anniversary of the birth of Master Zhou Xinfang in January next year, and promote Mr. Zhou Xinfang and his Qi School art to the whole society.
Shi Yihong (Shanghai Peking Opera Company, Mei Pai Tsing Yi, Peking Opera Performing Artist):
Mr. Chen has always been a person I respect, not only his art, but also his personality, we have been in a group for 30 years, I am particularly emotional, because Mr. Chen was transferred to Shanghai for the first time we cooperated with the new playwright "Tanuki for the Prince", this is 94 years, exactly 30 years.
Chen Shaoyun played Chen Lin in "Tanuki for the Prince".
The first time I cooperated with Mr. Chen was in 1994, Mr. Chen was transferred from Hunan to the first new repertoire of the Shanghai Peking Opera Company, I was very young at that time, that is, I knew that the Shanghai Peking Opera Company had introduced the famous old performers of the Qi School, and I was neither new to the Qi School nor its style, so I started the cooperation with a senior actor with the youthful energy of a newborn calf.
Teacher Chen dresses plainly, treats people modestly, is not good at words, and is full of kindness, not like a famous family, much like the elders or family members around him. I wasn't worried at all, when I got to the rehearsal room, he also respected the director and every collaborator around him, silently and unobtrusively, and listened to the director's explanation. Mr. Chen plays Chen Lin in the play and I play Kou Zhu, these are two people who have a humble status in the palace, but they do not hesitate to sacrifice their lives in order to protect the prince, I love the role of Kou Zhu very much. The script gave her a lively youthful kindness and noble soul, Chen Lin is old and sophisticated, and she also upholds the justice in her heart.
In the process of rehearsal, in addition to receiving inspiration from the director and teachers, we tried our best to dig into the accumulation of what we had learned. Mr. Chen quickly broke away from the script and entered the role, without any traces, and naturally integrated with the character. I stumbled into the role with the help of my teacher, and Mr. Chen guided me like an elder in terms of age, experience, and artistic experience.
Someone told me that your collaborator is the Qi faction, the performance of the Qi faction is exaggerated, you are the Mei faction, if your performance is too restrained, you will definitely be robbed of the brilliance by the Qi faction. Chen Lin and Kou Zhu have collaborated on a lot of plays, and after Mr. Chen entered the play, he was not his usual appearance, he was full of plays, especially the eyes and rhythm, and the infectious power of passion could quickly substitute me into the situation. If the art of the Qi School is exaggerated, it also comes from the heart, and it is by no means just an external show-off.
I have a deep understanding during the rehearsal process, although Mr. Chen is a Qipai performance, he is neutral and peaceful, and has a very good sense of proportion. has never detached from the characters to play guns, or performances that emphasize the figure. Therefore, we don't seem to have too many genre confinements, in fact, everywhere because of the application of genres to make the characters gradually fuller.
Mr. Chen is usually very easy-going and ordinary, but after dressing up in the play, he changed instantly, and his spirit was flying and dazzling. Once, I talked to my wife, Mr. Yang Xiao'an, about the past at the Lake Nanjing Theater, and Mr. Yang said that at that time, Mr. Chen played Yang Zirong in the Tiger Mountain every day, and the audience was very enthusiastic and wanted to wait for the appearance of the leading actor after the play. But every time I regret not to see it, in fact, Mr. Chen removes his makeup every day and passes by them, but no one recognizes this Yang Zirong on the stage, this thing is very picturesque. A big actor on the stage, very reluctant to be recognized in life, how cute and charming this is. The stage is the stage, and life is life.
After that, I worked with Mr. Chen in a lot of plays, and Mr. Chen never picked roles, some roles were foils, and he was willing to be a green leaf. For example, Kou Zhun in "The Female General of the Yang Gate", Liu Bingyi in "Three Sessions of Trial", etc., because Mr. Chen accumulated a lot of repertoire when he was young and played many roles, he learned the genre but was not limited by the genre, so he could use traditional skills to freely wander among the new playwrights.
Mr. Zhou Xinfang's play we only see learning in the video or audio recordings, Mr. Chen takes the characteristics of the Qi School's singing voice and performance, combined with his own conditions to use freely, such as the voice, he did not pursue Mr. Zhou's slightly dumb singing, it is based on his own voice conditions to comprehend and learn, so many years of cooperation with Mr. Chen, I have not heard that Mr. Chen has a voice defect because of fatigue or cold, I have never heard of him returning to the play. Even if he has a cold and fatigue, he can slowly adjust through experience. Sometimes we think that the current actors are very squeamish, and they will return to the play at every turn, but in fact, they don't have solid basic skills, and they can't control the sudden physical discomfort, I often say that Peking Opera actors have no right to get sick, because no one knows how your physical condition is when you go to the stage, even if you can't let the audience see it in a very uncomfortable situation, this is not only because the play is bigger than the sky, but more importantly, you have to have this ability.
I want to say a lot, Mr. and I have already been friends for a long time, and they have helped and cared for me a lot, whether it is on the stage or in life, I am very grateful. Working with Mr. Chen in a troupe, I have learned a lot of experience, and young actors are very happy to work with experienced old actors early, they will drive you, influence you, and make you grow rapidly. Mr. Chen's humility in life is very contrasting with the brilliance on the stage, they are not like the same person, if we say that virtue and art are both good, Mr. Chen is such a well-deserved existence.
Li Zhongcheng (former director of the Shanghai Peking Opera Company, former president of the Zhou Xinfang Art Research Association, playwright):
Today, we will discuss the art of the Qi School and the achievements of Chen Shaoyun's performing arts. It is not only a summary of Shaoyun's personal artistic career and successful experience, but also a re-study and research of the Qipai art and its cultural value founded by Master Zhou Xinfang.
Chen Shaoyun chose the art of the Qi School and took a broad path that could provide him with spiritual guidance and sufficient nutrients. Liu Housheng, a drama critic of the older generation, said that the Qi School is actually a genre of drama thought. Chen Shaoyun studied hungrily on the road of learning Qi, practiced in a down-to-earth manner, and worked hard to understand the master's acting concept, which was used as the spiritual guidance for continuous progress, which finally enabled him to achieve the impressive results that everyone sees today.
In terms of art, Zhou Xinfang's acting thoughts are the key to Chen Shaoyun's success. Master Zhou said that the word acting is all-encompassing, and you must know that this word refers to the whole of the play.
Chen Shaoyun got a profound enlightenment from the master's life of exploration, innovation, innovation, innovation, and renewal of his artistic experience, seized various opportunities, and devoted himself with fire-like enthusiasm to everything that could improve his acting skills, expand his acting path, create characters, and meet the audience's work creation and rehearsal. It has successively achieved great success in the performances of innovative plays such as "Tanuki for the Prince", "Zhenguan Shengshi", "Fifteen Runs", "Success or Failure, Xiao He", "Golden Wisp Song" and other innovative plays.
Chen Shaoyun played Xiao He in "Success or Failure".
Chen Shaoyun walked from Hunan to Shanghai, and from Shanghai to the whole country, and finally became a well-deserved successor of the Qi School, a leader of the Qi School with many achievements, and the most influential leader of Qi Art. From his nearly 70 years of career in art and acting, we can clearly see that the bright light of Zhou Xinfang's acting thoughts has always guided him towards the goal of success.
Sun Chongliang (former director of Shanghai Peking Opera Company):
Teacher Shaoyun is recognized as a virtuous and artistic artist, usually so low-key, a good person. There is no unit he goes to cooperate with that does not praise him. But there is another aspect of his personality that is very tenacious, resistant to pressure, a kind of tenacity. I
The whole "Success or Failure" has faced a lot of pressure. But in the process, no matter what happens, he will always carefully ponder his play, we see from "Xiao He Chasing Han Xin under the Moon" to our "Success or Failure Xiao He", chasing Han Xin twice, one is in the form of comedy, the other is in the form of tragedy, and he firmly grasps the various expressions of Qipai art. As for a single sentence, he repeatedly revised it, and I saw no less than three ways to deal with it, no matter how he dealt with it, he was portraying the characters in accordance with an overall view of acting in Qipai art, all in the play, and in the emotions of the characters. Therefore, I think his inheritance of the Qi sect has reached a stage of self-consciousness.
Chen Shaoyun played Xiao He in "Xiao He Chasing Han Xin under the Moon".
Shan Yuejin (Zhou Xinfang, former director of Shanghai Peking Opera Company):
The emergence of Mr. Shaoyun has a very special role in the construction of the ideal of artistic aesthetics of the Shanghai Peking Opera Company.
We will say that Mr. Shaoyun's journey from Hunan to Shanghai is a relatively rich, informative and spacious environment in Shanghai that has brought great opportunities for his development. But in fact, Mr. Shaoyun also came to Shanghai by the opportunity of inheriting the Shanghai-style culture and Shanghai-style art at the Shanghai Peking Opera Company, and inheriting Zhou Xinfang's acting ideas and acting art, and brought a lot of them.
When Shanghai needed a platform, a prominent talent, and a prominent and contributing repertoire, Mr. Shaoyun appeared in Shanghai in the 1990s. In a sense, I think that Mr. Shang Changrong and Mr. Chen Shaoyun appeared in Shanghai in the 1980s when the Shanghai Peking Opera Company intended to form its own cultural and artistic positioning, and to have its own cultural pursuits.
Mao Shi'an (Consultant and former Vice Chairman of the China Literature and Art Critics Association):
Shaoyun is my peer, we were both born in 1948.
Let's talk about Qipai first. In fact, I have heard about Qipai since I was a child, because my maternal grandfather dressed Zhou Xinfang, and when my mother was a child, she played the role of a child with Master Zhou's side when she played "Tanuki for the Prince" in the Golden Theater.
I think Qilin Tong Zhou Xinfang as a master, of course, Peking Opera is out of the old culture and old drama, is a Chinese tradition, but Qilin Tong has a one, as a representative figure of the old drama is a large-scale absorption of the new cultural art style, he watches movies, novels, and dramas, so in this I have always been insisted that Zhou Xinfang is a Peking Opera performance artist who was at the forefront of the modernization of Chinese opera. In terms of this concrete embodiment, I think he has learned one thing from the new culture is realism, and I think he is a psychological realism, that is, he pays special attention to what the characters are thinking in their hearts. In this process, he does not copy Western realism, but amplifies mental realism through the expression of freehand aesthetics and a means of expression. The focus is two, one is the psychological experience of the characters, and the second is to strive to amplify this psychological experience on the stage in a freehand way, so he has his own unique set of performance methods in the amplification of psychological experience. In fact, all modern performing arts pay attention to psychological experience, but how to reflect psychological experience on the stage and express it on the stage is a very severe test for the artist.
Therefore, many movie stars such as Zhao Dan draw nourishment from Master Zhou's performance, that is, they externalize their inner psychological experience, and in the process of externalization, he amplifies it so that the audience can understand it directly. Like a learned person, some people are full of wealth but can't give lectures, like our teacher Gong is full of knowledge, and then there is an endless talk, these are two things. Having the ability and expressing are two things, and he can express it.
The second is his choice of characters, his basic characters are anxious and righteous, chivalrous, compassionate, and the bottom complex, which causes his entire performance and singing to be particularly strong in the rhythm of inhibition and frustration. Therefore, I have always believed that the Qipai is the most important component of Shanghai-style culture, and Shanghai-style culture is Shanghai-style art, Shanghai-style literature, and Shanghai-style Peking Opera, which is the most important part of Shanghai-style culture.
Therefore, Qi Lao's body fully reflects the efforts and achievements of the modernization and transformation of traditional opera. Therefore, its influence on opera and China's new culture is comprehensive, allowing us to see a possibility, that is, modern realism and psychological realism can find a fusion point with traditional freehand culture, which is also the experience I got when I watched Lin Fengmian and Wu Guanzhong.
This sentence is easy to say today, it is necessary to learn from each other about the coexistence of Western culture and Chinese culture. It's easy to be a slogan, it's not easy to do it artistically, and this is the first one.
Let's talk about Shaoyun again. I think Shaoyun has made two contributions, the first is what? He carried forward the art of the Qi School, in this process, he had solid basic skills in the first half of his life, and used the first half of his life to substitute into the art of the Qi School, and understand the art of the Qi School from the surface and the inside. He has studied all the almost important repertoire of the Qi School and so on. Because of this, he brought the art of the Qi School into a new era.
Second, he made contributions to the Shanghai Peking Opera Company, and made contributions to the Shanghai Peking Opera, when the Shanghai Peking Opera Company entered Beijing, I wrote an article that sang to the sky, the Shanghai Peking Opera Company is a theater with very cultural accumulation, and one of the most important is his new historical dramas, Shang Changrong or Chen Shaoyun, who have added new ingredients to the accumulation of new historical dramas and contributed a large number of works and characters. For example, for a character like Wu Zhaoqian, Shaoyun very completely interprets the humble feeling that he has gone from a wild Jiangnan genius to a reluctant and stealing life, and it is a very complete display of a character's inner and outer process. In this case, I think it is necessary to affirm Shaoyun's two contributions to the art of the Qi School and the new historical drama of the Shanghai Peking Opera Company, not just to inherit and carry forward the art of the Qi School.
I think the art of the Qi School is broad and profound, and we still have new topics for us to study and study. At the same time, how to further promote the art of the Qi School in the new play, I think Shaoyun has done a good job in this, but what does not end is our inheritance, development and development of the art of the Qi School.