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February 4, 1993 was the beginning of spring, the winter ice broke through, and everything sprouted. However, on such a day, Mr. Hou Baolin, the most pioneering generation of "cross talk masters" in the new Chinese quyi industry, left us forever.
When it comes to Hou Baolin, I believe that people who have experienced the last century are no strangers. This "titan-level figure" in the cross talk industry is a well-deserved "leader" and "founder" of quyi in the 20th century, and has also brought a "new cross talk" different from the old society to New China, so that quyi has been carried forward since then and has gone to thousands of households suitable for all ages.
However, what few people know is that it is such a "cross talk master", but he has a strange experience of "twists and turns" in marriage:
In Hou Baolin's self-description, he once "separated" from his three wives, and after the wives were "well", Hou Baolin said with emotion: "They are all gone, and there are only two people left in the family, and I am not used to the kind of coldness at home for a long time." ”
The word "deserted" is indeed not so compatible with this "cross talk master" who has been studying how to make the audience gather and laugh all his life. So, how did Hou Baolin get married to three wives in his nearly a century of life, and then "separated" and lived alone? All of this has to start from Hou Baolin's childhood......
One, take the stage
Like most of the toiling masses living at the bottom of the ladder, Hou Baolin's childhood was poor and deprived. Unlike others, Hou Baolin doesn't know who his biological parents are, he can't even remember where he lives and where he came from.
- That was around the time Hou Baolin was four years old. Because the family couldn't afford to raise children, Hou Baolin was coaxed by his uncle to take the train with a few sugar-fried chestnuts and sent to a courtyard house in Beijing.
Here, the uncle left Hou Baolin's date of birth and his nickname: because he was born in Youshi, Hou Baolin was still called "You'er" in his uncle's mouth; However, after arriving at the courtyard, Hou Baolin changed his name and surname with his adoptive father, and since then, "You'er" has become "Hou Baolin", and later Hou Baolin himself changed his current name.
Coming to Hou's house, Hou Baolin is still living a poor life. The Hou family all rented in the east house of the courtyard, relying on the adoptive father's hard work to do odd jobs to make a living, sometimes the adoptive father could not earn money all day, and there was no rice at home, so Hou Baolin would hold a small bowl that was missing, and begged for food from door to door.
The house located in the east is "cool in winter and warm in summer", and he eats without nutrition all day, and within a few years, Hou Baolin contracted smallpox. Fortunately, perhaps because of the "hard fate", Hou Baolin survived this catastrophe, and he stumbled to grow up in the poor Hou family.
At the age of 12, in order to make a living, Hou Baolin was sent by his adoptive father to a flyover in Beijing to study drama under Yan Zefu. In that era, the master-apprentice relationship in the drama industry was extremely strict, and it was common to be beaten and scolded by the master.
Wake up late and get beaten; The teabowl and teapot were not cleaned and beaten; If you don't sing the right voice in singing, you will be beaten; I didn't bring hot water to my brother, and I was beaten......
Because of frequent beatings, Hou Baolin once secretly escaped, but as soon as he returned home, Hou Baolin was sent back by his adoptive father, and he suffered until 1932, when Yan Zefu was going to leave Beijing and go to Taiyuan to perform, Hou Baolin said goodbye to this "Yan Shi" and continued to be an apprentice in the small opera troupe in the Gulou market.
Like the flyover, the old Drum Tower Market was also a "hodgepodge" of opera and acrobatics, and there were often a few old artists talking cross talk in the field behind the Drum Tower, which became one of the few sources of happiness in Hou Baolin's childhood:
Every time he finished his work in the troupe, Hou Baolin would secretly go to the cross talk field to listen to the cross talk. He has a good memory and is interested, people talk about cross talk above, Hou Baolin secretly memorizes lines and actions below, and even when he lies in bed at night, he will entertain himself and think about it over and over again-
The opportunity came unexpectedly. On this day, Hou Baolin was busy with things in the troupe, and he usually ran to the venue of cross talk, but he saw that the people in the backstage were all in a hurry, and they didn't know what was messing up. Hou Baolin walked over and asked, "Do you want to help?" ”
Seeing that he was still a child, the man didn't take him seriously, and while pushing him out, he said in his mouth: "Don't make a mess, Mr. Big hasn't come yet, the audience is about to arrive, and this has blown up the temple!" ”
Hou Baolin didn't think about it, and blurted out: "Let me tell you a paragraph?" Without waiting for anyone to answer, a string of skilled cross talk came out of Hou Baolin's mouth, and his demeanor and movements were almost exactly the same as "Mr. Big", and he couldn't tell that he was a new hand at all.
In this way, under a series of coincidences, Hou Baolin put on a coat and ushered in his first opportunity to appear on stage as a "cross talk actor".
II. Names
In Hou Baolin's view, as an actor: "Fame is secondary, and the most important thing is to let the audience admit it." And for this "titan" in the cross talk industry, this sentence is not simply a sentence, but a belief that he has truly implemented and practiced throughout his life.
At first, Hou Baolin said that cross talk could only be in a time period other than "singing Peking Opera". However, the audience's eyes are bright, and Hou Baolin's cross talk is far more fascinating than Peking Opera. At the end of 1937, Hou Baolin was recommended by his peers to worship the name of the old cross talk artist Zhu Kuoquan, and began his career focusing on cross talk.
After becoming a cross talk actor, Hou Baolin successively performed on stage in Beijing Tianqiao, Xidan, Drum Tower and other places, and gradually accumulated a little popularity. However, this popularity can only barely enough for Hou Baolin to make ends meet, and it coincided with the invitation of the Tianjin Music Theater at that time, Hou Baolin went to Tianjin with his uncle Guo Qiru, ready to find another income.
No one expected that Tianjin would become Hou Baolin's "treasure land".
After coming to Tianjin, Hou Baolin first participated in the program on the radio, and soon began to catch up in several theaters. He talks about cross talk humorously, and the matching movements and demeanor happen to be everywhere, which always makes people laugh;
Not only that, Hou Baolin also deleted the swear words and some too indecent content that he used to carry when he "left the ground" in the cross talk, and replaced them with more acceptable cross talk content, which won more praise and love from the audience.
Soon, Hou Baolin became "popular" in Tianjin, and this fame gradually spread throughout the country, making him gradually known to people.
Once, Hou Baolin took a car to the Northeast, but as soon as he got in the car, a sharp-eyed person recognized him from afar and greeted him cordially: "You are Hou Baolin!" ”
This voice attracted more people's attention, and soon, the carriage where Hou Baolin was located was surrounded by water. Seeing that the audience was so enthusiastic, Hou Baolin simply talked about stand-up comedy on the train, and his opening of his voice was all the way.
In fact, perhaps he was also born at the bottom, and Hou Baolin and the people at the bottom have a natural cordiality and gratitude:
As early as when he was still setting up a stall in the Drum Tower, in winter, the weather was cold and windy, and it was very fatal to have no thick quilt at night, so Hou Baolin and others rented a thick quilt cover from a family surnamed Ma next door;
Who would have thought that the weather was bad, and after ten days and half a month, Hou Baolin's cross talk stall didn't earn a few pennies, not to mention that eating was a problem, and he couldn't afford to rent other people's quilts. Just in time for the daughter next door, Ma Sanjie, came to "collect debts", Hou Baolin cautiously discussed with the third sister whether he could only pay the first two days of money, and make up the money for the next five days next week.
Third Sister Ma was soft-hearted, and when she saw Hou Baolin's overstretched appearance, she waved her hand and directly exempted Hou Baolin from this week's "quilt money", and this kindness has always been remembered by Hou Baolin. After that, during the New Year's holidays, Hou Baolin always made a special trip to visit Ma Sanjie, even if he had become a "role" in the back, the famous Hou Baolin still came to the door every year around the Spring Festival and made a special trip to Ma Sanjie to pay a New Year's greeting.
In addition to those who have helped him, Hou Baolin is most praised for his "favor" for the audience, especially after becoming famous, Hou Baolin walks on the road, often meets people who recognize him, and some people come over to take photos with him, Hou Baolin does not refuse;
For Hou Baolin, fame is given by the "seats", and the food and clothing are given by the "seats", so the love and satisfaction of the audience is what Hou Baolin is pursuing.
Therefore, when other actors are striving to "climb up", only Hou Baolin is still trying his best to figure out how to make cross talk more "approachable", and his motivation for later deletion of "abandoning the ground" cross talk also comes from this.
3. Marriage
Around 1939, Hou Baolin, who gradually became famous, married his first wife, Lian Xiuzhen. In his memories, this "eldest lady" was very virtuous and virtuous, a standard good wife and mother, and took care of the family cleanly, which once made Hou Baolin feel very happy.
However, just a year later, Hou Baolin, who had failed to "break into the eastern part of the country", returned home and was shocked to find that his once virtuous wife had been infected with opium. The fright in the Northeast and the blow given to him by his wife, Hou Baolin was scared to a serious illness, and after that, although Hou Baolin did not officially divorce Lian Xiuzhen, his relationship with her quickly became cold.
After recovering from his illness, Hou Baolin transferred to Tianjin to talk about cross talk, and met and knew a woman named Liu Shufang in the local area, and gradually developed feelings. In that old era of social chaos, the acceptance of polygamy in China was relatively high, as long as you find a few acquaintances to be matchmakers, and then put on a few tables of banquets, and invite a circle of guests, you can be regarded as officially "tying the knot".
Therefore, after gradually "breaking off" emotionally with Lian Xiuzhen, Hou Baolin and Liu Shufang lived together, and the two rented a small courtyard in Zhongshu in Tianjin, lived an ordinary married life for a long time, and had a son and a daughter.
At that time, Hou Baolin performed in the music theater in Tianjin, in addition to cross talk, there were also various Peking opera performances, and Wang Yalan was one of the "corners". Hou Baolin also studied Peking Opera when he was a teenager, and he and Wang Yalan once chatted very speculatively;
However, the society at that time was turbulent, and people who had not known each other for a long time often scattered and left, as was the case with Hou Baolin and Wang Yalan. It wasn't until the spring of 1946 that Hou Baolin, who returned to Tianjin, met Wang Yalan again......
In the spring of 1946, Hou Baolin married his third wife again: Wang Yalan. At that time, although Hou Baolin had no relationship with the first two ladies, and had already verbally "cut it off", but when Wang Yalan married into the Hou family, because of social and war factors, the first two ladies still lived at home, plus the children born by the two ladies, the Hou family was very lively!
After getting married, Wang Yalan gave birth to two boys and two girls for Hou Baolin, and these two sons were Hou Yaohua and Hou Yaowen, who were later known to the world, but unfortunately, the youngest daughter Hou Mimi died at the age of only 7 because of physical reasons, which became a hidden pain in Wang Yalan's heart all her life.
In October 1949, the founding of the People's Republic of China, the promulgation of the new marriage law, and the existence of "monogamy" forced Hou Baolin and his wives to "separate families" one by one, which was undoubtedly a major "choice" for Hou Baolin, who was accustomed to the lively and lively family at that time-
When he was interviewed by reporters later and mentioned this incident, Hou Baolin still regretted it, and what he regretted was not the loss of his two wives, but the loss of the former liveliness of the family, which made people a little ridiculous:
"I'm used to being together, and suddenly there are only two people left, you say, awkward or not? I really haven't gotten used to that kind of coldness for a long time. ”
Fourth, conclusion
In fact, in the old society, cross talk has always been regarded as an entertainment project that only "lower riba people" can participate in, for no other reason, precisely because of the various meat jokes and ugly swear words in cross talk. After entering the new society, it is thanks to Hou Baolin's adaptation of cross talk that cross talk has gradually become a "fun" suitable for people of all ages across the country from the "exclusive" of the lower classes, which has to be said to be Hou Baolin's credit, and his titles of "cross talk master" and "founder of quyi" are also well-deserved.
In fact, because of the poverty of his childhood, Hou Baolin only went to "Yixue" for a total of three months, but after that, Hou Baolin gradually improved his academic qualifications and enriched his three views by virtue of his learning in the process of cross talk and acting, and he also grew up and progressed together with the art genre of cross talk.
In February 1993, Hou Baolin passed away due to illness, and the world lost a great master of quyi, and heaven has one more "cross talk master" who loves to talk and make trouble and amuse the audience.
Nowadays, cross talk has moved towards civilianization, and in the future, the development of the music industry will inevitably continue the experience of predecessors, go to the rough and fine, and move towards a more brilliant future-
bibliography
The 2021 edition of "Celebrities' Legacy Lives On".
"Finding the Glimmer in the Cracks: The Wind and Temperature of the Cultural Master" 2020 edition