1. Raising two granddaughters alone has gone through many vicissitudes
In 2007, Li Shiji's beloved husband Tang Zaixin passed away tragically, and she had already spent a long time in Beijing at that time. Faced with the reality that the mother of the two granddaughters chose to remarry after her son Tang Xiaohao was in a car accident, she resolutely decided to take on the responsibility of raising the two young granddaughters.
Facing her elderly body and two children to take care of, this responsibility is undoubtedly an extremely difficult challenge for her, who has already set foot in her old age. Tang Xiaohao, as the pillar of the family, no longer exists; The literati temperament and romantic feelings that her son shared with her have long since passed away.
As the sole worker in the family, she had to take on the responsibility of raising her two granddaughters on her own.
At that time, Li Shiji was already an old man suffering from diabetes and his physical condition was deteriorating. Due to her long-term adherence to low-cost hypoglycemic drugs, her condition was not effectively controlled.
In addition, the great efforts she made to pursue her artistic career when she was young caused her tail vertebrae to be damaged to varying degrees, and she endured the pain of back pain all year round, and it was quite difficult to act.
Relying on a meager pension to support the heavy pressure of life, Li Shiji had to make careful arrangements for his family's expenses to ensure that the basic living needs of his family of three were met.
Even though her family was destitute, she never asked her apprentices for help so as not to put an extra burden on them.
However, even in the face of such a predicament, she still insisted on participating in some Peking Opera performances, although she only received a meager income of 200 yuan each time. Once, during a performance, a sudden severe pain made her unable to continue performing, which was undoubtedly worse for her as she was already entering old age.
The two granddaughters witnessed all this, and their hearts were filled with deep sympathy. Whenever they come home from school, they quickly complete the chores, with the eldest granddaughter preparing three meals a day and the younger granddaughter sharing the grandmother's hard work as much as possible.
When Lee Se-je goes out to perform, the youngest granddaughter stays with him, while the eldest granddaughter is at home alone to take care of the housework.
2. The learning process and endless regrets in childhood
When it comes to Li Shiji's learning process, she is always full of emotion. On the one hand, she has been bathed in the atmosphere of art since she was a child, and her father, Li Yizun, is a veteran Peking Opera lover and has a deep friendship with Peking Opera master Cheng Yanqiu.
On the other hand, she always has an unrelieved regret for Cheng Yanqiu.
The story began in 1945, when 12-year-old Lee Shi-ji followed his father to the ProglessShuiPr™ home. As soon as they stepped on the threshold, everyone was surprised to find that she had some similarities with Mr. Cheng.
Cheng Yanqiu affectionately held her immature hands and earnestly told her that she must carefully teach her opera singing skills. Just a few days later, Cheng Lao personally visited the door, gave him a well-prepared meeting gift, and solemnly announced that he recognized her as a righteous daughter.
Since then, Li Shiji, accompanied by his parents, ushered in the training stage of Peking Opera art to the extreme, Cheng Yanqiu's requirements for her are almost to the point of being strict - she must be close to the wall a foot away, face the white rice paper, concentrate on practicing singing, concentrate on the paper, and concentrate on the paper to the point that even the paper is wet with the heat in the lungs In addition, she also needs to hold the paper between her legs, and carry out step practice with a porcelain bowl on her head, once there is any mistake, she will be severely punished in order to avoid disturbing the surrounding neighbors, Li Shiji often chooses to practice singing in front of the wine jar in the toilet, and he is often dizzy from practice.
Despite the extremely arduous training process, Li Shiji never had the slightest bit of decadence and frustration. On the contrary, her desire to be able to formally worship Cheng Yanqiu as a teacher became stronger and stronger.
However, Cheng Lao never nodded in agreement, and the reason given was that he did not want her to enter the pear orchard industry in the future, and his promise was only out of love and closeness to her, so Li Shiji would even wait patiently on snowy days, and in the end he could only leave with the regret that Cheng Lao sent her home.
Until 1952, when Li Shiji decided to give up his studies to devote himself to the opera career, Cheng Yanqiu still could not change his position. What is even more regrettable is that only a few years later, in 1958, Cheng Lao died suddenly at the age of 54.
Seeing the serene appearance of her teacher, Li Shiji was grief-stricken, and she finally failed to officially worship this teacher as a teacher as she wished.
3. A good time when I met and fell in love with Tang Zaixi
Although she failed to realize her long-cherished wish to apprentice, under the recommendation of Cheng Yanqiu, Li Shiji met the other half of her life - Tang Zaixi. In 1945, due to Tang's outstanding skills, Cheng Lao specially hired him as a violinist.
Since then, he has been rehearsing for Li Shiji, who was only 12 years old at the time.
At first, Li Shiji just regarded Tang Jae-shuang as an "uncle" as a kind elder. However, as time passed, in countless teacher-student interactions, deep emotions gradually sprouted between the two.
Tang Jae-shuang was captivated by Li Shiji's rich and broad voice, and Li Shiji was also deeply attracted to this talented pianist.
In 1957, under Cheng Yanqiu's matchmaking, the talented and beautiful couple finally came together. Since then, their lives have been full of sweetness and warmth. Whether it is at the rehearsal site of the unit or in the creative space at home, they are always inseparable and discuss the mysteries of art intimately.
Tang Zaixin had the courage to reform and completely revolutionized the traditional accompaniment routine, introducing novel musical elements such as sheng. Not only that, but he also carefully created many moving singing passages for Li Shiji, which was praised by many audiences at the time and regarded it as a classic.
For example, the female solo "Morning Glow" in the modern Peking Opera "Shajiabang" is composed by him with ingenuity.
The collaboration between the two artists is passionate and warm, and even the subtle changes in expression in Lee Se-je's stage performance are silently guided by Tang Jae-syong behind the scenes. Sometimes, when an inspiration strikes him late at night, Tang will immediately wake up his wife to discuss and rehearse a new singing voice together.
In 1963, they finally welcomed their long-awaited baby son Tang Xiaohao. Since then, the family's life has become more beautiful and harmonious. Tang Xiaohao was deeply immersed in the atmosphere of art when he was a child, often playing the role of a child in the repertoire, inheriting and carrying forward the family's opera career.
However, life is impermanent, and just when Li Shiji's family of three was enjoying a quiet and happy life, the ruthless fate brought them a heavy blow in 2001. That year, their beloved son Tang Xiaohao was unfortunately in a car accident on a business trip, and his life was frozen at that moment, leaving endless grief.
The bad news came, and Tang Zaixi suddenly fell ill and couldn't afford it. This heroic old artist began to suffer from geriatric diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. The pain of losing his son undoubtedly darkened the rest of his life.
Li Shiji's situation was even more difficult. Not only did she have to take care of her husband, who was in deteriorating health, but she also had to endure the loss of her son alone. Although the daughter-in-law temporarily entrusted her with the care of her two young granddaughters, the responsibility was too heavy for an elderly man to bear.
Seeing Tang Zaiji's condition getting worse day by day, Li Shiji's heart was also tormented. While others were still enjoying family life at the end of their lives, she had to shoulder the responsibility of the family alone, which undoubtedly pushed her into the most difficult moment of her life.
Just when Li Shiji felt that life was cruel enough, in 2007, fate challenged her again. This year, the 85-year-old Tang Zaixin passed away, and the family of three lost their last pillar of support.
Since then, Li Shiji has really been alone, and his family and friends have either passed away or stayed away, leaving only two young granddaughters to accompany him. However, despite the endless difficulties faced by God, she was always able to persevere in raising her two granddaughters to adulthood.
5. The grief of the special era
Looking back on that special period, Li Shiji felt bitter and unspeakable. Under the background of that era, because of her family background, she not only lost the right to perform, but also suffered various humiliations such as being wearing a top hat and parading in the streets.
In order not to implicate her husband Tang Zaixin, Li Shiji once took the initiative to file for divorce. However, as a conscientious husband, Tang resolutely refused, and as a result, he was snubbed and ostracized by the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe, and there were few opportunities to perform on stage.
As a result, this talented artist couple has been treated so unfairly. However, they were not overwhelmed by the adversity, but fought against their fate with a stronger will.
In that special era, Li Shiji was sent to a cadre school in the countryside for labor reform. There, she served as a rice squad leader and was responsible for managing the production of the team.
Despite the extreme labor intensity, she never complained. On the contrary, in the busy work, Li Shiji still did not forget to ask the famous soprano Guo Shuzhen for vocal knowledge. In order to avoid disturbing others, she will even use quilts to close the doors and windows of the room tightly.
As a result, a small living room became a temporary place for her to study art.
What is even more touching is that in 1973, Li Shiji, who was 41 years old at the time, was unexpectedly pregnant. Despite the harsh environment and the persuasion of her husband to give up, she still insisted on giving birth to the child.
This child is her only son, Tang Xiaohao.
In order to let his pregnant wife get adequate nutrition, Tang Zaixi, who was more than half a hundred years old at the time, did not hesitate to spend all his savings to buy eggs. In this way, in the most difficult environment, they use the purest love to care for the new life that is about to come to the world.
Sixth, the spirit of life is passionate and upward
From the tortuous and rich life trajectory of Li Shiji, we deeply appreciate the demeanor of a steadfast, tenacious and indomitable Peking Opera master. She has always adhered to the awe of traditional art and the persistent pursuit of innovative spirit, which has pushed the art of Cheng School to unprecedented glorious heights.
Whether it is classics of the Cheng School such as "Wen Ji Returns to Han" and "Suo Lin Bag", or new creations of modern Peking Opera such as "The Party's Daughter" and "Cuckoo Mountain", Li Shiji has created every character vividly and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people with his profound skills and unique innovative concepts.
It is precisely because of pioneers like her that Peking Opera, an ancient art form, can radiate endless vitality and attract the attention and participation of countless young generations.
However, in the arena of life, Li Shiji showed incomparably precious perseverance and courage. In the face of the death of her loved ones and the hardships she has endured, all the pain has not shaken her love for life.
Even in the most difficult moments of her later years, she still took on the responsibility of raising her two granddaughters alone with extraordinary courage and strong will.