A difficult and pleasant trek - the creation of the Peking Opera script "Filling Sichuan"
Text/Wang Yu
After the publication of the novel "Water Dragon" Written by Chongqing during the Opening of the Port period and the novel "The Soul of the Long River" written by Lu Zuofu in collaboration with Huang Jiren, my heart has not been at peace. When writing these two novels, I was shocked to see a lot of information about "filling Sichuan in the lake", and I had a strong creative impulse, and the scene of more than a hundred million immigrants trekking into Sichuan at that time flashed in front of me. I knew that my literary journey had begun, and I decided to write a long novel, "Filling Sichuan".
It's a tough trek. I carefully consulted the relevant materials and took a lot of notes. How do you type the keyboard in the face of a huge amount of information? I've been sad. After the publication of the novel, some critics pointed out: "No matter how important the historical relics of 'Filling Sichuan', they must be expressed in a long novel, and in the end can only be expressed through individual, figurative, story-based and fateful things." A novel must have the fun of a novel, otherwise who would read it? Fortunately, the author of "Filling Sichuan" did not fall into a dry conceptual deduction, nor did he illustrate history with a few overly obvious meridians, but tried to provide a sensual, flesh-and-blood, and even shocking history of immigration. "The 'era' of narrative literature is ultimately revealed through the fate of the individual. The writer named his protagonist 'Ning Migration', which shows the meaning. "Yes, that's what I thought when I conceived it. I found information on Hakka immigrants, and their descendants are the most in Chongqing Rongchang Panlong and Sichuan Longquanyi. According to the data, the Hakka people are far-reaching and active, and since the "Five Hu Rebellion" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, they have gone through five great migrations to Fujian, Guangzhou and other places, and their excellent disposition has achieved many great deeds that shock the world and weep ghosts. It touched me. I saw the profile of outstanding immigrant women who suffered more than men to buy a home in Sichuan. It touched me. Yes, the recovery of The sparse Sichuan province, which was caused by the plague of war and plague and man-made disasters, caused by the swarm of tigers and wolves in the ten rooms and nine empty tigers, was inseparable from women and great mothers. I wrote Ning Migration. She wrote about her father Ning Degong, her husband Chang Weihan, her step-husband Zhao Shulin, her fellow corrupt official Xuan Guichang, her housekeeper Lao Huan, her close friend Fu Shengcai and her descendants, and wrote about the emperors of the Three Dynasties she had experienced. Various figures from the great history have appeared one after another. After the publication of the book, some critics pointed out: "Ning Migration is based on the Road Kong Village in Rongchang County, occupied by the pole, and revitalized the peasants from scratch, to open silk and xiabu workshops, to set up coal mines and caravan industries, and then to extend the business tentacles to Chongqing and Chengdu. During this period, through her father and nephews, she also entered the army as an official, taking care of how the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors inherited the Kangxi legacy and promoted immigration measures. ”
The ups and downs of the fate of the characters and the ups and downs of the story make my creation bitter and happy.
After writing the novel "Filling Sichuan", I went to Lukong Town, where the Ming and Qing dynasties were well-preserved, and to Panlong Town, which was rich in Xiabu, where there were many descendants of Hakka immigrants, and my thinking was opened again. My first and second drafts were written about the fictional Huishui River and Minba Village, and under the guidance and encouragement of Rongchang County folklore experts, scholars and responsible editors, I once again started to make a major change and rewrite it into Seti River and Lukong Village. Lukong Town is very similar to my fictional Minba Village, with ancient towns, rivers, arch bridges, and really a Zhao Family Ancestral Hall. The names of the shops in the town are special, such as "Ai Fin Rice", "A Pot of Spring", "Big Food Shop" and so on. The interview learned that the immigrants who passed by were scooping water to drink in the Seki River, and the porcelain bowl accidentally fell into the river, thinking that it was left here to scoop rice and eat, and settled down in Lukong Village. Listen to the old man sing the touching "Sackbu Divine Song". It's all written in the novel. I have been to Rongchang County many times, and I was deeply impressed, and writing this novel has a deeper understanding of the deep culture of Rongchang County. The novel won the Chongqing Five One Project Award, the full text of the "Selected Novels" was published, and Beijing Ruyi Jixiang Film and Television Company adapted and filmed as a 32-episode TV series of the same name to be broadcast.
This inspired my passion for adapting the Peking Opera script "Filling Sichuan", and it was once again a difficult and pleasant trek.
I love Peking Opera very much, and I have watched The Peking Opera of li jiaban since I was a child, and I have watched the performances of the Chongqing Peking Opera Troupe many times. In order to create the Peking Opera script "Filling Sichuan", I consulted more than 30 classic and contemporary Peking Opera scripts, repeatedly asked people in the Peking Opera circle for advice, asked famous masters for guidance, and changed their drafts five times. From the first draft of the traditional Peking Opera script writing method, it was changed to the contemporary Peking Opera script writing method. It is hoped that the Chongqing Peking Opera Troupe will be able to move to the stage as soon as possible.
(Originally published in Chongqing Art, No. 1, 2021)
Xiqu Hundred Gardens Add New Color - Reading Wang Yu's newly edited historical Peking Opera script "Filling Sichuan" has a feeling
Text/Luo Yuping
The famous writer Wang Yu's novel "Filling Sichuan" is the first part of his Chongqing immigration trilogy, and the response to the novel has been enthusiastic after its publication, and it has been reprinted many times, and its 32 episodes of the TV series of the same name have been filmed and ready to be broadcast, which is particularly eye-catching. As the responsible editor of the book, I am very pleased. Now I read Wang Yu's adapted Peking Opera script of the same name, and I was very happy.
Wang Yu is a famous novel writer and a well-known playwright. As early as the 1980s, he created the one-act drama "To Whom Are Flowers Dedicated", which was published in "Film Works" as the first draft author's adaptation of the film "Lightning of War", and was filmed by Emei Film Factory as the movie "Young Friend", and the script won the first prize of Sichuan Provincial Literature. In recent years, in addition to writing novels, he has also written plays and film scripts. The original drama "Opening the Port", the Chongqing Municipal Literary Works Performing Arts Society and the Municipal Drama Theatre held a reading performance at the Huguang Guild Hall, and the venue was full and well received. The original film script "Delivery Room" won the first prize of the "Heavy Shadow Cup", and Chongqing Folong Film and Television Company declared that it had won the approval number of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and the cinema film had been filmed and entered post-production. Wang Yu was serious and meticulous, and studied and read more than 30 classic and contemporary Peking Opera plays for the creation of the Peking Opera script "Filling Sichuan".
The whole play is compact and engaging. Sichuan was desolate and anxious, and Kangxi promulgated the "Edict of Filling the River". Ning Migrated on a arduous trek away from Fujian to Sichuan, settled in Wanling Village, Rongchang County, Chongqing Province, and dug two altars of gold in the enclosure, causing a lawsuit, and a wave of unrest arose again. The script artistically shows the tenacity and achievement of the immigrant woman Jenning Migration, and shows her life-and-death love affair with the indigenous gentry Zhao Shulin and the Fujian warrior Chang Weihan. The tribulations of life and the hardships of entrepreneurship have deduced the tragic comedy of human beings. Filling Sichuan and breaking into the Guandong, taking the west entrance, and going down to the South China Sea are major events in the history of Chinese immigration. The Peking Opera script "Filling Sichuan" interprets the story of a Hakka mother and two families of sorrow and joy, an epic story of reviving the great province of Yangyang, and a beautiful story of a small person becoming a big hero in search of dreams.
The first "Meet the Tiger" is attractive, and the next scene climaxes are repeated, and the text is traced with novels, and the life and death are clean and ugly to restore the nature of the drama. Following the principle of "three uniforms" of the same time, place and plot of drama creation, one drama performs one thing, and the plot takes place in the same place within one day. The characters in each scene are more or less, the relationship is simple or complex, all carry on from top to bottom, and a main line runs through. The characters have distinct personalities, and the strong dramatic effects highlight the skills of the screenwriter.
Wang Yu is a writer who gave his heart to Chongqing and wrote about Chongqing. With the rich accumulation of local life and deep feelings for his hometown, in the form of Peking Opera scripts, he successfully expressed the desolation and thickness that happened to his ancestors, expressed their pain, joy, perseverance and pursuit, and was an in-depth exploration of Chongqing's local history and culture. Truly reflecting life and local writing is the main theme of Wang Yu's literary and artistic creation, showing the writer's insight and sense of historical mission. The Peking Opera script "Filling Sichuan" is not only suitable for reading, but also a good script that creates the dual value of outstanding stage performance. As far as novels, TV dramas and Peking Opera are concerned, I personally prefer the Peking Opera "Filling Sichuan", which has traditional Chinese cultural significance. Because it not only has an irreplaceable art form, but also Wang Yu's Peking Opera script "Filling Sichuan" is more condensed than the language of the novel, the plot is more vivid, and the personality of the characters is more distinct, especially the touching artistic image of the protagonist Ning Migration. She is kind, not willing to be poor, pursuing happiness, changing the face of her hometown through her hard work, and resolutely setting up a xiabu silk factory and opening a coal kiln. She is not only a traditional wife and mother, but also has an entrepreneurial spirit. Emotionally, she is generous, spicy, simple, love-hate, and full of modern feminine colors. Wang Yu's Peking Opera script "Filling Sichuan" shows us the beauty of heavy traditional culture. The spiritual strength of the ancestors of immigrants who relied on for survival in the blood supported them to overcome unimaginable difficulties, buy a house and make a fortune, and revive the barren Sichuan, which is of enlightening significance and practical significance to us today.
May China's first immigrant inspirational entrepreneurship epic Peking Opera script "Filling Sichuan" be loved by people, and may Wang Yu, a versatile writer, create more and better literary and artistic works. It is hoped that the Chongqing Peking Opera Troupe, which has a strong historical and cultural heritage and the spirit of Li Jiaban, can put this rare and good play on the stage as soon as possible, and looks forward to adding new colors to the Hundred Gardens of Opera.
(Luo Yuping: Senior Editor of Chongqing Publishing Group/Chongqing Publishing House, Responsible Editor of the novel "Filling Sichuan")
On September 15, 2021, Xu Zhiteng, Wang Yu, and Wu Huixia took a group photo at the WuhuiXia Painting Museum of FeixianYan in Yuzhong District, Chongqing.