When I first came to work with Comrade Enlai, I was only seventeen years old, one of the youngest staff members in Hongyan. Today, I am in my nineties, and most of my generation is gone, but the experience of this generation should not be forgotten. ——Zhang Ying, "Walking on the Path of the West Flower Hall: Remembering the Days of Working Under the Leadership of Comrade Enlai"
Premier Zhou Enlai's love and concern for drama has far-reaching roots. When he was in Nankai Middle School in his youth, he founded the Nankai Drama Club with his classmates. He had a special love for drama, believing that it was a powerful weapon for propagating revolutionary principles.
Premier Zhou is even more concerned about Beijing Renyi, and as far as I know, he has carefully watched the repertoire performed by Beijing Renyi. Beijing Renyi is his lifelong friend, whether it is the dean, playwright, director, actor, and even stage worker, he knows. He could also remember their names and what roles they had played. When it comes to Beijing Renyi, the premier always shows a bright smile.
The old people of Beijing Renyi will remember that one night after Premier Zhou went to the Capital Theater to watch a performance, he heard that Sister Shu Xiuwen was ill, and he walked out of the theater to the dormitory of Beijing Renyi in Shijia Hutong, and formed a long line with the comrades accompanying Beijing Renyi. Entering Shu Xiuwen's room, Xiuwen wanted to get up to receive her, and Premier Zhou pressed her to the bed and lay down, asked about the condition, and learned that it was a heart attack. He told Xiuwen that he had to stay in bed. Back in the Prime Minister's office, he asked his secretary to tell the Bureau of Experts to have the most well-known cardiologists consult xiuwen for treatment.
Zhou Enlai
Soon after the founding of New China, under his initiative and presidency, although the domestic economic situation was very difficult at that time, the first theater in China dedicated to performing dramas was built, the Capital Theater. The Capitol Theatre is world-class in terms of design, building materials and sound equipment.
Cao Yu, the old dean of Renyi, was a former alumnus of Zhou Enlai Nankai Middle School, and had already intersected in Chongqing during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. When Cao Yu encountered confusion, Comrade Enlai always helped him to resolve it. I remember that in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Cao Yu's new work "Metamorphosis" was performed, which was banned by the Kuomintang government censorship organs. When Cao Yu revised the script and performed it again, some left-wing writers wrote articles criticizing "Metamorphosis" for smearing grease on Kuomintang government officials. The double pressure made Cao Yu extremely confused, and comrade Enlai immediately held a forum to express his own views, believing that the articles of the left-wing commentators were wrong, and that "Metamorphosis" described the Kuomintang government officials actively resisting the war as a good thing and completely correct. This is precisely the basis for the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists in the Joint War of Resistance, which is the overall situation and the result of the anti-Japanese united front. "Metamorphosis" is a very good work. At the beginning of the performance of Cao Yu's "Beijinger", there were also discordant voices, saying that the ideological content of "Beijinger" was to sing elegy for feudal society and was a theme unrelated to the anti-Japanese resistance. To this end, Comrade Enlai asked Chongqing's Xinhua Daily to convene a symposium and publish a long commentary article expounding that "Beijinger" is another masterpiece of Cao Yu, criticizing feudal ideas and pointing out the future for the young generation. He also invited Cao Yu and Mr. Lao She to the "Zhou Mansion" at Zengjiayan No. 50 for a drink, and talked about it late at night.
After the founding of New China, Cao Yu enthusiastically created the drama "Sunny Sky" with contemporary themes and the new historical drama "Lying Down and Tasting Courage", but these new works were not appreciated by "insiders", on the contrary, cao Yu did not write good works in New China, and was praised only for the trilogy written in the old era, "Thunderstorm", "Sunrise", and "Wilderness". These situations Zhou Also knew. After a meeting, Premier Zhou specifically asked me to stay and ask about the situation. I told him bluntly that there was such a thing. Premier Zhou pondered for a long time, and then told me that this argument was not correct. Comrade Cao Yu's new works in New China are all good works, both ideological and artistic, and these works reflect the course of the development of Cao Yu's thought; they reflect his pursuit of the new era and new ideas, and they play a great role in promoting the development of the entire society; "Sunny Days", which reflects the ideological process of Chinese intellectuals, can only be written profoundly by Cao Yu. Writing the "bold sword chapter" at a very difficult time in the country's economy is a reflection of the writer's great mind and the conscience of the writer. Encouraging the people of the whole country to overcome difficulties and enhance their confidence is a great contribution of writers to society. Isn't that commendable? Premier Zhou's expression was serious and his tone was soothing... I was very touched that the prime minister of a country, so busy, spent more than an hour commenting on the work of a writer. Finally he suddenly asked me: What is your opinion? I nodded my head heavily and said that I had thought about it too, but I hadn't seriously thought about it and studied it. Since then, I have expressed my opinions at many theatrical creation forums, and I have been upset with Cao Yu. Of course, I did not say that I had ever heard Premier Zhou's opinion. To this day I still think that a famous writer and all his works should be evaluated objectively and realistically.
After returning from the cadre school, I was assigned to work in the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I had more opportunities to meet with the prime minister, and every time I brought some old friends from the literary and artistic circles to report to him.
The new repertoire performed by Beijing Renyi is the most numerous in the country, and it can be said that it is the most exciting. After the founding of New China, Mr. Lao She's creative enthusiasm was supreme, and there was no moment of stagnation, and his drama works were all beijing renyi premieres. Personally, I also think that Beijing Renyi can best reflect the style and charm of Lao She's creation. Since the 1950s, "Longsugou", "Female Clerk", "Camel Shoko", "West Looking at Chang'an" and subsequently "Tea House" have all become classics of the times. During this period, I still remember an episode: before the official performance of "The Tea House", Beijing Renyi asked the leaders of the municipal party committee to watch and review. A leader of the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee believed that the ideological content of the play was unhealthy, that it was praising the feudal bourgeoisie, and that it could not be performed. Such a statement makes it difficult for the director and actors of the show to understand and accept. Not long after, one day I met Jiao Juyin, the director of "Tea House". He told me that "The Tea House" could not be staged, and the city leaders criticized the book for having problems, whether he could ask Premier Zhou Enlai to come and see this play, he has always been very concerned about human art, and this is Mr. Lao She's work. I promised him, and soon found an opportunity to report back to the Prime Minister. A few days later, the prime minister came to the Capitol Theater to see the rehearsal of "The Tea House". After watching it, he had a discussion with Jiao Juyin and the cast. Premier Zhou first praised the good rehearsal of the play, and then said that it was a good play, and there was no problem. It is good to reflect the old society on the stage and write about the decline of the feudal bourgeoisie, so that people can understand history, and they can also educate the younger generation and make them aware of the preciousness of the new society. The prime minister also took the hand and said, you have acted well, creating a typical image of such a declining class figure.
Premier Zhou and Mr. Lao She also met and became good friends during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. When Premier Zhou learned that Mr. Lao She had won the glorious title of "People's Artist," he also went to Mr. Lao She's home in Dengshikou to congratulate him. Later, when he learned that Mr. Lao She had died, he was very sad and constantly blamed himself for not taking good care of this old friend.
There are many other classic performances of Beijing Renyi: Guo Moruo's "Cai Wenji", Tian Han's "Guan Hanqing", and Premier Zhou have all watched it more than once. He especially praised "Guan Hanqing", and invited Marshal Chen Yi and Marshal He Long to watch it and take a group photo with the cast and crew. He believes that this is Tian Hanlao's most successful work, and pays more attention to the main actors of the play, such as Diao Guangqin, who plays Guan Hanqing, Shu Xiuwen, who plays Zhu Lianxiu, zhu Lin, who plays Cai Wenji, and Hu Zongwen, who plays the four phoenixes in "Thunderstorm". He always talked about the acting skills of these actors, and he was still unfinished. Sometimes Premier Zhou was busy with a day's work and suddenly thought of going to the theater, so he took an aide-de-camp, and the guard would occasionally call me to go to the Capital Theater with me. The adjutant bought a few tickets, all of which were left in the back row, and we quietly went into the theater to see the next few performances, and the prime minister said to hear whether the actor's lines could reach the ears of every audience. There have also been such scenes, when the prime minister entered the theater, he was discovered by the comrades of the human arts and asked him to sit in the front row of the chief's seat, and the prime minister would be very reluctant. (This article is excerpted from "Walking on the Path of the West Flower Hall: Remembering the Days of Working Under the Leadership of Comrade Enlai (Revised Edition)", with abridgements)
Author: Zhang Wenjin Zhang Ying
Editor: Chen Xihan