Today's push of "The Differentiation of the Tan Faction after the "Death" of Tan Xinpei" was recorded from "Television and Drama", No. 8 and No. 9, 1994, the original title was "Long Talk about the Differentiation of the Tan School", by Ma Mingjie.
In the history of Peking Opera, there is a figure who is highly respected by the descendants of Pear Garden, and he is Tan Xinpei.
Tan Xinpei is the heir of the first generation of Peking Opera, the leader of the second generation of Laosheng, and the representative of the mature period of Peking Opera, and his performing arts are called Tan Pai.
Tan Xinpei
At first, the Tan sect did not establish the exclusive status of Lao Shengxing, and he was confronted by the Sun sect founded by Sun Juxian and the Wang faction founded by Wang Guifen, as well as Xu Yintang, Yang Yuelou's Zhang Erkui faction, and so on. A few years passed, and by the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, the Sun, Wang, and Kui schools were gradually declining, and Beijing formed a situation of "all the plaques are written (Shandong Wang Gong, a calligrapher, the plaques written all over the Beijing division), and there is no way to learn Tan", Tan Xinpei was revered as the "Great King of the Lingjie", became a generation of masters of Peking Opera, and the Tan school almost became the only genre that the rising old students studied, followed, and imitated.
Why did the Tanpai achieve such a position? Peking Opera musician Chen Yanheng wrote in the book "Discussion on Old Drama Series": "The theory of the inner practice of pear garden must be born in one discipline, which is divided into about three types: 'AnGong', 'Declining School', and 'Relying on Handle'. 'An Gong' is mainly sung, such as "Eliminating the Three Harms", "Erjin Gong" and other dramas are also; 'Decline School' purely talks about workmanship, such as "Zhuangyuan Spectrum", "Tianlei Bao" and other dramas are also; 'relying on the handle' is heavy martial arts, such as "Dingjun Mountain", "Zhan Taiping" and other dramas are also ... Tan Xinpei is a high art bo, can combine three long, and is eclectic. The same singer, "Bumping the Monument" learns (Yu) Sansheng, and "Wu Peng" learns (Wang) Jiuling. In the same school, "Zhuangyuan Spectrum" learns (Cheng) Chang Gung, and "Mulberry Garden Sender" learns three victories. In the same hand, "Dingjun Mountain" learns three victories, and "ZhenlanZhou" learns Chang Geng. Not so, "Tianlei Bao" intends to be Peri-Long Mountain, and the body is clumsy, and the "Empty City Plan" imitates Lu Taizi, and the sound rhyme is more melodious. As for relying on martial arts, it is his own practice of learning, the most difficult, light and spiritual beyond the predecessors, and the qi is profound and elegant, different martial arts. The special skills of the collection of families have become the best art of one person, and since the skin is yellow, tan is only one person. ”
This passage of Chen Twelve Masters makes us understand the reason for Tan Xinpei's victory in the competition in the drama world, and where Tan Pai is smart. First of all, the three branches of Peking Opera, namely An Gong, The Decline Sect, and relying on the handle, Tan Xinpei can sing, and all of them are good. Secondly, the first generation of old students Cheng Changgeng, Yu Sansheng, Wang Jiuling, Zhou Changshan, Lu Shengkui (Taizi) and other people have characteristic repertoire and performances, Tan Xinpei have chosen to inherit, the so-called "collection of the specialties of the family" is also. Third, Tan Xinpei studied drama, acting "eclectic", and there were changes and reforms to the things of his predecessors. Therefore, Tan Xinpei can become popular, overwhelm his peers, and occupy the position of the lord of the Pear Garden Alliance.
Since the old students of Peking Opera have formed a situation of deposing hundreds of families and respecting the Tan sect alone, the old students who have studied for a while have thrown themselves into the gate of the Tan school, not only "insiders" such as Gui Junqing, Wang Yutian, Jia Honglin, Luo Xiaobao, Wu Tie'an, Meng Xiaoru, Yu Shuyan, Tan Xiaopei, Guan Dayuan, Liu Chunxi, etc., but even the ticket friends Wang Junzhi, Wang Songchen, Wang Yusheng, XiaShan Lou (Han Shenxian), the owner of the Red Bean Pavilion (Ai Xinjue Luo Pu Dong), Yan Jupeng, etc., but also the Tan school as a guideline, which is simply a tan faction army, and the momentum can be described as magnificent.
In 1927, Tan Xinpei, the "king of the Lingjie World", "died", and the Peking Opera Laosheng and his party appeared with brilliant stars, but there was no sun and moon, and at the same time, a "throne" struggle also began. Vying for the "throne", that is, competing for the third generation of veteran leaders, the most powerful of the Tan sect's army, and the ones who are expected to "take the throne" are Yu Shuyan, Tan Xiaopei, Wang Youchen, Yan Jupeng and others.
Yu Shuyan is the grandson of Yu Sansheng, a veteran of Peking Opera, who sang popularity in Tianjin as a teenager under the name of the little Yu Sansheng. After "reversing the warehouse", he returned to Beijing, while recuperating, while studying the Tan school bitterly, although he painstakingly worshiped under Tan Xinpei's door, Tan only taught him a Wang Ping of "Lost Street Pavilion" and a shi Jingsi of "Taiping Bridge". Yu Shuyan naturally could not expect Tan Xinpei to give him one play after another, so he adopted a unique learning method: First, watch Tan's performance. Whether it is a theater or a church meeting, as long as there is a play with Tan, he must be present. The second is to ask those who have learned tan youcheng for advice. "Insiders" such as Liu Chunxi and Li Shunting, as well as ticket holders such as Chen Yanheng, Wang Junzhi, Han Shenxian, etc., have all given Yu a lot of help. The third is to accept the guidance of people who have long-term cooperation with Tan Xinpei and are familiar with the art of Tan School, such as Hua face Qian Jinfu, clown Wang Changlin, Hua Dantian Guifeng, Qingyi Chen Delin, etc. Through this kind of hard, down-to-earth, flexible and effective learning, Yu Shuyan soon became the best among the old students of the Tan School, inheriting and mastering the Tan School repertoire and the tan school performance rules.
Yu Shuyan's "Other Mother's Random Arrow"
However, Yu Shuyan's study of Tan is not Xiao Zhicao's follow-up, and it is unchanged. On the basis of being faithful to the essence of Tan Pai, he gradually showed his own characteristics in singing according to his natural conditions and understanding of the plot and characters. His voice is not as good as Tan Xinpei, but he sings rigidly and softly, rigid but not dry, soft but not charming, bright and subtle, the melody rhyme is better than Tan, Nian Bai not only follows the Rhyme of Zhongzhou, but also lives and characters, and the stage treatment in many plays is also different from Tan Pai. At that time, people called Yu Shuyan's performing arts the New Tan School.
The New Tan School was quickly welcomed by the audience, and after it swept Beijing, it caused a sensation in Tianjin and Shanghai, and later, the "insider" also recognized it. Although, due to the rise of Mei Lanfang, Danjiao art has advanced by leaps and bounds, surpassing the old students, and the crown of the "King of Peking Opera" is obtained by Mei Lanfang, but the position of the chief of the third generation of Peking Opera old students is deservedly placed on the head of Yu Shu rock, and the new Tan School is naturally renamed Yu Pai. The era of "learning from Tan without a cavity" ended with the rise of the Yu school. Later generations such as Yang Baozhong, Meng Xiaodong, Li Shaochun, Wang Shaolou, Chen Shaolin, and even the grandsons of Tan Jiayuan and Tan Xinpei were all thrown into Yumen, and those who had never studied under the teacher, such as Ma Lianliang, Guan Dayuan, Yang Baosen, Xi Xiaobo, etc., are difficult to count.
Tan Xiaopei is the fifth son of Tan Xinpei, and the only one among the eight sons of Tan who has inherited his father's business and sang the old student, who is both a family student and a Xiao Rong Chun class, and should be said to be an old student actor with a solid foundation and a pure path. However, although this Tan Fifth Master is the son of "King Tan", his personal conditions and basic skills are not as good as his father, and he has adhered to the tradition of the Tan School all his life and does not cross the Thunder Pond for half a step, so among the famous old students of Peking Opera, although there is such a number as him, he has not sung anything famous in his life, and there is no creation in art, so naturally there is no talk of characteristics and style. The famous Danjiao Gu Zhengqiu published a book in Taiwan, "Gu Zhengqiu's Stage Review", there is a chapter that says that in the mid-1940s, Tan Xiaopei accompanied his son Tan Fuying to Shanghai to perform, and he earned a lot of money, and he was happy, and he wanted to "show a mouthful" to His granddaughter (Gu Zhengqiu is Tan Fuying's daughter) to listen, "sitting on the kang, shaking his head and singing a piece of erhuang slow board." Gu Zhengqiu recalled: "Seriously, his old man's play is really not good, his voice is very dry, and his cavity is also old. "I think, dry voice, may be affected by age, body, singing, but it must be Tan School, and there is no change and development of The Tan School, Gu Zhengqiu already feels old, will the audience still like to listen? In contrast to Yu Shuyan's New Tan Sect, Tan Xiaopei was an important member of the old Tan Sect at that time, and if it did not change or reform, it would inevitably fall behind. Therefore, Tan Xiaopei did not pick liang and sang a play, but only gave Shang Xiaoyun and Cheng Yanqiu a "shoulder knife", and throughout his life, he was only a second-card old student.
Tan Xiaopei's "Lost Street Pavilion"
Wang Youchen is tan Xinpei's son-in-law, born as a ticket friend, and has a lot of Tan Zhenchuan, in addition to martial arts, other aspects are better than Tan Xiaopei. The appearance is beautiful and elegant, the voice is clear and generous, and the Tan Pai dramas such as "Lian YingZhai", "Hong Yang Cave", "Lost · Empty • Chop", "Shilang Visiting Mother" and so on are sung in a regular manner, and the Tan flavor is full of taste. Because Tan Xiaopei could not do it, Wang Youchen took the Tan Sect as the call. After Yu Shuyan sang the New Tan Sect, he became the leader of the Old Tan Sect, very popular for a while, and the old fans of the Tan Sect praised him very much, and for a while he was quite a bit of the "throne" heir. However, Wang Youchen not only regarded himself as the authentic Tan Sect, but also adhered to the old Tan Sect tradition, authentic and old, so there could not be a little different from Tan Xinpei. When Yu Shuyan already had more and more audiences, Wang Youchen's old Tan Sect gradually became less popular. After all, the times are moving forward, and Wang Youchen has no choice but to descend from a provocative old student to a second-card old student who gives others a "shoulder knife". To this day, how many people know that there was a Wang Youchen in the history of Peking Opera?
Yan Jupeng was a former ticket friend, a Mongolian, and an employee of the Li Clan in the late Qing Dynasty. Because he liked Peking Opera and became fascinated by Tan Pai, he participated in the box office activities in Beijing, while watching Tan Xinpei's performance, while learning the art of Tan Pai singing from Chen Yanheng, the owner of the Red Bean Pavilion and others, and became a famous ticket of Tan Pai in Beijing. In 1923, he hung a second card for Mei Lanfang to perform in Shanghai, chen Yanheng played the piano for him, and soon after returning to Beijing, he went to the sea. After becoming a professional actor, Yan Jupeng played the banner of "the leader of the old Tan Sect" and also wanted to be the authentic heir of the Tan Sect. However, Yan Jupeng finally did not go to the end on the road of the old Tan School, on the one hand, he felt the changes of the times, and Yu Shuyan's success may not have enlightened him; on the other hand, his voice gradually became less and less good, and it was difficult to completely follow the Tan School's singing method. Therefore, later in Yu Shuyan, Yan Jupeng began his innovation and creation.
Yan Jupeng's "Dingjun Mountain"
In addition to the Tan Pai repertoire, Yan Jupeng also performed "Wolong Hanging Filial Piety" and "Scolding Yang Guang" by the Sun (Juxian) faction; "Taking the Seal of Shuai" by the Wang (Guifen) faction; "Ying Tianqiu" by the Wang (Jiuling) faction, "Sealing Officials at the Palace Gate", "JinlanHui"; "Jinshui Bridge" and "Playing With Golden Branches" by the Kui (Zhang Erkui) faction, and so on. In terms of singing methods, he followed the law of "cavity is born of words, words are correct and cavity is round", combined with his own voice conditions, and created a combination of virtual and real, euphemistic ups and downs, twists and turns, and rich in bookish "speech cavity". Plays such as "Let Xuzhou", "Wolong Hanging Filial Piety", and "Shangtiantai" have also become yan Jupeng's representative plays, and he has gradually changed from "the leader of the old Tan school" to the founder of a new art school, the Yan school.
As for the Tan school, since it has split into two factions, the new Tan school has developed into a new school, and the old Tan school has declined, will the Tan school disappear? No, Tanpai still exists.
Tan Fuying is the son of Tan Xiaopei, who entered Fulian into a science class at an early age and laid a good foundation. As the grandson of the "King of Tan", and a father who sings the tan school, is it not enough to learn the Tan school in a disciplined manner? However, after Tan Fuying left the school, he studied the performing arts of Yu Pai under the name of Yu Shuyan. Zong Tan and Yu, combining the new and old Tan schools, Tan Fuying formed his own genre with his clear and sweet voice, simple and square singing voice, clean and concise body, and skillful martial arts. Naturally, this school can only be called the Tan School, but this Tan School is no longer the Tan Sect of his grandfather Tan Xinpei's time, nor is it the Tan Sect that his uncle Wang Youchen and his father Tan Xiaopei insisted on. This is the third generation of the Tan school, another new Tan school.
Tan Fuying
Tan Xinpei learned from Chang Geng, Yu Sansheng, Wang Jiuling and others to create the Tan School. After Tan Xinpei's death, the Tan faction divided. However, it is precisely because of this differentiation that the Tan school is continued, and the art of Peking Opera is developed. It proves a very important truth, that is, the inheritance of art genres is always inseparable from the development of innovation, and it is precisely because the successors develop and innovate the art of their predecessors according to their own conditions that peking opera art is becoming more and more prosperous. If generations of Peking Opera actors are dead set on the rules. If you are not willing to go beyond the barriers of the predecessors, then after Tan Xinpei, how can the peking opera industry develop into today's situation of a hundred flowers blooming and a variety of genres?
(Television and Drama, Nos. 8 and 9, 1994)