A "White-Haired Girl" has become the most classic opera in the memory of the Chinese people.
Song and dance to movies to ballet, almost two sentences after the sixties and seventies,
Almost all of the post-80s generation have heard of it, and even foreign ballet companies have flipped it many times.
Today's Xi'er has become Tan Jing, but few people know the first generation of Xi'er Wang Kun,
She is Zhu Mingying and Cheng Fangyuan's teacher,
Discovered Cui Jian from a trumpeter to a rock singer,
She is a musician full of legends.
In 1925, Wang Kun was born in Tang County, Hebei Province.
Girls born in that era had to wrap their feet,
But she had an enlightened mother who not only didn't wrap her feet,
Not even the ear piercings were punched for her.
Her mother, Duan Mingzhu, did not go to school and was an ordinary rural woman.
But she was one of the few sensible and knowledgeable peasant women.
My mother said that those were the bad habits of the old society, and girls could eat according to their abilities in the future.
This sentence influenced Wang Kun's life.
Even in the face of a very difficult life, her mother still sent her to school.
When wang kun was in elementary school, he especially liked chinese and music.
She has a good voice and has shown great talent since she was a child.
But children born in that era grew up in the storm,
Suffering poverty and hunger from an early age, Hebei fell under the encroachment of the Japanese army in 1935.
At the same time, the people of the Jin-Cha-Ji region are also rebelling in their own way.
Wang Kun, who was just over 10 years old, also wanted to contribute to the revolution.
At the age of 12, she joined the Women's Self-Help Association, becoming the youngest member.
At that time, many members would go door to door to mobilize the common people to participate in the revolution.
Wang Kun is just a little girl, and his speech is not convincing.
But she had her own way of mobilizing the masses, and that was singing.
Every time Wang Kunyi sings, it will always attract a lot of people to watch,
The other comrades of the Self-Rescue Association called everyone together for a mobilization meeting.
At that time, Wang Kun mainly sang folk songs such as "My Home is on the Songhua River" and "Called Fellows".
With a crisp and loud voice, she became a famous local lark.
But the war is still cruel, mixed with artillery fire in the song,
Sometimes the devils will also call, but the young Wang Kun is very bold,
Follow everyone behind the enemy, through the ravines.
In 1938, the Northwest Field Service Regiment passed through Tang County,
The leader of this regiment was Wang Kun's later husband, Zhou Weizhi.
This troupe shoulders the mission of literary and artistic creation and condolence performance,
Zhou Weizhi is also a person who likes music, and he was the first conductor of the "Yellow River Chorus" many years later.
At that time, someone recommended Wang Kun, who was very famous for his singing, to Zhou Weizhi.
Saying that she was very legendary, Zhou Weizhi decided to examine it for himself,
Afraid that this little girl was nervous, he mixed in the crowd and secretly listened to her singing.
After hearing Wang Kun's singing, Zhou Weizhi immediately decided to accept this little girl.
Wang Kun became the smallest soldier of the Northwest Field Service Corps.
Began to follow his comrades through the various war zones.
At that time, there were many outstanding artistic talents in the troupe, and they had their own responsibilities in singing, creating, and dancing.
Everyone took great care of the young Wang Kun,
As the leader of the regiment, Zhou Weizhi took good care of her.
Wang Kun is beautiful, sweet in singing, and very brave,
Attracted the admiration of many comrades-in-arms, but she already had a heart,
That was her regimental commander Zhou Weizhi, and the two of them tacitly and secretly had feelings.
In 1943, 18-year-old Wang Kun and 27-year-old Zhou Weizhi became a war couple.
Began a life of supporting and helping each other.
In 1945, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression made brilliant achievements.
Wang Kun's western regiment was transferred back to Yan'an.
At that time, the whole of Yan'an was filled with the joy of victory, and the creative enthusiasm of literary and art workers was very high.
During that period, many excellent literary and artistic works were born,
The opera "The White-Haired Girl" was also born in Yan'an.
This opera is derived from the story of the white-haired fairy girl circulating in Jin-Cha-Ji,
It took three months to be adapted by He Jingzhi, Ding Yi and others.
The script was written, but the lead actor became a problem,
Originally, the original singer was named Lin Bai, an old actor in the war zone,
She has a lot of experience in acting, but she is not in good health and it is difficult to support such a passionate singing segment.
At that time, Wang Kun's Western War Regiment had been incorporated into the Lu Xun Art Troupe.
This opera was also created by Lu Xun Art Troupe, and she naturally became an alternative.
But at that time, Wang Kun was only 20 years old and did not have much experience in large-scale performances.
After listening to Wang Kun's singing, several creators thought that she had the ability to control these singing segments.
The next performance becomes a problem, Wang Kun, who can only sing and can't act, every action is blunt,
There was no way to integrate Xi'er's state into himself.
In order to let Wang Kun quickly enter the performance state, several creators began to train her day and night.
A wrestling has to be practiced hundreds of times, from the fingers to the toes must be played.
Although Wang Kun is inexperienced, she is smart,
With intensive training, she quickly transformed her role from singer to opera singer.
The night before the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China was the premiere of "The White-Haired Girl".
Under the stage is a temporary bench made of bricks and wooden planks,
Filled with enthusiastic soldiers, Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou and other leaders sat in the first row.
General Chen Yi's ticket could not be found, so he finally had no seat to sit.
The heroine of "White Haired Girl" is Wang Kun, and the one who plays Huang Shiren is Chen Qiang.
He is also the father of the famous comedian Chen Peisi.
The two performed very well, and Xi'er's unfair fate made the audience cry continuously,
The premiere was very successful, and the performances of Wang Kun and Chen Qiang were unanimously recognized.
Later, this "White Haired Girl" became a popular drama, and it was performed in various war zones.
There was once a soldier who was too excited to see it, and even stood up and pulled out a gun to kill Huang Shiren.
Fortunately, he was stopped by his squad leader, and the performance of "White Haired Girl" in the future has gun control.
Xi'er, played by Wang Kun, has gained a lot of sympathy, and she has also become a Yan'an red person.
And Huang Shiren, played by Chen Qiang, has become a street rat because he acted too well.
After stepping down, he was often beaten several times by soldiers who were too deep into the play.
"White Haired Girl" also achieved another singer, Guo Lanying, who was only a logistics soldier at the time,
Originally, she was a famous actor who sang Jin opera, five years younger than Wang Kun,
From elementary school art, he was oppressed by the drama team, but he also practiced a skill and became a horn.
The People's Liberation Army came and liberated her from the drama class.
She put down her fame and stopped performing Jin opera and became a small warrior.
Guo Lanying was touched after watching the performance of "White Haired Girl",
Silently memorized all the singing segments, dreaming of one day being able to play Xi'er on stage.
Just once Caught up with Wang Kun was sick and unable to take the stage,
Guo Lanying volunteered to play Xi'er in her place, and became famous ever since.
After that, there were two Xi'er, Wang Kun and Guo Lanying went to different war zones to perform.
In 1950, "The White Haired Girl" was made into a movie, and the actor Tian Hua played Xi'er,
But the backing vocals were still done by Wang Kun.
The classic IP of "White Haired Girl" has been reinterpreted countless times,
But Wang Kun was always the first Xi'er.
After the founding of New China, Wang Kun continued to contribute to the cause of music.
Having become famous, she went to the Central Conservatory of Music to study music systematically.
At the same time, she also served as the leader of the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe.
At that time, Wang Kun was a very well-known singer in the whole country.
Her performances kept going, and there was almost no time to go home.
There was no time to visit his elderly mother.
Every time her mother, Duan Mingzhu, came to Beijing from her hometown to visit her,
Mother often sat backstage and watched her makeup while talking,
Even when his mother died, Wang Kun was not able to accompany him.
In 1954, Premier Zhou was personally responsible for the large-scale musical and dance epic performance "Dongfang Hong".
And Zhou Weizhi is the director, Wang Kun is one of the main actors,
This is also one of the few collaborations between the husband and wife.
After the founding of New China, the husband and wife held important positions separately.
The work is very busy, and it is almost impossible to touch together,
Wang Kun also shifted the focus of his work from singing to the discovery of talents.
At that time, many people in China, especially the seniors of the industry with older qualifications, had a more conservative idea.
Foreign pop music and Taiwanese folk songs are regarded as the sound of silence,
Popular music is sought after by young people but it is difficult to be elegant,
Wang Kun does not think so, and she actively encourages and discovers young singers.
The Oriental Song and Dance Troupe often goes to all parts of the country to perform,
Every time Wang Kun found good seedlings, he took them back to the regiment and carefully cultivated them.
Cheng Lin, a singer who became popular in singing "Little Conch", met Wang Kun on the train at the age of 13.
But because Cheng Lin was young at that time, she always liked to skip class and did not learn from Wang Kun well.
Later, Cheng Lin went abroad to study music and spent a lot of money on music lessons.
She found that the vocal skills taught by foreign teachers were similar to those spoken by Wang Kun.
And Wang Kun's classes not only do not cost money, she sometimes gives children pocket money.
Cheng Lin returned to Wang Kun's side, and Wang Kun continued to teach her to sing regardless of previous suspicions.
The Oriental Song and Dance Troupe also has a dancer named Zhu Mingying,
Wang Kun felt that her voice condition was good and transferred her from the dance team to the singing team.
At that time, Zhu Mingying was young and liked to listen to foreign popular songs, often cover songs,
Wang Kun warned her not only to sing foreign songs, but to go to the grassroots level to learn folk art.
Later, there was Zhu Mingying's classic "Back to Mother's House",
Wang Kun not only pushed her onto the stage of the Spring Festival Gala,
He also gave her the costumes that Hong Kong gave to the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe as a performance costume.
This song "Back to Mother's House" made Zhu Mingying famous,
But the image of her singing while twisting her ass on stage has also suffered a lot of criticism,
It was also Wang Kun who encouraged her to stick to this form of performance.
Wang Kunhui knows pearls, and once trained two musicians to become well-known singers.
One is the Cheng FangYuan of La Erhu, and the other is Cui Jian, who plays the trumpet.
Cheng Fangyuan was once an erhu player in the Central Folk Orchestra.
Wang Kun not only transferred her to the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, but also made her a solo singer.
At that time, Cheng Fangyuan also liked to sing foreign songs and Taiwanese folk songs.
She was the first mainland singer to sing Luo Dayou's "Childhood",
It also created a new situation of singing with a guitar, but at that time it was criticized a lot.
When Cheng Fangyuan first joined the group, many old actors were not used to letting a la erhu sing.
When Cheng Fangyuan sang with a guitar, someone stood up and accused her of engaging in bourgeois style.
Wang Kun, on the other hand, firmly believes that pop music will shine.
Encourage Cheng Fangyuan to stick to his own singing.
Once Cui Jian was just a trumpeter of the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe,
But he loves rock and roll and has been creating independently,
After wang kun listened to his music, he admired him very much and let him stand on the stage of "Let the World Be Full of Love".
In 1986, Wang Kun wanted to create a world-class concert.
In the previous three or more pop singers could not share the stage, revolutionary songs were the mainstream.
But this concert broke many old ideas,
In this performance, the word "love" appears for the first time in the song,
More than a hundred pop singers took the stage to sing "Let the World Be Full of Love".
The author of this song, Guo Feng, has since become famous overnight,
And Cui Jian kicked open the door of Chinese rock with that song "Nothing".
Before that, the Hong Kong music scene was in its heyday, and Mui Yanfang, Zhang Guorong, Chen Baiqiang and others were just red.
Mainland fans are listening to pirated cassettes circulating from Guangdong.
This concert was followed by a rise in the Chinese music scene in the mainland.
Wang Kun cherished talent all his life and put all his energy into music education.
In 2009, at the age of 84, she adopted the 9-year-old singer Doudou as a closed disciple.
And at that time, she shifted her attention from pop music to nursery rhymes,
It is also actively meeting to prepare for the production of a series of nursery rhyme albums.
In 2011, in view of Wang Kun's outstanding contributions to popular music,
At the age of 86, she won the Lifetime Achievement Award of the China Arts and Literature Awards and received a prize of one million.
And Wang Kun did not consult with his family,
So he donated this million to his hometown of Tang County,
Subsequently, half a million yuan was made up from his own pocket to support poor students.
Wang Kun's life is frugal, a patched red sweater does not know how many years to wear,
Sometimes I wear it on the show, but I just wear a shawl to cover it.
Wang Kun, who was busy with music, never thought of retiring.
The same is true of her husband, who was still on a business trip at the age of ninety.
He still holds important positions in the Literary Association and other departments, and participates in the compilation of books.
The couple has been together for 71 years, always busy in their respective fields,
Until the twilight years, there was not much time to enjoy life together.
In September 2014, Zhou Weizhi died of illness at the age of 98.
For an old man is already a high lifespan,
But it was a fatal blow to her boss, Wang Kun, who was momentarily at a loss.
Only three months after Zhou Weizhi's death, Wang Kun was hospitalized with cerebral hemorrhage.
During the coma, her students went to the hospital to sing for her,
Wang Kun closed his eyes tightly, but two lines of tears flowed.
In November 2014, Wang Kun followed her lover away, and she left her last words to mourn from Jane,
Not even a memorial service was held, and students sang for her at her funeral as a final blessing.
Wang Kun's life is full of legends, and he has contributed to the music cause all his life.
Slovak is dead, but the musical wealth she left behind is still inexhaustible.
| Nancy
Image source network, infringement contact deleted