Editor's Note
2021 marks the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. In this special year, an old man in the Henan opera circle is also about to celebrate her 100th birthday, she is a member of the Communist Party of China, one of the "Six Famous Dan Masters of Yu Opera", and the founder of the "Ma Pai" art of Yu Opera, Ma Jinfeng.
As an old party member who has gone all the way from the stormy old society to the socialist new China through hardships and hardships, and has 63 years of party experience, Ma Jinfeng's feelings for the party are beyond words.
The Life Division of Henan Radio and Television Station specially produced and broadcast the opera special "A Hundred Years of Fanghua Daughter's Love - Yu Opera Master Ma Jinfeng's Home and Country Feelings". By telling the story of Ma Jinfeng's artistic life in different periods over the past century, the program vividly shows her feelings of home and country, inspires people to strengthen their original intentions and dedicate themselves to the country, embodies national self-confidence, cultural self-confidence and highlights the distinct values of the times.
She is an open-minded and optimistic old man of the century
(Ma Jinfeng): Hello everyone, I am Ma Jinfeng.
She is an evergreen tree in a pear orchard
(Ma Jinfeng): I am a hundred years old this year, and my life is on the stage.
She kept her vows and fell in love with them
(Ma Jinfeng): As long as the party and the people need me, I will "take command" at any time.
2021 marks the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. In this special year, an old man in the Henan opera industry is also about to celebrate her hundredth birthday. She is a member of the Communist Party of China, one of the "Six Famous Dan Masters of Yu Opera", and the founder of the "Ma Pai" art of Yu Opera.
A hundred years of journey, forge ahead; a hundred years of life, the drama rhymes sonorously. As an old party member who has gone all the way from the stormy old society to the socialist new China through hardships and hardships, and has 63 years of party experience, Ma Jinfeng's feelings for the party are beyond words.
Ma Jinfeng: The 100th anniversary of the founding of the PARTY is over, and I am 100 years old this year. The party is my mother, I am the daughter of the party, and I want to sing for the party for another hundred years!
Ma Jinfeng learned art at the age of 5, took the stage at the age of 7, played the protagonist at the age of 12, led the group to take root in the fertile soil of Heluo at the age of 34, and sang at the age of nearly 100, and was known as the "Luoyang Peony" in the hundred gardens of Chinese opera. On April 17, the much-publicized Ma Jinfeng Museum of Opera opened in Luoyang.
Cui Wei, secretary general of the China Drama Association, sincerely expressed his respect for Ma Jinfeng, the master of Yu opera, in an interview with reporters.
Cui Wei: Teacher Ma Jinfeng is an old senior in our Chinese opera circle who has made great artistic achievements and is highly respected. Teacher Ma represents an era, and she has also created the peak of opera and the peak of Yu opera in this era.
Explainer Zhang Yahan: Hello guests! The Ma Jinfeng Museum of Opera and Drama is the only thematic museum in China that comprehensively displays Mr. Ma Jinfeng's artistic achievements and artistic spirit. The museum is divided into four parts: "Exploration of the Art Sea, The People as the Root; Treasure of Pear Garden, Ma Pai Art; Passing Salary BroadcastIng Art, Fragrant Garden; Yu Opera Taidou, Han Mo LiuFang" four parts...
Wandering through the museum, gazing at costumes, headdresses, props and precious stills carved with the traces of time is a sigh of relief. They are like a quiet flow of time, silently recording Ma Jinfeng's artistic life; and like a book that has lasted for a long time and is thick, they sincerely express Ma Jinfeng's feelings of taking the people as the root and singing for the party.
Explainer Zhang Yahan: As a party member, Ma Jinfeng has always been concerned about major state affairs and people's lives. During the Wenchuan earthquake and the 2020 new crown pneumonia epidemic, she used special party fee donations to share the worries of the country and solve the problems of the people.
Ma Jinfeng's daughter Ma Fanpu listened carefully to the explainer's explanation and nodded unceasingly. She followed her mother for more than twenty years, and many of the past events are vividly remembered. When it comes to paying special membership fees, she still remembers it vividly.
Ma Fanpu: In 2008, my mother fell seriously ill and was hospitalized in the hospital. Lying on a hospital bed, how did this bed shake up? Only to learn that on the day of the Wenchuan earthquake, my mother took the initiative to ask for special party fees after she knew it. My mother saw this epidemic on TV and was in a hurry! Saying that the country is now encountering such a big thing as the epidemic, as an old party member should contribute, "I must pay the special membership fee." ”
What we are hearing now is the disciple of Ma Pai, the famous Yu opera artist Bai Qing and the anti-epidemic hero Li Junshan singing "Three cannons outside the Gate like thunderclap" in the 2021 Henan Spring Festival Gala opera joint singing "White Clothed armor".
Ma Jinfeng: Li Junshan, this is our hero, I want to learn from her.
At the beginning of 2020, the new crown pneumonia epidemic suddenly struck, and Li Junshan, as a member of the first batch of medical teams in Henan Province, sang "Mu Guiying Hangs Commander" for patients in the Wuhan ward, and the video became popular on the Internet, and the majority of netizens praised it.
"Mu Guiying Hangs Up" is the most representative traditional play of the Yu Opera Ma Pai. Ma Jinfeng's name is closely linked to "Mu Guiying Hangs Up", and she has inspired countless devotees, strivers and retrogrades under the epidemic with this play.
Li Junshan: I met with the patient's aunt, and when she was discharged from the hospital, I sang an excerpt from "Mu Guiying Hangs Up" to celebrate her discharge. The optimism and strength of patients are the special medicine to overcome the disease.
Such a special combination of opera masters and anti-epidemic heroes has brought a special shock and emotion to everyone.
Bai Qing: Before singing, I specially presented a bouquet of flowers to the anti-epidemic hero Junshan to show our respect. On the front line of the fight against the epidemic, their protective clothing is like Mu Guiying's iron armor.
Speaking of "Mu Guiying As Commander", it dates back to the early 1950s, when the Chinese People's Volunteer Army went abroad to fight to resist the United States and aid Korea, and the people of the whole country supported the front-line battles in various ways.
Ma Jinfeng: The rise and fall of the country is a responsibility, and I feel that I must do something for the country and the people.
With an unprecedented strong motivation and sense of mission, full of enthusiasm for choreographing new plays, Ma Jinfeng and his peers adapted the traditional Yu opera "Old Zhengdong" into "Mu Guiying Hangs Commander". This drama sings the story of the Northern Song Dynasty, when King An of Liaodong province was xingbing in the Central Plains, and Mu Guiying put the national interests first and put on the battle robe and went out on the expedition.
Unite people's hearts in the form of opera and invigorate the spirit with the power of art. Ma Jinfeng began the tour of East China with "Mu Guiying Hanging Commander". From the beginning of November 1953 to June 2, 1954, it lasted seven months, passing through Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Xuzhou, and was warmly welcomed by the audience and the literary and art circles along the way. Ma Jinfeng's son, Ma Jianxin, often listened to his mother talk about this unforgettable experience.
Ma Jianxin: After the end of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, in order to welcome the triumph of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, in February 1954, my mother and the troupe boarded the gunboat "Yangtze River" of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to comfort the People's Liberation Army.
The tour in Shanghai was about to end, and there was a person in the theater, who watched the whole play from beginning to end, and then went backstage to find Ma Jinfeng, who was Mei Lanfang, the master of Peking Opera.
The fiery feelings of home and country in the play deeply touched Mei Lanfang. In March 1959, Mei Lanfang transplanted the Yu opera "Mu Guiying Hangs The Marshal" into Peking Opera as his tribute to the tenth anniversary of the founding of New China, which was also the only new play rehearsed by Mr. Mei after the founding of New China.
In the autumn of 1957, Ma Jinfeng (right) and his mentor Mei Lanfang (left) were in Luoyang. (Color restoration figure Source: Ma Jinfeng's disciple Liu Bing)
"Mu Guiying Hanging Commander" has been performed for more than 60 years since its birth, and it is the strong feelings of home and country, the characters with distinct personalities, the lively singing voice and the unique performances of the actors that have made this famous Yu opera drama. In this play, Ma Jinfeng breaks the constraints of traditional business routines and integrates the performance skills of Qingyi, Dao Ma Dan and WuSheng into one, making the stage art image of this magnificent hero more plump.
Ma Jinfeng: At the symposium, some leaders asked: "There is Lao Dan, there is Qingyi, there is Hua Dan and Cai Dan, which industry does Mu Guiying belong to?" "I said, according to her fifties and then a marshal, and there are both literary and martial arts, and the taibu is a martial artist, so mighty, I said that it should be a "handsome Dan", and the whole scene applauded me.
Ma Jinfeng has continuously innovated and developed, like a pioneering cow, creating a widely recognized industry in the opera industry - "Shuai Dan".
Ma Jinfeng loves Yu opera and is loyal to the stage. At that time, she fought with villains and ghosts, and there were many difficulties. After liberation, it was the party and the people who gave her a dignified life, stood in the center of the stage, and became a glorious literary and artistic worker.
Ma Jinfeng: The Communist Party rescued me from the sea of suffering. The party and the government were very concerned about me, and not only sent people to teach me to learn culture and improve my artistic level, but also taught me to study politics, enhance my ideological consciousness, and train me to become a communist party member.
In November 1958, Ma Jinfeng honorably joined the Communist Party of China. She is full of gratitude to the party and the people.
Ma Jinfeng: What do I do to repay the people? Only by dedicating all my art to the people can I continue to make progress and maintain my youth forever.
This is a song sung by Ma Jinfeng in the modern Yu opera "Wildfire Spring Wind Fighting Ancient City". In addition to her masterpieces "Mu Guiying Hangs The Marshal", "Hua Da Chao", "Flower Gun Edge" and hundreds of other traditional plays, Ma Jinfeng also participated in the creation and performance of a number of modern dramas that tell the history of the party's struggle and praise the stories of party members. Wu Yaming, president of the Henan Provincial Academy of Culture and Art, talked about Ma Jinfeng's artistic creation, and he was touched.
Wu Yaming: The strength that supports Ms. Ma's lifelong creation is not only her love for drama, but more importantly, her sincerity to the people and the country, and her commitment and mission to the art of opera. Teacher Ma came from the old society and always had a sense of gratitude to the country and the people.
Ma Jinfeng, whose original name was Cui Jinni, was born in Cao County, Shandong Province, and in that war-torn era, she began a life of upheaval and displacement at a young age.
Ma Jinfeng: We don't have a home, we don't have a village, we don't have a land. In the old society, we asked for food everywhere and suffered everywhere. When my father was four or five years old, he asked the old drama class to coax him away and went to learn drama.
After his father died of a serious illness, Ma Jinfeng was sold to the drama class twice and changed his surname three times. It wasn't until her mother found the drama class, begged the class master bitterly, and got help from others, that she redeemed herself.
Ma Jinfeng learned to play because of the compulsion of life, her natural voice was not good, coupled with a series of blows and tribulations, making her voice hoarse and dull.
Ma Jinfeng: I practice, I don't have a voice all day long. I said, after all, I have to shout out my throat!
Ma Jinfeng used countless golden voices shouted out by dawn to sensationalize the four townships. At the age of 12, Ma Jinfeng, who had been able to play only supporting roles, began to star. Since then, the golden phoenix that flew out of this sand nest has been sung from the old society to the new China.
Ma Jinfeng: After I was liberated, I had a home, a son, a daughter, a family that was affectionate and warm.
It is precisely because of his deep affection for the party and the people that Ma Jinfeng's works have many masterpieces of the times that contemplate reality.
"Boil chicken soup for your loved ones today", this is a classic singing section of Ma Jinfeng's modern Yu opera "Red Sister-in-law". Created more than half a century ago, this work tells the true story of the "Red Sister-in-Law" in the Yimeng Mountains who saved a revolutionary fighter with her own milk during the revolutionary war years. In 2020, the three troupes of Henan Yu Theater once again put this work on the stage and toured the province. Ma Jinfeng's disciple, a national first-class actor and a member of the Henan Provincial Youth Federation, Liu Wenhui, plays a mountain sister-in-law in the play.
Stills of Liu Wenhui's "Red Sister-in-law"
Liu Wenhui: I rehearsed this play with the duty of inheriting the art of Ma Pai. The teacher often said to us, "You children must listen to the party, and we will do whatever the party tells us to do." No matter what happens, you can't let the audience down! ”
"No matter what happens, you can't let the audience down!" The simple and sincere words show the responsibility and mission of a Communist Party member and artist who is responsible for the party, sings for the people, and dedicates himself to the audience. Ma Jinfeng taught his disciples in this way, and he devoted his life's efforts to do so.
Ma Fanpu: In order to protect her throat, my mother never ate a popsicle or drank a drink in her life; she never smoked, did not drink, and did not even stick or taste even slightly irritating and greasy food. Green vegetables, tofu and egg noodle soup are her home cooking.
Ma Jianxin: My mother's clothes are also very hard and simple, often patched, just like the old scalper.
Ma Jinfeng forged the ultimate artistic quality with unimaginable perseverance and almost harsh requirements for himself, and insisted on achieving a legendary life on the opera stage with a lifetime of self-discipline.
After Ma Fengpu retired, he followed his mother, took care of her living, and accompanied her to perform, so he had more opportunities to feel and understand the "fish water" affection between his mother and the audience.
Ma Fanpu: After performing on the mountain in the countryside, when I went back, I met a fellow villager, and my son accompanied me to climb the mountain and cross the mountains to see my mother's performance. My mother said, "I am Ma Jinfeng, you sit here, I will sing to you." "I sang a passage to her on the spot. She is single-minded, and only the audience is in her heart.
On April 27, 2019, on the stage of the Luoyang Opera House, Ma Jinfeng gave a phoenix crown he treasured to the Luoyang Yu Theater.
Ma Jianxin: In 1957, Mr. Mei performed in Luoyang, met my mother again, and gave a crown as a witness to their mentor-apprentice relationship. 62 years ago, Mr. Mei gave me a phoenix crown, which represents a teacher's words of sustenance to students, so today my mother presented a phoenix crown to her disciples, which is a continuation of Mr. Mei's actions in that year.
Ma Jinfeng: I presented this phoenix crown to the Luoyang Yu Theater, hoping that the disciples of Ma Pai would stick to the position of Yu Opera. The art is endless, always keeping the audience in mind, always singing for the people, and carrying forward Mu Guiying's patriotic spirit.
Since the mid-1950s, Ma Jinfeng has cultivated generations of pear orchard descendants. She is also willing to be a ladder and dedicate herself to being a "paving stone" and a guide. At the time of 60 years of her stage career, Ma Jinfeng played the role of "grandmother" in the modern Yu opera drama "Love Of Little Wave Bottom", and played for his disciple Zhao Xiaomei.
Zhao Xiaomei: That year, the teacher was more than seventy years old, and he accompanied me and set off my performance everywhere on the stage. The teacher's spirit of bowing down to the cow is always worth learning from our descendants.
In 2010, Ma Jinfeng, who was nearly 90 years old, was hired as an honorary professor of the China Academy of Drama to teach the students of the first Yu Script Class. In his old age, Ma Jinfeng ascended to the three-foot podium and worked hard to practice the original intention and mission of a Communist Party member.
"News Network" Clip: Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, replied to the teachers and students of the China Academy of Performing Arts on October 23, putting forward ardent expectations for their inheritance and development of opera art...
In October 2020, Ma Jinfeng received a reply from General Secretary Xi Jinping, and she was greatly encouraged.
Ma Jinfeng: My life is on the stage, as long as the party and the people need me, I can "take command" at any time!
Ma Jinfeng expressed his loyalty to the party and the country with a heartfelt voice, and told his deep affection for art and the people. Years have passed away, but they have not changed her original intention.
A hundred years of fanghua, time flowing, we seem to see the big curtain on the stage slowly open, a dressed Mu Guiying shuang heroic posture, that cavity "fifty-three years old and march again" bright and high-pitched, long echo!