At 14:00 on February 19, 2011 (the 17th day of the first lunar month), the famous Yue opera performance artist Yuan Xuefen died of illness in Shanghai at the age of 89.
Today is the tenth anniversary of Yuan Xuefen's death, time has passed, the classic is immortal, on this special day, we deeply miss Yuan Xuefen.
Yuan Xuefen is well-known in the Yue opera circle, in Shanghai and throughout the country, and her efforts in the reform of Yue opera are the wealth that Yue opera has enjoyed so far.
Yuan Xuefen is a lonely lucky person, who met Zhiyin in times of suffering, gained support in times of hardship, and finally achieved a brilliant and legendary life.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="01" > sad and joyful, wandering</h1>
Yuan Xuefen was born in 1922 in a small village in Shengxian County, Zhejiang Province. Yuan Xuefen's father was a private school gentleman, and his father was strongly opposed to Yuan Xuefen learning drama, but Yuan Xuefen always insisted, and in the end, his father also turned from opposition to careful teaching.
His father always taught him that learning to sing is not for fame, only for adults, "people are light on themselves and then people will be light." Yuan Xuefen always kept her father's words in mind and used this to motivate herself, and later her life motto of "acting seriously and acting innocently" was also her father's earnest teaching when he was dying.
At the age of 11, Yuan Xuefen entered the "Four Seasons Spring" women's science class to learn drama, worked in Qingyi Zhengdan, and also played Wu Xiaosheng, thus beginning her lifelong journey of Yue opera. Yuan Xuefen is not afraid of hardship, and strives to learn drama without distraction. After completing her studies, Yuan Xuefen once cooperated with the famous Danwang Xinghua of Yue opera, and her singing voice and performance were influenced by Wang Xinghua.
In 1936, Yuan Xuefen left her hometown and came to Hangzhou, and in the early autumn she went to Shanghai. Since then, she has also stayed in Shanghai, and it was also during this period that Yuan Xuefen rose to fame and was praised by the audience as "the new queen of Yue opera". Such an honor further increases Yuan Xuefen's dedication to ideals.
Yuan Xuefen once said: "For me, the most precious thing worth remembering in those days is the time when the two of us were together. ”
During this period, yuan xuefen's friendship with Ma Zhanghua was the most well-known. Ma Zhanghua was Yuan Xuefen's partner at that time, and the most classic play of the two was "Liang Zhu". Yuan Xuefen said: "When you see Ma Zhanghua's expression, tears will naturally gush out. ”
In 1941, before Ma Zhanghua got married, the two performed the play together for the last time, crying from the stage to the stage, Yuan Xuefen, who was holding celibacy at that time, was reluctant to let Ma Zhanghua leave, vowed not to play "Liang Zhu" again, and only broke the oath after three years, and some viewers even said that they would "never watch Yue opera again" because of the breakup of the two partners. It is rare that Yuan Xuefen and Ma Zhanghua can establish such a deep sisterly relationship in the Performance of Yue Opera.
Later, Ma Zhanghua married a college student, and the marriage lasted less than a year, and she died of depression at the age of 21. Ma Zhanghua's departure made Yuan Xuefen feel discouraged and grief-stricken.
The confidant died suddenly, yuan xuefen's father was seriously ill, and yuan xuefen fell into a lonely and helpless situation. After learning that her father was seriously ill, Yuan Xuefen was almost desperate, she did not know what was called superstition, but hoped to do something for her father who was far away from home. So she bit down on the towel and painfully cut a piece of flesh on her arm with scissors.
At this time, she has long lost the strength to sing seriously, everything is like a dream bubble, and those years of struggle linked by laughter and bitterness have become a thing of the past. For Yuan Xuefen, this is the first boulder thrown in her bumpy life, she is defenseless, and her full heart is crushed in an instant.
After the performance of Yuan Xuefen and Ma Zhanghua's "Liang Zhu", it caused a sensation in the Yue opera industry, but after all, the strength was weak, and it could only be reduced to the talking point after tea and dinner. Most Yue opera still caters to bureaucratic or secular tastes, but it is just a small fight in the opera world.
Yuan Xuefen was tired of such flattery and vulgarity, and her desire to go home was even stronger. At this time, she did not have any ambition for Yue opera reform, she only wanted to guard the bottom line of dignity and live innocently, but the old society did not intend to give her a chance. Since the way forward was heavily hindered, it turned to retreat.
Yuan Xuefen refused the boss's high salary and resolutely returned to her hometown. Yuan Xuefen, who returned home, did not go out all day and did her best to take care of her father. But less than a month later, my father was gone. Fortunately, the old man saw her on his deathbed.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="02" > nirvana and is alone</h1>
After the death of her father, Yuan Xuefen was immersed in grief and could not extricate herself, but her life had to go on. She practices her voice every day in preparation for returning to the stage.
She also hoped to make some changes for the drama class in her hometown, but she had no power and no money, and she could only watch the dilemma of the drama class in her hometown and could not do anything, and she felt very disappointed. Therefore, during this period, the drama classes that came to her to ask her to sing were all rejected by her.
Yuan Xuefen later recalled: "At that time, I felt that there was no one relative in the world, there was no hope, and I wondered why I wanted to act? Could it be that the Audience laughs? If it's just for subsistence, then why act? ”
At that time, Yuan Xuefen was already a famous actor, and the person who asked her to sing the opera increased the remuneration to one or two golden days, but she understood that this was not what she really wanted, her life had always been simple, and the medical expenses owed by her father had been paid off. What she wants is to live innocently, live meaningfully, and live herself.
In the autumn of 1942, a theater owner in Shanghai came to ask her to sing, and she proposed that if she wanted her to sing, she must carry out a reform of Yue opera. The reform requires screenwriters, directors, stage designs, etc., the cost is huge, all the costs are deducted from her monthly silver package, and only a quarter of the silver package of 40,000 yuan in January is left, but for Yuan Xuefen, she feels that it is worth it.
At that time, when she was only 20 years old, she also made a three-chapter agreement with her boss: "The housewife does not worship or visit, the guests do not worship, and the idle people are not seen." It is also this brave decision and judgment that has made a huge turn in her life, and has also made a qualitative change in the Yue opera she loves.
Yuan Xuefen's theatrical reform made achievements, rehearsing several famous Yue operas, one of which was "The Ghost of the Ancient Tomb".
The plot is still a legend loved by popular women, but if you want to attract a new audience, you must add new elements. Yuan Xuefen likes to watch dramas, and hopes that "Tomb Unjust Souls" can be like this drama, acting freely, boiling with blood, and feelings can be fully and naturally revealed.
Soon, Yuan Xuefen made a series of reforms to the Yue opera "Tomb Unjust Soul" according to her own aesthetics - she combed her hair according to the ancient female paintings, no longer the big bun head or the head in the drama, her face was painted with oil paint, and the eye circles were painted blue like stars, and the drama bully Zhang Chunfan once mocked her: "You were punched in the eye? How did it get a piece? ”
After that, she carried out an overall reform of the costumes - the costumes of the big red and purple were abolished, using the middle color she liked, such as the light lake green; she wanted the embroidery of the clothes to be embroidered, no longer as rigid as the original; the characters in the play were no longer dressed according to their identities like Peking Opera, and if the red lady was the protagonist, she would wear better than the lady.
At that time, Shanghai's famous Peking opera artists Zhou Xinfang and Huang Guiqiu also felt that the changes were reasonable after watching the Yue opera performances reformed by Yuan Xuefen. All this is the result of Yuan Xuefen's little bit of exploration and effort, no matter what kind of unhappiness she encounters in the process, she has no complaints or discouragement. A slightly hot seed sprouted in her heart, and at this moment, she began to understand that the name of the seed was the ideal.
Yuan Xuefen's reform of Yue opera is at the forefront of the times.
In October 1942, she began to advocate the reform of the Yue opera system, and despite the opposition of her boss, she was the first to establish a choreography system in Yue opera, creating "ruler tone" and "string down tune".
In May 1946, despite the danger of carrying a red hat, Yuan Xuefen performed the play "Xianglin Sister-in-Law" adapted from Lu Xun's work "Blessing" at the Shanghai Star Grand Theatre, which after the performance, caused a sensation in Shanghai, and many newspapers commented that "Xianglin Sister-in-law" was a milestone in the reform of Yue opera.
In order to get rid of the oppression and exploitation of the yue opera industry and for the future development of Yue opera, in 1947, Yuan Xuefen and the sisters of the Yue opera circle jointly launched the charity performance of "Mountain and River Love" regardless of their own safety, which caused a sensation, they were called "Ten Sisters of Yue Opera". Although the play was later obstructed by various forces, it was of great significance to the reform and development of Yue opera and the change in the status of Actresses of Yue Opera.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="03" > Yang Chun BaiHua, late Mei Tufen</h1>
A reform under the banner of "New Yue Opera" that began in 1942 marked the transformation of Yue opera art from traditional to modern art. New plays spawned by the "New Yue Opera" have sprung up in large quantities, and insiders refer to this stage of the repertoire as the "second tradition" (the so-called "first tradition" refers to the dramas written and performed from the male class to the female class).
Although there are also remarkable works such as "Xianglin Sister-in-law" in the "Second Tradition", there is a lack of complete high-level good plays, and there are very few plays that can be repeatedly performed.
The reform process of "New Yue Opera" has been continued without interruption, and the backbone team that has grown up from the experience of "New Yue Opera" has been preserved without being lost. Fortunately, in Shanghai, Yue opera encountered a period of opportunity for development, and as a typical demonstration of "drama reform" at that time, Yue opera first established a national theater troupe. Due to the guarantee of the state and the blessing of government strength, the top talents and their teams are carefree, undistracted, and committed to artistic creation, which has created unprecedented external conditions for the advent of classic repertoire.
In April 1950, Yuan Xuefen joined the East China Yue Opera Experimental Theater Troupe, which was a historic turning point and opened a new milestone in her stage life.
However, from then until before the "Cultural Revolution", Yuan Xuefen's stage art path went against the grain, with ups and downs, alternating peaks and troughs, and brilliant and fading out of each other. It is a reflection of the prosperity and twists and turns of the development of Yue opera.
After the end of the "Cultural Revolution", Yuan Xuefen has entered old age, and the drama has gradually become less, but her heart is still burning for the development of the cause of Yue opera. For Yue opera, she does not have any selfish intentions, this is her lifelong pursuit, no matter how many achievements she has achieved, it is not enough.
At the end of 1978, Yuan Xuefen, who was reappointed as the director of the Shanghai Yue Theatre, presided over and organized a series of new repertoire creation performances, vigorously cultivating young Yue opera actors. She does not have a narrow division of sects, but takes its own strengths, and the same is true for the requirements of her students. She insisted on not accepting apprentices, but as long as young actors came to ask for advice, she taught them.
In the Yue opera "The Tale of the West Chamber", Yuan Xuefen played Cui Yingying, Lu Ruiying played the red bride, once stepped down, Yuan Xuefen asked Lu Ruiying: "'Lai marriage' a, the red bride said how beautiful the lady dressed up, you really looked at me." Then I ask you, what color did I change into a flower? ”
Lu Ruiying was suddenly asked. At this time, Yuan Xuefen patiently instructed: "Acting, you must really see and really listen, the performance must start from the heart of the character, such a performance has roots and depth." It is through such words and deeds that Yuan Xuefen has led generations of young actors to the other side of art.
For Fang Yafen, who mainly attacked the Yuan faction, Yuan Xuefen did not confine her to the Yuan faction, but encouraged her to act more new plays and perform more plays of other genres. Fang Yafen said that Teacher Yuan offered to let her perform the Jinpai play "Jade Hairpin" and instructed Jin Caifeng, the founder of jinpai, to teach Fang Yafen the play.
Fang Yafen is Yuan Xuefen's beloved disciple, and while Yuan Xuefen has high hopes for her, she never spoils her and shows off her talents. Cao Kefan said that six years ago, he and director Xu Jun planned the Yue opera "Yuqing Sister-in-law", which was originally tailored for Fang Yafen, but Fang Yafen was Yuan Xuefen's apprentice, and Yuan Xuefen had a different view of this script at that time, so that Fang Yafen was eventually discouraged.
Therefore, Cao Kefan found He Saifei, but when there was still a month before the performance of "Yuqing Sister-in-law", He Saifei fell ill and quit the crew, at this time, the tickets for "Yuqing Sister-in-law" were all sold out. As a last resort, Cao Kefan went to Fang Yafen to save the scene, but Fang Yafen insisted on asking his teacher.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Xuefen, who originally had reservations about the script, agreed, and she said to Fang Yafen: "Actors save the scene like firefighting, and the audience is above all else." At this time, Fang Yafen was preparing to return to Ningbo to visit her mother's tomb, and Yuan Xuefen advised her not to rush back to her hometown to worship and sweep, but to immediately put into rehearsal: "You have to act well, your mother will know!" ”
When the Yue opera "Yu Qing Sister-in-law" premiered, Yuan Xuefen personally went to watch it despite her old age and frailty, when she was very nervous, just like her own performance, from the script to the lighting, she was very worried.
The premiere caused a stir, and the audience's enthusiastic applause completely changed her original view of the play. Fang Yafen later won the Plum Blossom Award for Drama. After the premiere, Yuan Xuefen took to the stage and bowed 90 degrees to the original author of the novel, Bai Xianyong, and she said that she thanked Mr. Bai Xianyong for providing a good play for Yue opera.
The more the two talked, the closer they got, and interestingly, they also found a historical coincidence: Bai Xianyong lived with his father Bai Chongxi in the "White Mansion" on Fenyang Road in Shanghai, and his bedroom was the office of Yuan Xuefen when he was the director of the Shanghai Yue Theater, and even the table placement was exactly the same.
Today, Fang Yafen is already the "leader" of the Yuan Sect, and her teacher-student relationship with Teacher Yuan Xuefen has become deeper and deeper with time. At 14:00 on February 19, 2011, accompanied by 89 spring and autumn seasons of yue opera in the past century, a generation of opera master Yuan Xuefen left safely, and many relatives and friends came to mourn at the first time.
The beloved disciple Fang Yafen personally wiped and changed his clothes for his mentor. The clothes are a set of plain white clothes and pants prepared for herself by Yuan Xuefen before she died, she left her last words, hoping that when she left, she could wear one of her favorite white shirts, and explain to her family, and after leaving, she scattered her ashes into the Huangpu River, hoping to "come innocently and walk innocently."