In the early hours of this morning, the famous Yue opera performance artist Wang Wenjuan passed away at the age of 95. The Lin Daiyu she portrayed is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and has become the eternal "Lin Sister" in the hearts of generations of Chinese audiences.
In 2019, this newspaper's series of reports "My Motherland and Me, 70 Years and 70 People" published a full-page character feature article "Let < Dream of the Red Chamber > fly into the homes of ordinary people". This article is reproduced in memory of this outstanding Yue opera performing artist.
In order to play Lin Daiyu well, Wang Wenjuan carefully studied the original "Dream of the Red Chamber". Often in the part of the script, she also has to design multiple levels of emotional changes for the role performance, and strive to present a full character on the stage.
After several years of visiting Yue opera performance artist Wang Wenjuan, this year it was rare that she had just walked out of her home, and the reporter followed her to participate in the New Year gala for retired employees of Shanghai Yue Theatre. Although it is a cold winter, but in time for the noonday sun, the old artists took turns to greet wang Wenjuan, who is 93 years old, and warm and melting.
On the cruise ship of the Huangpu River, looking at the skyscrapers along the Bund, she occasionally came out of her mind and sighed that she had not come to the Bund for many years, and Shanghai had changed so quickly. Sixteen Shop Pier, now the Bund's sightseeing cruise ship terminal, was once the water gateway of Shanghai. Many foreigners with dreams have stepped into this open and inclusive city from here, breaking out of the sky with diligence and wisdom.
102 years ago, the first sound of Yue opera in Shanghai was also sung from here. 13 male artists of the "Little Song Class" sang "Jiaolong Fan" in the "Xinhua Garden" of the Sixteen Shop Pier, but unfortunately failed. Since then, a group of female artists have continued the dreams of their predecessors and gained a firm foothold with the new look of "women's Yue opera".
In the middle of summer 81 years ago, it was also here that 12-year-old Wang Wenjuan completed her first step into Shanghai from her hometown of Shengzhou, and then established herself, became famous, became a family, and established a school, so that Yue opera could be sung throughout the country and go abroad. Her diligence and self-improvement are the epitome of a generation of female Yue opera people striving for women's independence; her courage and responsibility have brought peace and hope to the front line of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in the rain of bullets and bullets; her pioneering and innovation have left behind such masterpieces as "Dream of the Red Chamber," "Chasing Fish," and "The Legend of Chunxiang" for generations, popularizing literary classics and beautifying folk legends, becoming a model for carrying forward and disseminating China's excellent traditional culture.
Although Wang Wenjuan has bid farewell to the stage, Yue opera has been passed down for the tenth generation, and through their interpretation, "Dream of the Red Chamber" has swept the country in the past year. Like the breeze blowing on the river, the "Wang Pai" art can also be extended.
Wang Wenjuan sent a message: "The motherland gives us the enduring vitality of Yue opera! ”
【Profile】
Wang Wenjuan was born in December 1926 in Shengzhou, Zhejiang. Artistic consultant of Shanghai Yue Opera Art Institute (Shanghai Yue Opera Theatre). He is a national first-class actor, the founder of "Wang Pai", the representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project "Yue Opera", a director of the Chinese Dramatists Association, and the head of the Red Chamber Troupe of Shanghai Yue Theatre. Representative repertoire includes "Dream of the Red Chamber", "Chasing Fish", "The Legend of Chunxiang", "Zhongling Song", "Xiyuan Ji", "Meng Lijun", "Zetian Emperor" and so on. Among them, "Chasing Fish" and "Dream of the Red Chamber" were filmed into opera art films in 1959 and 1962 respectively; in the 1990s, 10 episodes of the Yue opera TV film "Meng Lijun" were also filmed.
Founded by her, the "Wang Pai" is simple and colorful, and is good at using different tunes and a variety of plate organization as a set of singing voices, meticulously and hierarchically revealing the subtle changes in the inner feelings of the characters. Among them, the Lin Daiyu she portrayed is particularly deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and has become the eternal "Lin Sister" in the hearts of generations of Chinese audiences. In 2017, together with Fu Quanxiang and Xu Yulan, she won the Lifetime Achievement Award of the 27th Shanghai Magnolia Drama Performing Arts Award.
In the 1950s, Wang Wenjuan rehearsed "Zetian Emperor", focusing the story on Wu Zetian's status as a politician who was committed to reform. This not only respects history, but also has the vision of the times, which has been affirmed by scholars and the industry.
New China put women's Yue opera people at the helm of their artistic lives
"A Lin sister fell from the sky, like a light cloud just out of the sky...", this is a song in the Yue opera "Dream of the Red Chamber" in which Baoyu first saw Dai Yu as a heavenly person, and also became the most well-known image in the life of Wang Wenjuan, played by Lin Daiyu and dignified Juanxiu.
But who would have thought that on a snowy day in 1926, the newborn Wang Wenjuan was a different look - a flat mouth, small eyes, flat face, and did not see the lingxiu eyebrows of Jiangnan women. However, due to the successive premature deaths of their children, her parents loved Wang Wenjuan as the eldest daughter very much, and even in the case of financial constraints, they still sent her to read books intermittently for three years. A little cultural foundation, coupled with the basic skills of watching dramas on weekdays, became a stepping stone for her to break into the beach with her cousin Zhu Su'e in the future.
Zhu Su'e's chief Wang Wenjuan was ten years old, and at that time she was already a well-known "Yue opera emperor" in the Jiangnan region, and naturally became her enlightened teacher. After studying for half a year, Wang Wenjuan starred in "Throwing The Army's Kiln" under the name of "Little Su'e". Don't look at her weak writing in her daily life, but she is very clever on the stage, and she is comfortable with the semi-improvised "road play" that was common at that time. In just six years, Wang Wenjuan has leapt from a small student to a "head and shoulders" who can play the first female lead in the play. But even if she became famous, she still felt unfree everywhere.
Wang Wenjuan sighed that the actors at that time were subject to the drama class owner and the theater owner, took the package silver, could not participate in the box office share, and became their "cash cow". Ordinary actors can only open a bunk on the floor, and famous characters such as Zhu Su'e and Yao Shuijuan are just a self-prepared camp bed. When encountering summer breaks and sealing boxes, the actors are "driven out" and find a place to eat and live. As for who to partner with and what plays to perform, I can't help myself. I still remember that on the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, she accompanied a squad leader to Nanxiang to "run the dock". When she encountered a traitor who handed a note and ordered a vulgar pornographic play for her to perform, she was not humble and did not hesitate to strike and leave in protest. Such a difficult and lacking dignity life, the unfortunate such as Xiao Dangui, although he has the reputation of "Queen of Yue Opera", is forcibly controlled by Zhang Chunfan, the boss of "Drama Bully", forced to perform vulgar dramas on stage, deducted wages offstage, and even scolded by him. Unable to bear the humiliation, the 27-year-old Xiao Dangui committed suicide by taking poison. Weak women have no one to rely on, and many people retreat after singing red, choosing to marry and leave the stage. Seeing all this, Wang Wenjuan is very determined, in the face of various temptations and inducements, she chose to stick to the stage, hoping to bring the family to Live in Shanghai one after another, and for her younger siblings to study in Shanghai.
If it is said that what initially supported her independence and self-improvement was the family responsibility of being the eldest daughter, then under the infection of the "Ten Sisters of Yue Opera" advocating the reform of Yue Opera and fighting with the master of the drama class, Wang Wenjuan, the "little sister" in the eyes of the big sisters, also slowly changed in thinking. After a short series of shifts with Lu Jinhua and Yin Guifang, In 1948 Wang Wenjuan was invited to join Xu Yulan's newly established Magnolia Troupe, and since then began a half-century-long cooperation with them. As Yue opera gradually entered the mainstream of the Shanghai stage, the Yulan Troupe also became one of the first troupes to implement sister classes after liberation. The so-called "sister class" is a group of Yue opera sisters as the masters, with talent into the shares, according to the share of box office remuneration.
Bidding farewell to the turbulent situation and breaking away from the drama class owner and theater manager who was withheld and exploited, Wang Wenjuan felt that life after the founding of New China was really getting better. She said: "Before the restructuring, the theater had to sell more than 80% of the box office to make money, and now it can be sold to 60% to protect the capital." "The salary is reasonable, and if the market is good, you can even get "double salary" and "three salaries". In this way, the enthusiasm of the previous strike drama and group performances has also been high, and two performances day and night are not a problem. As for Hua Dan, a presiding family like Wang Wenjuan, she can independently "borrow a house and buy furniture" outside, arrange her own small home, and settle her younger siblings and parents in Shanghai.
The motherland, the "everyone", is well, and the life of the "little family" is full of taste. It is also the "small family" that is stable, and this group of female Yue opera talents have the consciousness of serving "everyone" and dedicating to "everyone".
In 2016, Wang Wenjuan took the stage in a special performance of Wang Pai and sang the song "Water Tune Song Head : When is the Bright Moon", which surprised Yue opera fans.
On the front line of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, listening to the sound, we knew whether the plane had any bullets with it
Carrying through the darkness before dawn, can quickly gain a foothold after the founding of New China, in addition to continuing the reform of opera as soon as possible, Wang Wenjuan's Yulan Troupe also has a secret, that is, the main creative team can closely follow the background of current affairs, and will also create according to the style characteristics of the actors and the feedback of the audience. For example, on the occasion of the liberation of Shanghai, the troupe rehearsed "Two Heroes of Wind and Dust", and Wang Wenjuan starred as the "Red Lady" who dared to love and hate and dared to resist. In December 1950, Xu Yulan and Wang Wenjuan rehearsed a sensational historical drama "Prince of Xinling".
This drama is taken from the story of "History", which tells the story of Xin Lingjun who understands the great righteousness and knows the truth of the cold of the lips and teeth, and when the Qin State will annex the Zhao State in one fell swoop, he uses a plan to steal the Wei State soldier charm and break the Qin army in Handan. Xu Yulan plays the resourceful Xin Lingjun, and Wang Wenjuan plays the role of Ru Ji, who steals the Tiger Charm this time, and joins forces with the Xin Ling Jun, drunk the King of Wei, and completes the task. In the character shaping, Wang Wenjuan designed a series of body skills such as water sleeves and "lying fish", and the action was flowing and full of tension, and the audience was very fascinated.
Rehearsing the program at the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is self-evident in its significance, and it is also greatly loved by the audience after it is introduced to the market. Audiences who are accustomed to seeing the talented and beautiful people are sympathetic to such an original work that borrows ancient metaphors from the present. "Xinling Gongzi" was performed for 138 consecutive days, a total of 256 performances, setting a record for the longest number of consecutive performance days of Yue opera repertoire at that time.
In 1951, the Yue opera community organized a joint charity performance, this time, no longer just for themselves, but also for the frontline soldiers. The Yue opera sisters once again joined hands to donate a "Yue Opera" fighter jet. The drama code ranges from the traditional drama "Apricot Blossom Village" and "Liang Zhu Lamentation History" to the modern drama "White Haired Girl". At that time, Wang Wenjuan, the "Xi'er", would not have imagined that three years later, they would join the army and go to the battlefield, singing Yue songs across the Yalu River, side by side with the "most lovely people".
Among the actors in the line, Wang Wenjuan's courage is the smallest, and she will be afraid on thunderstorms in the past, but she is not afraid in the battlefield where the cannon rumbles and the enemy aircraft are circling, let alone afraid, or half a minute of hesitation. "I was so inspired by the patriotic fervor of the soldiers that I was in the collective, so I was fearless," she said. Looking back now, the old man was a little afraid, and even he was amazed at how he survived at that time. Wang Wenjuan told reporters that at that time, the sisters even practiced a "listening machine" skill, the plane flew overhead, listening to the sound to know whether there was a bomb loaded. Whether it is performance or life, they can adapt and respond calmly.
In this way, the group went from the makeshift auditorium to the cave and "blockade area" on the front line, and the environment became more and more dangerous and the conditions became more and more difficult. "I remember once, when we played the 'Yingtai Weeping Spirit', the enemy blew up the wires, and the cave where the act was suddenly dark. I don't know which soldier took out the military flashlight he carried with him and hit a beam of light on the stage. Soon, a beam of light became a piece of light, and a piece of light converged into a sea of lights. In this dark and damp cave, the faces of the warriors under the stage could not be seen clearly, but the sisters felt infinite warmth in the sea of lights. Under the cover of the anti-aircraft artillery group, their "building platform meeting" and "eighteen send-offs" were still beautiful and gentle, prompting tears in the audience. After the fixed repertoire "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" and "The Tale of the West Chamber" were performed, if the warriors were still unsatisfied, they improvised the "road play" and song: "The hero is out of siming mountain, and the mountain song is sung all over the East Beach..."
Wang Wenjuan is the eternal "Lin Sister" in the hearts of generations of Chinese audiences.
It is easier to be a person offstage, and it is more complicated to create characters on stage
After eight months, Wang Wenjuan and her sisters returned from North Korea, bringing back not only full of pride and experience, but also a "Biography of Chunxiang". Originally, the North Korean military and civilians at that time watched Xu Yulan and Wang Wenjuan's performance of "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" and "Xi Xiang Ji" and recommended it to the actors, and North Korea also had a love story of young men and women who dared to rebel in pursuit of happiness. Although Yue opera has also had various explorations of performing modern drama before, in order to retain the Korean national flavor in costumes, music and performances, and to take into account the acting style of Yue opera, Wang Wenjuan and her peers have made a lot of explorations and innovations in costumes, performances and music, and set a precedent for opera to perform Korean dramas. Since then, Wang Wenjuan's "Chunxiang" has been transplanted by Peking Opera artist Zhao Yanxia, critic Xin Fengxia, and Huangmei opera artist Yan Fengying.
Don't look at Wang Wenjuan's introverted and taciturn in her daily life, but there is a burst of energy in her bones, counting her masterpieces, all of which dare to be the first innovative works. A play "Chasing Fish", originally created for other troupes, was later put on the shelf in the "lost pearl", Wang Wenjuan was "dug up". What she values is what others are bottomless - playing the rare role of "Carp Essence" on the stage of Yue opera. In the play, she designed a martial arts figure specially designed for "Carp Essence", which not only picked up the martial arts that laid the foundation of childhood, but also broadened the "wind and snow moon" acting style that yue opera was becoming increasingly solidified. In a play of "Zetian Emperor", she turned around again and became the heroic and courageous empress Wu Zetian. In the creation, she does not use the strange feelings of the first half of Wu Zetian's life as a gimmick, but follows the facts and strives to show her side of appointing meritocracy as a politician and accepting reforms. And on the tenth anniversary of the founding of New China, as a literary classic "Dream of the Red Chamber", which everyone shouted at as a tribute play, Wang Wenjuan's tone was even harder - "The performance is not good, the head is cut off!" ”
In retrospect, this military order stood in opposition to Lin Daiyu's temperament, but In Wang Wenjuan's heart, it was by no means a hot-headed recklessness - Lin Daiyu's rich personality and unique temperament were too tempting for the actors. The thin cultural background does not prevent her from carefully studying the original book to give her own understanding. "Sister Lin" is often used as a synonym for weakness and sensitivity, but Wang Wenjuan defines her as "sincere". "Some people say that she speaks harshly, but in fact, she has been sending people to the fence for a long time, and her heart is eager to care for the performance." In connection with the situation when she first came to Shanghai to study drama, Wang Wenjuan had emotional resonance.
However, sincerity is not enough, she hopes to use a rich level of performance to show the psychological changes of the characters. I still remember that in a scene, after Dai Yu heard Bao Yu say to people that Sister Lin never said such words, she was happy and surprised, sad and sighed. How do these four words of joy, surprise, sorrow and sigh appear in a moment on the stage? Wang Wenjuan designed a whole set of figures: first complete a sentimental turn with the music, then slowly back her hands, and then retreat without hurrying, in order to show her inner ups and downs as if she had been informed, and poured her feelings into the changes in her steps. And when it comes to the highlight of "Dai Yu Burning Manuscript", she interprets a few sentences from the original book into a classic singing segment. Although the character in the play is already terminally ill, Wang Wenjuan chooses to perform the singing of "My life, and I have been a boudoir with the poetry book" in a state of sadness and indignation. "Lin Daiyu is the weak and the sacrificed, but she is not only sad and tearful, jealous and small. She is the fire under the iceberg, the indomitable resistance of a poetic soul in the face of the dark reality..." In Wang Wenjuan's view, although the Yue opera "Dream of the Red Chamber" condenses the million-word masterpiece into a story with Bao Dai's love as the main line, it is by no means a simplification of the connotation of literary classics, if Lin Daiyu is played as an abandoned woman and a resentful woman abandoned by her lover, it will undoubtedly damage the style and style of the characters, and it will lose the charm of the classic.
Or it is precisely because of the consideration of the aesthetic taste of the public and the accurate grasp of the connotation of literary classics and the meticulous expression of the connotation, this Yue opera has been performed for more than a year since its premiere. And the Yue opera film of the same name, which was filmed in the 1960s, triggered a national upsurge in viewing and affected generations. It can be said that wherever there is well water, everyone sings "a lin sister fell from the sky".
Now say goodbye to the stage, but her performance concept is still at the forefront of the times. In the 2016 "Wang Pai Yue Opera Special", she had the ambition to lead the trend of Yue opera singing ancient poems, and personally composed the song "Water Tune Song Head • When is the Bright Moon". Many Yue opera fans were excited by it, and recorded her live performances and widely circulated on the Internet, even the old Yue opera people could not sit still, and they called her to ask for music scores.
Last year, Li Xudan, the third generation of the "Wang Pai", held a personal special show, and she provided the young actor with an idea - challenging 30 seconds to change clothes and switch characters on stage. The younger generation wants to be lazy to wear a cheongsam to "save a save" of the classic singing section, Wang Wenjuan educated her: "The person offstage should be 'simple', the stage acting should be 'complicated', if you don't dress up, just stand there and sing a few paragraphs, you and the audience 'big eyes and small eyes', the effect is definitely not good." "Wang Wenjuan's philosophy of life is like the singing voice she founded, although it is simple and easy to speak, it contains rich and changeable stage tension.
Following the inertia of performance, how to save trouble and how to come, has never been Wang Wenjuan's style, the more challenging, the more we must face the difficulties. Nowadays, she also hopes that the younger generations will inherit this momentum of daring to create innovation in addition to learning the "Wang Pai" singing style and performance style, "For things that have not been done, do not rush to deny first, how do you know if you have not tried?" ”
From the beginning of the attempt, to show people with true feelings and leave the classics in the world, this is the Yue opera life of "Lin Sister" Wang Wenjuan yuhua in simplicity.
Journalist's Note
"Sister Lin" is still the "Sister Lin"
Wang Wenjuan is dressed in a bright red down jacket, black sneakers on her feet, and although she carries a hiking pole, she walks steadily and has a strong spirit. At the Sixteen Shop Pier, she saw a group of old colleagues and old partners coming from a distance, and she waited patiently in the cold wind. She has the consistent style of an old-school artist, no matter how young or old, she is kind and thoughtful. After many years of not seeing, an old colleague rushed from Shenzhen to Shanghai, and he did not see him for more than 20 years, and he could not help but be worried: "Teacher Wang, do you remember me?" Only to see Wang Wenjuan's head rise: "Why don't you remember!" You are..." A piece of the past blurted out, and the two people hugged each other. When it was time to eat, and without waiting for someone else to take care of her, she first chopsticks and picked up dishes for the people at the same table.
Rare travel, she did not forget to "help" the commemorative performance of the late old partner and "Lu Pai" founder Lu Jinhua, and recorded an interview video. Although the staff had previously asked her to be casual and "think of what to say", she still specially prepared a two-page manuscript and asked someone to print it. Between the lines, it records the past of the two people who picked the "Shanghai Shaozhuangyue Opera Troupe" more than 70 years ago. 3-2-1, recording begins! Wang Wenjuan immediately entered the state, taking off the script and talking, with clear thinking and vivid details, which was amazing.
Although she is a "post-90s", Wang Wenjuan inadvertently still reveals a "girly" side. Before getting ready to go to the photo, she deliberately took off her down jacket to reveal a delicate twist pink cardigan, and borrowed a makeup mirror from the staff to carefully organize her silver and white hair. Looking forward to the mirror, in a trance, people saw the elegant and quiet "Lin Sister" on the stage, which had not changed slightly due to the marks of the years left on her face.
She even has moments of childishness. At the Chinese New Year party, the staff prepared piglet dolls for each elderly person. Picking up a red piglet, Wang Wenjuan showed joy, lightly pinched the piglet's nose, turned his head and told reporters: "My grandson belongs to the pig, and when he returns, I will give it to him." ”
As time passed, "Sister Lin" was still the "Sister Lin".
Author: Huang Qizhe
Editor: Zhao Zhengnan