Zhang Jieyao, a figure who wanders on the edge of the cross-talk world but cannot be ignored. Nowadays, the topic around "Zhang Fool" is still endless, but the content of the discussion has little to do with the cross-talk performance itself. For example: Is Zhang Jieyao a disciple of Gao Wenyuan's righteous name, and why is he ostracized by his peers? Why did Zhang Shouye order his generation to be shorter in the industry in a fit of rage? Why did Zhang Jieyao wear a suit to the church meeting in Shangtao Belle Mansion... And other such questions also reflect Zhang Jieyao's legendary life of ups and downs from the side.
Zhang Jieyao, also known as Zhang Baohua, got a stage name of "Zhang Fool" because he was good at selling portraits in performances. He was originally a disciple of an official eunuch, came from a well-to-do family, received a good private school education from an early age, and was highly educated among the cross-talk artists at that time. Before formally learning art from Gao Wenyuan, he had learned a lot of traditional work by listening to other cross-talk artists on the ground. Later, he officially went to the sea to say cross-talk, and his performance skills were greatly improved under the suggestion of Gao Wenyuan. Because he has knowledge and culture, among the cross-talk artists who are also on the ground, his cross-talk pays more attention to the elegance of words and sentences, but he does not deliberately show off his culture in the performance, or the original intention is "cross-talk to make people laugh". Even Zhang Shouchen, a generation of cross-talk masters, has praised him for "a fool with a mouth".
Many viewers know that the three classic programs of "Guan Gong Zhan Qin Qiong", "Zhang Fei Fight Yan Song", and "Luo Cheng's Drama Sable Cicada" are all written by Zhang Jieyao, in fact, his creative talent does not stop there, such as "Illiterate Family Letter", "Pan Qiaoyun's Complaint", "Xue Xiangzi", "Twenty-Eight Whiskers", "Haunting the Gongtang" and so on are also carefully arranged by him, but most of these good passages have been lost.
In 1961, Hou Baolin, who worked in the China Broadcasting Rap Company, went to Xi'an and invited Zhang Jieyao, who had been away from beijing for a long time. At that time, Zhang Chuyi, Hou Baolin and Liu Baorui took turns to record "Guan Gong Zhan Qin Qiong", "Zhang Fei Beat Yan Song", "Luo Cheng Drama Sable Cicada", "War Horse Chao", "Henan Opera" and other passages, and the recording materials have been well preserved to this day. Later, the versions of Hou Baolin and Shao Guoye, which were widely recognized and respected by the audience, were passed to him by Zhang Jieyao. Prior to this, When performing in Kaifeng, Henan, Zhang Jieyao and Liu Baorui had the experience of partnering, and at that time, he also taught Liu Baorui stand-up passages such as "Cobbler Recruitment" and "Twenty-Eight Whiskers" without reservation.
In addition, the well-known traditional live "Noisy Gongtang" is a passage that extremely tests the learning skills of cross-talk artists. The best of the old gentlemen who are still alive is Wei Wenliang in Tianjin, who learned it sentence by sentence with Mr. Wang Shichen, a famous cross-talk artist in Beijing. And who did Wang Shichen learn from? It is Zhang Jieyao, the creator of this crosstalk. Initially, Zhang Jieyao first passed on this "Noisy Court" to "Little Mushroom" Chang Baokun, and Chang and Zhao cooperated to produce vinyl records. Later, it was passed on to "Little Confused" Wang Shichen and others, and eventually made this paragraph flourish for a long time.
Hou Baolin, Liu Baorui, and Chang Baokun, the highlight figures in the history of Chinese cross-talk, have all received the art of "Zhang Fool", but none of them are Zhang Jieyao's disciples. Unruly, he has been fighting back against the unfair treatment of him by the cross-talk community all his life. The world remembers "Zhang Fool" at the same time as remembering his other name "Zhang Jizu". Perhaps he and some of his Beijing counterparts have been suspicious all their lives, but he still spares no effort to add industry to Xiangshengmen. Whether there is a teacher or not, whether there is a descendant or not, it is no longer important, and the great contribution to crosstalk is enough to make the fool wise forever!