Watch Mei Lanfang's "Drunk"

Yang Guifei's neon song. (Gao Jianqun/Photo)

(This article was first published in Southern Weekend on December 19, 2019)

When I was in middle school, my memory was good, I didn't have much effort to get good grades in all subjects, and the rest of my energy was spent on learning Peking Opera. Entering the second semester of the third year of high school, the interest increased unabated, because in the Great Leap Forward in 1958, the whole people were excited, and it didn't matter if they didn't go to college.

In the spring, the Mei Opera Troupe came to Xingtai to perform, and the flame of Peking Opera in my heart was fanned to the ground. Since junior high school, I have learned to act in Meipai famous dramas such as "Fishing and Killing Family", "Overlord Farewell", "Yutang Spring", "Cosmic Front", etc., and I dream of seeing Mei Lanfang's style one day. Now that the big car has come to the small town, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it is really a dream come true.

The Mei Opera Troupe performed at the newly completed Xingtai Theater, and ticket buyers lined up for more than a mile. Xingtai is poor and remote, the style of Peking Opera is quite prosperous, the Nangong out of Shang Xiaoyun, Long Yao out of Ma Fulu, Li He Zeng also often patronized Ji'nan, folk song said: "Li He Zeng is really loose, three days two ends borrow the east wind." "Even Mao Shilai, one of the four little famous Dans, has climbed the Tutaizi in our village. At that time, there was no television, Peking Opera was a popular song for farmers, and everyone could shout two voices, "One horse left the Western Liangjie" and "Su San left Hongdong County".

I paid a dollar for a front-row ticket, which is a week's worth of high school students. On the evening of the official performance, I arrived at the theater two hours early, and the door was not open, so I was grinding outside. The finale on the poster is Mei Lanfang's "Noble Concubine Drunk", and I memorize the script word by word. In 1925, Mei Lanfang took Bai Juyi's "Long Hate Song" as the theme, and wrote and performed four consecutive "Taizhen Wai Biography", which was extremely popular, but he himself was not very satisfied, and he borrowed the Chinese opera "Drunken Yang Concubine" to adapt it into "Noble Concubine Drunk", which achieved great success and became a masterpiece that lasted for 40 years. In 1953, Wu Zuguang made a color drama film "Mei Lanfang Stage Art", two episodes, "Noble Concubine Drunk" in the next episode, I have seen it. Master Mei, whom I have admired for a long time today, is about to appear in front of us.

At the beginning of the "Drunk" drama, the organist was replaced by Xu Lanyuan. The noble concubines were served by the ladies of the palace and flew to the table. Only to see the master dance steps light, such as hibiscus out of the water, soaring and pitching, fluttering immortality, shoulder caressing and concentrating, jade carved porcelain sculpture, turning back to turn eyes, peach and plum spring wind. "Looking back at a hundred beautiful people, three thousand pink daisy without color", the graceful and luxurious drunken beauty jumped on the stage. Listen to the singing voice, the clouds flowing water, the gentle and slippery, close to the flowing warbler, the spitting sound bites the word, a hundred folds, such as a wisp of soft silk, shaking the clear sky, suddenly rising high, can go up for nine days, suddenly depressed, can go down the heavy spring. Full of charm, such as drinking fine wine, such as sipping tea. At that time, Master Mei was 64 years old, with cups, lower waist, lying fish, smelling flowers, fan dance, sleeve dance, cloud step, drunken step, broken step, round field, raising his hands and feet, beautiful and wonderful, like a wonderful young woman. Jiang Miaoxiang, who played him, was an old dragon bell, and he couldn't get up on his knees.

After all, the master is a master, has a unique understanding of the script, and his noble concubine abandons the general actor's drunken thinking and wandering skeleton, and replaces it with the theme of highlighting the palace grudge. I remember the original script Guifei teased Gao Lishi, and after the two "mantou" (wearing hats for Gao), there was a singing section: "An Lushan Qing, where are you, think about how niangniang treated you when you first entered the palace, how much did Niangniang treat you, how much she loved you." Until now, once ruthlessly ungrateful, I am separated from you from the next two. Perhaps the master considered that the ambiguous relationship between Yang and An came from the history of the wild and was not very harmonious with the whole drama, and changed it to "Yang Yuhuan is like a dream this evening, thinking that when you first entered the palace, how long did you treat you, how much did you love you, and now once you are ruthless, open and secretly abandoned, is it said that from the next two separations." "The rut is unchanged, the singing voice is still the same, and the artistic conception is completely changed, which is more in line with the original purpose of "Long Hate Song", which is really clever."

When the master performed, the stage was silent, and the needle could be heard, and the Xingtai opera fans, who had always understood the drama, did not even dare to shout well, for fear of delaying their eyes and ears. At the end of the performance, the applause of the mountain called for a tsunami, and the curtain was lifted again and again, and many people refused to leave with tears in their eyes. In the front row, I saw the sweat on the face of the master who was bowing down to thank him, and I couldn't bear to affect his rest anymore, so I took the lead and left the theater. At this time, it was late at night, but the audience arrived outside the door and refused to leave, a group of people, praised, more than hands and feet, still immersed in the enjoyment of art, until the chicken barked three times, before gradually dispersing. Xingtai opera fans had a carnival.

A few days later, Mr. Mei warmly thanked the Xingtai audience at the Xingtai Restaurant on the east side of the People's Theater on Malu Street, a small two-story building facing the street. Master Mei stood on the balcony on the second floor, Sven Ruya, full of spring breeze, smiling. Rosy smiling face with an aura. The master frequently beckoned to greet him, and after the cheering boom calmed down, he said kindly and enthusiastically: I used to perform in big cities, and in March 1953, I performed in the auditorium of Shijiazhuang Special District in a medium-sized city for the first time, and I was very touched to see the white flowered lamb tripe towel under the stage. A farmer came from dozens of miles away to see the play, queued up for four days to buy tickets, spent all the money he brought, found the troupe, and wanted to take the opera back as a souvenir. This incident has been exciting for me for several years, and I am determined to put down the shelf and serve the workers, peasants and soldiers. This time I came to Xingtai to perform, I was even more impressed, the people of Xingtai love drama and understand drama... The master tried to raise his voice as much as possible so that more people could hear it.

After watching Mei Lanfang's "Noble Concubine Drunk", I myself have since "the king did not go early", and did not dare to act on stage again, because I saw the peak of Peking Opera, the height was unattainable, so I had to "look up to the mountain" and retreated in spite of difficulties.

Yao Mountain Wall