Speaking of Ma Changli, perhaps many young fans are most familiar with the villain Diao Deyi played in one of the "red classics" in "Sha Jiabang". Indeed, the song "This woman is unusual", and the song "It is appropriate to listen to the commander, Ah Qing's sister-in-law is really unusual", has spread all over the country for many years, and people are familiar with the singing sections in "Wisdom Fight".
Catch up in frustration
Ma Changli's ancestral home is Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and his grandfather worked as an errand boy in the Qing Dynasty's Punishment Department Yamen, managing financial matters and withdrawing money every month to the expenses of the personnel in the Yamen. During a withdrawal, my grandfather lost his silver ticket and was imprisoned. It turned out that the silver ticket was used by the grandmother to give her son a school package earlier. Although it was a false alarm, the silver ticket was found, but the grandfather, who was 35 years old at the time, was tortured and died prematurely.
Since then, my grandmother and father have begun to make a living in Wangpi Hutong, near the Qianmen Louzi in old Beijing, making singing boots and flower pot sole shoes. Because of the good craftsmanship, coupled with the famous boots used to make KunJiao, the reputation of "boot horses" was also called. However, social unrest, economic depression, and a good reputation will not help. When Ma Changli remembered, it was also the beginning of the family's poverty, and the family began to eat a meal without eating.
Even if the family road is lost, the Children of the Ma Family still have a distinct traditional cultural color when they take their names. Ma Changli's original name was Ma Chongli, and the ranking of several brothers was also extended with "benevolence, righteousness, wisdom and faith". As a child, Ma Changli had a special preference for learning drama, coupled with his father's social interactions, he caught up with Mr. Li Hongchun to match him, and finally, Ma Changli, who had just turned 8, entered the Rongchun Social Science Class founded by Shang Xiaoyun and returned to the second section. At that time, there were still two sections of the Rongchun Society, one was "Rongchun" and the second was "Changxi", and Ma Changli was also called Ma Xiyong at that time.
In the Rongchun Society, Ma Changli met some old gentlemen and good gentlemen, such as Guo Chunshan, Xiao Lianfang, Qian Fuchuan, Wang Shaofang, Li Lingfeng, Sun Yiyun, Cai Ronggui, Wei Sankui, and so on. At the end of the year, when he encountered the streamlining of the class, he was sent home again.
The loss, embarrassment and coldness of returning home can be imagined. In fact, from the very beginning of her intention to learn drama, her mother was very disagreeable. In the eyes of the mother, the Ma family is no longer poor, no longer in decline, but also the foundation of the official eunuch family, if the descendants have learned to play, then the face is not good!
The drama could not be learned, Ma Changli entered the watch shop, began an apprenticeship in repairing clocks and watches, and once polished the watch mask. More than a year later, he is still attached to learning drama, and often his soul is not in harmony. The family had no choice but to ask Mr. Liu Shengtong to teach him drama. Mr. Liu Shengtong has a family history, and his art is very decent, and he is also an old and famous artist of the "Sheng" generation of Fulian Chengke Class. In this way, at the prosperous restaurant in the old Beijing Dashilar, one of the simplest worshippers was held. There were only 4 people present: Father and Son of the Arima clan, Liu Shengtong, Mr. Li Hongchun held up incense, and Ma Changli prostrated his head to confess his teacher. After that, Ma Changli began to learn drama with Mr. Liu Shengtong, and he studied for more than half a year as soon as he played "Silang Visiting Mother".
Liu Sheng usually praises and encourages his students to "this child is really smart and has a future in the future"; at the same time, he is not conservative, hoping that students will turn to more teachers, step by step, and have great plans. Such a vision, heart and education gave the young Ma Changli great ambition and an endless source of motivation. Not long after, he entered the Rongchun social science class for the second time, and this time, he also sang the main drama, such as "Tuozhao Bumping the Monument", "Nanyang Guan", "Hongyang Cave", "Zhan Fancheng", "Changting Hui", etc., which could not be received at once. "Children sing a big drama", people are impressed by it.
Decades have passed, and whenever Mr. Liu Shengtong is mentioned and the scene of learning drama in those years, Ma Changli has an indescribable emotion. It's an expectation, it's an endeavor; there's no teacher like that, there's no ordeal like that, there's no transcendence of life and art.
Never forget the cultivation of the teacher
There is a saying about Ma Changli, in the pear garden community, called "Tan Tu Ma'er", that is, Tan Fuying's student, Ma Lianliang's righteous son; we asked: "You worship Ma Lianliang so much, why don't you worship Ma Lianliang?"
Then, another unforgettable memory began. Also in 1954, the 24-year-old Ma Changli met Mr. Ma Lianliang.
At the beginning of the founding of New China, Ma Changli sang Peking Opera programs on the economic station of the radio station, singing as many as 3 times a day, both at noon and at night. With the transmission of radio waves, he is also famous and deeply concerned by people inside and outside the industry. In 1952, Beijing set up several professional Peking Opera troupes, including Tan Fuying and Qiu Shengrong's second troupe, and Qiu Shengrong came to the door several times to ask Ma Changli to join, he said, that is, through the radio to learn about Ma Changli. In 1953, Ma Changli followed the second regiment to Jinan and Yantai in Shandong To comfort the people's children and soldiers, and along the way he also established unusual feelings with Tan Fuying, and the values and artistic achievements of this artistic master also deeply influenced Ma Changli. For example, Tan Fuying said that we must let the energy pressure the money, don't let the money suppress the ability, which means that art is higher than money, and art is above everything. Moreover, this trip to Shandong also left Tan Fuying with the topic of receiving a long gift as an apprentice.
It's also a good thing to be a pair. That year, the second troupe performed in Tianjin, and one day at noon, Qiu Shengrong woke up Ma Changli, who was taking a lunch break, saying that someone wanted to see him, and then, he met a kind-eyed and personable elder, and it turned out that Mr. Ma Lianliang had arrived. Ma Lianliang was very happy to see Ma Changli, and asked whose apprentice it was, and when he learned that he was a member of the Rongchun Society and had studied drama with Liu Shengtong, liansheng said: "Well, your foundation is good!" The friend next to him quickly said: "Since you like him so much, take an apprentice!" Qiu Shengrong also urged: "Changli, prostrate, prostrate!" Ma Changli understood and immediately fell to his knees and prostrated himself. Ma Lianliang was refreshed, and kept greeting others: "This matter is settled, find time for me to invite you all!" However, Ma Changli, who was excited, also had bitter feelings, and he said to Qiu Shengrong, "I have no money to entertain you!" The answer was: "Without you paying money, you can buy a few boxes of Chinese cigarettes in barrels and give them to the master's wife, Mr. Ma does not smoke!"
A few barrels of Chinese cigarettes, instead of the worship of the master feast, what is this love, fate!
On the day of the turn of the worshippers, mr. Li Duokui revealed the message: "Even Liang, Fuying will also accept him!" Ma Lianliang's answer was: "I am taking in my son today, and I do not accept apprentices!"
Ma Changli recalled that one of the ways for Ma Lianliang to train students was to let them play the role of yard, dragon set, etc. when they acted, and one of the purposes was to let them learn near the stage. For example, the green dragon set in "Trial Head Thorn Soup" has been poking on the stage since the "Trial Head"; and the eunuch who follows the Yongle Emperor in "Rouge Bao fold" is not far from Ma Lianliang's left and right. In fact, the practice on these stages has a very far-reaching guiding significance for Ma Changli's later performance and inheritance of Ma Pai's repertoire.
One of the most obvious gains is to experience Ma Lianliang's continuous innovation on the basis of inheriting tradition. He once said to Ma Changli: "Mr. Jia (Hong Lin) had a patient in "Cinnabar Mole" who heard a knock on the door, holding the table, shaking his hair, and his trembling body, which was very expressive, and had the opportunity to use it in the play!" Sure enough, in the "Orphan of Zhao" scene created by him, he took and refined this action: Cheng Bao heard a knock on the door, hid the picture book, turned around, and threw his hair out, shaking his body. This performance can be described as a nuanced portrayal of the environment at this time, the person's state of mind, and the combination of tradition and innovation is just right.
Multi-faceted expansion of the number of performance paths
In Ma Changli's decades of acting career, there is a special historical period that cannot be ignored in any case, that is, the creation and rehearsal process of modern peking opera and model opera that has lasted for more than ten years. For the artist, there are two villains whose stage image is particularly prominent – one is Wen Qijiuzi in the 1964 version of "Cuckoo Mountain", and the other is Diao Deyi from "Ludang Tinder" to "Sha Jiabang". These two characters have many highlights, and to this day, it can be said that no one can surpass them.
It's the same modern drama, the same villain, is there any obvious difference between them?
Ma Changli analyzed that the character of Wen Qijiu is an authentic rogue, although he has some culture, but he is a very bad person from the inside to the outside. He also knew very well that when Party representative He Xiang came to Dujuan Mountain, he actually had no way to live, so he had to do everything possible to provoke the relationship between He Xiang and Wudou and rack his brains to destroy the future of this workers' and peasants' armed forces. Diao Deyi is the son of a rich man in Shajiabang Town, who is quite literate and has been left in the ocean and gilded. However, this is an extreme reactionary who has stubbornly defected to the Japanese and Wang puppet regimes and is resolutely anti-communist and anti-people. His inner world can be said to be suspicious, sinister, and vicious, such as in the scene of interrogating Grandma Sha, on the surface of warm persuasion, in fact, sinister voyeurism, can be called an old treacherous giant.
Ma Changli also said that different cultural backgrounds, character identities and character destinations also have different performance paths. However, the villains who play different roles in modern Peking Opera, in addition to the above-mentioned necessary character analysis, must also greatly expand the number of performance paths, including learning and learning from the performance routes in the fields of drama, film and other arts; without learning and learning from this aspect, nothing will be achieved.
Over the years, Ma Changli has had a lot of contacts with some artists in the drama and film and television circles. When he was young, he met Dong Xingyao, a "drama talent", in Tianjin, at that time, Dong Xingyi also had plans to devote himself to the Peking Opera circle, and the two had many common topics; later, he got to know Tong Chao, a famous actor at the Beijing People's Art Theater, and saw many of his plays "The Death of a Famous Master"; he got to know Wang Qiuying, a famous actor of the Liaoning People's Art Theater, and practiced how to sing under his guidance. The diverse techniques of these drama masters in reading white, looking, stature and emotional processing have given Ma Changli many very important lessons.
For example, during the period when he played Wen Qijiu, he had seen the movie "Independence Brigade" many times, and he also referred to the drama of the same name performed by the China Youth Art Theater at that time, and found the image connotation of this villain on the Peking Opera stage. In the process of playing Diao Deyi, he also read a lot of books and periodicals introducing the contents of the military command and the secret service of the central unification, constantly searching for and locating the inner world of this villain, repeatedly pondering Diao Deyi's eyes and tone, and experiencing his feeling of smoking and wearing a long shirt, so the performance made the audience feel real, appropriate and credible. In the hair of the two villains, he also moved a lot of thoughts: Wen Qijiu is a middle head, a rogue face; Diao Deyi is a big back, still graceful. Different identities, different headdresses, and different character images.
Ma Changli and Xiao Wang Yurong
Wentu Excerpt Network (Author Yang Lianyuan Originally published in Chinese Peking Opera)