In the field of chinese opera, in addition to the "four famous Dans" of Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun and Xun Huisheng, there are also Xue Yanqin, Zhang Shuyun, Xin Yanqiu, and Jin Youqin, who are known as the "Four Great Kundans" by the world. Later, the so-called "four small names" were born, that is, Li Shifang, Mao Shilai, Song Dezhu, and Zhang Junqiu.
Li Shifang learned to play to become famous
Li Shifang was originally from Taiyuan, Shanxi, and was born in the tenth year of the Republic of China (1921). He is from the Liyuan family, his father Isi Li Zijian, he is Shanxi Zizi (Jin Cavity) Hua Dan, and his mother Li Cuifen is Shanxi Zi Zi Qingyi. In the spring of the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931), shanxi Zizi class went to Beiping to perform, which was quite popular with the audience, and the schedule was half a year long. Li Zijian and his wife settled in Beiping and sent Li Shifang to Fuliancheng to join the fifth science drama, when Li Shifang was eleven years old.
Li Shifang entered the Fulian Chengshe Society, and after Li Lianzhen learned a play "Cai Lou Match", he successively learned Hua Dan opera from Xiao Changhua and Xiao Lianfang (Xiao Changhua's nephew), including "Iron Bow Edge", "Boudoir Music", "Cuiping Mountain", "Picking Jade Bracelet", "Double Nail Record", "Monopoly of Flowers", "Five Flowers Cave", "Five Lakes Boat", "Double Shake Society", "Double Sand River" and other dramas.
In the autumn of the twenty-second year (1933), Li Shengzao, Chen Shengsun, Yang Shengchun, Liu Shenglian and others left the company to perform in Shanghai, and the strength of the rich society was greatly reduced, and there was no successor. At this time, Shang Xiaoyun saw the righteous courage and immediately handed over the script of the "Wine Servant" he had hidden to Fushe to rehearse for Ye Shengzhang, Li Shifang, and Mao Shilai; he also arranged three old plays for Li and Mao: "Golden Bottle Girl" (formerly known as "Buddha Gate Dianyuan"), "Juan Juan" (formerly known as "Jade Tiger Fall"), and "The Legend of Kunlun Swordsman" (formerly known as "Qingmen Thief"). Fu Liancheng because of these new rehearsal plays, the performance results are good, and gradually recovered the decline in business. In the winter of the twenty-second year, Li Shifang worshiped Shang Xiaoyun as his teacher.
Later, because of the Shang Changchun incident, Shang Xiaoyun and Fu Liancheng quarreled, and they set up the Rongchun Social Science Class on their own, and cut off contact with the Rich Society. Fu She asked Zhang Cailin to tell Li Shifang about mei pai dramas: "Lian Jinfeng", "Phoenix Returns to the Nest", "Red Line Thief Box", "Overlord Farewell" and so on. At this time, Li Shifang already had a basic audience, his reputation was rising, and he became increasingly popular, and there were friends in the press who held the scene and coaxed out a "little Mei Lanfang" emblem for him. In the winter of the twenty-fifth year of the Republic of China (1936), Mei Lanfang returned to Beiping from Shanghai. During his acting in Liuping, Mr. Fu Liancheng came forward to introduce Li Shifang and Mao Shilai to Mei as his teacher. Mao Shi came to work on Hua Dan, and Bai Mei was just registered. However, Li Shifang has officially stepped into the Mei's door wall since then, focusing on studying Mei Pai's skills, and Mei Lanfang also likes him very much.
In the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937), The Peking Liyan Bao held the election of "Chairman Tong Ling", with the male students of the Fifth Section of Fulian Chengshe and the "De" and "He" of the Beiping Opera School as candidates. This kind of activity, which was still a pioneering event at that time, was attached great importance to in society and caused a sensation in the nine cities. Everyone cares about the record of the number of votes received by each person in the newspaper every day, and the competition is very fierce. In the final result, Li Shifang was awarded the "Chairman of Tong Ling" with the highest number of votes of 4113 votes. On the day of the coronation ceremony held at the Huayuan Garden Matinee, the grand occasion was unprecedented, and flower baskets donated by all walks of life filled the whole venue. Li Shifang's momentum has increased a lot.
At the end of August of the 27th year of the Republic of China (1938), Li Shifang Manke performed the graduation commemorative play "Tai zhen wai chuan" at the Huayuan Matinee, and the audience was full. However, at this time, his voice was close to the period of the collapse of the warehouse, and soon after the continuation, he left the rich society and went home to raise his voice.
Yao Wang tutored and studied Mei Pai
Yao Yufu's daughter Bao Lian has always been a fan of Li Shifang's drama, and later introduced by someone to become friends with Li Shifang. Shi Fang went to Central Park every morning to shout his throat, and Yao Baolian accompanied him, and the feelings of the two people grew day by day, and the shadows became closer and closer, making people really have the feeling of "only envying Mandarin ducks and not envying immortals". And those who are tacitly committed to each other have made a lifelong commitment to each other. Li Shifang shouted his voice in the morning, and in the afternoon he went to Yao's house to study the tone and body of Mei Pai's drama from Yao Yufu. Yao Yufu not only played Mei Lanfang on stage for many years, but also was responsible for "holding the book" for Mei Lanfang (that is, in charge of Mei's various plays, speaking to the supporting roles, and playing with them on behalf of Mei. The famous Shengdan big horn, because of his own many plays, I do not have a lot of energy and time to play with the supporting characters, there is such an agent who "holds the book", of course, it is a confidant. Mei Lanfang used Yao Yufu, Cheng Yanqiu used Wu Fuqin, Shang Xiaoyun used Ren Zhiqiu, Xun Huisheng used He Peihua, Ma Lianliang used Ma Sili, and Tan Fuying used Song Jiting. However, Tan Fuying has no book to hold, because he does not arrange new plays, song Jiting is just playing for him), of course, he knows the essence and tricks of Mei Pai's plays. As a father-in-law, he naturally poured his heart into this future dragon-riding son-in-law. At the same time, by his earnest invitation, by the two pieces (Wang Shaoqing, Mei Lanfang's erhu, most of the plum cavity was studied by him, Huqin Xu Lanyuan, but followed him) to ShiFang to play the piano hanging throat, which is the true transmission of Mei Pai singing. Therefore, on Mei Lanfang's disciples, the most practical ones were only Li Shifang and Yan Huizhu. Yan Huizhu learned Mei Pai drama from Zhu Guifang, and later through Mei Lanfang's own guidance, Huizhu also observed and cultivated without sparing no effort, and naturally succeeded.
Under the earnest guidance of Yao and Wang Erjia, after more than a year, in the summer of the twenty-ninth year (1940), Li Shifang's voice gradually recovered; although it still lacked bright tone, it was enough to sing a big drama on stage. At this time, Mao Shilai and Song Dezhu had already picked up the shift; although Zhang Junqiu crossed the knife in Ma Lianliang's Fufeng Society, he was already very popular. Only Li Shifang was still in Taoguang, and he was still unmoving. Li Shifang, Zhang Junqiu, Mao Shilai, and Song Dezhu were elected, which is the origin of the title of Four Minor Mingdan. After the selection, in October, a cooperative play of four small celebrities was performed in the new new theater, all of which were "The Legend of the White Snake". Song Dezhu acted in "Golden Mountain Temple", Mao Shilai acted in "Broken Bridge", Li Shifang acted in "Hebao", and Zhang Junqiu acted in "Sacrifice Pagoda". This is the first time that Li Shifang has met the audience in two years since she quit acting in the autumn of 1938.
Li Shifang's voice has been mostly restored, and he has studied Mei Pai's various plays for two years, and is the "Chairman of Tong Ling", and the chief of the "Four Little Famous Dans" is also famous, and everything is enough to pick the conditions for the class, so Yao Yufu introduces Li Chunlin (the general manager of Mei Lanfang Chenghua Society) to organize it for him. The name of the class is Chengfangshe, and it premiered on December 21, 2009 at the Sanqing Theater in Dashilar outside the front gate. In the front scene, there is Goldman Sachs Lin's "Picking The Chinese Car", Guan Shengxi, Yuan Shihai, qiu Shirong's "Lost Space Chop". The big axis is "Lian Jinfeng" co-starring Li Shifang, Jiang Shiyu, Zhang Shengli and Zhu Shengfu. By Bai Dengyun division drums, Wang Shaoqing played the piano, the lineup is very hard and tidy, very appealing.
After the group performance became a hit, in the 30th year of the Republic of China (1941) and the 31st year (1942), in Beiping, Li Shifang took turns performing in sanqing, Huale, auspicious and Chang'an theaters. Later, he successively performed at major docks in Tianjin, Qingdao and Shanghai, and the results were very good.
Kunqu opera has a "Hundred Flowers and Points General", according to which Li Shifang adapted a new play "Hundred Flowers Princess", which was premiered in Beiping in the thirty-second year of the Republic of China (1943) and became a sensation. According to the same story, Cheng Yanqiu also adapted a new play, named "Daughter Heart", which premiered in Shanghai and was not shown in Beiping. In the summer of the thirty-second year, Li Shifang and Yao Baolian held a wedding, and the lovers finally became dependents and achieved a happy relationship. At that time, cooperative dramas were popular in Beiping, and Yang Baosen and Li Shifang's "Silang Visiting Mother" often appeared, and each performance must be full. This is because in addition to the superb drama skills of Yang and Li, Baosen is played by Yang Baozhong, and Shifang is played by Wang Shaoqing, and with these two famous pianos appearing in the same play, many people can be called in. Sitting in the palace, the climax is repeated, the color is endless, and the audience is tired of listening to this cooperative play.
A generation of famous people died young
In the summer of the thirty-fifth year of the Republic of China (1946), Shanghai Tian toad sent people to Beiping to ask Ye Shengzhang, Sheng Lan, Brother Shichang and Li Shifang to perform a phase; Because Shifang was nearly suspended in Beiping, instead of idle, it was better to go for a trip, and without deep consideration, he agreed to sign a contract with him. When he arrived on stage, he knew that the grand axis finale was the play of Sheng Zhang and Sheng Lan, and his single work drama could only rank third in the bottom, not to mention that he was still in the supporting role with Sheng Zhang's "Wine Cai" and Sheng Lan's "Lü Bu", and he was depressed; at the same time, Ye's Kunzhong was not popular, public opinion was dissatisfied, and the upper seat was also affected. Therefore, after the expiration of the first period, Shifang quit the Ye Opera Troupe and moved to Mei Lanfang's home on Mas South Road to live temporarily, guided by Mei Lanfang every day, Wang Shaoqing hung his voice, and after a few months, the drama art has made great progress, and his voice has gradually improved, and he has gradually recovered.
In late December, Mei Lanfang performed a stage at the Invitation of the Chinese Grand Theatre, and in order to praise her beloved disciple, the scheduled "Golden Mountain Temple" with "Broken Bridge" made Shifang play Qing'er. The first performance was performed on the thirty-first day. Shi Fang because of the teacher's ear to face the fate, personally taught the relationship, Qing'er and Bai Niangniang's double body, the cooperation is compact, like a shadow, good tacit understanding, unparalleled. At the same time, his voice also came out, and his appearance resembled that of a master, and the audience received great praise and was very successful. At this time, he was angry with Wei Lianfang. Originally, he was the second-card Danjiao of the Mei Opera Troupe (Yao Yufu before Guadai), and this temporary change of Li Shifang as Qing'er, acting better than him, naturally made his face hang up, so he satirized Shifang gently, thinking that he had robbed him of his drama. Li Shifang is very loyal, he may not have returned to Beiping for the New Year, and it is not necessary to stay at the teacher's house in Shanghai for the New Year. Seeing that Wei Lianfang had made a jealousy, after accompanying the teacher to perform "Water Bucket" and "Broken Bridge" twice on January 2, she decided to return to Beiping so as not to deepen Wei Lianfang's misunderstanding. However, Air China had already booked tickets for the Shanghai Beiping Line in the old calendar years, and there was no way but to give up her booked tickets to Mrs. Yang Baosen's emotional intelligence so that she could board the journey. Who knows, it was such a temporary decision that ruined his own life; on the other hand, Yang Baosen's wife, Hong Fuqitian, was freed from a catastrophe.
On the morning of January 5, the 36th year of the Republic of China (1947), Li Shifang took a flight back to Beiping at Longhua Airport, but when he flew over Qingdao, he did not know whether it was a climate impact or a faulty parts, and near Laoshan Mountain, more than twenty miles southeast of Qingdao, the plane crashed into the mountain and had an accident, when the fire burned, and more than fifty people in the whole plane were spared and all died. Bad news came out and caused a sensation throughout the country. Li Zijian and his wife and Yao Baolian, of course, did not want to die. The Yao family heard that the wreckage of the victims was beyond recognition and was not easy to identify, and they were afraid that the Li family would go to someone to identify the body, and they could not stand this major stimulus, so they sent a telegram to Shanghai Meizhai to send someone to Jinan to identify the body. Because zhang Shengli was the only one who sent off at the airport, and he could still remember Shifang's clothes, Mei Lanfang invited Zhang Shengli to go. However, all the corpses had been burned into coke, and it was impossible to identify, fortunately, Zhang Shengli found a small piece of blue satin sheepskin jacket under a corpse, which was the clothes that Shi Fang was wearing on the plane, which recognized the remaining corpses, and was inspected in Jinan and transported back to Beiping for burial. A generation of famous people, died young, at the age of twenty-six, it is a pity!
The first time I saw Li Shifang's play was a boat lady in "Five Lakes Boat", although she was not alone, she had already stood out from the crowd. In the future, the more typhoons and progress there were, and later he was elected as "Chairman Tong Ling", although it was praised by some people, but there were also conditions to go up.
Li Shifang had a little white hemp on his face, and if he didn't look closely, he couldn't see it. He didn't have a bit of a twisting habit offstage, not like a singer. From the living habits, it can be seen that he has always washed the big pool in the bathhouse, and he is friendly with three or five, naked clothes, talking and laughing, and Zhang Junqiu's shameful answer is completely two styles.
At the end of the twenty-ninth year of the Republic of China (1940), Li Shifang picked the class, although Li Chunlin took over the work, Yao Yufu (Shifang's father-in-law) behind the scenes, but the closest to Shifang and served as an adviser was Yuan Shihai. Regarding the drama of sending, doing public relations, and making lay friends, Yuan Shihai is a counselor for Shifang. Shi Fang also obeyed his words and did as he pleased.
This article is excerpted from the "Old Anthology of the Jutan Temple" and has been abridged.
Today, please enjoy an excerpt from "Lian Jinfeng" produced by The Chinese Music Records Company in 1938, and hope that you can enjoy it.