Chairman Mao was passionate about traditional Chinese culture, especially opera culture. As early as the Yan'an period, he liked to watch dramas. Under the harsh conditions at that time, there were very few cultural and entertainment activities, and the most important cultural activities in Yan'an were weekend dances and occasional opera performances, and as long as there were opera performances and time permitted, he always waved his hand and said to the guard Li Yinqiao: "I have to give the brain a holiday, let's watch the drama!" "Act like a childlike joy.
Chairman Mao
After the founding of New China, cultural undertakings flourished, and although entertainment activities became increasingly abundant, Chairman Mao Zedong still had a persistent "preference" for opera, and in addition to the art of Peking Opera, Chairman Mao Zedong especially liked to watch local opera. No matter where you go for a meeting or inspection, you must understand and watch the local local drama. He believes that local opera is a microcosm of the history and culture of a region, and he especially likes the Anhui Huangmei opera with a strong atmosphere of life and local colors.
Opera performances
In April 1958, Yan Fengying, a Huangmei opera artist who was performing in the countryside, suddenly received a notice and rushed to Hubei day and night to perform for the "Wuchang Conference" of the Central Committee presided over by Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao first watched the traditional play "Yu Laosi and Zhang Ernu" performed by the Huangmei Drama Troupe in Huangmei County, Hubei Province. And as I watched, I laughed and said, "Interesting, interesting." He said to the staff next to him: "Do you know why in the play, Yu Laosi and Zhang Ernu only have surnames and no names?" Because they were the most ordinary working people in the old society, they had no money to go to school and could not read! Chairman Mao just liked to watch local dramas and their plots that contained intense "conflicts." Chairman Mao Zedong was very happy to see it, and asked the comrades in Hubei with great humor: "How did the Huangmei opera in Huangmei County run to Anhui?" The comrades in Hubei explained: "This is the water of the Yangtze River rushing away. Huangmei opera was originally called Huangmei Tune, of which the tea picking song is the most famous, originating in Huangmei County. In 1785 (fifty years of Qianlong), Huangmei County suffered a huge flood, and Huangmei opera artists went to the Anqing area to sell songs and combine with local folk art forms, which made them settle down in Anqing. In fact, Chairman Mao has long been concerned about the dispute in the literary and art circles over the source of Huangmei opera, and only after hearing the introduction of Hubei comrades did he truly know that the earliest source of Huangmei opera was in Huangmei County. So, Chairman Mao said humorously: "Oh, I see, Yan Fengying's 'mother's family' in "Heavenly Immortal Matching" is in Huangmei County. Next, Chairman Mao was very pleased to watch the Huangmei Drama Troupe of Anhui Province and "Playing The Golden Branch" and "Spring Fragrant Study" starring Yan Fengying for the conference, and was full of interest and praised the emperor's sentence in "Hitting the Golden Branch": "Alone for the Jiangshan to buy the heart of his father and son!" The meaning of the lines is profound and thought-provoking! Chairman Mao read "Chunxiang Noisy Learning" and said meaningfully: "Xiao Yahuan's mockery of Xiucai is just to show that 'the lowly are the smartest'!" On September 17, 1958, when Chairman Mao inspected Hefei, at the Daoxianglou Hotel in Hefei, he once again watched Yan Fengying and Wang Shaofang's Huangmei opera "Happy Glory Return" full of the flavor of the times and comedic colors. After the performance, when Chairman Mao received Yan Fengying, he said cordially: "In April this year, we met in Wuhan." Chairman Mao's Hunan dialect was pronounced heavily, "between April" three words, Yan Fengying could not hear clearly, Chairman Mao said it again, she still did not hear clearly, anxious that she was red in the face. When Chairman Mao saw the situation, he hurriedly stretched out four fingers and said word by word: "In April this year," Yan Fengying understood and understood clearly, so he busied himself with saying to Chairman Mao: "Yes, in April this year, we performed for your elderly family in Wuhan." Chairman Mao smiled kindly. Then, Chairman Mao asked Yan Fengying how many plays the troupe could perform in a year. Yan Fengying told Chairman Mao that the troupe was divided into two performance detachments, which could perform a total of 700 performances a year. Chairman Mao listened to the praise and said, "Well, six or seven hundred!" He also kindly cared: "When performing, we must pay attention to the combination of work and leisure!" Yan Fengying was extremely excited, and a warm current surged throughout his body.
Huang Mei drama starring Yan Fengying in "Tianxian Matching"
That night, still in the auditorium of the Daoxianglou Hotel, an unusual ball was about to begin. At 8:30, Chairman Mao suddenly arrived! People jumped up in surprise, and the hall immediately boiled over. Everyone applauded enthusiastically and shouted "Long live Chairman Mao!" Long live Chairman Mao! "Chairman Mao was tall and tall, dressed in a dark gray Zhongshan suit, with a revealing white shirt and black square-topped leather shoes on his feet. He was kind-eyed, radiant, radiant, smiling, waving cordially to everyone, and then signaling everyone to sit down. Jiang Qing, who was following the chairman, had short hair and wore a dress and white leather shoes. Accompanying her was Wang Guangmei, who wore a cheongsam made of floral satin, permed wavy curly hair, and black leather shoes on her feet. The dance party began, and the people on the dance floor were full of joy and the atmosphere was very active. Yan Fengying was also invited to the dance hall. She carefully put on light makeup, her face was red, her lips were coated with bright red lipstick, and her big eyes were bright and moving. She wears an aqua red silk shirt on the upper body, a large pendulum skirt with a large rose red flower on the bottom, and white high heels on her feet, which looks beautiful and free, very dazzling. When the first dance was played, Chairman Mao danced with the wife of the provincial party secretary. The chairman is tall, she is short, and it is a little difficult to put her hand on the chairman's shoulder, but the two dance with tacit understanding.
Chairman Mao attended the ball
The second dance music sounded, and Chairman Mao invited Yan Fengying off the dance floor. The two danced and danced freely, especially Yan Fengying, it was as if the seven fairies had descended into the mortal world, and Chairman Mao said to Yan Fengying humorously with a thick Hunan accent: People call you the opera queen of Huangmei Opera, and you", the "empress", will suffer a lot in the future! Because the broad masses of the people expect you to create better and more works. Yan Fengying burst into tears of excitement and nodded vigorously to Chairman Mao.
The image comes from the Internet, if there is infringement, please contact to delete