When it comes to the name Zuo Dayue, many people may be a little unfamiliar, but when it comes to the dignified and elegant Guanyin Bodhisattva in the 1986 edition of "Journey to the West", I am afraid that everyone will "Oh" a piece.
Indeed, the 1986 version of "Journey to the West" has long become an insurmountable monument in the history of Chinese and even world film and television, and Zuo Dayu is the actor of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the play.
What is less known is that the reason why Zuo Dayue was selected by director Yang Jie to play Guanyin Bodhisattva is also thanks to the fate that Chairman Mao built for them.
In September 1943, Zuo Dayue was born in Changsha, Hunan Province, a descendant of Zuo Zongtang, a famous minister of the Qing Dynasty, her father was a senior Kuomintang official, and her mother was a famous singer of Hunan local opera Xiang opera.
Influenced by her mother's art, Zuo Dayu loved Xiang opera since she was a child, although her parents did not want her, a noble lady, to engage in a drama actor despised by the old society, but Zuo Dayue, who had a stubborn personality, insisted on learning, and her parents had to follow her wishes.
After the founding of New China, Zuo Dayue entered the Hunan Xiang Opera Troupe and became a small actor loved by the audience. In 1956, Tian Han took an art training class to Beijing to report on performances, and 13-year-old Zuo Dayu was among them.
When she heard that she was about to meet Chairman Mao, a "great fellow" she had admired for a long time, she did not mention how excited she was, but unfortunately, this time the performance repertoire did not have Zuo Dayue's play, and Zuo Dayue had to stand by the curtain and watch Chairman Mao through the gap, which was the first time Zuo Dayue had seen Chairman Mao.
After a few more years, Zuo Dayue finally got the opportunity to report to Chairman Mao on the performance, at this time she was already a well-known actress, she performed the famous Xiang opera "Life and Death Card", which is also Chairman Mao's favorite repertoire.
During the performance, Zuo Dayue secretly looked down the stage and was facing Chairman Mao's attentive gaze, Zuo Dayue suddenly seemed to be shocked by an electric shock, forgot his lines, stood there nervously, repeatedly recited the same lines, and became big.
Chairman Mao felt strange offstage and asked the troupe leader who accompanied him: "Why does this little girl keep repeating a line?" ”
The troupe leader was a little ashamed and said, "This child is usually excellent, I'm afraid I saw you offstage, too nervous, forgot words." ”
When Chairman Mao heard this, he laughed and said, "But I am not right!" After saying that, he took the lead in applauding Zuo Dayue.
Chairman Mao's encouragement made Zuo Dayue quickly adjust, and the next performance was still very successful, and Chairman Mao and the audience responded with warm applause.
Zuo Dayue returned to the backstage to remove her makeup, and Chairman Mao's guards came to see her and told her that Chairman Mao was very satisfied with her performance and wanted to invite her to the evening dance.
Zuo Dayue was both happy and embarrassed, because she had not learned to dance, and she was afraid that when the time came, she would not want to go, but she could not resist her desire to see Chairman Mao in her heart, so she agreed.
At the ball, Chairman Mao saw Zuo Dayue and smiled kindly: "Isn't this the little girl who forgot her words?" Come on, let's do a dance! ”
After all, Zuo Dayue was a spiritual theatrical performer, learning such a simple thing as ballroom dancing was still very fast, and he danced flexibly and naturally in a moment, chairman Mao was also very happy, and he became friends with one old and one young.
Later, every time Chairman Mao went to Hunan, he would ask Zuo Dayue to accompany him after work, zuo Dayue was still a teenage girl at that time, naïve and full of innocence, childlike, sometimes talking like a child with no heart, Chairman Mao did not mind at all, but felt that she was precious.
When Chairman Mao first called Zuo Da yue's name, he pronounced the word "玢" as fēn, and Zuo Da Yue quickly corrected himself: "This word does not pronounce fēn, pronounces bīn, you are the chairman, will you still pronounce the wrong word?" ”
Chairman Mao laughed and said, "Doll, the chairman will also make mistakes, but this time I don't count as a mistake, this word is a polysyllabic word, more time to pronounce fēn, only when the name will pronounce bīn, I don't believe you look up the dictionary." ”
Zuo Dayue saw that the tea leaves in Chairman Mao's teacup were all erected in the water one by one, and he asked strangely: "Chairman, what kind of tea are you drinking?" Why are they all erect like rabbit ears? ”
Chairman Mao laughed and said, "You haven't drunk this, have you?" This is our good tea in Yueyang, Hunan, Yueyang Maojian. ”
Zuo Dayue's curiosity grew stronger and he said, "Can I taste it?" ”
Zuo Dayue's frankness and cuteness made Chairman Mao feel as if he was chatting with his little daughter, so he said happily: "Drink!" ”
Zuo Dayue picked up Chairman Mao's cup and drank it with a grunt, and Chairman Mao smiled happily again.
Although Zuo Dayue was young, he was also very concerned about Chairman Mao's health; once, Chairman Mao had a cold, did not want to take medicine, and the staff did not want to take medicine no matter how they advised him, at this time, Zuo Dayue came over and deliberately sneezed a big sneeze, and Chairman Mao asked with great concern: "Doll, are you sick?" ”
Zuo Dayue deliberately pretended to be angry and said, "Chairman, you have a cold, and you don't take medicine, which has infected me!" ”
Chairman Mao smiled and nodded his finger at her head and said, "Okay, I see, let's take the medicine one by one!" ”
Chairman Mao's addiction to smoking was very large, and many people advised him to quit smoking, but to no avail, only Zuo Dayue's way was the most unique.
Once, Chairman Mao and some guests were chatting, and habitually picked up a cigarette, and as soon as he lit it, Zuo Dayue rushed over and said, "Chairman, you promised to quit smoking!" ”
Chairman Mao said with a slight pleading: "Just one." ”
But Zuo Dayue did not agree, and in front of everyone, he snatched the chairman's cigarette and snuffed it out.
Everyone was stunned, but Chairman Mao, like a father who had been taught by his daughter, smiled helplessly and said to everyone: "There is no way!" ”
Zuo Dayue looked brutal, but in fact, her heart was still very delicate, and she secretly hid the cigarette afterwards as a memorial to the year-old friendship between herself and Chairman Mao, which has been preserved to this day.
So, how did Zuo Dayu get involved with Guanyin Bodhisattva? He still has some relationship with Chairman Mao.
In 1976, Chairman Mao was seriously ill and his sanity was often blurred, and when the staff asked him what he wanted, Chairman Mao asked Zuo Dayue what new performance program he had, so Beijing asked the Hunan Opera Troupe to quickly record a play by Zuo Dayue, and the Hunan Theater Troupe recorded "Chasing Fish", in which Zuo Dayue played guanyin bodhisattva.
At that time, Yang Jie was already a very famous domestic theater director, she often saw Chairman Mao, Zuo Dayue and Chairman Mao's friendship, Yang Jie was also very moved, especially after seeing Zuo Dayue played by Guanyin Bodhisattva, it was even more praised, at that time promised that if one day to shoot "Journey to the West", zuo Dayu must be asked to play Guanyin Bodhisattva.
A few years later, the filming of China's first "Journey to the West" TV series began, and the director was Yang Jie, who immediately invited Zuo Dayue to play Guanyin Bodhisattva, so there was the image of the classic Guanyin Bodhisattva.
(References: "Century Style", "Xiangchao", "People Weekly")