(Vientiane Special Author: Yiyi)
Fourteen years ago today, on April 9, 2003, Wu Zuguang, the husband of Xin Fengxia and a famous Chinese dramatist, died in Beijing
Wu Zuguang (April 21, 1917 – April 9, 2003), originally from Wujin, Jiangsu Province, was born in Beijing. Famous Chinese dramatist. His wife is the famous critic actress Xin Fengxia. Wu Zuguang's representative works include "Phoenix City", "Returning to people at night in the wind and snow", "Breaking into the Rivers and Lakes", "Flowers as a Medium" (commentary), "Three Dozen Tao Three Springs" (Peking Opera) and so on.
Wu Zuguang became famous as a teenager and was one of the few outstanding playwrights in the Chinese literary scene at that time. I should have been able to write more excellent works. But unfortunately, he was classified as a rightist and experienced the Cultural Revolution. It is a little bit of desolation luck to be able to survive the final disaster.
Wu Zuguang's good friend and calligrapher Huang Miaozi once gave Wu Zuguang a message: "Born at the wrong time, talent is full of energy." These eight words are to praise his talent and sigh his encounter. But Wu Zuguang was not so pessimistic, disagreed with his friend's gift, and concluded from the bottom: "Life is the right time, death does not mind." ”
(Wu Zuguang and Xin Fengxia)
Drama prodigy
Wu Zuguang was born in Beijing in April 1917, with his ancestral home in Wujin County, Jiangsu Province. His father, Wu Ying, was then the secretary of the Kyoto Municipal Superintendent's Office (equivalent to the secretary general of the present-day Beijing Municipal Government) and later the secretary of the Palace Museum.
When I was in middle school, I was attracted by the special charm of Peking Opera art, ran the opera garden, held the "drama", indulged in it, and unconsciously accepted the enlightenment education of drama art. This had a profound impact on his later theatrical creations.
In 1936 (at the age of 19), he graduated from the University of Liberal Arts at the University of China and France. In 1937, he served as the secretary of the principal's office of the Nanjing National Drama College, and in the same year, he created the anti-Japanese drama "Phoenix City". The play is based on the deeds of the martyr Miao Kexiu of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army. The play was widely performed throughout the country and was highly praised. He was known as the "Prodigy of Drama". This inspired Wu Zuguang to write scripts as a lifelong career.
In the following years, he created plays such as "Song of Righteousness", "Returning to the People in the Night of Wind and Snow", "Lin Chong Night Run", "Cowherd Weaver Girl" and "Youth Tour", which sonically shocked the drama world.
Marry the new Fengxia
In 1946 (at the age of 29), he became the editor of the supplement of xinmin evening newspaper, and was the first to publish Mao Zedong's lyrics "Qinyuan Spring and Snow". In 1947, he took refuge in Hong Kong as a choreographer and director. In Hong Kong, he directed films such as "The Soul of the Nation", "Mo Negative Youth", "Tears of Mountains and Rivers", "Spring Wind and Autumn Rain" and "Return of the Wind and Snow Night".
In 1946 (at the age of 29), Wu Zuguang married drama actor Lu En in Shanghai, and Xia Yan and Ye Shengtao were witnesses. After marriage, the two found that their personalities were very different from each other. In 1950 (at the age of 33), wu Zuguang divorced amicably before returning to Beijing.
In 1951 (34 years old), under the introduction of Lao She, he met the popular critic actor and 24-year-old Xin Fengxia. The marriage of the two of them became a grand event in Beijing's literary and art circles in that year. The address is in beijing along the South River european and American returned students, the scene is very large. The main marriage of the male side: Yang Hansheng; the main marriage of the woman: Ouyang Yuqian; the introducer: Lao She. The old friends of the old friends of the beijing literary and art circles have come, Mao Dun, Hong Shen, Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu, Gou Huisheng...
Images of Peking Opera masters
In 1955 (at the age of 38), at the invitation of Zhou Enlai, Mei Lanfang's performing arts were made into the black-and-white film "Roselle" and the color film "Mei Lanfang Stage Art", including Mei Lanfang's art life documentary and "The Legend of the White Snake and Broken Bridge", "Cosmic Front", "Farewell to the Overlord", "Noble Concubine Drunk", "Broken Bridge" is Kunqu opera, and the others are Peking Opera.
In 1956 (at the age of 39), Cheng Yanqiu's Peking Opera performing arts were made into a color film "Tears of the Barren Mountain". It has left extremely valuable materials for Mei Lanfang and Cheng Yanqiu, two masters of Peking Opera art.
Brilliant couple stalls
In 1957, Xin Fengxia created and performed "Liu Qiao'er". After the performance and filming of "Liu Qiao'er" was screened nationwide, it set off a boom in learning to sing Liu Qiao'er throughout the country. Since then, the name of Xin Fengxia has entered thousands of households, and the singing art of Xin Fengxia has since been established and loved by the vast number of critics.
In 1963, he cooperated with his wife Xin Fengxia to adapt the commentary "Flowers as Media", which became a successful masterpiece on the stage of the commentary. In addition, he also created a large number of works such as "Wu Zetian", "Three Dozen Tao Sanchun", "Breaking into the Rivers and Lakes", "The Legend of Xin Fengxia" and "Three Guan Feast".
No more passion
In 1957 (at the age of 40), he was classified as a rightist and sent to work in beidahuang (853 farm in Heilongjiang Reclamation District). In 1960 (at the age of 43), he returned to Beijing, and although he worked in the China Opera School, the Chinese Opera Research Institute, and the Beijing Opera House, he no longer had any creative passion. During the Cultural Revolution, Wu Zuguang was once again delegated to labor.
In 1980 (at the age of 63), he joined the Communist Party of China. In 1982, Xin Fengxia was also approved to join the party. In April 1998, Xin Fengxia died in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, at the age of 71. On April 9, 2003, Wu Zuguang died of coronary heart disease in Beijing at the age of 86.