In 1956, on January 12, Chairman Mao went to Tianjin to inspect the work, and that evening, he watched Ma Sanli's cross-talk performance in the small auditorium, which made him laugh.
Before the performance began, Chairman Mao first received people from all walks of life in Tianjin's literary and art circles in the small auditorium of the south building of the Cadres Club, including He Chi, Xian Lingxia, and the cross-talk master Ma Sanli. As a master-level figure in the cross-talk industry, Ma Sanli can make the audience laugh without saying two words on the stage, even in front of Chairman Mao.
When he met Ma Sanli, before Chairman Mao could come to him, Ma Sanli could not wait to report to his home and said, "Hello Chairman, I am Ma Sanli, a staff member of Tianjin Television Station. After saying that, everyone covered their mouths and laughed, and Chairman Mao laughed and said, "I know you, you are the Same Ma Daha who said' 'buy monkeys, buy monkeys', I remember it very clearly!" When everyone heard this, they laughed loudly, because the picture of the cross-talk was already in the minds of the people present.
Subsequently, Chairman Mao went on to say: "Ma Sanli, this name has achieved good, the ancient saying has clouds, and the gentleman has three li: 'Li De', 'Li Gong', and 'Li Yan'. That means good. ”
In the process of speaking, Chairman Mao looked him up and down, saw that he was thin, and advised him to eat more, grow long meat, pay attention to literary and artistic performances, and take good care of his body.
Born in 1914 in Beijing into a family of qu artists, Ma Sanli grew up in Tianjin with his parents.
His grandfather Ma Chengfang was a famous storyteller, famous in the Beijing area, the most skilled is one of the four famous works "Water Margin"; his father Ma Delu is a famous cross-talk actor, listed as one of the "Eight Virtues of Cross-Talk"; his mother En Cuiqing's qu art is The Beijing Rhyme Drum, and his brother Ma Guiyuan is also a cross-talk actor, and is known for being good at "Wen Jiao".
Obviously, growing up in such a family full of literary and artistic atmosphere, he was influenced from an early age, which also made him have a strong interest in cross-talk, laying the foundation for his later career development.
In the past, cross-talk actors could not be the same as today, the performance was relaxed, and the income was also considerable, at that time, cross-talk was called the "lower nine-stream" work, often despised by people, and the income was small.
Therefore, although Ma Sanli's family is engaged in literary and artistic work, the family conditions are average, although they can solve the problem of food and clothing for family members, it is difficult to meet the spiritual needs of a higher level, which also makes Ma Sanli drop out of school after finishing junior high school at a young age, and since then, he has started his career.
In 1929, the 15-year-old Ma Sanli worshipped the famous cross-talk actor Zhou Deshan as a teacher and began to concentrate on learning cross-talk. Because he was born in a family of quyi, under the influence of his ears, he is also familiar with the cross-talk technique, and his determination to learn cross-talk is firm, and he has the perseverance to study hard, which makes him quickly have his own style in the field of cross-talk and has achieved good results.
In the early days, Ma Sanli began to "shake the ground" on the street to say cross-talk.
At first, he set up a food street stall called "Three Disregards" to make a living, and in the noisy market, others relied on selling food to make a living, and Ma Sanli simply set up a stall, holding a fan, and relied on the dexterous art of language to make a living.
Four years later, 19-year-old Ma Sanli married and started a family, thinking that he could spend his life in peace and stability, but the family suddenly changed and broke the original state of life.
Brother Ma Guiyuan fell after smoking a lot of smoke, his father also died of illness, and his stepmother did not want to clean up the mess and ran away from home, at this time, the burden of the family can be said to have completely fallen on Ma Sanli's shoulders, making his life more difficult, fortunately, he did not fall because of this, but became stronger and stronger.
In the following days, Ma Sanli wandered around various markets, docks, temple fairs and other high-traffic places, just so that more people could see his cross-talk, only in this way could he earn more money to subsidize his family.
It is precisely because of this that his personal style of cross-talk is becoming more and more obvious, and finally it is unique. Compared with other cross-talk actors, during his wandering, he has been to many places, not only prosperous cities, but also poor rural areas, he has seen all the warmth of the world's lovers, written what he sees and feels into the cross-talk performance, draws nutrients in the citizen community, makes the formation of "small citizen" language and performance style, and constantly enriches the work, making the work more ornamental value and practical significance.
At the same time, the 11-year-long life of xiangsheng in the city has made him famous in the eyes of the public and has made many friends in the cross-talk industry. In 1940, Ma Sanli became a famous cross-talk actor in Tianjin Weizi. In 1948, a number of tea houses and radio stations invited him to perform, and famous people Tan Fuying and Ma Lianliang also came to cheer for him.
After the founding of New China, although Ma Sanli has become a famous cross-talk actor, he has not forgotten his original intention because of utilitarianism.
In 1951, many literary and art workers rushed to the Korean battlefield to provide support, and after the sacrifice of cross-talk actor Chang Baokun, Ma Sanli offered to go to the battlefield free of charge, as the deputy head of the condolence group to provide recreational activities for the soldiers on the front line to soothe the fatigue of the soldiers.
During the war, Ma Sanli's condolence group performed more than 150 performances for volunteer soldiers, and the war was victorious, and the condolence group also made great contributions.
In 1953, Ma Sanli created and performed a series of cross-talk programs, including "The Old Man Is Drunk", "Meeting Fan" and "Buy Monkey", among which "Buy Monkey" is the most classic.
As soon as "Buy Monkey" was performed, it caused a national sensation, in which Ma Daha was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and what we now call Ma Daha is derived from this, and it is precisely because of "Buy Monkey" that Ma Sanli has won Chairman Mao's attention and praise.
In January 1956, Chairman Mao went to Tianjin to carry out inspection work, and the development of culture was also an important part of the country's development, so the tianjin literary and art circles were also an aspect of Chairman Mao's inspection.
That evening, Chairman Mao received people from all walks of life in the literary and art circles in the small auditorium, inspected the development of the literary and art circles, and carried out relevant guidance work. From this, the scene at the beginning of the article appears.
In addition, taking advantage of the gap before the performance, Ma Sanli also told Chairman Mao a joke, which made Chairman Mao turn forward and backward, and he was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth, and he said hurriedly: "I really didn't expect that you not only talk about first-class cross-talk, but also tell jokes with a good hand, you are really a national treasure!" ”
Unfortunately, after Ma Sanli became famous, he did not have a few years of comfortable life, and he began to live a life of upheaval and displacement again.
In 1958, because of the performance of the "Buy Monkey" program, Ma Sanli was identified as a "rightist" and sent to Xinli Village in Tianjin. During the period of decentralization, Ma Sanli first served as an actor in the literary troupe, participated in the program with Zhao Peiru, and then transferred to work on the farm in the military grain city, because of his thin body, his main job was to deliver water to the fields. While working in the fields, he performed a cross-talk program to encourage everyone to complete farming activities.
In 1961, after Ma Sanli was removed from the "rightist" hat, in order to live up to the audience he had been waiting for for a long time, he did not rest for a long time before he came back. In 1970, in order to cooperate with the evacuation of the urban population, Ma Sanli and his family moved to the countryside again and lived for seven years.
In these turbulent years, Ma Sanli did not have any complaints, just went with the flow, actively faced life, and after the suffering, he still shone on the stage.
Ma Sanli returned to the city from the countryside in 1977, and in 1979, he once again appeared on the stage of the Yellow River Grand Theater and performed "Buy Monkey", the audience saw the figure that had not been seen for a long time, and burst into warm applause, Ma Sanli also bowed to the audience many times to reply to the audience's expectations for him, and also expressed his feeling that after many tribulations, he could still stand on the stage and speak cross-talk.
At the suggestion of a friend, Ma Sanli joined the party in 1985 and became a party member, which also fulfilled his wish for many years. In 1988, Ma Sanli created a small section of cross-talk "Family Heirloom Secret Recipe", which made the theater laugh with his exquisite cross-talk skills, and thus gained a new audience.
In the later period, Ma Sanli rarely appeared on the stage due to physical reasons, but he was still active in people's daily lives. In addition, he has also been invited to the labor camp many times to give cross-talk to young people in labor reform, and also put forward constructive suggestions to the elderly apartment and other childcare institutions at the meeting, and will also go to the nursing home to give cross-talk to the elderly and bring them happiness.
On December 8, 2001, Ma Sanli held a grand farewell ceremony at the Tianjin People's Stadium. Everyone was reluctant to stand up to Ma Sanli, and their eyes were wet with tears. As a cross-talk master, although Ma Sanli bid farewell to the cross-talk stage, his love for cross-talk will not end, and people's love for him will not be reduced.
Chairman Mao said that Ma Sanli's name is good, and Sanli means :"Li De, Meritorious Service, and Li Yan", and Ma Sanli interpreted these three Li very well. At the end of the article, we must always have a respect for our ancestors, and at the same time, we must learn from them the good character.