In the mid-1930s, Zhang Meiqin was all the rage on the Jin opera stage. She looks handsome and handsome, and is good at singing, doing, reading and playing. Her singing rhythm is clear, accurate, clear, the words are round, the voice is full of emotion, and it is integrated. Over the decades, she has starred in more than 60 plays and created dozens of flesh-and-blood artistic figures. It can be said that she can almost afford to take all the Jin operas and dramas. He is especially good at acting in the bullet drama "Killing House" and "Walking aside", relying on the frame drama "Dingjun Mountain" and "Golden Beach", etc., carrying a gun and leaning on, mighty and majestic, and having an extraordinary temperament. It not only enjoys a high reputation in the Jin opera circle in our province, but also leaves a deep impression on the audience in Beijing, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Zhangjiakou and other places.
Zhang Meiqin was born in 1919 to a blacksmith's family in Chaigou Fort, Huai'an County, Hebei Province. His father's surname was Wang. In 1930, Huai'an suffered a famine year, and although Master Wang was excellent in craftsmanship, it was still difficult to support his family... Under the recommendation of the famous Jin opera singer Xiao Jinmei, Zhang Meiqin was sent to the "Fuqing Society" drama class to learn art. Specializing in students. Named Fuyan Pavilion. Among the more than 20 "same library" (classmates), Fu Yanting is the most outstanding one. Her facial features are upright, her eyebrows are clear- and beautiful, her figure is well-proportioned, her voice is clear, and she has become the top of the doll class, and her performances of "Cihuan", "Jinshui Bridge", "Scolding Yan", "Xia Hedong", "Erjin Palace", "Playing Golden Branches", "Taking Chengdu" and dozens of other plays are very prominent. In the apprenticeship period, the name of Fu Yanting, a female bearded student, has already attracted attention.
How did Fu Yanting become Zhang Meiqin again? The king's door came out of the drama, and the family did not come and go, believing that the "drama" was a disgrace to the ancestors. When Cobain performed, others gave her the word "Meiqin", and under the pressure of public opinion, she was deprived of the right to surname Wang, and since then she has changed her mother's surname to Zhang Meiqin.
Zhang Meiqin took the highest drama in "Rong Pear Garden" and "Jiqing Garden" before and after. Because he is good at acting in the frame play, with his superb performance, he is deeply loved by the audience of Jin opera. In 1938, through the mediation of Qiu Decai and Qiao Mengxiong, Zhang Meiqin married the famous Jin opera actor Zhang Baokui (stage name Xiao Jixian). They are husband and wife at home, caring for each other and loving each other; On the stage, it is a change, Zhang Meiqin often plays the father of the general style, while Zhang Baokui often plays a chivalrous woman or a hero. In Zhang Baokui's masterpiece "Fengtaiguan", Zhang Meiqin played Murong Yanchao, and Zhang Baokui played Murong Xiuying' wife. In the Jin opera "Killing the Palace", Zhang Meiqin played the Later Han Emperor Liu Chengyou, and Zhang Baokui played Liu Guilian of the Eastern Palace. They start from the plot, work together to create characters, and cooperate with tacit understanding. On the rehearsal field, Zhang Baokui was even more strict and became Zhang Meiqin's mentor. Once in a rehearsal of "Zhou Gong Peach Blossom Girl", Zhang Meiqin and Xiao Guifen practiced their opponents' swords, Gui Fen lost her hand, and cut the sword on Zhang Meiqin's head, Zhang Meiqin was angry, and she did not practice the sword. Zhang Baokui came over with two rattan poles. Seriously said: "I can't eat this bit of pain on the rehearsal ground, how can I practice good kung fu?" Zhang Meiqin was punished in public, and in the future, on the rehearsal ground, the apprentices did not dare to casually pick up knives and guns. Zhang Meiqin's ability to give better play to her artistic talents is inseparable from Zhang Baokui's meticulous cultivation and strict requirements.
Zhang Meiqin has been acting in the Second Yuan for eight consecutive years, playing the main role in "Lu'an Zhou", "Famen Temple", "Zhou Gong Peach Blossom Girl" and liantai's plays "Fengshen List", "Xue Rengui Zhengdong", and "Zhaojun Out of the Plug". If Ding Guoxian is better at singing gong opera, Zhang Meiqin's gong frame drama has formed its own genre characteristics, which can be described as the lotus of the Jin opera stage at that time. On the eve of the liberation of Taiyuan, it was changed to Wenxuan Seventh Team, which was the predecessor of the later Taiyuan Jin Opera Troupe. Zhang Meiqin performed in "Playing Golden Branches", "Eight Pieces of Clothing", "Nine Pieces of Clothing", "Luhua", "Luhua River" and other programs.
After liberation, under the inspiration of the party's literary and art policy, Zhang Meiqin was more enthusiastic and upward, diligent and diligent. She has played major roles in the newly edited historical dramas "Huangchao Uprising", "Three Dozen Zhujiazhuang", "Danyang Saves Father", "Fifteen Guan" and other dramas. In 1952, Zhang Meiqin participated in the National Opera Show as the Tang King of "Hitting the Golden Branch" and won the second prize for actors. She and Zhang Junqiu, a famous actress in Peking Opera, accepted the award from Premier Zhou at the same time. At this show, she and the comrades attending the meeting watched the performances of 52 dramas. Greatly broadened the artistic horizons. In particular, Fan Ruijuan's performance of the Yue opera "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" gave Zhang Meiqin a lot of inspiration. After returning from the observation, she not only performed the Jin opera Xusheng drama and the old sheng drama, but also asked to perform the Xiaosheng drama. In "Peacock Southeast Flying", "Zhang Yu Boiling the Sea", "The Legend of Chunxiang" and other plays, Zhang Meiqin played xiaosheng, which achieved unexpected success. In 1954, the provincial opera performance, Zhang Meiqin and Hua Yanjun co-starred in the Jin opera "Ertang Shezi", won the first prize of the actor. In 1956, Zhang Meiqin personally went to North Korea to perform for the most lovely person, the Chinese Volunteer Army. Her plays such as "Hitting the Golden Branch", "Counting Grain", "Walking on the Snowy Mountain", and "Famen Temple" were warmly welcomed by our commanders and fighters.
In 1957, when she was actively pursuing artistic growth with enthusiasm, Zhang Meiqin was wrongly classified as a "rightist", which caused a painful setback to her political and artistic life. Despite this, she still works tirelessly, believing that sooner or later she will be understood and the unjust case will be rehabilitated, so like a spring silkworm, she adds luster to the stage of Jin opera.
Zhang Meiqin played the urgent son in "The Return of the Anxious Son". During the Spring and Autumn Period, Wei Xuangong's eldest son, Qianzi, was made crown prince, and he had already been engaged to Xuanjiang, the daughter of Duke Xi of Qi, and when he was ready to complete the marriage, Wei Xuangong saw that Xuanjiang was beautiful and kept him as his third wife, and he was afraid that his son Qianzi would be dissatisfied, and he demoted him to a foreign country. Eighteen years later, The Urgent Son returned, and there was a big section here that was very beautiful. After the anxious son finished singing a sentence, he went on a horse, sometimes riding the horse, sometimes pulling the horse, showing the contradictory mood of the anxious son who hesitated and wandered and his thoughts were disordered. Don't go into town, right? Already back, into town, right? I was afraid to see Xuan jiang, who was originally a wife, but now she wanted to be called an aunt... The singing voice stretches euphemistically, and it properly expresses the contradictory mood of the anxious son.
After the restoration of traditional drama, the problem of Zhang Meiqin's misclassification as "rightist" was corrected. It also rejuvenated her with artistic youth. In 1979, she returned to the stage and performed plays such as "Walking the Mountain", "Erjin Palace", and "Luhua River" for the audience; Although it has passed the age of flower nails, the style has not diminished in that year. Her performance of "Luhua River" concentrates the program of excellent traditional drama, so that the characters can impress the audience as soon as they appear, and each performance is warmly applauded by the audience. Zhang Meiqin also passed on this bone play to the young Xusheng Li Yuexian and Wang Qiuying, and also to the provincial drama school, the Lüliang Regional Art School, Liulin, Pingyao, Zuo Quan and other troupes to teach the skills to the students. In the teaching, one move at a time, orally, without reservation. That tireless spirit is praised.