Li Shaochun visited Yu Shuyan
In October 1938, Yu Shuyan took Li Shaochun as an apprentice and taught him a play of "Zhan Taiping", which was sung equally.
When Yu Shuyan received Li Shaochun, he agreed that if he had not personally taught literary drama, he could not perform it. Yu Shuyan also hoped that Li Shaochun would stop performing, concentrate on learning drama with himself, and then perform after fully learning. Yu Shuyan also made some demands on Li Shaochun: for example, do not perform monkey dramas again, because Li Shaochun's monkey plays have the shadow of the Haipai; for example, Wusheng dramas must be performed according to the Beijing school.
But the reality made Li Shaochun unable to listen to Master's words. Li Shaochun is the "rice bowl" of the Li family, how can he stop performing and acting with Master? Not only to perform, but also to consider the effect of commercial performances. Therefore, the monkey play is also a must-perform.
In this way, the criticism and controversy of the outside world, coupled with Li Shaochun's inability to do as Yu Shuyan asked, after teaching several plays, Yu Shuyan did not continue to teach him.
At that time, the critics of the drama community continued to hear criticism of Li Shaochun. In 1939, the "Ten Days Drama" published an article entitled "Li Shaochun Can Not Be "Finished"": Since he intends to throw himself into the arms of the Jing Dynasty school, he should completely wash away the color of the Hai school. Otherwise, "one more crime will be charged with destroying the Jing Dynasty faction."
Wang Anqi wrote in "The Reproduction of the Style of Life: On the Three Masters and Apprentices of Yu Shuyan, Meng Xiaodong and Li Shaochun":
Li Shaochun failed to follow the teacher's regulations to suspend the outside performance, while learning and acting, intermittently, even the monkey play is still on the stage, and in the performance of excessive commercial considerations, when he performed in Tianjin, he posted "Lost Space Chop", the poster read "Yu Shuyan personally taught", which made Yu Shuyan very unhappy. He also secretly posted a copy of "Hongyang Cave" that Master taught Meng Xiaodong and only allowed him to listen to, which violated the taboo of the Master's Door. Yu Shuyan taught according to his aptitude, stipulating that the two could observe each other, but could not play each other's plays. Li Shaochun's approach disappointed Yu Shuyan, and later Li Shaochun gradually did not dare to go to master's door.
Many years later, some people commented that Li Shaochun's art was influenced by the "director center" drama theory, and gradually deviated from the spirit of the original traditional performance system of the Yu school, too "portraying characters" and losing the true characteristics of "horns".
Fan Shiren published an article in the 1947 "Half Moon Drama": "I advise Li Shaochun to sing martial arts in a disciplined manner, and not to be good at both literature and martial arts on the surface, but in his bones he is not literate and unarmed." The article reads:
No matter what you learn, it is of course best to be knowledgeable, otherwise it is better to seek refinement than to be knowledgeable, and the way to seek refinement is to care about specialization, the same qualifications, special research is better than ordinary in any case, and the same is true for singing.
Li Shaochun was a martial arts student since elementary school, because he had a voice, so he later also studied both wen and martial arts, and he also worshiped the late famous Yu Shuyan as a teacher, acting both martial arts and performing literature, but in his bones, Wen was neither martial nor different, which made him very embarrassed.
Wusheng and Laosheng are two types that are absolutely different, Laosheng and have the distinction of Wen and Wu, Wulaosheng seems to be somewhat similar to Wusheng, and if Wenlaosheng "Susheng" is compared with Wusheng, it is really impossible to find the slightest similarity. Every movement of the martial artist must be remarkable and full of strength. Acting in lao sheng drama, even if The Wu Lao Sheng drama is like Hua Yun in "Zhan Taiping" and Huang Zhong in "Dingjun Mountain", it is a martial arts drama, but the action "strength" is completely different, and the "strength" made by Wu Laosheng should be stored and not revealed, and the martial arts should be literary, but it also has to have strength, and the most taboo is to be pretentious and pretend to be Sven. The difficulty of acting in the drama of the habitual martial arts and wanting to change or perform the old drama is difficult here, and if it comes to singing, it is even more difficult!
Fan Shiren devoted his life to the study of Yu school art. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he held the "Aerial Peking Opera Lecture" on the radio station in Shanghai, broadcasting the art of Yu Pai Laosheng in prime time every night, and then launched the Peking Opera Singing Grand Prix. This was the first of its kind at the time and was a sensation.
In his later years, Fan Shiren had a unique experience in learning from the Yu School, emphasizing "learning the Yu Method", that is, refining Yu Shuyan's records such as the Linshu Sacred Fa Ti. He said: "Although Yu Yitian is created in the same body as nature, and there is no trace of artificial axe chiseling, after careful analysis, its connotation is dotted with dots, all of which are in line with scientific principles." In short: one is the rhyme, the second is the tune, the third is the emotion, and the fourth is the sound. That's just four. He believes that the true meaning and charm of Yu Pai art lies in this.
Li Shaochun", "Playing gold bricks"
However, while conservatives concentrated their firepower on criticizing Li Shaochun, there were also praises. On October 18, 1941, Wu Xiaoru's article "Yumen disciple Li Shaochun should perform more old student dramas" was published in the "Li Yan Pictorial Journal". The article says:
The last time Li Shaochun came to Tianjin, he played "Playing Gold Bricks" once. Later, it was reported that Hefei Shishuyan personally taught it, and would no longer sing in the future. This time in Tianjin, this drama was staged again, but in Beijing, it did not dare to show it, because Shu Yan had something to say. Although "Playing Gold Bricks" is not taught by Shu Yan himself (referring to the fold of "The Bound Son on the Temple", it is known to the non-Yu sect as soon as he hears it), but after all, it is still an old drama. In the process of running the dock, Shaochun has performed many old student plays, and these old student plays may not be "Yu Shuyan personally taught", such as "Visiting Mother" and "Lost Street Pavilion". However, even if it is not "personally taught", in order not to look at it, each play can always play a seventy or eighty points. It is not necessary to have no foot view without being taught by the teacher himself. In other words, as long as it is an old drama, especially a Yu Pai drama, it can be performed even if it is not personally taught; however, non-Yu Pai drama can also be performed in any case? I don't.
Li Shaochun,"Wild Boar Forest"
After the founding of New China, Li Shaochun created an artistic path of "having both culture and martial arts and integrating culture and martial arts", leaving behind for posterity such outstanding repertoire as "Wild Boar Forest", "Legend of Xiangma", "Playing Gold Bricks", "Yunluo Mountain", "Hundred Battles and Xingtang", "Manjiang Hong", "Tiger Fu Saves Zhao", "Song Jingshi", etc., and became the first person to "push the art of Peking Opera vocal cavity into the process of modernization", and pioneered modern plays with far-reaching influence such as "White Haired Girl", "Red Lantern Record", "Lin Hai Snow Field", "Keshan Red Sun" and so on.