Tong Zhiling Tong Zhiling (1922-1995), a Peking Opera Danjiao actor, she has a wide range of plays, is informal, delicate in her performance, and good at portraying characters. Her voice is sweet and feminine, her singing voice is full of emotion, she sings, with the "Xun Pai" as the basis, appropriately kneading the elegance and luxury of the "Mei Pai" and the subtle euphemism of the "Cheng Pai", delicate in the bold, dignified in the feminine, making people feel fresh and chic, unique. Her recitation is profound, full of emotions, rhythmic and touching. Her performances are informal, and she is good at combining the use of traditional techniques with the portrayal of characters to create a variety of women with different personalities. Her extraordinary versatility has always been praised by the world.
I studied the art of Mei Shi relatively late, but mei shi's high wind and bright character have long heard about it.
As everyone knows, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Mei Shi had a beard and a clear mind, preferring to endure poverty and sell paintings for a living, rather than perform under the iron heel of Japanese militarist aggression. Such a firm national integrity and patriotic spirit have set a very good example for our theater workers. During the Liberation War, when a million male divisions of the Chinese People's Liberation Army crossed the Yangtze River, the rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries was about to collapse. When the reactionaries fled, they intimidated Mei Shi and forced him to go to Taiwan, but Mei Shi sternly refused. With the help of the communist underground organization, he escaped the threat of the reactionaries and joined the people of Shanghai with the theater workers to welcome the liberation of Shanghai.
Mei Lanfang's "Life and Death Hate"
At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mei Shi participated in many performances to celebrate liberation and the founding of the Country, and as a cultural envoy of China, he went to Japan for exchange performances. When flying over Taiwan, Mei Shi and Jiang Miaoxiang and other comrades on the same plane agreed that if the reactionaries who fled in Taiwan dared to come to intercept them with planes, they should be prepared to sacrifice their lives and die in the line of duty. This spirit of awe-inspiring righteousness and fearlessness in the face of danger is truly profoundly moving. Throughout Meishi's life, it is a life with the people and the motherland. Never separated from the people, is the noble character of Master Mei.
MeiShi's art, like his noble character, is never separated from the people. His performing arts, without stopping, move forward with the times and the people, innovating with each passing day.
Meishi's work is heavy, and it is impossible to ask him to teach every student hand in hand. Students like me, who have a little stage experience, are taught by example. Under the guidance of Mei Shi, I repeatedly observed mei shi's excellent masterpieces such as "Xi Shi", "Guifei Drunk", "Dream of Visiting the Garden", "Cosmic Front", "Roselle", "Broken Bridge", "Horse Trader", "Mu Guiying Hanging Commander" and so on. Many comrades like to use grace and magnificence to describe Meishi's performance, and use grandeur to praise Meishi's singing voice. I think this is all right, but I also feel that I can't exhaust the superb performance art of Meishi. Later, some comrades said that Meishi's performing arts were "the embodiment of beauty", and I felt that I had found an appropriate summary and pertinent evaluation.
Mei Lanfang's "Xi Shi"
Among the artistic images created by Mei Shi, there are ordinary and kind girls such as Han Yuniang, Su San, and Du Liniang, there are Mulan who joined the army, Zhao Yanrong, who resisted the feudal oppression of the monarch, Mu Guiying, who was the commander to resist aggression, and even the heavenly daughter who scattered flowers, and the Luoshen who showed dreams, all of them had distinct personalities and were vivid, and their common point was: beauty.
Mei Shi's performance is beautiful, and every smile is a painting. The singing voice is beautiful, and the rich voice contains the clouds. It's hard to learn. But what I think is more difficult to learn is the charm and charm of Meishi's performing arts. The least learned and the most discussed by everyone was Mei Shi's performance of "Roselle". The central topic is "fairy qi" in Roselle. Some comrades said that among Master Mei's students, some of them learned every move and style of Mr. Mei in "Roselle". When performing, the one who should be sung sang, and the one who should be performed also performed, but the most important "fairy qi" is missing. The students referred to here, including me, I am one of those who lack "immortal qi".
"Immortal Qi" is very abstract to say, but it looks very concrete. Yes or no, you can see it. However, I think this is not an illusory and mysterious thing, just like the meaning of the words "bookish atmosphere" and "general demeanor", which refers to the temperament of the actor when performing the characters. The formation of temperament is not overnight, but it must be exercised and cultivated for a long time, and gradually formed. Mei Shi's "immortal qi" in "Roselle" performance is not only because he is familiar with Cao Zijian's poetry, but also the accumulation of his long-term literary poetry and painting cultivation. Meishi's ideological cultivation and artistic accomplishment are multifaceted. The "fairy qi" in his performance, temperament, is the embodiment of his multi-faceted diligent study, hard training, and long-term cultivation, and the charm and charm of performing arts are produced by temperament. Among them, the noble character who is always with the people is the cornerstone of temperament.
Meishi's ideological cultivation and artistic accomplishment are difficult to learn, but they are not unattainable. He often quoted Mr. Qi Baishi as saying: "Those who learn from me are born, and those who are like me die." "Encourage us not to limit our development when learning from him, but to have development and change until we surpass him."
Mei Lanfang's "Roselle"
On the day of commemorating the 20th anniversary of Mei Shi's death, I was deeply disturbed that I was going to the United States to perform and could not participate in the commemoration. But at this moment of commemoration, I established a motto to study Meishi hard - art is like character.
(Shanghai Drama, No. 5, 1981)