Tang Yunsheng, "South Ki, North Ma, Guanwai Tang" - among the three main schools of Peking Opera, he is known as the representative of the Northeast School. He is also known as the "Guanwai Hongsheng" because of his specialty in playing the role of Guan Gong.
At the age of nine, he entered the Pearly Gates
Tang Yunsheng was not originally surnamed Tang, but was a stage name, and his real name was Shi Binkui. Qing Guangxu 29 years (1903) the tenth day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar. Shi Binkui was born in Fuzhou City, a prosperous commercial district of Hedong Street, a large family. His ancestors belonged to the Manchu Eight Banners in the Red Banner, ancestral home in Shenyang. His grandfather was sent to Fujian as a young man and settled in Fuzhou after his retirement. His father, Shi Shoushen, was a scholar, and his mother, Lang Huilan, was a lady. This large family with the sign "Shenyang Shi Residence" hanging outside the door, living on official salaries, but also rich and comfortable. Little Bin Kui six years old into the private school has shown a clever talent.
Tang Yunsheng, a Peking Opera artist
There are times of trouble and misfortune. In that year, his father, Shi Shoushen, who was in his early forties, was suddenly stricken with an acute illness. He was unable to save himself and passed away. The Shi family was left without a backbone and moved out of the old house in debt, and since then the family has been in decline. 1911 Xinhai Revolution broke out, and the Shi family was cut off from the salary of the Qing court, which made it even more difficult and difficult. It was in this year that a troupe led by Tang Jingyun, an actor from Shanghai's Hebei Opera, came to Fuzhou to perform. After being introduced, Mr. and Mrs. Tang Jingyun and seven or eight other people stayed in the Shi family's boarded-up bungalow.
Lang Huilan, Tang Yunsheng's birth mother
Tang Jingyun and the others stayed at the Shi family home, where they fell in love with the witty and cute Xiao Bingui. Tang Jingyun was in his thirties at the time, and was a member of the "Yongshenghe" troupe in Baodi County, Hebei Province, specializing in martial arts and flower girls. They practiced daily in the guest house of the Shi family, which fascinated the young Bin Kui, who was only seven or eight years old; the activities of the troupe in the front and backstage of the tea garden (i.e., the theater) sowed the seeds of drama in his young mind. A year later, the Tang Family Class was going back to Shanghai, and before the trip, Tang Jingyun asked Binkui, "Are you willing to follow us to learn theater?" Bin Kui quickly replied, "I do!" In the end, Tang Jingyun convinced Bin Kui's mother and grandfather that the child was a great talent and would have a bright future. Tang and Shi two families signed the "eight years of apprenticeship, after the completion of the period can go home," the note. In this way, the nine-year-old Bin Kui said goodbye to his relatives and hometown, and the Tang family class came to Shanghai, and began a career in the pear orchard of the four seas.
The nine-year-old Bin Kui, with his clear eyebrows and sweet voice, was the favorite of Tang Jingyun and his wife. They taught him to practice, but also seek teachers and friends to ask famous artists to teach Bin Kui Peking Opera Lao Sheng opera. He was diligent and clever, and soon learned the Liu (Hongsheng) School's "Three Chopping and One Touching" repertoire, i.e., "Chopping the Yellow Robe," "Chopping Ma Su," "Chopping the Son at the Regulator Gate," and "Touching the Tablet," as well as the Wang (Xiaonong) School's "Zhang Song Offering a Map," "Splashing Water in Front of the Horse," "Fishing and Killing the Family," and other traditional Lao Sheng operas. His peers also praised Xiao Bin Kui. Mr. and Mrs. Tang decided to let Bin Kui try on the stage, and they specially made a set of child actor's clothes for him. The couple decided to give him a try on the stage, and they made him a set of costumes, which he wore, and he was really impressed!
In 1913, at the age of eleven, Shi Binkui appeared on the stage of Shanghai Tian Tian Toad as Yang Yanzhao in the play "Regulator". This child came on stage steadily, dressed in a remarkable costume, and immediately aroused the interest of the audience. After a few movements, he opened his mouth and sang "Suddenly I heard my old mother come outside the tent (ah-uh)", a series of silver bell-like childish sounds "hitting" the audience's ear drums, immediately winning a full house of applause. Little Bin Kui's "picking curtain theater" was a success, and for three days in a row, the theater was full of applause.
The master, Tang Jingyun, was overjoyed, and renamed Shi Binkui as "Tang Yunsheng" with the meaning of "sounding like a sheng pipe flute and xiao playing in unison with a melodious and rich flavor. From then on, the name became more and more popular in the opera world.
In 1916, at the age of fourteen, Tang Yunsheng traveled north with his teacher, learning and performing in Shandong, Hebei and the northeast. In the summer of that year, they went to Harbin to perform, and met with the famous Hebei opera actress Xi Caifeng and the opera actress Yue Mingzhu. These two prestigious artists were happy to perform with the fourteen-year-old Tang Yunsheng, who wore pigtails, which not only showed the love and care of the older artists for the newcomers, but also showed that Tang Yunsheng did have a certain strength at that time.
Harbin is a city with strong international characteristics, many people are very curious about the Beijing opera, and heard that a pigtailed handsome young man will play the old man with a mustache, its appetite naturally was raised, "Qingfeng Theater" for a time the attendance soared, and the market was crowded. On June 20 of that year, Harbin City, "Far East Newspaper" commented: "The port with the music tea garden because of the business slump ...... so special interest loans newly invited to the Kun famous role of a number of people, so the garden slightly improved. And Qingfeng Theatre Park this also does not invite new roles, especially the pure role of the park Tang Yunsheng, Xi Caifeng, Moon Pearl, etc., are to increase wages, so that the actors and so on for all the plays deliberately seek to work, and more invigorating spirit. Therefore, the comparison of the two gardens is still superior to Qingfeng." From this we can see that at the age of fourteen, Tang Yunsheng was already regarded as a "pure corner" and had already made his mark.
In 1919, Tang Yunsheng moved to Shanghai with his teacher. At this time, the Shanghai Tian Tian Stage had already expired its contract with the Peking opera singers Shang Xiaoyun and Tan Xiaopei (son of Tan Xinpei, the founder of the Tan School and one of the "Three Masters of the Old Masters"), who immediately invited Tang Yunsheng to continue their performances. At that time, the old Toad Stage had a collection of famous actors from all over the country, and the headliners were the Lao Sheng and the Wu Sheng Xiao Da Zi (real name Li Guichun. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, he was one of the "Five Dazi", the famous martial artist Yang Ruiting and the famous dancer Zhao Junyu, who was once known as "Mei Lanfang of the South", all appreciated the talent of Tang Yunsheng, who was less than 17 years old, and were willing to perform on the same stage with him. Tang Yunsheng's performances of "Li Ling Bei", "Regulus", "Hong Yang Dong", "Empty City", "Offering Xichuan" and "New Eighteen Tugs of War" and "Saving Mother by Meilian", performed in collaboration with Xiao Dazi, Yang Ruiting and other famous actors, were all very well received. At that time, Tang Yunsheng was honored with the title of "the most outstanding and famous actor" in the opera newspaper. Tang Yunsheng and others performed for two months and became popular, and after the contract expired, they helped out with a charity performance for five days. Tang Yunsheng into Shanghai, on the one hand, to the Shanghai audience left a good impression, for the future and then red Shanghai Bund laid the foundation, on the other hand is to get to know a lot of seniors and celebrities, in the art of the great benefit, so that the skills of a more mature up.
Since June 1919, Mr. and Mrs. Tang Jingyun led Tang Yunsheng northward to Dalian and Jilin, where they staged major plays such as "White Forced Palace," "Three Rivers, Crossing the Tiger City," and "Shepherd's Pass," etc. In August, their group arrived in Vladivostok (present-day Vladivostok, Russia) via Harbin. Tang Yunsheng debuted in the South Garden (Yongxian Tea Garden), with whom they worked with "big names". They included Zhang Yunqing, the male opera singer, Zhao Songqiao, and Gao Sankui, the martial arts veteran, etc. Tang Yunsheng performed the Liu Pai, the Liu Pai, the Liu Pai, and the Liu Pai. Tang Yunsheng in addition to performing Liu Pai, Wang Pai singing heavy drama, but also performed "Dingjunshan", "Pingyang Pass" and other martial arts Lao Sheng play, and with Zhao Songqiao co-starred in this play "Golden Whip". Zhao played the lead role of Hu Yanqing and Tang played Meng Qiang. In the performance of "Fa Men Temple - Pick Up Jade Bracelet", Tang Yunsheng made a big splash when she played the role of Liu Matchmaker, a colorful dancer. The matchmaker held a two-foot-long dry tobacco pouch, lit a fire and smoked, singing "This one goes to Sun's house, go ahead and set up a match" while running round the stage, while the tobacco pouch stick in the right hand on the middle finger turned as if it were flying, for several minutes without stopping. Matchmaker Liu's funny, witty, joyful and confident mood is expressed vividly. Every performance here, applause, shouts of applause. In fact, this Liu Matchmaker "play smoke bag", is the master Tang Jingyun personal transmission, he processed the embellishment, a thousand hammered and refined. This has also become a Tang Yunsheng a surprisingly good job, repeated performances. Tang Yunsheng and others performances, Vladivostok audience as a novelty, has maintained the momentum of continuous performances full. Because of the theater owner's repeated retention, they even lingered in this cold town for a year.
Tang Yunsheng as Yu Jianping in "Twelve Money Darts"
Tang Yunsheng has been away from his hometown for years, studying and performing. He misses his hometown and relatives all the time. In those years, he also took the time to go home for a few days to visit his grandfather and mother, but it is still difficult to solve the feeling of longing. That year, to the Tang, Shi two families signed the "eight years of apprenticeship can go home after the expiration of the note" to be honored, Tang Yunsheng's grandfather found Tang Jingyun, to take his grandson back to Fuzhou. Under the persuasion of Mr. and Mrs. Tang Jingyun, especially Tang Yunsheng's "determination to the art of Peking Opera, determination to the four seas as a home", the grandfather had no choice but to approve. On the night of the grandchildren's parting, Tang Yunsheng chose to sing a passage from "Si Lang Visits His Mother": "...... I am like the geese from the south that have lost their flock and flown apart, ...... I have the intention of going out of the pass to see my mother, but how can I not be far away in the sky. Thoughts of the old mother can not help but people liver ...... "for the old man to see off, expressed the feelings of nostalgia for loved ones, nostalgia for the hometown of the meaning. Tang Jingyun also formally accepted Tang Yunsheng as his son in front of the old man. Unfortunately, not long after, Tang Jingyun died in Dalian. Already adult Tang Yunsheng and his mother *** with the management of the troupe. He led the troupe to travel around the world and sold his skills to make ends meet.
The troupe sang in the north and the south
One night in the early winter of 1920, Tang Yunsheng was performing on the stage of the Dangui Tea Plantation in Jilin, and when he came to the last line of the song "Baqiao picking robes," his voice was suddenly hoarse, and he couldn't get his voice up to the high notes. Tang Yunsheng went into a "backward position", also known as "pouring his voice". The Pearland community likens an actor's voice to a granary filled with rice, and a hoarse voice during the period of voice change means that the granary has collapsed and people are starving. During this period of time, he could not sing and was very anxious. Righteous mother and the troupe of more than a dozen people's livelihood depends on him to sing in order to maintain the beam, when the voice can be restored? Thus, Tang Yunsheng, who was stubborn and regarded art as his life, was encouraged by his fellow troupe members and the owner of the tea plantation, and resolved to practice hard and shout out his voice. Early every morning, he jogged all the way to the North Mountain. At the foot of the mountain, he put on three-inch thick-soled boots, tied sandbags to his legs, and climbed up the rugged mountain road to the top. Then he squatted on the summit and began to shout his voice. He opened his mouth wide and breathed on the ice until the air flow made holes in the ice. At first he could not shout at all, but later he gradually got a little sound. He thus insisted on practicing his voice, practicing thick bottom work every day, and returned to the dormitory of the theater to drink some boiled water, eat a little nest, and then went on to practice the body, practicing martial arts. During this period, he learned from Zhou Kaiting, a former martial arts actor, the martial arts plays "Kill Four Doors", "Iron Cage Mountain", "Hundred Riders Robbing Wei Camp", "Chang Ban Po", "Eight Hammers", and "Collecting Guan Sheng", which is a play that combines both martial arts and literature. Two years later, Tang Yunsheng's voice was restored, not only is an outstanding actor, but also became an all-around actor by putting the Lao Sheng and the Wu Sheng, the big voice of the Xiao Sheng and can be reversed Lao Dan and color Dan. For a literary actor, in less than two years, to complete a nearly transformed transformation, do not have the perseverance and enlightenment beyond the ordinary, is almost inconceivable. This should also be considered as putting death before life!
Tang Yunsheng as a young man
During the period of "dumping", Tang Yunsheng became acquainted with Monk Wuche, the abbot of the Yuhuang Pavilion on the North Mountain in Jilin. He was a former actor in the Hebei Opera, but he converted to Buddhism halfway through his career. Wuche was a learned and talkative man, while Tang Yunsheng was wise and diligent. The two of them hated to meet each other, and were very much in love with each other, so they formed a friendship that lasted for years. Whenever Tang Yunsheng had time to spare, he would go to the Duo Yun Hall of the Jade Emperor Pavilion to pay a visit to Wuche. Every time they met, Wuche chatted and played games with them, sipping tea and discussing Zen, talking about poetry and paintings, discussing the past and present, evaluating novels, analyzing scripts, and exploring the secrets of the success of those renowned artists who had created their own artistic styles according to their own conditions.
Tang Yunsheng's career was mainly spent in Shanghai during the period from the Xinhai Revolution to the May Fourth Movement, when the Peking Opera reformers represented by Wang Xiaonong, Pan Yueqiao, Xia Yuerun, and Feng Zihe were active on the new stage in Shanghai, staging a large number of improved Peking Opera plays and fashionable new plays. Among the plays that he learned at the beginning of his career were Wang Xiaonong's masterpieces such as Offering a Map, Crying at the Temple of the Ancestors, and Splashing Water in Front of a Horse. The reformists proposed "attacking the shortcomings of the old opera and improving the status of opera", "reading simple books in addition to teaching opera every day, instilling common knowledge, stimulating patriotic fervor, and making sure that the personality is not inferior to that of a superior actor", "compiling new plays that are beneficial to the culture The advocates of "new plays that are beneficial to the culture", "changing customs", "developing people's wisdom", "calling back the soul of the motherland", etc., made a deep mark on the heart of Tang Yunsheng, who was new to the art world.
However, in Tang Yunsheng's young mind, ideas such as "democracy," "patriotism," and "improving the quality and status of artists" were just some hazy concepts. These ideas and propositions were just some hazy concepts. Under the impact of these new theatrical trends, Tang Yunsheng realized that he not only had to perform the traditional plays taught by others, but also had to develop his own performance characteristics, create his own special repertoire, and integrate the progressive ideas and propositions that he had received into his artistic practice, so that he could make a more useful contribution to his country and to the people. Under the guidance and assistance of Monk Wuche, Tang Yunsheng began to write the play "Stirring up Patriotic Fervor", which became a masterpiece of the Tang School. The plays that became masterpieces of the Tang School of Peking Opera, such as "Driving a Warrior General", "Zheng Bo Ke Duan", and "Deer Terrace Hatred", "Chen Shi Ce", and "Jie Long Ridge", were all written during this period.
Tang Yunsheng was not broken by the difficulty of "dumping", but made a qualitative leap in his art, which was inseparable from the love and guidance of monk Wucher. After two years of close interaction, their friendship is very strong. Whenever Tang Yunsheng performed in Jilin, he had to return to the Jade Emperor Pavilion to pay a visit to Wuche and to have a nightly talk with the senior who was his friend and mentor. Wucho, who was old, would come to the side of the stage every day to watch Tang Yunsheng's performances. When Tang Yunsheng was rehearsing a new play, Goucher would often sit beside him and give him advice. Their friendship lasted until 1945, when Wutcher passed away. The friendship between the two men was a great story in the opera world. At the same time, Tang Yunsheng realized that he could not sing well without culture. Therefore, in these days, he hungered for books, read books, and asked Mr. Lecture. He read "Sui and Tang Yuyi", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "Eastern Zhou Dynasty", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other novels with great interest, and set up the story of the book, the characters, presented on the stage of the grand wish. This laid the foundation for him to become a versatile actor and a brilliant playwright.
Tang Yunsheng in the "twelve real people fighting Prince" as Yin Jiao
Three years later, his voice became wide and bright and brittle, the back of the head sound **** sound is very strong, as if the voice of copper and iron throat in general, as a real loud bang shocked Qiankun kung fu voice; coupled with a long leaning, arrows clothes, a short fight in a solid martial arts, Tang Yunsheng, "transformed into a new body "At the beginning of 1922, at the age of twenty, Tang Yunsheng returned to the Jilin Tea Plantation to show his performance, which was a great success. In addition to the traditional Lao Sheng and Wu Sheng plays, he began to perform the "Li Guo Opera" that he co-wrote with Monk Wu Che. Among them, the play "Driving a Cart to Fight a General" was especially popular. The play is about the story of Duke Min of Song during the Spring and Autumn Period, who mocked the general Changwan of Nangong, and Changwan killed him in a drunken rage. Tang Yunsheng played the role of Nangong Changwan, combining the skills of Lao Sheng, Wu Sheng and Huafang in one furnace, emphasizing on literature and martial arts, and excelling in singing, acting, reciting and fighting, which made the audience refreshed and praised the play. Later on, this play became the favorite play of the Tang School.
In the spring of the same year, the Tang family class moved to the new stage in Harbin, and Tang Yunsheng's handsome costume and beautiful figure, which the audience praised as "pink-faced Nezha," was a big hit.
In March, the famous Hebei Opera actor Xiaoyuan Yuanhong (Wei Liansheng), who performed in the new stage, was killed by Yao Xijiu, the head of the hooligan gang, which aroused public indignation.
At the end of April, Tang Yunsheng, who was the best performer in the Hebei Opera, was killed by Yao Xijiu, the leader of the hooligan gang. In April, Tang Yunsheng stood up for justice and sent a letter to the Office of the Municipal Governor of the Special Region of the Three Eastern Provinces, accusing Yao Xijiu of the crime, together with Hebei Opera actress Hei Caifeng, and opera actors Yue Mingzhu and Jin Kaifang, who were also performing in Habu. A wave of denunciation spread throughout the country. Under the pressure of public opinion, the authorities were forced to imprison Yao Xijiu. This was the first victory of the young Tang Yunsheng's struggle for justice.
In 1923, the Tianxian First Stage invited the old actor Lao Sanmazi (Wang Hongshou), who was known to the world as "the living God of Guan," to perform in a sensational show in the city of Harbin, with the cooperation of Shang Heyu and Yang Ruiting. In the face of fierce competition from various theaters, the owner of the new stage thought hard and formulated the strategy of "using the young against the old". He casts the 21-year-old "pink-faced Nezha", Tang Yunsheng, in tandem with the 12-year-old Xiao Bao Yi (Cao Yibin), to take on the 73-year-old Pocky. The result was well received by the audience. Following the child actor Tang Yunsheng, Cao Yibin, Shi Yueming and other singing hit, a wave of "child actor fever" set off across the province of Heilongjiang. Since then, the thirteen-year-old Wu Sheng Li Wanchun, fourteen-year-old female Wu Sheng Wang Shaolu and so on stood out, creating a child actor in the Northeast Peking Opera stage occupies an important place in the situation.
In April 1925, the Tang Family Class came to Tianjin. At that time, in Beijing, if the famous singer intends to go to foreign performances to make money, must be the first way to Tianjin, only in Tianjin hit, can be popular in foreign ports; on the other hand, the nation's various famous actors want to Beijing to win the laurels, but also only in Tianjin first sang the red, only to be expected to stand in the capital. Tang Yunsheng is precisely for the future into Beijing, Shanghai, and even in the famous Peking Opera stage to occupy a place, only deliberately to here to try the front. In tianjin Guanghe building, he and zhang pingqing and others performed "five stars" "knife cleave three pass" "seven captured meng won" "horse trading" "red powder skeleton" "three rivers Yuehu city" "small king of the angry beheading yuji" as well as three to ten books "civet cat for the prince" and so on, the attendance is very good. 21 May, tang Yunsheng was invited to perform in the xinming theater with shang xiaoyun, yin jupeng. He was arranged to perform the Yang (Xiaolou) School's long leaning martial arts drama "Battle of Jizhou". He played Ma Chao handsome and powerful, the audience reported "full of good". 26 May, Mei Lanfang, Wang Fengqing in the Palace Cinema performance of "Daiyu burying the flowers", "Pauline Lamp" and other plays, Tang Yunsheng and get to observe and learn the heavenly gift of opportunity.
During this period, the May 30th Movement broke out in Shanghai, which shocked the whole world. Hearing the news that Shanghai workers and students were killed by the Great Powers, Tang Yunsheng was y moved by the patriotic spirit of the workers and students, and went around with his close friend Zhao Honglin. He and his close friend Zhao Honglin went around and invited the manager of Dongtianxian Tea Plantation and his colleagues in the Pear Garden, such as Li Heling, Deng Lifeng and Fresh Peony, to perform voluntary plays to raise funds for the striking workers.
In the second half of the year, Tang Yunsheng rented a house in Tianjin and settled her down in order to give her a relatively stable life. Although Tang Yunsheng did not study for several years, and did not formally sit in the science of art, but due to hard work, the art of diligence, good in a variety of conditions without interruption to learn the skills, learning culture, so its art of the rapid progress of the very people can not be reached. During the activities in Tianjin and Shanghai, he carefully observed the performances of famous artists of various schools, and at the same time, he also learned Yang Xiaolou's Iron Cage Mountain, Shang and Yu's Yan Yang Lou, Xiao Meng Qi's Fighting Yansong, and all the plays of Yue Fei's Legend of the Flying Yakko, Meilian Saving His Mother, and Eighteen Tugs of War, etc., and thus he drew rich nutrients from the Peking School and the Hai School of Art, and learned many superb skills. He has learned a lot of exquisite skills.
In 1927, after touring through Qingdao, Yantai, and Tianjin, the Tang Clan returned to the new stage in Harbin in the winter. The "Driving Warriors" was a hit, "Gan Xingba Hundred Riders Robbing the Wei Camp" became more and more popular, together with "The King of Xiaoba Angrily Beheading Yu Ji" and "False Zidu", which were performed for more than half a year.
In the summer of 1928, Tang Yunsheng married Zhao Huizhen at the behest of his righteous mother. Three months later, he married Guo Shuyun, whom he had met and fallen in love with. After returning to Tianjin, he began to perform with Liang Yiming and Meng Lijun at the newly built Tianhua Jing Theater on the fourth floor of Tianjin's Persuasion Square. After the performances, he concentrated on writing scripts. Soon after, his younger brother, Shi Binxian, came to look for him on his mother's orders. When Tang Yunsheng learned of his grandfather's death, he wept bitterly and decided to leave his brother with him to take care of the troupe's chores.
In 1929, Tang Yunsheng, together with Lei Xifu, Luo Lianxiang, Liang Yimou and Meng Lijun, performed at the Tianhua Jing Theater in "Driving Warrior Generals," "The Borrowing of Zhao Yun," "Collecting Guan Sheng," "Collecting Qin Ming," "The House of the Yang Yangs," and "Mountain of the Iron Cage," among others.
In the 1920s, Japanese imperialism stepped up its invasion and plundering of our country, and the anti-Japanese patriotic struggles such as boycotts of Japanese goods and strikes in our Northeast and North China regions became more and more intense. During the mobile performance, Tang Yunsheng witnessed Japan's behavior in all parts of China, y worried about the deepening national difficulties. In order to express his anti-Japanese and patriotic feelings, he decided to write a play based on the ancient myth of "Houyi Shooting the Sun", which was titled "Sweeping Away the Harm of the Sun". The play is about the ancient times when ten suns were in the sky, the harvest was scorched, making the people unable to survive; Hou Yi, the divine archer, shot down the nine suns bravely to get rid of the harm for the people, and assisted Emperor Yao to govern the world, and the people lived in peace and work happily and celebrated peace forever. After the script was drafted, Tang Yunsheng himself directed the play and played the main character Hou Yi. The play premiered on September 12, 1929 at the Tian Hua Jing Theatre, and ran for more than thirty performances, each of which was filled to capacity. The play used the vernacular as a metaphor for current events, which was very interesting, and the atmosphere on stage was very active. In "Shooting at the Sun", the protagonist angrily shouts, "If the Japanese are not eliminated, there will be no peace in the country!" He shouted out the heartfelt wishes of all the Chinese people. Every time Hou Yi shoots down a sun, the audience applauds thunderously. Tang Yunsheng's anti-Japanese patriotic feelings can be expressed everywhere, such as in the performance of the traditional drama "Prince in the Tomb", he also specially for the play of a small flower face of a number of boards added "boycott Japanese goods, return my Qingdao, resolutely opposed to the 21st Article! At the historical juncture when the country and the nation were in deep crisis, Tang Yunsheng consciously and automatically expressed the people's voices and called for justice through his creative and performance activities, showing a strong spirit of patriotism, which was very precious. During this period, he also staged "Zhang Guolao Becomes Married" and adapted "Three Invitations to Yao Period" and other plays.
The Tang Clan was invited by Zhou Xinfang's (Kirin Tong) troupe to perform together in Qingdao in the summer of 1930. Tang Yunsheng regarded the performance as a rare opportunity to learn from Mr. Zhou. The two of them and the headliner each sang their own masterpieces, such as Zhou performed "Against the Five Guan", "Hongmen Banquet", Tang performed "Deer Terrace Hate", "Driving Warriors", etc.; at the same time, also co-starred in the "Han Liu Bang", "Sweeping away the evils of the day", "The Eight Immortals get the road" and other stage plays. In terms of art and culture, Tang admired and respected Zhou. Zhou also appreciated Tang's talent. Mr. Zhou once said to Mr. Zhao Honglin: "On stage, Yunsheng has the ability to draw a hundred rivers into the East China Sea, and he is also good at painting, he is really a wizard." A few months later, Tang Yunsheng moved to Jinan to perform at the Juhua Theater. As the theater invited Zhou Xinfang, the two reunited and worked together for some time. Zhou's hit play was Xiao He Chasing Han Xin under the Moon; Tang boldly launched a new historical drama, Good Crane Losing Politics, in the same performance. Good" play about the Spring and Autumn period, Wei Yi Duke good crane into a fetish, generous convergence in the people, resulting in the invasion of the Northern Di, Yi Duke fled, loyal minister Hong Yan chase to save the story, Yi Duke died of the country's demise. In terms of artistic treatment, technique, and singing style, "The Loss of Politics by a Good Crane" fully demonstrates Tang Yunsheng's talent and charisma. In the first half of the play, when Hong acted to admonish Yi Gong in spite of his life and death, Tang designed a large section of wonderful singing performance; in the second half of the play, when Hong acted to chase Yi Gong, he utilized a series of difficult skills such as boots, beards, falls and other beautiful body dance movements. After watching the performance, Zhou Xinfang excitedly said to Tang Yunsheng: "My dear brother, you play this play well, the young man can become a climate in the future!" Famous playwright Weng Evenhong said in an article recalling the performance, "The same 'chase', singing and reading without any difference, and for a while there was a good story of 'Zhou chasing and Tang catching up'." See the performance of the audience in the city of Quan, have praised the "Xiao" "good" two plays with the same song, each perfect.
In the spring of 1932, Tang Yunsheng's group of more than 60 people went to Beiping (now Beijing) to perform at the Guangde Building. On the first day of the show, they performed "Driving a Warrior General", followed by "Good Crane Losing Politics", "The Little King's Rage Against Yu Ji", "Chen Shi Ce", "Jie Long Ling", and a few Guan Yu plays. Before the first performance, Tang Yunsheng specially instructed everyone: "We are a foreign river school, regardless of his Beijing school, the sea school or any other school, how we learn how to act, how to sing how to sing." The performance was a success. After a period of time, Yang Xiaolou, who was called the "Patriarch of Chinese Opera" and the "Great Master of Martial Arts", and his favorite disciple Li Wanchun, performed their own masterpieces in the Hualuo Park and Qingluo Park, which were adjacent to the Kwong Tak Building. In the face of severe challenges, Tang Yunsheng thought, first entered the capital with the famous Yang Xiaolou in the same ground to compete for a limited audience, once the performance "black", it will be a major setback on the way out, if you can stand firm in front of a generation of masters, then the road ahead will be good. He decisively adjusted the play according to the change of circumstances, and began to compete.
Tang Yunsheng's artistic portrayal of Guan Yu
Every Sunday, Yang Xiaolou performed "The Valley of the Altar" in Huale Park, Li Wanchun performed "The Mountain of the Iron Cage" in Qing Leyuan, and Tang Yunsheng performed "Nine Falsehoods of the Central Plains" in Guangde Building. Three plays although different names, all play the same hero Jiang Wei, are Wu Jing, Wu Sheng two hold the long leaning theater. Three famous artists competing to offer, arousing great interest in the capital theater fans, they take turns to watch, to see who is long and who is short, who is higher and who is lower, the result is that the three theaters are full at the same time. Tang Yunsheng became famous in the capital.
In the summer of 1932, the owner of the ****yi stage in Fengtian (today's Shenyang), Mr. He Yuping, went to Beijing to invite Tang Yunsheng. Because Japan has turned the Northeast into a pseudo-Manchukuo, set up barriers at all the fortresses, "transit" of the Chinese people were heavily scrutinized. Tang troupe disembarked at the pier in Yingkou, because the Japanese army found Tang Yunsheng's "sweeping away the Japanese" script, and see which is clearly written "Japan is not removed, the country will have no peace," and other words, and immediately put the actors, follow the bag and so on more than a dozen people pressed to the ground, tied up. Because Tang Yunsheng from Tianjin by train to Fengtian, was spared. After interrogation, when the enemy realized that the playwright was not among them, they escorted the troupe to the police station, and at the same time reported to the relevant parties to come to Fengtian quickly to arrest Tang Yunsheng.
Hearing the news of the incident at the Yingkou dock and the news that they were coming to Fengtian to arrest him, Tang Yunsheng said that the Japanese had not wronged me when they said that I was anti-Manchu and anti-Japanese. I wrote "sweep away the Japanese", is aimed at the Japanese, as long as the brothers in Yingkou from the accident, I am not afraid of anything Tang Yunsheng. I bite the play is an ancient mythological story, see what he can do to me. In front of the threat of imprisonment and death. Tang Yunsheng's performance of righteousness and noble national integrity, so that **** benefit stage boss He Yupeng heartfelt admiration, but also for Tang Yunsheng's fate to worry about. After some persuasion, in the case of the boss promised to immediately trust someone to go to Yingkou to ease the joints, Tang Yunsheng to the north market of the Tiancheng hostel to hide. 1932, the end of the year, by the He Yupeng some good offices, Tang Troupe personnel were finally released on bail, but the Japanese authorities to make all of them to leave the country, Tang Troupe personnel to return to Tianjin on the boat, the personnel scattered, the troupe disintegrated, Tang Yunsheng still stay in Shenyang. After the Yingkou storm gradually subsided, Tang Yunsheng and **** Yi stage team to cooperate in public performances of his new play "haunted by the dog", "two sons in a boat". These two plays are Tang Yunsheng in Shenyang to escape the Japanese and pseudo authorities during the pursuit of the generous and tragic patriotic plays. The play of "The Duke of Jin," (renamed "The Duke of Jin Strikes the Dogs" during the performance) is about the story of the Duke of Jin, who kept mastiffs to hurt people recklessly during the Spring and Autumn Period, and was admonished by the Secretary of State, Zhao Dun, and instead of listening to his advice, the Duke of Jin let the dogs hurt people, and then Dun fought against the dogs, and his sons, Zhao Shuo and Zhao Wear, killed the Duke of Jin to save his father's life. At the premiere of this play, Tang Yunsheng played Zhao Dun. In the "Pouncing Dogs" scene, his left hand lifted the python to catch the belt, his right hand held the jade kyu, foot on the three and a half inch thick-soled boots, in the gongs and drums, "five hammers" sound with a small tendency to walk half a circle, kneeling in front of the Lord of the Spirit's driving; suddenly saw the mastiff pouncing on him, he backed up on one leg and fell down! "ass sit" mastiff chasing dog bite, he walked on the ground even three "big roll", python, belt, gauze hat wings, beard, water sleeves, Yu Gui with the flip, not a mess. This big section of singing, dancing, fighting with mastiffs, doing handsome and beautiful, showing extraordinary skills, so the show was warmly welcomed. Since then, when Tang Yunsheng went to perform in various places, he often used this play as a cannon, thus becoming one of his masterpieces. In the Spring and Autumn period, the father of Duke Xuan of Wei took his son's wife, Xuan Jiang, as his consort, and gave birth to Duke Shuo and Shou. Sixteen years later, Duke Shuo planned to intercept and kill the son, Shou heard, in the boat will be anxious son drunk, on behalf of his brother to death, anxious son woke up in a hurry to catch up with Shou also for Shuo killed the story. The play was performed in 1933 in Shenyang ****yi stage after a strong reaction, known as "Shakespeare's four tragedies of classical Chinese tragedy".
Tang Yunsheng in Shenyang ****yi stage was very popular, he left ****yi, He Yuyi often asked him to "****yi" to play some days. Later, He Yupeng simply listed Tang as one of the shareholders of the ****yi stage. Soon, Tang Yunsheng to Shenyang ****yi stage as a base, traveling around the northeast performances.
After a period of performance in Shenyang ****yi stage, in order to avoid scrutiny by the Japanese authorities, Tang Yunsheng "sweeping away the Japanese harm" renamed "Yao, Shun Yu Tang Jian", and brought to continue to perform, and even directly to the pseudo-Manchu capital of the "new capital" (i.e., Changchun) to perform. At the same time, it continued to process, refine, and stage such patriotic and passionate specialties as "Good Crane Losing Politics", "The Dynastic Pouncing Dogs", "The Driving Generals", "Sword Splitting the Three Passes", "The Two Sons Riding in a Boat", "Zheng Bo Keduan", "Deer Terrace Hate", "Chen Shicai", "The Jiedong Mountain", and so on. And began to create a series of Guan Gong plays, such as "Trapped in Tushan", "Chopping Hua Xiong", "Chopping Yan Liang", "Giving Robes to Horses", "Passing the Five Passes", "Ancient City Meeting", "Hanjin Kou", "Huarong Road", "Battle of Changsha", "Scraping Bones and Healing Poison" and "Walking on Wheat City".
Tang Yunsheng was called a living Guan Gong by the audience
"Picking the essence of flowers, brewing the nectar of our own family." This is a couplet given to Tang Yunsheng by Mr. Huang Yunfu, a Peking Opera artist known as the "Living Cao Cao," when he was a young boy in Shanghai. In more than fifty years of artistic career, this couplet is both Tang Yunsheng's motto and a true reflection of his pioneering spirit. The nectar of Tang School art is precisely "brewed" on the basis of "the essence of flowers" created by the predecessors and contemporaries. Tang Yunsheng's Guan Yu Opera has formed its own style by combining the strengths of various schools and giving full play to its own advantages. He processes and adapts Guan Yu's plays, first of all, from strengthening the reasonableness of the storyline and improving the ideology and literature of the script. For example, when he processed The Meeting of the Ancient City. Based on the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he deleted the section of "Liu Bei's Discipline". Because the setting of this episode was totally unreasonable, he replaced it with the two sisters-in-law to persuade Zhang Fei. He also made necessary changes to the opera's lyrics. For example, the last line of the song [Xipi Erliu] sung by Guan Yu when he first met Zhang Fei at the bottom of the city was changed from the original "Brothers are at odds in the present day" to "Liu Guan and Zhang, though of different surnames, are better than compatriots. Comparing the two, the latter naturally matches the mood of the main character, Guan Yu, at this moment. Tang Yunsheng's adaptation of "Guan Yu praises Diaochan under the moon," in particular, fully reflects his boldness and innovation