Memory | Yao Xijuan: Recalling the Bits of “Dream of Red Mansions” Art FestivalFly into the homes of ordinary people
Backstage group photo at Harbin “Dream of Red Mansions” Art Festival in 1986,From right to left: Yao Xijuan, Huang Zongjiang, Luo Yusheng, Lin Moyu
On the evening of April 20, 1986, the recording work of the 5-month novel “A Dream of Red Mansions” was completed in Guangzhou and will be officially launched. I was very nervous. Although I listened to and revised it every day at the time of the recording, I was afraid to listen to it when it was officially launched. I didn’t dare to hope for success, I just wanted to be less scolded, everyone wished me “great success”, and I just recited in my heart: “Amitabha!”
On June 13, I got up at 5:30 in the morning, rushed to the airport, boarded the plane bound for the ice city of Harbin, and was invited to participate in the “Dream of Red Mansions” Art Festival, where the unprecedented “Dream of Red Mansions Symposium” was being held there. The program I participated in the performance was the seventy-seventh excerpt from “A Dream of Red Mansions”, which was the first stage recitation of “Baoyu Exploring Qingwen”.
Reciting “Baoyu’s Quest for Qingwen”
Before I went, it was time to move, and my hands and feet were swollen. It took more than 4 hours to fly from Guangzhou to Harbin, and another 2 hours to enter the city by car. I was very tired. When I just arrived at the Overseas Chinese Hotel where I stayed, I was a little “panicked” when faced with the sudden interviews of several reporters. At 8 o’clock that night, the sky was still bright and bright. After participating in the activities of the conference, I went back to the hotel to rest. When I woke up, the sky was already clear, I looked at my watch, it was only 4:00 in the morning, and I felt curiously the taste of “white night”. Harbin’s summer is not as cool as I imagined, it may be to deal with the long winter, the doors and windows of the hotel are thick, but there are no mosquitoes, and the running water is cool…
At the dinner of the opening ceremony, I finally met Mr. Chen Yuzhen, Jiang Hesen, Hu Wenbin, etc., whom I have admired for a long time. , Hu Xiaowei meet again, we are partners who have been working closely for several months.
Because of the performance, I got to know Mr. Luo Yusheng, a famous quyi artist, Zhang Rujun and Liu Yunruo, a famous Pingtan artist, and my peers, Hua Wenyi and Yue Meiti, a famous Kunqu Opera artist, Mr. Wei Shaochang, a Shanghai red scholar, and Mr. Huang Zongjiang, a famous film artist. Mr. Huang Zongjiang is a man of temperament, laughing, “lively and naughty”. He acted as the announcer for the performance. He went on stage without makeup, and after drinking a glass of beer, his cheeks suddenly turned red. During the intermission, I fainted from the alcohol on my face, so I dipped a glass of beer again, and went on the field with a peach blossom face! Mr. Luo Yusheng is small in stature, but her voice is broad and eloquent, and her charm is like a century-old wine, which makes people intoxicated. Later, she went to Hong Kong to perform, passing through Guangzhou, and came to sit in a humble house. When I asked her the secret of vocalization in person, she gently called me closer, opened her mouth to show me her throat, and asked if I might see the small tongue in her throat. Oh, it turns out that the small hanging bell that everyone has, can’t be seen in her throat, this is her unusual talent!
The play “A Dream in the Garden” was performed in Hong Kong.Right to left:Tan Yaozhong Yao Xijuan Bai Xianyong Hua Wenyi Wang Fengyan
I never imagined that Hua Wenyi and Hua Wenyi would renew their relationship in 1988, and together they were invited by the Guangzhou Repertory Theatre to perform Mr. Bai Xianyong’s play “A Dream in the Garden”. She is beautiful, sincere and straightforward, and the two met again in Shanghai when they were 70 years old. Yue Meiti has also met many times. She is stable, showy, and talented. She once gave me two ways to read the rhyme in the play at the backstage of the Yangtze River Theater: “This song should only be found in the sky, and how many times should I hear it in the world?” I don’t know. Teacher Yue, do you still remember my old student? Mr. Wei Shaochang is affectionately called “Uncle Wei” by the younger generation in Shanghai Kunqu Opera. He has a wide range of friends and is knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Not only does he often send books to me, but every time I go to Shanghai, he has to be the host, so I have the opportunity to meet Mr. Zhang Rujun and Liu Yunruo again. I remember one time Wei Laozhuan invited Yan Fengying’s husband to have dinner together. Yan Fengying is a master I admire, and her misfortune makes me extremely sad. I was in a trance in the seat, as if in a dream, I avoided talking about her, but her figure was all in my mind…
Back to the topic, there were two performances on the evening of the 16th and 17th. The weather was very hot, and there were no fans in the venue, but the hearts of the audience in Bingcheng seemed to be even hotter. Standing on the huge stadium stage with gratitude and humility, I bowed to the audience from front to back, left and right, thanking them for their encouragement and giving me the confidence to keep this new work.
Group photo in 2011, from right to left:Yao Xijuan Wang Junan Hua Wenyi Jin Jing
On the morning of the 17th, after visiting the “Dream of Red Mansions” exposition, I went to the Friendship Palace. That’s where the “International Symposium on Dreams of Red Mansions” was held, and I wanted to perform for experts who didn’t go to the theater and listen to their opinions. There were red scholars from China, the United States, Japan, France, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the audience. We were immersed in the scene described by Cao Gong, and we shed tears of sympathy for Qingwen’s tragic fate. They inquired about the tapes one after another, and actively offered ideas to make “A Dream of Red Mansions” fly to the world with the wings of sound. I listened to their speech quietly, the corners of my eyes moist. After the performance, I also met with Mr. Zhou Ruchang, a red scholar, and the harvest was very fruitful.
Before leaving Harbin on the 18th, the weather suddenly turned cold, with light rain falling, like a burst of autumn! I enjoyed the coolness comfortably, and finally experienced the refreshing comfort of Harbin’s summer! (Yao Xijuan)
