Photo courtesy of Shandong Peking Opera Theatre
The modern Peking Opera “Swallow Wing Hall” created by the Peking Opera Company of Shandong Province is a generous, tragic, and moving excellent repertoire. “The strong Yanyitang, the ashes of the phoenix. The love has remained unchanged for a hundred years, and the grass and trees have been fragrant.” The play presents the real historical events and character creation, the national justice of destroying the family and saving the family, the squire’s spirit of the floating house and the sangxing, A loyal and moving image, as well as the passionate and hearty and vivid interpretation of modern Peking Opera, moved the audience.
Destroy the family and save the hardship, for the sake of the nation and for the children and grandchildren
Yanyitang is an ancient famous family in Yimeng area, with a long history of farming and reading. Yanyitang is a red family. Under the influence of the May Fourth Movement, Liu Xiaopu and Liu Yimeng resolutely raised the torch of Marxism-Leninism. More than 20 descendants of Yanyi Church participated in the revolution, went through fire and water for the country and the nation, and sacrificed their lives for 7 martyrs. The destruction of a family, the rebirth of a nation. When the nation is in crisis, for the sake of a better tomorrow, the Yanyitang Liu family “would rather be broken than broken, destroyed their homes, perished with their enemies, and lived with their relatives in the world“.
“Yanyitang” takes the fate of the Liu family as the main line, closely follows the legendary experience of “self-destruction of the homeland, perishing with the enemy, and floating in the world with relatives”, unfolding the plot and shaping the characters. There are 5 scenes in the whole play, interlocking and progressive, focusing on the most significant historical nodes in the history of Yan Yitang’s family: 1931, Liu Xiaopu and Liu Yimeng’s sacrifice of the floating house; 1937, Liu The family’s descendants, Liu Zengyun, Liu Zengyi and others, joined the anti-Japanese war; in 1941, Liu Zengyun’s heroic sacrifice and Liu Hepu’s refusal to use the Japanese to destroy the family were rescued. The whole play takes 1941 as an important time point, and uses 3 scenes to splendidly interpret the core event of Yanyitang’s descendants destroying their family and making the country.
The last “destroy the family” is the climax of the whole plot and emotion, and it is also the most vivid stroke in shaping the image of the Liu family. In the face of national and family disasters, Liu Hepu decided to destroy the family, but Liu’s mother refused the escape plan arranged by her son and chose to die together without hesitation. Liu Hepu, his mother, and the descendants of the Liu family, Liu Xiaopu, Liu Yimeng, Liu Zengyun, and Liu Zengyi, who emerged along with the music, jointly completed the impassioned and majestic core singing—the sextet: “It is difficult to pass on the inheritance of farming and reading, and it is safe to burn jade and stone. To help the nation and the descendants from ruining their families, they will also be loyal and full of valour.” They defend their dignity, destroy their families and rescue their families, and are reborn from the ashes, looking forward to the early arrival of a new world where “every mountain is red and full of new beauty”. .
A loyal, full of blood, tragic and moving
“Yan Yitang” concentrated on depicting the loyal and fierce images of Liu Hepu, Liu Gao’s, Liu Xiaopu, Liu Yimeng, Liu Zengyun, and Liu Zengyi. Even the servant Zhuang Dun, when he mistakenly thought that the master accepted the appointment of the Japanese to be the president of the Taishan Road Maintenance Association, even scolded Liu Hepu face to face and asked for an explanation. Living in Yanyitang, the righteousness of the nation and the feelings of family and country are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Of course, Liu Hepu is the loyal and fierce image created by the play. He is the spiritual representative of the Yan Yitang family and the central figure throughout the play. Such an enlightened squire, who originally only wanted to cultivate and study his family, but did not care about world affairs, has repeatedly tolerated the Kuomintang and the Japanese, and he has been able to hide if he can. The whole play clearly shows Liu Hepu’s major change from swallowing his voice and protecting his family and business, to taking the case and destroying his family. He resolutely fought against the Japanese aggressors and reactionaries to the end, and his feat of destroying his family and helping the hardships, shocking the world and crying ghosts and gods, demonstrated the lofty and stalwart of Yimeng people. In Liu Hepu’s image, the righteousness of the nation, the feelings of the family and the country, the squire’s character, the integrity of the personality, and the red inspiration constitute the background of his spirit.
There is an important plot in the play “Swallow Wing Hall” that runs through the whole play – “Floating House”. In the first scene of the repertoire, the Liu family welcomed the return of Liu Xiaopu and Liu Yimeng with joy, but two coffins and bloody clothes were waiting for them. The “floating house” was originally a funeral custom. The guest died in a foreign land and could not be buried. The coffin was covered, and the four corners were raised, three inches above the ground, without covering the earth and stones. Liu Xiaopu’s uncle and nephew died for the revolution. If the revolution fails, they will never be buried in the ground. The “floating house” is endowed with a special symbolic meaning. Every scene in the whole play has a plot involving “floating house”. Liu Hepu and his mother destroyed their home and died. They regarded Yan Yitang as “like a big floating house” and hoped that Yanyitang’s descendants would sacrifice their lives in exchange for the early arrival of “that day”. “Floating House” obviously constitutes the symbolic main line of the whole play, and has become an important ink pen to promote the development of the plot and shape the character of the characters.
Red repertoire, highlighting the demeanor of famous Peking Opera troupes
The generous and tragic “Swallow Wings Hall” has been performed passionately and heartily by modern Peking Opera and opened and closed, demonstrating the creative strength and artistic style of the Peking Opera House of Shandong Province.
As an excellent red play, “Swallow Wing Hall” has been revised several times. In 2021, when the author watched it in Jinan, the play was already quite large. I saw the new version recently, and it has been modified and improved in almost all directions. The script has cut some branches and vines, making it more lively and smooth, highlighting the main line of Liu Hepu’s plot from swallowing his voice to fighting to the death, strengthening the tragic scene of destroying his family and defending his dignity, and optimizing the symbolic meaning of the “floating house” plot in the whole play, newly written The key arias of major figures such as Liu Hepu, Liu Zengyun and Liu Gao are included. The director further digs into key events such as “Floating House” and “Destruction of Home”, which strengthens the shaping and emotional rendering of characters such as Liu Hepu and Liu Gao. In terms of singing music, it adheres to the Beijing opera style and incorporates modern elements. There are a lot of distinctive solos and duets in the play, especially the last sextet of Liu Hepu and his mother, which has strong artistic expression and appeal. The new version has also made new adjustments in the choreography. The quaint architecture has established an image monument, and the heavy and gray tone creates the mellow, awe-inspiring and character of Yanyitang. The major improvement of the new version of “Yan Yi Tang” provides a successful experience for the creation of modern Peking Opera with red themes.
The actors in the new version of “Yan Yitang” are also very powerful, especially the main actors who play the roles of Liu Hepu, Liu Zengyun and Liu Gao’s. Shandong Peking Opera Company is a national key Peking Opera troupe. It has created modern Peking Operas such as “The Raid on the White Tiger Troupe”, “Hongyungang” (“Sister-in-law”), “Railway Guerrilla” and “Shilongwan” and other outstanding red plays. The theme of revolutionary history has always been Highlights and highlights of their creations. Jiang Qingpeng, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the Shandong Peking Opera Theatre, introduced that Shandong is a fertile ground for revolution. Many heroic figures and events emerged during the Revolutionary War. “Swallow Wing Hall” is a specific action for the whole hospital to pay tribute to the centenary of the founding of the party and to welcome the victory of the party’s 20th National Congress.
(Consultant of the Chinese Dramatists Association, President of the Modern Chinese Opera Research Association Ji Guoping）
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责编：张诗奇 ]