Zhang Youlin: From "I'm afraid you will" to "I'm afraid you won't"
【Approaching the artist】
Nearly 70 years old, he is the successor of Peking Opera's "Zhang School" Wusheng and the representative inheritor of Peking Opera, a national intangible cultural heritage project. He has fully inherited his father Zhang Shilin's representative plays "Golden Winged Dapeng", "Ma Chao", "Wusong" and "Yandang Mountain", and has continued to carry forward the "Zhang School" art in the inheritance. His apprentices and students spread all over the country in theater troupes and colleges. He maintained his original intention on the road of inheritance and moved forward firmly.
A few days ago, "There is a play here - a special performance of outstanding young actors of the National Peking Opera Theater" was held at the Mei Lanfang Grand Theater. The representative work of Peking Opera martial artist Zhang Youlin and the classic drama "Battle in Jizhou Earning Licheng" was put on the stage. The wonderful performances of Wang Yuzhou, Song Yalong and other actors from the three groups of the theater won the whole house.
In this performance, there is a moving behind-the-scenes story. Wang Yuzhou, a young martial artist who plays Ma Chao, completed the performance with injuries.
In a rehearsal just before the performance, Wang Yuzhou sprained his foot while stepping on a crack in the carpet. At that time, his ankle was swollen into a "bun".
But he didn't give up training, let alone performing.
When he returned to the backstage after an excellent performance, his clothes were soaked with sweat, and when he sat down and tried to get up again, it was difficult for his feet to stand still.
"The show is bigger than the sky, and Yuzhou has done it." Due to the impact of the epidemic, Zhang Youlin, the instructor of "Famous Family Drama" had to wait anxiously in the hotel for the result of this performance. When he received the message from Wang Yuzhou and During the live video, Zhang Youlin's hanging heart finally fell to the ground.
"Wusheng is not uninjured." Zhang Youlin knew that Wusheng was not easy. Not only did he have numerous minor injuries, he also suffered a major injury.
Zhang Youlin was born in an aristocratic family in Liyuan. His father, Zhang Shilin, was a famous Peking Opera martial artist and the founder of the "Zhang School" martial arts art. His mother, Ren Cuiqing, was the famous Tsing Yi.
As the only son in the family, his parents do not want their children to take this hard road again, but Zhang Youlin, who has been immersed in Peking Opera culture since childhood, has a natural yearning for the stage. You, you do it."
"Until I was in my 30s, I had already achieved some achievements. I won the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award. I made a little mistake in the performance and I was beaten when I stepped down from the stage, but I am still grateful to my father for his strictness." The "beating" did not scare Zhang Youlin away. No amount of setbacks could stop him from persevering in singing.
In 1988, at the National Peking Opera New Repertory Performance, Zhang Youlin won the Outstanding Performance Award for his masterpiece "Golden Winged Dapeng".
That day, the sutures of the surgical knife on the forehead of the young Zhang Youlin had just been removed, and the shattered cheekbones had not yet healed. a little tighter."
During the performance, ambulances and medical staff were standing outside the theater. Fortunately, the performance was successfully completed.
The play is bigger than the sky.
This is a vivid interpretation of Zhang Youlin's actions.
From the teacher's "serious injury can't be on the line of fire" to the student's appearance on stage with injuries, on the one hand, it reflects the inheritance of the show's professionalism, and on the other hand, it also reflects the cruelty of the performing arts industry.
"Beijing Opera is the art of acting as a character. It is not easy to stand out. You must endure hardships and hardships before you can achieve success. There are not many opportunities for young actors to perform on the stage, so they should not be missed. No one wants to be seriously injured in the big play. As a teacher, I only I can use my experience to tell them how to avoid injury, and how to give the audience the best performance on the premise of preventing secondary injury after injury.” Zhang Youlin said, “As my father told me, I will also tell the students to avoid using Injury wins the sympathy of the audience, you can't let the audience applaud you because you are pitiful and distressed, the actor must conquer the audience with 'things' (real kung fu)."
Because he is well aware of the difficulties of young actors, Zhang Youlin is not only willing to escort young actors, but also hopes to create more opportunities for them.
As early as 2004, the 4th China Peking Opera Art Festival was held in Shanghai. This art festival was the first to set up the "Wu Opera Arena Competition".
Zhang Youlin participated in the performance with the original intention of inheriting Peking Opera and martial arts. He wrote a letter to the organizing committee expressing, "It is my responsibility and honor as a martial arts actor to be able to participate in the performance", but he gave up the award and suggested "giving the award to the youth." Actors, encourage them to practice hard. They are the younger generation of martial arts, and it is up to them to revitalize martial arts."
For Zhang Youlin, winning the award means that the sword is young and professional, and for young actors, it may be a key incentive to persevere.
Zhang Youlin's "Range Award" became a legend for a while.
Knowing that the inheritance of opera is of great significance, Zhang Youlin is not only willing to teach his apprentices and students, but also always insists on one-on-one teaching, teaching students in accordance with their aptitude and meticulousness.
"In the past, there was a popular saying in the opera industry, 'Church the apprentice, starve the master to death.' The master said that the drama is about the point, and the rest needs to be understood by the apprentice. Now, the master leads the apprentices, the teacher teaches the students, and breaks them apart and smashes them and tells them to the children, I'm afraid you won't know." Zhang Youlin compared the past and the current changes in the drama and the drama, and shared a story about how he learned to change his face many years ago. a story.
Zhang Youlin's representative work "Golden Winged Dapeng" was well received because it added the face-changing element of Sichuan Opera.
His fate with Face-changing dates back to 1984.
That year, he went to Chengdu with his father to perform, and was fascinated by the art of face-changing, and specially found a Sichuan Opera teacher to learn.
When the Sichuan Opera teacher taught him, he specially emphasized, "Don't say that I taught you when you go out. The grandfather said that whoever spreads his skills will be killed."
"In the past, there were many rules and regulations in the art, which led to the gradual loss of many skills. Now, as long as young people are willing to learn, we old opera workers are willing to teach them without reservation. Even if the offline teaching is limited, they can also learn by themselves through online videos. " Zhang Youlin said.
In recent years, Zhang Youlin's main energy has been spent on the inheritance of opera.
As the top martial artist of the Tianjin Peking Opera Theatre, in addition to teaching his daughter Zhang Ruilin and his many disciples by words and deeds, he has also been invited to give lectures in the National Peking Opera Company, local Peking Opera troupes and colleges.
Zhang Youlin is accustomed to using the traditional "stupid" method in teaching - one-on-one play. He said: "Each child's basic conditions are different, and forming a role depends on personal characteristics. It is really easy to teach together, but it is not easy to produce results."
At the end of last year, the "Admission Notice of the National Art Fund Talent Training Funding Project Peking Opera Zhang (Shi Lin) School Martial Artist Workshop" was released.
Twelve outstanding young actors from 12 troupes including the National Peking Opera Company, Beijing Peking Opera Company, Shanghai Peking Opera Company, and Hubei Peking Opera Company stood out from dozens of actors, and are about to start the study tour of "Zhang School" martial arts.
This workshop includes not only professional actors from various Peking Opera troupes, but also actors who have studied at their own expense across opera genres.
Zhang Youlin was moved by the enthusiasm of the young actors, and he still prepared for one-to-one teaching, "'Teaching is not strict, teachers are lazy', although this is very tiring and requires a lot of physical strength and energy, as long as the Peking Opera of the older generation of artists can be taught Art inheritance is good, and if you can teach students, all the effort will be worth it.”
(Reporter Liu Pingan, correspondent Wu Yating of this newspaper)