■ Ma Changlin
Before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Shanghai, as a major cultural center in the country, gathered a large number of theater and literary and artistic workers, and produced the famous street drama "Let Down Your Whip". After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, under the leadership of the underground party organization of the Communist Party of China, Shanghai quickly organized a number of rescue drama teams and went to various places to perform, bringing the Chinese drama movement into the "saving drama" stage.
In October 1937, a group photo of the Children’s Theater in Shanghai, selected from "The Big Waves", Beijing Library Press, 1998 edition
"Let Down Your Whip"
During the Anti-Japanese War, a short drama "Let Down Your Whip" was played all over the country, inside and outside the Great Wall, and became a famous street drama that inspired the people's national enthusiasm and anti-Japanese fighting spirit. At the same time, it is also the drama with the most performances and the most "sensational effect" in the history of short dramas and street dramas in China and the world. And this skit was first born in Shanghai.
In 1930, Chen Liting, who graduated from the Higher Normal School of Daxia University, accepted the invitation of Cai Hong, the principal of Datuan Town Primary School, and came to Nanhui Datuan Town Primary School to teach. In the four major towns of Nanhui, there is a saying: "Jinda Tuan, Yinxinchang, Tongzhoupu, Tiehuinan." No matter spring, summer, autumn or winter, Chen Liting will always see groups of people from Shandong, Jiangsu, and Anhui. Refugees went to the "Jin Da Tuan" to beg. The people of "Jin Da Tuan" faced the refugees with a miserable expression: "I am also suffering, and I am also poor." The scene of a group of refugees begging along the street and selling their children and selling daughters made Chen Liting ponder: China becomes like this?
In the summer of 1931, Chen Liting wrote a short play "Let Down Your Whip", telling the story of a group of refugees doing business in the street to make ends meet: the skinny busker girl was too hungry and unable to support it, so anxious old busker beat the girl with a whip. A young man sternly questioned the old man. The old man shed tears to tell the young man his tragic fate: the land was barren for years, the government's exorbitant taxes and taxes, and bandits oppressed the soldiers and harassed him, so he had to leave his hometown and beg everywhere. The old man attributed his suffering to fate and providence. The young man pointed out that the root causes of the people's suffering were corrupt officials, landlords and tycoons, and imperialism, and called on the old man to turn his whip around and knock down these pests.
After Chen Liting wrote the script, he thought that only through performance can the audience resonate and generate tremendous spiritual power. Therefore, he wrote to the Shanghai League of Left-wing Dramatists and asked them to send people to Nanhui to rehearse. The "Julian" immediately sent Xie Yunxin (Zhang Ming) and A Liang (Liang Yaonan) to Nanhui to rehearse.
On October 10, 1931, "Let Down Your Whip" premiered in Huinan Town, Nanhui County. The stage was set on the side of the cross street west intersection. The audience responded with rounds of warm applause and the performance was very successful. The next day, amateur theater troupes in the four major towns of Nanhui rehearsed "Let Down Your Whip". On the Mid-Autumn Festival of 1932, "Let Down Your Whip" was performed in the small auditorium of Labor Village, Lannidu Road, Pudong. The Shanghai "Julian" adjusted the actors' camp, with Hong Daben as the young man and Wang Weiyi as the old man. Zhu Mingxian plays an entertainer, she was only 19 years old at the time, and she was a teacher at the Labor Primary School. In order to achieve the best performance, lighting and sound are also equipped, which has unprecedented performance. Many young people jumped from the audience to the stage and chanted slogans with the characters in the play, and the stage and the stage became one. In this way, "Let Down Your Whip" made a sensation in Shanghai.
In 1937, the Anti-Japanese War broke out. Anti-Japanese groups such as the "Nanhui Youth Wartime Service Group", "Pudong Anti-Japanese National Salvation Propaganda Group", and "Large Group Youth Anti-Japanese Support Association" changed "Let Down Your Whip" into anti-Japanese content and performed widely. After many anti-Japanese drama groups modified and processed, "Let Down Your Whip" has been performed for a long time and has become a popular drama, spreading from Shanghai to the whole country.
Salvation drama team running everywhere
After the July 7th Incident in 1937, on July 9, more than 140 people from Shanghai cultural circles, including Zheng Zhenduo and Hong Shen, gathered together and decided to organize the Shanghai Drama Writers Association, a national salvation group of cultural circles. On July 15, the Shanghai Drama Writers Association decided to create a large-scale drama "Defense of Lugou Bridge" that directly reflected the July 7th Incident, commending the soldiers and civilians of Lugou Bridge who fought bravely. On August 7, "Defense of the Lugou Bridge" premiered at the Penglai Theater in Nanshi, Shanghai. It was performed twice a day and night for 15 days, and the venues were full. This was the first drama that reflected the anti-Japanese war after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War. The response was strong.
After the "August 13" Incident broke out, Shanghai's cultural and theater workers all hope to participate in the anti-Japanese and national salvation operations. At this moment, Pan Hannian, director of the Shanghai Office of the Communist Party of China, conveyed the instructions of Zhou Enlai, vice chairman of the Central Committee, to Yu Ling, who was a temporary leading member of the party's "General Manager of Culture". Zhou Enlai estimated that Shanghai would not be able to hold on based on the strength of the enemy and ourselves in the Eastern Battlefield at that time. He asked Shanghai's theater, film, and music workers to quickly transfer to the whole country.
At that time, more than half of China's talents in drama, film, music, and fine arts were concentrated in Shanghai. A considerable number of them were backbone forces with years of training and struggle experience under the leadership of the party. This large group of left-wing literary and artistic backbones needs to go all over the country to sow the seeds of revolutionary literature and art. Zhou Enlai specifically suggested that in addition to a part of the force staying overseas in Shanghai, most of the theater and film figures should organize as soon as possible, spread out to various battlefields, and go to the inland to carry out anti-Japanese and national salvation propaganda for the frontline fighters and the people in the rear, so that drama, music, and art can be used to fight the Japanese war. Play a greater role in combat. Pan Hannian added that this organization work must be implemented as soon as possible, and it is best to be established within a month and start separately. (Yuan Ying "Long Night Walker: The Story of Yu Ling", Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, 1994 edition)
Therefore, on August 20, under the leadership of the Shanghai Underground Organization of the Communist Party of China, the Shanghai Theatre Circle Salvation Association held a meeting at the Carlton Theater and decided to organize 13 salvation drama teams to conduct anti-Japanese propaganda performances and mobilize people to participate in the national anti-Japanese war. On August 23, part of the theater team set off from Shanghai. When Hong Shen, the captain of the second team of the national salvation drama, was about to leave, he specially found good friend Gu Zhongyi and gave his will to Gu for safekeeping. He said that if he died in battle, he should act according to his will. Some of the theatre teams staying in Shanghai still insist on performing. Among them, the 11 teams performed 39 plays in the wounded hospital, refugee shelter and barracks in one and a half months, and retreated from Shanghai in November.
After traveling to various places, some of the salvation drama teams borrowed existing theaters in towns, and more often used the stage in temples and temples to perform magical dramas, or in the streets and alleys, performing performances including teahouse dramas, street dramas, puppet dramas, live newspaper dramas, etc. Anti-Japanese War drama.
In October 1937, the 8 Shanghai National Salvation Drama Team performed 22 shows in Shou County, Hanshan, Chao County, Hefei and other places in Anhui. On December 1st, the Second National Salvation Drama Team went to the Zhongyao Lihua Coal Mine in Huangshi to hold a special coal mine salvation singing conference. Xian Xinghai taught songs such as "The Sacrifice Has Come to the End" and the audience was moved to tears. On December 5th, the two teams arrived at the back mine area of Lihua Coal Mine to perform again. The employees of the mine area flocked to watch. When the 2 teams were in Wuhan, they also produced a mobile stage, that is, they set up a simple set on a large truck, installed a loudspeaker, and drove to a spacious place. After the audience gathered, they acted and performed two or three shows. . Then the car drove a few blocks, found a suitable place, stopped the car and resumed the performance. Some viewers are reluctant to leave and will follow the car. Many people watch two or three games in a row, and some even follow it all day for six games.
The Salvation Drama Team 1 combined fine arts with the folklore form of Latin American films. Wherever they went, Ding Li drew foreign films propagating salvation, while Cui Wei took the foreign films to the streets and squares to sing.
The singing of the national salvation drama team spread throughout the countryside, mining areas, schools, hospitals and other places. In addition to the drama, they also used speeches, posters, slogans, and special issues to promote the anti-Japanese and awaken the people. The performance activities of the theater team aroused the strong patriotism of the masses. During the performance, there were often the audience signing up for the army on the spot or generous donations.
The 13 Shanghai National Salvation Drama Team performed 126 repertoires in various places. In March and October 1938, Team 1 and Team 5 of Shanghai National Salvation Drama arrived in Yan'an.
This is an unprecedented march of patriotic literature and art workers under the organization and influence of the Chinese Communist Party. The rescue team, born in the anti-Japanese war, moved from China’s largest city, Shanghai, to the battlefield, to the rear, to small and medium-sized towns, rural areas, factories, mines, schools, and troops. They traveled across half of China, and some even crossed the ocean. , Traveled to Southeast Asia.
Xia Yan once said: The members of the national salvation drama team are "the elites of the literary and artistic circles who have accumulated and grown up in Shanghai." The drama team is like a mobile school. It has gone through hardships along the way. The team members have experienced the test of blood and fire. Many of the team members have become the pillars of the new Chinese drama and film industry.
Children's Theatre from Shanghai
Among the many anti-Japanese performance organizations from Shanghai to the whole country, a group of people is very special. Its members are children under the age of 16. This is the famous "Children's Theater".
After the outbreak of the "August 13" Anti-Japanese War in Songhu in 1937, some elementary and middle school students, mainly the Shanghai East Linqing School, spontaneously carried out anti-Japanese propaganda activities in refugee shelters. The National Disaster Education Club, led by the underground party organization of the Communist Party of China, sent a Communist Party member Wu Xinjia (Wu Pusheng), who was less than 20 years old, to the Npiya refugee shelter (Npiya Cinema). Based on these students, he absorbed Shao Fang. , Yu Rizhang Primary School and Shanhai Engineering Troupe, some children and a small number of child laborers, formed a small anti-Japanese group on September 3, named "Children's Troupe". The first play rehearsed was "Let Down Your Whip". Rehearsed plays such as "Ren Dan Beard" and "Catch the Traitors".
In the refugee shelter, the children's theater troupe not only sang, gave speeches, and made posters to the compatriots, but also separately taught them to sing the anti-Japanese salvation songs, such as "Salvation March", "Sacrifice Has Come to the End", "Do a Fight", and "Protecting Hometown". They moved the show to the bed of the sick and wounded, and let the singing float in every ward. The soldiers watched the performance and heard them sing "Song of Condolences to the Wounded Soldiers". They were all excited and excited. Some people have red eyes, and some are wiping tears. A soldier said, "My kid, thank you for your condolences. When we are cured, we must return to the front line, kill the Japanese devils, and avenge you!"
During the two months in Shanghai, the Children's Theatre Company performed dozens of times and arranged five scripts.
Before the fall of Shanghai in November 1937, the children's theater troupe prepared to go to the mainland to promote the anti-Japanese war. With the help of the Shanghai underground party organization, Wu Xinjia led 22 members of the troupe. The oldest was 16 years old and the youngest was 8 years old. They were divided into 5 groups, disguised as children or siblings of refugees, and some were hiding in the engine room under the cover of seamen. Here, after more than a week, they all left Shanghai and arrived at the scheduled meeting place-Tianshenggang on the Yangtze River. After gathering in Tianshenggang, they sang "Songhua River", "Go to the Front" and "Volunteer Army March" and other anti-Japanese salvation songs to the local people and the garrison in the streets of Tangjiazha on the streets of Tangjiazha, and performed "Let Down Your Whip" "Catch Traitors", "Ren Dan Beard" and other anti-Japanese dramas.
Since then, the children's troupe moved to northern Jiangsu, Henan and other places, performing anti-Japanese dramas along the way to promote anti-Japanese and national salvation. Coming to Wuhan in early 1938, the Eighth Route Army Office held a tea party to welcome them. Comrades Zhou Enlai, Wang Ming, Dong Biwu, Ye Jianying, Ye Ting, Bo Gu, Deng Yingchao, Guo Moruo and others met them, took a photo with them, and gave them a lot of encouragement.
During the performances of the Children’s Troupe in Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, and Sichuan, Wu Xinjia wrote the first script for the troupe "Help Our Guerrillas", praising the bravery of the anti-Japanese guerrillas and the wit and bravery of children in the guerrilla areas. Because of its popularity, it has become the one-act play with the most performances.
At the beginning of 1939, the Children's Troupe arrived in Chongqing. At this time, the team had expanded to 60 people, divided into two teams, and set out to carry out anti-Japanese and national salvation propaganda and performances in rural areas and market towns in eastern, southern, western and northern Sichuan. Wherever they go, the troupe organizes singing competitions in conjunction with local primary and middle schools. In this way, local children are organized to work together to promote anti-Japanese and national salvation.
On July 16, 1943, under the direct care of Zhou Enlai, some members of the Children's Troupe arrived in Yan'an.
During the five years of its existence, the Children's Theatre has traveled more than 20,000 miles, and has done anti-Japanese and national salvation propaganda work in towns and villages in 7 provinces, performed 300 times, and 450,000 people have seen their performances.
(This article refers to You Sijing's Research on Shanghai Salvation Drama Team in the Early Period of the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-1938))