(East-West Questions · Characters) After Yao Xuanqiu, how will the fire of ancient Teochew opera continue?
China News Agency, Guangzhou, July 3rd: After Yao Xuanqiu, how will the fire of ancient Teochew opera continue?
China News Agency reporter Cheng Jingwei
Yao Xuanqiu, a famous Teochew opera artist, died in Guangzhou at 7:05 on July 2 at the age of 88.
A few days ago, the old man was still running for the Teochew opera career.
On June 26, Yao Xuanqiu sent a "2024 Promise" to Shantou to participate in the 22nd International Tide Group Friendship Annual Meeting to the vast number of folks at home and abroad in Haikou City, Hainan Province.
"Mr. Yao invited the villagers to go back to Shantou to watch Teochew operas in 2024." Huang Jianfeng, a Teochew writer, author of "Biography of Yao Xuanqiu" and assistant to Yao Xuanqiu, revealed this detail in an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West Questions".
"Teacher Yao has always been a must-see for any Teochew opera invitations in the past, but this time she's going to miss the appointment." Huang Jianfeng almost burst into tears.
Yao Xuanqiu's sudden death made people around her very sad.
The first generation of Teochew opera actors under the abolition of the child actor system in New China
Where there are tides, there are tide people, and where there are tide people, there are Teochew operas.
As a bright pearl in the treasure house of the excellent culture of the Chinese nation, Teochew opera is an ancient traditional local opera sung in the Chaoshan dialect in China. It has a history of hundreds of years and has become one of the main representatives of Chaoshan culture.
Following the footsteps of Chaoshan people, it has become famous at home and abroad.
In 2006, Teochew opera was included in the first batch of China's national intangible cultural heritage list.
The ancient costume Teochew opera "Li Shimin's Ascension to the Throne" performed by the Third Troupe of Guangdong Teochew Theater.
Photo by China News Agency Xu Ming
When it comes to Teochew opera and its current dissemination, Yao Xuanqiu is naturally inseparable. She is a veritable symbol of Teochew opera, a leading figure in the contemporary Teochew opera world, and a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage Teochew opera project.
The hour hand is set back to 1951, the year when the Teochew opera industry officially announced the abolition of the child actor system.
Two years later, 18-year-old Yao Xuanqiu joined the Zhengshun Teochew Opera Troupe with a good voice, and became the first generation of Teochew opera actors after the founding of New China.
From the Kaimeng opera "The Window Sweeping Party", to "Su Liuniang", "The Story of Lijing", to "The Story of the Lijing", "Jiang Jie", "Chuncao Chuangtang", etc., these plays by Yao Xuanqiu have become classics of Teochew opera. .
In 1957, Yao Xuanqiu went to Beijing with the delegation.
This is the first time in the centuries-long history of Teochew opera on the capital's stage.
Due to its outstanding performance and praise from the audience, Teochew opera was recommended to be performed at the Huairentang in Zhongnanhai, and national leaders such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai attended the show.
After the performance that night, Yao Xuanqiu and the actors were too excited to sleep all night.
In 1959 and 1961, Teochew operas "Su Liu Niang" and "The Story of Li Jing" (ie "Chen San Wu Niang") were successively filmed into films.
In the film, Yao Xuanqiu successfully created the images of two ancient girls, Su Liuniang and Huang Wuniang.
The film is delicately produced, with lingering arias and elegant language, eulogizing the ancients' courage to pursue marriage autonomy.
"At that time, "The Story of Lijing" was to be made into a movie, and all aspects attached great importance to it. It was produced by Hong Kong Dapeng Film Company, and the copies used were bought from Hollywood." Yao Xuanqiu was interviewed by a reporter from China News Agency before his death. In retrospect, after the movie was broadcast, the audience of Teochew opera was even larger.
Later, Yao Xuanqiu went abroad and traveled to Southeast Asia and other places to exchange performances, bringing greetings from the local accent to overseas Chinese all over the world.
Her voice has become a bond that connects the emotions of Chaozhou people at home and abroad. Everywhere she goes, it evokes the memories of Chaozhou people from all over the world, which further expands the overseas influence of Teochew opera.
In Guangzhou, Guangdong, Yao Xuanqiu displayed his 65th anniversary album.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Chuhong
Teochew opera is a career that is deeply loved
In Huang Jianfeng's opinion, Teochew opera is a career that Yao Xuanqiu loves to the core, "She is a very dedicated person and has been in the arts for more than 70 years. Even after her retirement in 2000, she has never stopped inheriting and developing Teochew opera for 22 years. concern.”
Yao Xuanqiu also repeatedly mentioned before his death: "I have belonged to Teochew opera all my life. At my age, many people spend their later years at home in peace. But for the sake of the genre, I am willing. As long as Teochew opera needs it, I will stand up at any time. ." Facing the demands of many media reporters to film and record Teochew opera figures and vocals, Yao Xuanqiu also refused to come and cooperated with the best.
I saw her in high spirits, holding a fan in her hand, and moving her lotus steps gently, as if she could glimpse the charm of the stage back then.
Due to the impact of many factors, Teochew opera once fell into a trough of development.
Yao Xuanqiu faced this calmly, believing that it was an inevitable result of social development, but she also believed that Teochew opera could be rejuvenated in the new era.
Huang Jianfeng told reporters that for the inheritance of art, Yao Xuanqiu insisted on keeping the true colors and characteristics of drama genres, and on this basis, went to seek innovative development of drama genres.
"In the past few years, Mr. Yao has spared no effort to pass on the traditional Teochew opera repertoire to the next generation, and even taught the students the classic Teochew opera works she has performed. She hopes to continue the fire of Teochew opera."
Yao Xuanqiu (middle) took a group photo with Teochew opera actors.
Photo courtesy of China News Agency Huang Jianfeng
In fact, Yao Xuanqiu does not reject the innovative attempts of Teochew opera while sticking to the traditional singing style of Teochew opera.
"Teochew opera has never been self-sufficient, otherwise it would have been eliminated long ago. Every era of Teochew opera is absorbing new elements. In the 1980s, Teochew opera also recorded a batch of electroacoustic karaoke." Yao Xuanqiu was interviewed before. At the time, it was said that the script, staging, lighting, singing, costumes, etc. of Teochew opera were also being innovatively explored.
"She said that Teochew opera has always been innovating." Huang Jianfeng said that Yao Xuanqiu also tried to live stream Teochew opera performances through Douyin.
During the new crown epidemic, with the assistance of Huang Jianfeng, Yao Xuanqiu used video connection to teach students in Singapore, Malaysia and other overseas regions. "She accepted the new teaching and dissemination methods of Teochew opera very naturally."
How to continue the fire of ancient Teochew opera?
Yao Xuanqiu fulfilled her promise with her whole life and dedicated her whole life to the cause of Teochew opera.
After this talented artist, who will carry the banner of Teochew opera?
Huang Jianfeng believes that in the future, Teochew opera needs to establish new benchmarks, promote the cultivation of more outstanding Teochew opera talents, and lead this ancient opera to continue to develop, go abroad and go global.
In fact, Teochew opera has seen many innovative moves in recent years.
Among them, Guangdong Chaozhou Opera Theatre cooperated with the China Academy of Opera to set up a Chaozhou Opera class, and the first batch of 28 undergraduate students was trained. The new idea of "cooperation and collaborative training" was adopted, and the new model of "school + base" was explored to build the cultivation of opera talents, inheritance and innovation. , Creation practice platform.
The Teochew opera digital film "The Princess of Soochow" starring Yao Xuanqiu's disciple Zhang Yihuang has been approved and will be filmed soon.
When it is released, it is expected to attract more young people to watch it and enhance the popularity and influence of Teochew opera among young groups.
Yao Xuanqiu (third from left) attended the meeting of the head and secretary general of the 21st International Teochew Association Annual Meeting.
Photo courtesy of China News Agency Huang Jianfeng
Externally, Teochew Opera is also innovative.
A few days ago, Guangdong Teochew Opera Theatre gave full play to the advantages of provincial professional troupes, and set up four Teochew Opera heritage centers in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, respectively, to help solve the bottleneck of overseas theatre troupes' lack of talents such as screenwriters and composers in Teochew Opera heritage and dissemination.
As the first play of the Heritage Center in Singapore, the Teochew opera "Zhuangyuan Lin Daqin" co-created by Guangdong Teochew Theatre and Nanhua Teochew Opera Club of Singapore is expected to be performed at the "Out of the Garden" Adult Festival in Singapore in the second half of this year.
It is worth mentioning that at the end of 2021, the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress simultaneously reviewed and approved the regulations on the protection and inheritance of Teochew opera in Shantou, Chaozhou and Jieyang.
The regulations of the three places will be implemented simultaneously from New Year's Day in 2022.
It is the first time in the history of local legislation in China that the three cities have carried out regional coordinated legislation, and it has also created a precedent for coordinated legislation in the cultural field.
(Finish)