The traditional ceremony flow of the music industry to accept the apprentice to pay homage to the teacher

When it comes to paying homage to the master, you have to talk about the grandmaster first, which is the foundation of the folk industry. As a modern type of comedy, its history is only a hundred years, formed in the late Qing Dynasty, while the comedians worshiped the ancestor of Dongfang Shuo is the minister of the Han Dynasty. To this day, when people praise the skill of a comedian, they still like to use the words "Manqian's legacy" (Dongfang Shuo's character Manqian). On the question of the founders of modern comedy, it is widely believed that two people contributed directly to the formation of comedy: Zhang Sanlu (birth and death dates unknown) and Zhu Shaowen (1829-1904). Zhang Sanlu was originally an octagonal drum performer, but later became a comedian. According to Ni Zhongzhi's inference, he changed his profession probably in the early years of the Tongzhi reign or slightly earlier. Regarding the rest of Zhang Sanlu's life, the Yun Tourist (Lian Kuo Ru) described him in more detail in Jiang Hu Cong Tan (江湖丛谈), "When he went to Ming Di, he learned the four major skills of speaking, comedy, and singing. All the visitors wanted to listen to their play. Zhang Sanlu is not willing to say octagonal drums, claiming that his art is comic."

Zhu Shao Wen was originally a Peking Opera clown, once changed to "Shibuyao" front face, witty performances, good at catching jokes, and later also changed to street jokes, the stage name of "poor not afraid", and began to recruit students. Zhang Zixi in the "Tianqiao List" said he: "Although the sale of a single spring, and sung more than said, all unique ...... split strokes, or interpretation of the meaning of the word, or cited the ancients, or cited current events, the result will be a hard baggage, it makes people laugh."

Due to the lack of accurate historical information, so there is not enough evidence to prove that Zhu Shao Wen is Zhang Sanlu's disciple, in the legend of the artists, most just admit that Zhang slightly earlier than Zhu, but there is no master relationship said. Zhu Shao Wen became the first generation of comic artists because he opened his business to teach his disciples, and his four disciples were Poor Yuben, Fu Fu Gen, Xu Yuelu, and Fan Yoyuan. At the same time, some of the Manchu nobles' children, Shen Chunhe and Ayan Tao, also spoke comedy, and Zhu Shaowen and they were called masters and brothers. In this way, the three major schools of Zhu, Ah and Shen were formed as the source of the master lineage of comedy. Subsequently, the xiangsheng team continued to expand, and xiangsheng gradually became a popular form of Chinese opera.

The Traditional Procedure of Worshipping Masters

The Traditional Procedure of Worshipping Masters

The traditional ceremony of worshipping masters is also called "wangzhi" in the jargon of comedy. Comic artists, as a special industry groups, formed a set of customary system suitable for the development of the industry, to protect the interests of practitioners. Among them, the strict and complicated ceremony of paying tribute to the master is the core of comedy inheritance, linking all professional comedians. The importance attached to the master-teacher relationship stems from the reality of the survival of the artists in the old society. As a "lower nine streams" industry, comedy was as despised as other forms of folk performance, and the status of comedy artists was very low, with no fixed performance venues, often "put down" performances, and a precarious life. Such poor conditions are bound to prompt practitioners to consciously produce the maintenance of the industry's psychological inclination

To both competition, improve their skills; but also to survive, to fill their stomachs. This inevitably produces the ostracism of the actors who do not have a gateway to the care of people in the industry. Want to learn comedy must formally worship master, no master of the portal is not recognized by peers, even if someone in the family to say comedy, is a member of the line, but also must be a separate worship master, become an invariable rule, such examples are also very many. Comic artists to pay tribute to the master to hold ceremonies to have the introduction of the master, the master and the master, the introduction of the master is the introduction of the master's door, the master is the guarantor of the master and the apprentice, the master is instead of the master of the profession, usually the master's generation of artists. The guarantor can also be an outsider. Traditionally, the apprenticeship period is called "three years and one section", and the apprenticeship is completed. At that time, a ceremony is held to thank the master. In addition, to hold the ceremony to pay tribute to the master, according to the rules must be invited to the commentary, singing a single string, juggling artists to participate, it is said that because the comedy industry in its infancy, in the art of borrowing a lot of things from these three trades. Each generation of comedians also set up a door chief of the eldest brother to manage the internal affairs of the comedy door, with a certain degree of authority. Worship is further divided into three forms: kowtowing, teaching and generation pulling.

Comparison of the old and new ceremonies

There are not many historical accounts of the details of the ceremony. Here, the author selected the traditional Ma Sanli worship ceremony and the modern Li Boxiang acceptance of disciples and all the disciples to thank the teacher ceremony as a comparative object, the two worship ceremony is a long time apart from the age of nearly eighty years, the contrast is very strong, all with a distinctive character of the times. Detailed comparison is shown in the list:

Through the analysis of the list, it can be seen that there are similarities and differences between the old and new ceremonies, and the contrast is very obvious. It clearly reflects the living conditions of comic artists and the survival of comic art in different times. As a whole, the basic procedure of the ceremony of paying tribute to the master as a disciplinary rule remains unchanged, with some variations according to the needs of the times, which are mainly manifested in the following ways: First, the place chosen for the ceremony is usually in restaurants and places where there are a lot of performances of Chinese opera, because these places are familiar to the artists. As a ceremony, of course, there should be master of ceremonies, the old master of ceremonies by the bailiff (I do not know whether it is common), the new ceremony has a special master of ceremonies, but also the industry. Secondly, the introduction of guests attending the ceremony is generally the responsibility of the master of ceremonies, who introduces the guests one by one according to the rules of their status, industry, and age. The identity of the guests in the new ceremony is more diversified, no longer only people in the opera circle participate in the past, because opera has become a stage art from the grassroots performance of the put down to the ground, and the artists have become artists and entered the entertainment industry, so there are many stars of the film and television industry were also present to congratulate. At the same time, this kind of ceremony in the industry also breaks through the previous closed and open to the media, the new period of the ceremony is more like a "big party". Appropriate publicity is also a response to the current downturn in comedy. At the same time, the organizer changed from the previous internal organization of the comedy industry to the local music artist association, and there was an organizer, which made the ceremony more professional and standardized. After the founding of the PRC, the establishment of the Association of Chinese Opera Artists enabled artists to have a basic guarantee for their livelihood and to concentrate more on improving their artistic level. Thirdly, the custom of burning incense to pay homage to one's ancestors at the beginning of the ceremony underwent the most obvious change, perhaps because of the death of the head of the door, Zhao Xinmin. At the ceremony of Li Boxiang's acceptance of his disciples, this link was replaced with a photo unveiling ceremony, in which two veteran artists, Chang Bao-ting and Zhang Yong-Xi, unveiled a photo of Li Jie-duen and Zhao Peiru, Li Jie-duen's father, and Zhao Peiru Li Boxiang's master. the uniqueness of the ceremony here was very meaningful, and the purpose was to allow the disciples to The purpose of this unique idea is to let the disciples inherit the art of comedy and at the same time inherit the patriotism and noble sentiments of the old artists. Zhao Peiru was honourably wounded in his early years when he took part in a sympathy performance for the anti-U.S. war against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, while his partner, the famous comedian Chang Bao Koon, died tragically. From worshipping ancestors to remembering masters and fathers, the comedy worship ceremony has changed over seven decades to show the new customs of the new era.

Fourthly, it retains the practice of citing, protecting, and substituting for the master. This is a phenomenon unique to the comedy industry and has not changed until today. At the same time, the traditional ritual of paying respect to the master and performing the great salute is also retained, reflecting the traditional Chinese culture of honoring the master. In the new ceremony, flowers and gifts are added, reflecting the new concept of humanistic care and improving the relationship between master and disciple in the old days.

Fifth, the master's admonition as a tradition, reflecting the dignity of the teacher. In the new ceremony added a representative of the disciple's speech, master and disciple status hierarchy of the melting. In the traditional ceremony, the disciple does not have the opportunity to speak, but the top of the "small stickers" to listen to the master's instructions, the first to feel the sense of mission of the art bearer is a transition rituals must have the solemnity. In Ma Sanli's worship ceremony at the door of the long Yu Delong is a stern admonition, and the modern Li Boxiang acceptance ceremony of the disciple's statement reflects the new society, the new master-disciple relationship, is no longer the previous hierarchical.

More than a hundred years of teacher-worshiping customs in the comedy industry have been passed down, a century of the most dramatic social change in China, and customs have changed dramatically as the times have progressed. In the final analysis, mastership is the qualification for making art, and art is the capital for survival, and the complicated procedure of worshipping masters is the beginning and epitome of the hard work of making art.

The process of paying homage to a master in the comedy world

The time and place of the homage ceremony are usually set by the master. The time will either coincide with the master's birthday or another auspicious day, and the place is usually in a restaurant, but of course there are also those at home. If it is in a restaurant, the ceremony usually starts at 8 or 9 in the morning and ends at 1 or 2 at noon. If it is at home, it usually takes place in the evening. Obviously, the former is relatively much more vocal. What exactly to do, according to the specific circumstances of the master and disciple, there is no completely determined model. In the past, when the ceremony was held, the master or the master's mother to give the line of props to the apprentice a set of props, such as storytellers with the wake of wood, hand towels, fans, comedy with the cloth bag filled with white sand. Of course, some of them are prepared by the apprentice himself, and some say that the props are given by the master when the apprentice leaves the master.

50 years after the liberation of such a detailed, complete ceremony, we can imagine the general situation of the late Qing dynasty and early civil worship ceremony. In the ceremony, listening to the family doctrine, reading the worship post, listening to the instructions of the masters of the citation and the solemn burning of incense and bowing to the apprentice is a continuous reconstruction and re-modeling of the process. As Liu Shujiang said, the previous ceremony was much more serious and complex, especially in terms of the content of the post.

The master post, also known as the door post, writing or notes, the common format is as follows:

"Master Road is great, entry to teach cast a skill can be, is the Department of the policy of food and clothing to support the family, passed down through the generations, the rituals and ceremonies are grand. Now there are XXX (teacher given the name of XXX) would like to worship in XXX under the door, the industry to learn to perform XX. X years expired, thank the teacher X years of effectiveness. During the period of lessons, the income will go to the master, and food and clothing will be provided by the master. From now on, though divided into master and disciple, the friendship is the same as father and son, for the master, when you know respect. I will never forget the teachings I received. I have no regrets. Empty words have no proof, according to this word, in order to show the solemnity." The following is the artist apprentice signatures and pledges, citing the bail on behalf of the teacher signatures and pledges. x year x month x day. Some of them also wrote, "the death of physiological, natural and man-made disasters, the car rolled on the horse, cast into the river to find wells, hanging beams to kill themselves, each listen to the fate of God, and the teacher has nothing to do with it. If you drop out of school in the middle of the year, you will be compensated for X years of meal expenses". Now can also see the June 1949 Tong generous worship post is living evidence.

It can be seen that the words of worship generally explains the legitimacy of the master to learn the art, stipulates the content of the teaching, the duration of the art, the method of income distribution and the responsibility to be borne, recognizes the absolute authority of the master. At the same time, it also implies the complex relationship between master and disciple as father and son, as well as master and servant. And the words and phrases containing "throw yourself into the river and look for a well, hang yourself from a beam, each listen to God's will, and the master has nothing to do with it," and so on, are more akin to the contract of sale for being sold to a brothel as a prostitute. With such a note, what exactly is the reason, the disciple looking for death, and the master has nothing to do with the master, the master can stay out of it. For parents who send their young children to learn the art, the future of their children, only God's will. For the pupil who is still a young child, perhaps he already knows the sorrows of learning the art, but most of them put their hope in the future, one day, to earn money like the master on the line. In addition, according to Guan Xuezeng's recollection, before the official ceremony, to write a good note, in the "writing", the cited masters must be present, when the apprentice to kowtow to these masters one by one.

The note is an important proof of the relationship between the apprentice and the master, so the master put the note very important. If the apprentice asks for the note back or if the master returns the note to the apprentice, it means the end of the relationship between master and apprentice. In the alternative society of street performers, the character note is like a contract with legal significance in the subject society, with obvious binding force, and it has multiple cultural connotations among street performers. Because each artist's own note stipulates each artist's seniority and even his or her name, the note is not only a symbol of his or her own identity, but also an indication of his or her relationship with other artists and his or her position in a line of work, so the customary binding force of the note undoubtedly strengthens the integration and chain of relationships among street performers. The note is both a means of self-reinforcement and identification for the street performer, and at the same time a sign of such identification and reinforcement.

If the master is a good person, or if there is a certain kinship between the apprentice and the master, then the ceremony and the note are much more peaceful. For example, when "Three Mushrooms" Chang Bao-ting (the third son of comic artist Chang Lian-an) worshiped Guo Rongqi as his master, at the same time, there was also Du Sanbao who also worshiped Guo Rongqi as his master, because Guo Rongqi's wife was the aunt of the three mushrooms (should have been aunt, doubtful that the original text is incorrect) - comic artist Chang Lianan's old sister. Because the wife of the three mushrooms was the aunt (should be aunt) of the comedian Chang Lian An, the old sister of the comedian Chang Lian An, coupled with the fact that Du San Bao's parents (his father, Du Maotian, was a string master, and his mother, Shiaoyuelou, was a famous raconteur during the 1920s and 1930s) were particularly close to Guo Rongqi, and had an old relationship for many years, the ceremony of paying tribute to the master took place in a rather relaxed atmosphere. There were also instances where the master made promises to the parents of the apprentice, such as assurances of how much the apprentice would learn in the future and how much money he could earn back each day in the future. When Guan Xuezeng took Chang Deshan as his master, Chang Deshan promised Guan's parents that the boy would be able to get back an ocean a day. If the disciple's family is particularly poor, or if he or she is an orphan himself, and because of age and kinship, there are many variations on the ritual of worshipping a master.

Master Worship Ceremony: The Officiating Master Announces the Beginning

1. Bow to the Ancestors of the Trades

2. The Apprentice Bows to the Master

3. Parent's Representatives Read the Master Worship Invitation

4. The Master and Apprentice Express their Worship to each other

5. The Apprentice Pours Tea in Honor of the Master

6. The master gives the apprentice a token