What did Ouyang Shanzun do for a living?

Ouyang Shanzun, male, formerly known as Ouyang Shou, was born in Liuyang, Hunan Province, in May 1914, and died on July 2, 2009. He was one of the founders of Chinese drama, the son of the famous Chinese theater, opera and film artist Ouyang Yuqian, and was known as the "living fossil" of Chinese drama; after the founding of New China, Ouyang Shanshun took part in the creation of the Beijing People's Art Theatre (BPAT), and together with Jiao Juyin, Xia Chun, and Meiquan, he created the realism of the drama style of BPAT, directing successively "Spring China", "The Spring Dance", "The Spring Dance", and "The Spring Dance". He has directed more than 50 plays, including Spring and Autumn, Sunrise, The Man with the Gun, The Three Sisters, Yang Kaihui, and Twilight Love on the Last Train. In addition to plays, he has directed dozens of stage productions, such as Guan Hanqing, Songtsen Gampo, The Wise Man's Thousand Ways of Thinking, Red Propagandist, and Out of the Silence, as well as the film Through the Clouds of the Haze and the TV series The Burning Heart. On the centennial of Chinese theater in 2007, Ouyang Shanzun made his last appearance on stage at the age of over 93, reciting "The Passerby" at the People's Liberation Army Opera House.

Chinese name: Ouyang Shanzun

Nationality: Chinese

Birthplace: Liuyang, Hunan Province

Date of birth: May 24, 1914

Date of death: July 2, 2009

Occupation: Acting drama director

Major accomplishments: Called the "living fossil" of Chinese drama. "living fossil"

Representative works: The White-haired Girl; Spring and Autumn; Sunrise; The Three Sisters

Personal life

Ouyang Shanshun (1914-2009) was a Chinese drama director. born in Liuyang, Hunan Province, on May 24, 1914, he was inspired by his father's Since his childhood, he was influenced by his father Ouyang Yuqian's patriotism and progressive thoughts on literature and art, and took part in progressive drama activities when he was a student. He was awarded the Director's Prize several times, and has been awarded the Ministry of Culture and the National Award for Dedication to the Elderly.

Youth

Ouyang Shanzun (1914-2009.07.02), formerly known as Ouyang Shou, was born in Liuyang, Hunan Province. His great-grandfather was Ouyang Zhongguan, a talented Hunan scholar in the late Qing Dynasty. He passed on to his uncle Ouyang Yuqian at a young age, and began to be inspired by the theater, and actively participated in theater activities during his student years. He took part in the movie "The Songstress of the End of the World".

After the September 18th Incident, he took part in the left-wing theater movement, and after the beginning of the War of Resistance, he took part in the Shanghai Salvation Drama Team, and then went to Yan'an in the following year, where he served as the deputy director of the Cultural Troupe of the Anti-Japanese War University, and the director of the Combat Drama Club, and took part in the Yan'an Literary and Artistic Symposium in 1942, and was also a member of the Jinchahi Revolutionary Committee. In the process of moving to Jinchaji, he had directed more than 10 plays reflecting the struggle behind enemy lines, and was praised by Chairman Mao Zedong in a letter.

Student days

Ouyang Shanzun, who is seven years younger than the first centenary of the birth of drama, was born in Liuyang, Hunan province, in 1914, and was originally named Ouyang Shou. Living with his uncle, Mr. Ouyang Yuqian, who was a drama artist, he was y inspired by the art of Chinese drama and developed a strong interest in the art of drama. As early as in middle school, he began to participate in various drama creation and performance activities organized by the school. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the passionate Ouyang Shanzun resolutely left the school and participated in the anti-Japanese and national salvation together with several classmates. He first moved to Hangzhou to take part in the Mayflower Drama Club's drama performances, and then returned to Shanghai a few months later to be admitted to Zhejiang University. At this time, he was already completely obsessed with the pursuit of drama, he and Jinshan and others organized a drama club, in the extremely simple and difficult circumstances, performed "City Corner", "Thunder and Lightning", "Paint is not dry" and other plays. "After the September 18th Incident, there were more than ten drama teams in Shanghai's theater, film and arts organizations, including the Salvation Association, and Ouyang Shanzun was in the first team of the drama team, organizing and participating in the performance of many anti-war plays, which had a great impact on the society.

Rushing to Yan'an

Like many young people, Yan'an, a small city in the far northwest of China, called him all the time. For the sake of the dream in his heart, Ouyang Shanshun set off from Shanghai and arrived at the Xi'an front line to carry out anti-Japanese salvation activities. After a lot of efforts, he got one hundred yuan from the office of the Eighth Route Army and bought an old bicycle, which was considered a very "advanced" means of transportation at that time, accompanying him to travel more than 800 miles in the wind, food and shelter, and arrived in Yan'an in 1938. Here, Ouyang Shanzun was y attracted by a new life, he was highly enthusiastic to devote himself to the work of literature and art in the liberated areas. 1939, Ouyang Shanzun ended his study life in the Anti-Japanese Military and Political Science University, and went to the front line of the anti-Japanese resistance, first in the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army Combat Drama Club, and then participated in the guerrilla troupes to carry out literature and art propaganda to the enemy war zone. At that time they a *** 11 propagandists and 7 scouts, each a gun 30 rounds of ammunition, with a mimeograph and simple cosmetics, every village, find a temple or a platform, the military quilt as a curtain hung up, and then sent to the village to mobilize the masses to come out to see the play, the masses came to them to start the show, the end of the show hurriedly pack up the stalls and rushed to the next village. At this time Ouyang Shanzun completely immersed in the memories, he said with infinite emotion: "At that time is really young ah, the heart is always like burning a fire, all body has endless energy, every time the performance is over, the people to hand over a tank of boiled water, to the hands of peanuts or jujubes, the heart is very satisfied."

Participating in the symposium

In May 1942, Ouyang Shanshun participated in the Yan'an Literary Symposium, which triggered many thoughts about the future of Chinese literature and art. Ouyang Shanzun is a person who has something in his heart, after some thought, he and a few colleagues together wrote a letter to Mao Zedong, talked about their feelings, soon, comrade Mao Zedong gave them a letter back, until late in life, Ouyang Shanzun still clearly remember the content of the letter, he recalled: "Chairman Mao said in the letter, your letter received, thank you! I thought your play was good, and Yan'an and the border areas are in need of a play that reflects the life of the struggle behind the enemy lines." This letter undoubtedly gave Ouyang Shanzun great encouragement and encouragement, more determined to engage in the war drama creation enthusiasm.

Yan'an years

In Yan'an, Ouyang Shanzun successively served as deputy director of the Cultural Troupe of the General School of the Anti-Japanese Military University, director of the Combat Drama Club, etc. In December 1943, the propaganda team of the Political Department of the Shanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Jinsui United Defense Forces was established, and Ouyang Shanzun was transferred to the team by name by He Long. During this period, he directed more than 10 plays reflecting the struggle behind the enemy lines. 60 years later, Ouyang Shanzun recalled the scene with some excitement, saying: "I often took the troupe to the village to perform, and it was hard for people to imagine how simple the conditions were at that time, and when we performed, without lights, we poured some rapeseed oil into the water jar and put a twist of cotton on it. When we performed without light, we poured some rapeseed oil into a water jar and put a twist of cotton on it to light it up, but even so, we performed very hard and the people loved to watch us. Sometimes when it suddenly rained, we didn't stop, so the people stood in the rain and watched the theater until the end of the performance and refused to leave."

Foundation of People's Art

After the founding of New China, Ouyang Shanzun took part in the founding of the Beijing People's Art Theater (BPAT), and together with Jiao Juyin, Xia Chun, Mei Qian and others, he pioneered the BPAT's style of realism in dramas, and during this period, despite countless political storms, Ouyang Shanzun never gave up his quest for the art of drama and its exploration, and he directed the plays "Springtime, Autumn and Autumn" Sunrise", "The Man with the Gun", "The Three Sisters", "Yang Kaihui", "Twilight Love on the Last Train", and more than 50 other plays. No one knows how much of his heart and soul has been poured into these works, which have thus become profound memories that can't be wiped out of the hearts of a generation, and have become monumental classics in the history of Chinese dramas.

Direction of plays

Besides plays, he also directed dozens of stage plays such as Guan Hanqing, Songtsen Gampo, The Wise Man's Thousand Ways of Thinking, Red Propagandist, and In Silence, as well as the movie Haze Through the Clouds and the TV series Burning Heart.

Reform and Opening Up

From the founding of Beijing Human Art to 1978, he was the vice president and deputy director. During this period, he directed more than a dozen major plays, including Spring and Autumn, Sunrise, The Man with the Gun, A Wise Man's Thoughts - There Must Be a Fool, and Li Guorui.

He called himself a tireless old horse, active on the theater front at a ripe old age. In the 80s and 90s he was invited to come to Hanyi to direct The Parisians and Twilight Love on the Last Train. In addition, he has directed plays for many theater troupes, and directed the movie "Haze Through the Clouds" and the TV series "Burning Heart". His directing style is majestic, emotional, rhythmic and rich in the spirit of the times.

At 3:20 p.m. on July 2, 2009, Ouyang Shanzun, one of the founding fathers of Chinese drama, one of the founders of the Beijing People's Art Theater, and a renowned director and artist, died at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital at the age of 95 due to illness. Ouyang Shanzun's death is a grief for the Chinese theater community, and countless theater people and old audiences will mourn his death.

Historical Evaluation

Ouyang Shanzun was one of the founders of Chinese theater, and was the son of Ouyang Yuqian, a renowned Chinese artist in theater, opera and film. Ouyang Shanzun began his career in acting before the liberation, and after the liberation, he participated in the formation of the Beijing People's Art Theater and served as its vice-president and deputy general director. With Jiao Juyin, Xia Chun and Mei Qian, Ouyang is known as one of the "Four Great Directors of the Beijing People's Art Theater", and his masterpieces include "The White-haired Girl", "Spring and Autumn", "Sunrise", "The Man with the Gun", and "The Wise Man's Wisdom Must be Foolproof", and so on. His directorial works and rehearsal plans have become models for generations of theater people to study.

Ouyang Shanzun made his final appearance on stage in 2007 at the age of 93, reciting "Passenger" at the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Opera House to commemorate the centennial of Chinese theater. At the end of the show, he got up from his wheelchair and walked forward with his head held high, making people weep and witnessing the "soul of Chinese theater". Second, the founder of Chinese drama and one of the founders of Beijing Renmin Art

Ceremony for the centennial of drama

Ouyang Shansun left the stage after his retirement, but his heart did not leave his beloved stage for a moment, and he is still pondering over the current situation and development of Chinese drama. 94-year-old Ouyang Shansun performed the "Commemoration of the Centennial of Drama"

At the same stage in April 2008 with the old generation of drama artists, such as the 85-year-old Zhu Lin, 80-year-old Zhou Zheng and other artists, he also performed the "Commemoration of the centennial of drama". In April 2008, 94-year-old Ouyang Shanzun performed with 85-year-old Zhu Lin, 80-year-old Zhou Zheng and other old-generation drama artists in the "Appreciation of Classic Drama Fragments in Commemoration of 100 Years of Drama". Ouyang Shanzun was the first actor to appear on stage. He was pushed onto the stage in a wheelchair and performed a monologue from Mr. Lu Xun's The Passenger. The lines were few, but full of passion, and Ouyang Shanzun used all his energy to recite them with great emotion, winning the audience's unceasing applause. After the recitation, Ouyang Shanzun could not suppress his inner excitement, but all of a sudden stood up from the wheelchair, turned around, leaning on the cane, in the eyes of the people surprised, step by step, walked off the stage. Mrs. said with a smile: "He usually get up from a wheelchair, have to be assisted by others, who did not think he would do so, when my heart was in my throat, I really do not know where he came from such a great energy." Ouyang Shanzun is quite bold, said: "can be from the struggle of a lifetime on the stage themselves down, that feeling is really happy ah." Said here, the smile on his face happy as a child.

Passion comes from drama

Talking with Mr. Ouyang Shanzun, one is often infected by his surging passion for life, which makes one feel that he is not an old man in his nineties but a person full of vitality. Talking about the way of life, he said: "I'm already more than 90 years old, the body is still quite strong, often people ask me the secret of longevity, I think this question is not a good answer, say it is not good, but will produce misleading. When I was young, I enjoyed playing soccer and swimming, and I also learned boxing and later practiced fitness qigong. The main fitness method is tapping, which is to strengthen the body and deter aging by tapping the body moderately and rhythmically. Tapping is best done in the morning, and the parts of the body to be tapped can be determined according to one's own health condition, usually three to five minutes for each part, once a day. I feel that this method is very beneficial to my health, which can open the meridians, activate blood, eliminate stagnation of qi and promote metabolism."

On his later life, Ouyang Shanzun said, "A few years ago, my doctor made an appointment with me to do the 'three no's': not too much activity, no fatigue, no excitement. This is really hard for me to do, for me, how precious time is, I always feel that I am in a race with time, just want to stop can not stop ah. I often tell people that I was born in trouble, old in peace and happiness, and leave the rest of my life to serve the motherland."

Looking back at his own life course, Ouyang Shanzun is very pleased, he said: "Chinese drama was born in 1907, I was born in 1914, can be said to be the same age of Chinese drama, I have experienced countless storms and rains in my life, but never left the drama, my life belongs to the drama, I would like to be the most faithful Chinese drama watchman."

Career Chronicle

Ouyang Shanzun was born in Liuyang County, Hunan Province (present-day Liuyang City) on May 24, 1914, and joined the Hangzhou Mayflower Drama Club under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1932, and personally participated in many milestone moments in the century-long transformation of Chinese drama. He is not only a highly reputable theater artist, activist and educator, but also a formator and recorder of important archives. I have interviewed Ouyang Shanzun many times, watching him gently turn over the many materials, seeing the different ink records; listening to him narrate the smoky past, often accompanied by facial expressions, gestures, movements and dialect, so that it is as if watching a vivid live drama.

Chairman's reply

In the spring of 1942, Ouyang Shanzun received an invitation to the Yan'an Literary and Artistic Symposium, and rushed to Yan'an from the scene of the performance of the Northwest Front of the Combat Drama Society. Mao Zedong's speech about "why people" in literature and art triggered Ouyang Shanzun's thinking about literature and art, and he wrote a letter to Mao Zedong, mainly suggesting that the artists in Yan'an should go to the front line of the anti-Japanese resistance because the front line is in too much need of literature and art; he hoped that the Central Committee of the CPC would strengthen the leadership of the work of literature and art and organize the writers and artists very well, and give them help. I hope the Party Central Committee will strengthen the leadership of literary and artistic work, organize writers and artists well, and give them help. Within a few days, Mao Zedong wrote back. The letter was written in soft pencil on rice paper, the characters appeared to be very thick, and the text was only one sentence with seven words: "Your opinion is right." Underneath it was written "Buli" (the Bolshevik salute), and below that was Mao's dashing signature.

Chairman Mao's letter gave Ouyang Shanzun great encouragement. So he plucked up the courage to raise his hand to speak at the second meeting of the symposium on May 16th. First of all, he introduced the front-line fighters and the people behind the enemy lines to the "journalists" (the fighters and the people sometimes call the literary workers "journalists") have many requirements: teaching them to sing, acting, drawing cartoons, editing articles, writing art characters, setting up salvation rooms, and so on. The task of literary workers in the front is to give their hearts and organs to the soldiers and the people, and they should not only do but also teach them to do all the cultural things for them. What they need, you should give all your own unreservedly, as Lu Xun said, "have a share of heat, send a light", or even send two light. At first glance, it seems that you pay a lot, in fact, you receive from them, learn a lot more. He also talked about: at that time there are some people in the army engaged in literary work is not at ease, think in the end is only a platoon cadres, not as good as doing other work to promote fast, high level. He thought that it was not interesting to focus on the question of which level of cadre to be. Which level of cadre are Lu Xun and Gorky? As a literary and art worker, he should ask himself how much energy he has put into the people and the army, and pay attention to the question of how to satisfy the demands of the masses and do a good job. At the same time he suggested that the comrades in charge of the troops should consider improving the political treatment of the propagandists, for example, by allowing them to read the documents that they could not see at their level, so as to facilitate their work. Comrade Zhou Yang later said Mao Zedong nodded and smiled frequently as he listened to Ouyang Shanzun's speech, saying with satisfaction, "In the end, he came back from the front."

Fond memories

The Yan'an Literary and Artistic Symposium was unforgettable for Ouyang Shanzun, who one day in the middle of summer in 2006 excitedly recalled the scene of the group photo by pointing to the photos hanging on the wall: the third meeting of the symposium was held in the afternoon of May 23, and after Mao Zedong made a conclusion, Wu Yinxian greeted everyone to go outside to take a group photo. "Look, Chairman Mao's left is Ding Ling, Zhu Commander-in-Chief, Li Bozhao, this is Chen Boer; Chairman's right is Tian Fang, this bearded is Ren Bishi. I stand in the third row centered on Chairman Mao, third from the right. Back then, I was rushed from the front line to Yan'an to attend the meeting, still tied up and belted, because the photo only shows the upper half of my body, you can't see it, you can only see that my breechcloth is fastened very tightly, which is a bit different from the other cultured people who have stayed in the base area for a long time." As he said this, he pointed out with his hand horizontally row by row, person by person. On the photo there were indeed some people who were not wearing military uniforms, and even those who were wearing military uniforms had their shirt collars open, and were indeed not as tightly dressed as Ouyang Shanzun. The 104 people in this group photo are not all participants in the symposium. Because of the war, some comrades should attend the meeting failed to receive invitations; some received invitations but did not arrive at the venue as scheduled; some urgent military affairs did not attend the meeting; there are also non-participants temporarily joined the group photo.

Reporting

Ouyang Shanzun rushed back to Suide after the symposium, and immediately conveyed the spirit of Chairman Mao's speech at the symposium to the Combat Drama Club, which resolutely advocated not to perform big and foreign plays, and brought three small plays to Yan'an to report on the four-act drama "Harvest," the live newspaper drama "The Countryside of Jinchaji," and the children's mini-song drama "The Night of the Deserted Village," and so on. After watching the performance, Chairman Mao wrote a letter in his own handwriting to Ouyang Shanzun, Zhu Dan and Cheng Yin, the heads of the Combat Drama Club: "I thought your plays were good, and Yan'an and the border areas are in need of dramas reflecting the life of struggles in the rear of the enemy, and I hope that more of these good plays will be staged." The manuscript and envelope of this letter are now in the Central Archives. Chairman Mao's letter greatly encouraged the Combat Drama Club to perform for the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians, and also improved their self-confidence. Originally, the people of the Combat Drama Club did not dare to enter the gates of LUYI, but later they dared to enter LUYI with their heads held high.

Ouyang Shanzun believes that although more than 60 years have passed since the Yan'an Literary and Artistic Symposium, the direction and fundamental principles of literary and artistic work put forward by Chairman Mao are still the scientific guidelines for the present literary and artistic work. Literary and artistic creation should originate from life, higher than life, is not equal to the simple reproduction of real life. There are indeed some backward things among the peasants in China, and literary and art workers should not be satisfied with showing those backward things as they are, but should go deeper into life, truly understand the peasant masses, serve them with passion, guide and unite them to get rid of their backwardness, and move towards progress, so as to realize the purpose of the revolutionary arts and culture and meet the requirements of the Central Committee of the CPC to "carry forward the main theme". The main theme of the program is to promote the main theme of the country," he said.

"Preservation of information"

Ouyang Shanshun has said many times: preservation of information is to record history, without historical records it is difficult to talk about carrying forward the spirit of the nation, inheriting the revolutionary tradition. People who do archival work are worthy of respect.

Ouyang Shanzun attaches great importance to the custody of the accumulation of information. In the war years, he often took a Japanese army officers use short gun "eight box", but also hung a captured enemy gas mask empty tube, the tube is loaded with his "four treasures" and other things, so as not to be wet by the rain, so that save down some valuable information. In 1938, the then U.S. Embassy in China Naval Counselor Carlson visited my base, the General Political Department of the Eighth Route Army to Ouyang Shanzun as his interpreter. The investigation, by the northwest of Jin, Jinchahi, Jizhong, Ji'nan, northwest Lu, northwest Henan until Zhengzhou, and then return to Yan'an from Zhengzhou, a trip of more than 6,000 miles, which lasted more than 90 days, Ouyang Shanshun wrote a diary of more than 60,000 words. Diary from many aspects of the account of more than half a century ago, in the face of the invincible Japanese invaders, the Chinese **** Producers Party actively advocate and practice the political ideas of national **** cooperation, leading the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians in North China behind enemy lines bravely resist the enemy, the bloodbath; recorded the Nationalist Party and its army in the aspirants and all the patriots for the survival of the nation to make all kinds of efforts; reflecting the members of the working group of arts and culture and the Chinese people's true love. Carlson, a sincere friend of the Chinese people, the *** with the experience of life and death *** in times of trouble, as well as the establishment of a deep and precious friendship; also describes the economic conditions and customs of the anti-Japanese base areas.

In 1946, during his stay in Shanghai, Ouyang Shanzun participated in the 27th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement in Shanghai Literary and Artistic circles, and he and Li Lilian co-starred in "Brother and Sister Open Land" in Shanghai's Spicy Fei Grand Theater, a Shaanxi rice-planting opera full of the rich colors of the peasants of Shaanxi Province, but also with the healthy and upward spirit of the revolutionary arts and culture, as if to the The Huangpu River is filled with oil smoke from U.S. warships, blowing a breeze.

In the spring of 1951, Ouyang Shanzun led a delegation to the Korean battlefield to engage in artistic creation, three months on the Korean front, every moment is faced with the test of life and death, there are several times with the God of death. On the battlefield, he marched and fought with the volunteer soldiers, seized the time to understand the situation to the soldiers and the Korean people, collected a large number of creative materials and information, insisted on writing in the air defense fortifications, has written the poem "blood to pay with blood", eight-act opera "Victory", etc., wrote the volunteer heroes and heroes newsletter and North Korean style and other articles, such as the Volunteer Newspaper scattered in the Volunteer Newspaper and other newspapers.

After the liberation, he attached more importance to the role of archival materials in theater art, and believed that good repertoire and training of talents not only rely on paperwork, but also inseparable from photographs, pictures, sound and video and other kinds of information. When he was working at Beijing Human Art, he paid attention to the construction of the archive room, strengthened the management of stills, and advocated that actors and directors learn to utilize the archive materials and draw nourishment from them to enrich their creations.

The Party's Call

In 2007, 93-year-old Ouyang Shanzun took part in a series of commemorative activities. When he participated in an appreciation program for classic drama clips, he was asked to perform a clip from "No Thought of Rest" in the play "Passerby," written by Lu Xun, when he was supposed to say just a few words. The play depicts an injured rusher, traveling with perseverance on the difficult road of life. Ouyang Shanzun came to the stage in a wheelchair, and his wife had prepared first-aid in the pocket of his clothes. He was solemn and dignified, his voice was pale, clear and powerful: "What I hate is that my feet have long since rotted therefore I don't have enough blood, but I'm not willing to drink just anyone's blood. I replenished my blood with water, probably because there was too much water inside the blood, I had no more strength. It doesn't matter what's in front of me, because there are voices in front of me urging me on, calling me!" The lines were full of vigorous will to fight, and for this reason Ouyang Shanzun used all his breath to make the recitation as staccato as possible. After the recitation, he was already passionate, in the applause of the audience actually leapt up from his wheelchair, picked up the cane at his side, made a beautiful turn, and majestically walked off the stage. The audience was stunned, followed by more enthusiastic applause. Ouyang Shanzun said, Mr. Lu Xun has written many essays and novels in his life, the only play is "Passenger", and it is a drama script, written entirely in accordance with the laws of dramatic creation, the characters, costumes, props, sets, etc. The writing method is very insider. In this monologue, "There is a voice ahead of me, calling me", what voice is it? Whose voice? China's ****production party was founded in 1921, Mr. Lu Xun wrote this "voice", of course, refers to the advanced voice, is the voice of our party in the call in the inspiration. When I recited it, I thought to myself, "The Chinese people have stood up!" I am a Chinese, I want to stand up too! His wife said with a smile: "He usually get up from his wheelchair, have to be assisted, no one thought he would do this, at that time my heart was in my throat, I really do not know where he came from such great energy." Ouyang Shanzun, on the other hand, said with considerable bravado: "To be able to walk down from the stage of the struggle of a lifetime on their own, that feeling is really happy ah."

Ouyang Shanzun is the same age of Chinese drama, a lifetime of countless storms, creating many legends, although he ushered in the drama of the centennial birthday, did not usher in his own centenary, but he left behind the archives and spiritual wealth is immortal.

Furthering the tradition

The tradition of drama

Drama has gone through a hundred years, with the people, with the times; accompanied by the battle, sent ideals, manifested the art; drama has gone through a hundred years, inspired generations of people, nurtured many artists.

Chinese drama on the occasion of the centennial birthday, 93-year-old director Ouyang Shanzun will be on stage again; looking back on the vicissitudes of life, the heart surging. Ouyang Shanzun, who still retains his artistic youth, described himself as "born in sorrow, old in peace and happiness, stay the rest of his life to serve the motherland" and filled in a lyric modeled after Yue Fei's "Man Jiang Hong": "The scenery in the north, reflecting the evening sunshine is doubly dear. Although the oldest, the spirit of ambition, the remaining glory has not been reduced. Dust and dirt of fame and fortune, the tide of the sea of art has years and months. So far, the day, living more than ninety years, do not want to rest. The world, the wind and thunder, for the sake of peace, the rapid rise. I am looking forward to the reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Southeast, northwest, and a chessboard, comprehensive well-being is already within reach. To build a harmonious new society, all work together." -Theater veteran's heart leaps out.

As a famous director of Beijing RenYi and one of the founders of its realist style of acting, the old man Ouyang Shanzun, who is almost the same age as Chinese drama, has had an unbreakable bond with drama throughout his life -- his father, Ouyang Yuqian, was one of the founders of Chinese drama, and he has directed more than 50 plays in his more than 70-year career. more than 50 plays, and most of them have become classics. To celebrate the centennial of Chinese drama, the old man will once again take the stage, and said in a heartfelt voice: the tradition of Chinese drama should not be lost.

Combativeness

"Combativeness, nationalization and realism are the fine traditions of Chinese drama." Ouyang Shanzun explained that Chinese drama was born along with the fate of the country and the rise and fall of the nation, rose and fell along with the storms of the times, and traveled a tortuous and extraordinary road.In 1907, Li Shutong, a student who stayed in Japan, and Ouyang Yuqian formed the Chunliu Society to perform the Negro Appeal to Heaven in Tokyo, advocating the fight for freedom and liberation, and preaching the spirit of revolt, which aroused the audience's ****sing. Later, the Qing Consulate banned the play and repatriated the foreign students. The old man clearly recalled: "I had participated in a school play when I was a student, mobilizing people to rise up against oppression. At that time, Kuomintang agents stood beside us with guns and refused to allow us to perform, but the audience shouted at the stage to continue to perform, so we risked our lives to perform the play. For us, drama was a weapon of war. Later on, the war dramas and the dramas of the liberated areas used combativeness to mobilize the people and propagandize for the war. The combativeness of Chinese drama cannot be erased."

Nationalization, popularization

It is also for this reason that on April 7 and 8, in the performance of "Appreciation of Classic Drama Clips in Commemoration of the Centennial of Chinese Drama" sponsored by the Culture and Art Professional Committee of the China Association of Elderly Professors and the China Federation of Literary and Artistic Associations, the old man Ouyang Shanshun, who is the honorary president, insisted on appearing on the stage and performing the play "The Passerby", which was quite a combative play by Mr. Lu Xun. "This is a drama work created by Mr. Lu Xun, which is seldom performed. People are familiar with Lu Xun's miscellaneous essays and novels and agree that they are highly combative, but this drama is also very combative." The old man told reporters that Mr. Lu Xun this play was written in March 1925, when the Chinese ****production party had been born, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao introduced Marxism-Leninism in the New Youth, these Lu Xun is aware of, the play he writes about a passer-by, there is always a voice calling him to move forward, "I think this is the voice of the party, the voice of progress. " These days, the old man will be he is going to perform that monologue neatly transcribed, carefully recited, expect through the performance to let more people know, a hundred years of Chinese drama history, there is such a Mr. Lu Xun's works.

Ouyang Shanzun, who has participated in the Yan'an Literary and Artistic Symposium, listened to Chairman Mao's "Speech at the Yan'an Literary and Artistic Symposium" and acted in dramas of the liberated areas, has a deep understanding of the nationalization and popularization of Chinese dramas, and said, "Chinese dramas have always been rooted in the fertile soil of realism and the lives of the people of all ethnic groups in China. people's service and socialism is the direction we should follow." After the liberation, he brought the tradition of art serving the people to Beijing People's Art (BPA) and, together with Jiao Juyin, Mei Qian and Xia Chun, explored the mutual fusion of Chinese drama and Chinese opera, and constructed BPA's realist style of acting. He directed plays such as Spring and Autumn, Sunrise, and The Man with the Gun, all of which have become centuries-old drama classics. Beijing People's Art has also become a popular theater group with famous plays such as Cai Wenji, Teahouse and Thunderstorm by Guo Moruo, Lao She and Cao Yu, and many other famous artists such as Zhu Lin, Zheng Rong and Yu Zhi, establishing its leading position in the national theater industry.

Elegant and vulgar ****appreciation

Talking about the state of drama, Ouyang Shanzun pointed out that the mainstream of Chinese drama, whether in the countryside or in the city, has always been along the road of elegant and vulgar ****appreciation, drama to the masses in order to develop and grow. To regard drama as elegant art is tantamount to setting up a fence. To "elegant" self-proclaimed, deliberately engage in some self-expression, detached from life, detached from society, detached from the audience and even people can not understand the things, is tantamount to the drama tethered to the stumbling block, the drama dragged to the trough. For this reason, he advocated the combination of professional theater performances and countryside performances to provide audiences with healthy and excellent works that unify ideology, artistry and appreciation. He emphasized: "Some people say that it is outdated to talk about harmony and then combativeness. Combativeness is not class struggle, but can give the audience ideological enlightenment, give people upward inspiration, give people the enjoyment of beauty."