Identidad de pertenencia y personalización

《牆頭馬上》27

(Kunqu) Role : Pei Shaojun 裴少俊 (played by Yu Zhenfei 俞振飛)

The young scholar Pei Shaojun passes by the Lee Garden 李氏園 on horse-back. He is about to meet the most beautiful girl who happens to be just visible over the top of the wall. It is to be noted that in the film, Maestro Yu in fact has already descended from the horse and the lyrics have also been altered accordingly (“descend from my horse” instead of “on my horse back...”). In the stage version, Pei Shaojun is holding a horse- whip when he encounters the lady, while in the film Maestro Yu is holding a fan. I suppose it is because holding a horse-whip to represent riding on a horse is highly symbolic, which is however not fully compatible with the style of the film. That is the reason for the change.

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Video 11 : The Jade Hairpin《玉簪記》(Kunqu) Role : Pan Bizheng 潘必正

(played by Yue Meiti 岳美緹)

This is from the scene “Playing the Qin to flirt”, which we have already mentioned in chapter I. Yue Meiti is a female disciple of Yu Zhenfei, and she is today’s foremost performer of the Kunqu jinsheng巾生.

‧Shamaosheng 紗帽生 － young male character wearing an official hat

Video 12 : A Miraculous Double Reunion《奇雙會》 Role : Li Baotong 李保童

(played by Zhou Xuefeng 周雪峰)

When a scholar passes the Imperial Examination and becomes an official, he wears a different kind of costume and hat. He will then have a more dignified bearing.

‧Qiongsheng 窮生－ a scholar who is (temporarily) down and out

The qiongsheng always wears a patched robe, which is ironically named fuguiyi 富貴衣 (fortune robe), implying that he will eventually become rich and successful. Although in distress, a qiongsheng always has a residual pride and the bearing of a scholar. Deep down, he thinks of himself as being a person out of the ordinary.

Video 13 : The Beggar’s Daughter Jin Yunu 《金玉奴》28

Role : Mo Ji 莫稽

(played by Geng Tianyuan 耿天元)

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This play is also called Douzhi Ji《豆汁記》or Punish the Heartless《棒打薄情郎》. Mo Ji marries Jin Yunu who has saved his life. But once he passes the Imperial Examination and becomes an official, he tries to kill her because her identity as a beggar’s daughter may disgrace him... This piece was one of Yu Zhenfei’s representative items in his Jingju repertoire. The video extract features the performance by the Jingkun Theatre in 2009, in a version re-arranged by Geng Tianyuan.

Mo Ji has fainted from coldness and hunger outside the house of Jin Yunu. Jin asked him to come inside and feeds him some kind of porridge 豆汁. The way Mo Ji eats the porridge shows that he has been starving for days.

b) Wu Xiaosheng 武小生

The wu xiaosheng is also known as zhiweisheng雉尾生 because he sometimes wears a pair of pheasant plumes on his headdress.

This type of role usually depicts a young general or a young man with heroic bearing. The actor should not only meet the requirements of the xiaosheng role but should also possess a certain standard of martial skills.

Videos 14, 15 : The Gathering of Heroes 《群英會》29

Role : Zhou Yu 周瑜

(played by Ye Shenglan 葉盛蘭) 30

“Laughing” is a technique frequently used by xiaosheng. This video extract shows three dimensions of laughter (three different tonalities):

Text :

Zhou Yu: Oh! Jiang Gan 蔣幹is crossing the river? Voice: Yes.

Zhou Yu:(first laughter) Haha, (this is a good chance) (second) Haha, (an idea pops up in his mind)

(third) Ah.. Hahaha….(imagines with delight the outcome of his plan)

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This is a film made in 1957. It gathered together the most eminent performers of the time: Ma Lianliang as Zhuge Liang, Ye Shenglan as Zhou Yu, Yuan Shihai as Cao Cao, Qiu Shengrong as Huang Gai, Xiao Zhanghua as Jiang Gan, Tan Fuying (grandson of Tan Xinpei) as Lu Su (the artists will be mentioned again in the following texts). It has been said that the film itself was genuinely a Gathering of Heroes, both on stage and off stage. This film was directed by my cousin, Cen Fan 岑範.

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Ye Shenglan was the son of Ye Chunshan, the person in charge of the most renowned traditional Jingju training school - the Fuliancheng Keban (more about Ye Chunshan and the Fuliancheng Keban in chapter IV). He studied under Cheng Jixian程繼先, who was also the Jingju Teacher of Yu Zhenfei. Ye Shenglan was the leading figure of the xiaosheng role-type, and was exceptionally good at playing the roles with heroic bearing, such as Zhou Yu.

The Sword Dance of Zhou Yu is sometimes included in this play (see video 15). It is included only when Zhou Yu is played by an actor who possesses appropriate martial skills, and he must also be a renowned artist, or else the audience will feel that its time is being wasted.

1.3 Wusheng 武生

Wusheng refers to all warrior type male characters.

a) Duanda Wusheng 短打武生－ wusheng wearing short clothes

Video 16 : Shi Xiu Investigates the Village 《石秀探莊》

Role : Shi Xiu 石秀

(played by Zhou Long 周龍)

Video 17 : The Crossroads《三岔口》 Role : Ren Tanghui 任堂惠 (played by Zhang Yunxi 張雲溪)

Both characters in these two plays possess great prowess. Shi Xiu is an outlaw hero 綠林英雄 while Ren Tanghui is a frontier general. This type of role requires neatness and agility in all actions, as well as excellent waist and leg skills.

b) ChangkaoWusheng 長靠武生－ wusheng wearing armour

Video 18 : Overturning the Chariots《挑滑車》 Role : Gao Chong 高寵

The kao 靠 (the costume that the actor is wearing), together with the kaoqi 靠旗 (the four flags or pennants attached to his back), represent armour. This heavy costume, however, should never become a burden to a changkao wusheng; but rather, should serve as a tool to reinforce his majestic quality and heroism. For example, for a skillful changkao wusheng a speedy turn is enhanced by the four flags.

Video 19 : Overturning the Chariots《挑滑車》 Role : Gao Chong 高寵

(played by Gao Mukun 高牧坤)

In this example, we see a typical and fabulously impressive cadenza passage of a changkao wusheng. It requires great physical strength, precision, and speed. When turning around 轉身 he must do so in a way that his weapon will not hit the flags; and when he does the twisting turn 翻身 (towards the end of the cadenza), we can see once again that the turn is enhanced by the four flags.

2. Dan 旦

Dan refers to all Female characters. It can be further divided into: 2.1 Qingyi 青衣 (decorous, mature female characters)

2.2 Huadan 花旦 (lively and vivacious young girls;

or shrewd and dissolute female characters) 2.3 Guimendan 閨門旦 (literally, lady in the boudoir)

2.4 Daomadan 刀馬旦 (female warriors with long weapons and a horse) 2.5 Wudan 武旦 (female warriors)

2.6 Laodan 老旦 (old female characters)

2.1 Qingyi 青衣 － young or middle aged woman of rather mature and dignified character

In the traditional repertoire, many of the female roles who are either poor, or miserable, would wear a long black dress (qingyi 青衣). This kind of role usually puts the stress on singing. Later qingyi became a technical term for a female role-type excelling in singing and yunbai 韻白.31

Video 20 : Beauty Defies Tyranny

《宇宙鋒》

Role : Zhao Yanrong 趙艷容 (played by Mei Lanfang 梅蘭芳)

This is one of the representative works of Mei Lanfang. It is about “a sycophant court minister’s beautiful daughter who feigns insanity to avoid falling into the hands of the emperor.”32

In this extract we can hear the Maestro’s exquisite recitation: the yunbai. One may also pay attention to his “famous hands which are curiously like those in Botticelli, Simone Martini and other painters of the 15th century...” (see chapter I)

Video 21 : Scholar as Matchmaker《狀元媒》 Role : Princess Chai 柴郡主

(played by Tang Yuen Ha 鄧宛霞)

Scholar as Matchmaker illustrates the style of the qingyi genius Zhang Junqiu張君秋 (1920-1997). Zhang was once disciple of Wang Yaoqing and Mei Lanfang. He later developed his own style, which was considered to be the milestone of qingyi singing, both in terms of vocal technique and aria composition (Zhang personally composed all his arias). Some have praised Zhang’s singing as the coloratura of Peking Opera.

In this extract Princess Cha sings of her deep love for Yang Liulang.

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See chapter I for this term. 32

2.2 Huadan花旦 － lively and vivacious young girl / shrewd and dissolute woman The huadan must act in a compelling and captivating manner. This type of role usually expresses itself through extensive recitation in jingbai京白.33 Compared to the qingyi, the huadan’s singing is probably less powerful (not as demanding in terms of volume) but more agile.

Video 22 : The Story of The Iron Bow《鐵弓緣》34 Role : Chen Xiuying 陳秀英

(played by Tang Yuen Ha 鄧宛霞)

This is an illustration of the huadan’s (young girl) acting and recitation. The young lady Chen Xiuying rarely sees a decent person coming to the teahouse. She is now trying every trick to have her mother go away so that she can spend some time with the young man.

Video 23 : The Cuiping Mountain《翠屏山》 Role : Pan Qiaoyun 潘巧雲

(played by Tang Yuen Ha 鄧宛霞)

This extract illustrates another aspect of huadan: wicked, shrewd and dissolute. The character Pan Qiaoyun, one of the three female characters being killed in the novel Water Margin (the other two are Pan Jinlian 潘金蓮and Yan Xijiao 閻惜姣), is often played by highly mature artists with a certain degree of fame, for people want to see how the actress portrays the character much more than they want to see the play itself. This type of role is unlikely to be taught in a Xiqu school, as it is more like a kind of free acting without many pre-arranged movements. Another point to mark is that, in this case, the actress is wearing a type of shoe imitating bound feet. The technical term is

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Peking dialect: this is the same as Putonghua but with more colloquial expressions and a stronger local accent. See also chapter I.

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The Story of the Iron Bow was the play with which I won the Plum Blossom Award in 1991. It is a very challenging repertoire piece for the principal actress because she first acts as a huadan, then as a wu xiaosheng (as she disguisesherself as a young man to find her husband), and finally, as a wusheng wearing armour kao (as she takes command in a mountain lair and fights the enemies).

caiqiao 踩蹺. For the performer, it is like being on demi-point throughout the whole performance. Some techniques of caiqiao are shown in this extract.

2.3 Guimendan 閨門旦 － beautiful young lady in the boudoir