Cheng's life experience

189 1 year (in the 21st year of Guangxu), he entered Zhao Xiaozhai Class in Weizhuang County, and performed with, Qingshun, Yishun and Yihe Class for the first time. That year, there was a famine in Luanzhou, followed by a plague. Cheng's parents died one after another, so he had to abandon his art and return to his hometown. However, because he couldn't make a living, his younger brother Cheng went to xifengkou to sing lotus flowers and beg. A few days later, his wife and two children died of illness, and Cheng was very sad and lonely. In order to make a living, he and his uncle Cheng Yongyu joined Zhao Xiaozhai and Cui Jiaban in singing Lotus Waterfall in Laoting Temple. Besides being an actor, he sometimes works as a foreman and a box attendant. Since then, he has become a professional Lotus Waterfall artist. Because Cheng was diligent and eager to learn, he soon became a male Dan comparable to the famous artist "Xilaishun" on the West Road, and was deeply loved by the people in the rural market town of Luanzhou, and won the stage name "Donglaishun".

In artistic practice, Cheng deeply felt that the program "Lotus Falls" was monotonous and could not meet the audience's appreciation requirements and the artistic level of the actors. In the 26th year of Guangxu (1900), he began to write plays such as Wulongyuan, most of which were transplanted and adapted from other plays, and began his creative career. His plays show some aspects of rural life in the late Qing Dynasty, reflecting the simple moral concepts of farmers and their yearning for a beautiful, friendly and harmonious family, so they are welcomed by rural audiences. In the second year, nine clubs, including Cheng Yu, Qingshun and Yishun, re-entered Tianjin from Tangshan, and performed Lotus Falls in Tianfu Building, Xiatianxian and Hujiafen in the French Concession, and were expelled from Tianjin by Yang, the governor of Zhili, for being immoral and doing nothing. In the same year, stepfather Zhang and his youngest son died one after another, leaving a family unhappy, with internal and external troubles and falling into a tragic situation. For several years, he didn't perform in the city, but only performed intermittently in the country. During the suspension of business, he worked as a brewer, porter and daily worker, and also sold spices such as "purse" and gailian (pot cover). He experienced hardships, but also accumulated rich life materials for his stage career and script creation.

1908 (in the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu), Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi passed away one after another, and the people wore "filial piety between the two countries". During this period, traditional Chinese opera activities were banned in all parts of the country, and the lotus drop classes disintegrated one after another, and the lotus drop artists were in a desperate situation. In autumn, in order to strive for the survival and development of folk art, Cheng, Ren Lianhui, Du Zhiyi (), Zhang, Hou Tiantai, Zhang and others gathered at Zhang Deli's home in Wujiatuo, Luanxian County, and made bold reforms on lotus removal. Starting with the scripts, he has created large-scale scripts with the characteristics of the play, such as Gao, Six Chapters in the Snow, The Widow of the Horse Opens a Shop, The Mourning of the Dead, The Drunk of Liu Ling and so on. The appearance of big scripts promoted the emergence of various professions (Xiao Sheng, Xiao Dan, Lao Sheng, Lao Dan, Ugly, Wu Sheng) and the reform of vocal music. He will also innovate the singing of the actor Jin Juhua of the same name, and absorb the traditional tunes of Shaanxi Opera, Laoting Drum and Luanzhou Shadow Play on the basis of maintaining the traditional style of Lotus Waterfall, so that different professions have their own singing characteristics.

/kloc-in the first month of 0/909 (the year of Xuantongyuan in Qing Dynasty), Lotus Waterfall appeared in the countryside of eastern Hebei with a new attitude. Cheng and others premiered in Wujiatuo, Luanxian County, and performed plays such as Gao and Liu Ling Drunk, which achieved great success. After five days and five nights of performance, there was a sea of people in front of the stage, and many people were moving and pressing their shoulders and backs. Immediately, Ban was established, and Cheng served as a screenwriter and actor. This class entered Yongping House (now lulong county) from Luanxian County. Because the local government has repeatedly ordered the performance of Lotus Falls to be banned, in order to confuse the eyes and ears of the government, in the name of "Pingqiang Bangzi Opera", Chun Qing class performed three well-known plays in Yongping House, including "Horse Widow Opens Shop", "Wulongyuan" and "Ghost Legs", which won the praise of the government and people and opened the forbidden area in Yongping House. Under the influence of the Chun Qing class in JD.COM, the Lianhualuo class associations dissolved in the period of "filial piety for two countries" were established and revived one after another.

In April of the same year, Wang Yongfu, an enlightened gentleman, built "Yongsheng Tea Garden" on Tangshan Mountain with the help of workers from Tangshan Railway Factory in order to meet the needs of the growing industrial workers and the cultural life of the bottom citizens. Cheng Suiban entered Tangshan from Yongping House, occupied Yongsheng Tea Garden and performed Lotus Falls. On the first day, the performance was stopped by the authorities. On the one hand, Cheng and others had an argument with the authorities. On the other hand, they bribed the police station before approving the performance. There are new plays created by Cheng and outstanding actors. "Chun Qing Class" has played a red role in Tangshan, and its influence is expanding day by day. At that time, Lotus Waterfall was called Tangshan Xiazi.

After Ben gained a firm foothold in Tangshan, Cheng concentrated on writing the script. Limited by self-cultivation and the times, many of Cheng's early plays are based on family trivia, joys and sorrows, with narrow themes and vulgar performance styles, among which there are many dross, such as Killing the Son and Huang's Ode to the Wandering Girl. However, after he entered the city, his later works changed obviously and became closer to life and times. 19 1 1 When the Revolution of 1911 broke out, Cheng was influenced by the democratic trend of thought, and many excellent works came out, such as Flowers as Media, Du Shiniang and Wang Shaoan's Catch the Boat. Among them, Flowers as Media is his early masterpiece, which is based on the parasitism in Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio. It describes the love story between Wang Junqing, the son of Wang Shaoan, and Li Yuee, shows their pursuit of freedom of marriage, and endows them with the characteristics of the times and the color of folk life. When the middle author borrowed the garden to see Jia, he wrote: "Look at my head, look at my feet, and call me stupid and ugly! I'm not ashamed of you calling my feet big. Now that civilization is great, it is high. " Although this kind of writing is not good in art, it is a manifestation of pursuing progress in thought. The play has been played for a long time and has become one of the traditional plays of Pingju. After liberation, it was put on the screen.

From 1909 to 19 12, some famous actors, such as Xiao Jinlong, left the class one after another to train and boldly use young actors such as Ren Shanfeng and Jin. Ren Shanfeng took the lead with the stage name "Moon Pearl" and became the first Danxing actor in the history of Pingju who could perfectly represent the typical image in the play. With Chun Qing's singing in Tangshan, the economic income increased, and a few actors appeared gambling, prostitution and complacency. Cheng insight into the unhealthy trend, set the ten clauses of class rules prejudice, stopped the bad style, the crew. Other classes and societies are also following suit, which naturally forms an impartial method of drama evaluation. He also determined the Republican class system, paying the garden rent and box rent from the performance income, retaining the provident fund, and distributing the rest to everyone according to the size of the head. The size of each part is jointly evaluated by all actors according to their own artistic level, and evaluated and adjusted at any time according to the development of actors' art, so as to encourage actors to make progress. These are all important measures for the survival and development of the class in Chun Qing.

19 13, JD.COM Chun Qing Class was renamed JD.COM Yongsheng Heban. In the same year, I recruited a female artist Xiao Yufeng. The appearance of actresses has injected new blood into the development of Pingju. Xiao Yufeng is handsome in appearance, natural and unrestrained in movements, serious in acting and has great development prospects. However, due to many inconveniences in life, she left the class after half a year, and the class rejected the actress from then on.

19 15, it's Cheng's third performance in Tianjin. Pingqiang Bangzi Opera has won the praise of people from all walks of life in Tianjin for its rich flavor of life, smooth voice and other artistic features, as well as the content of punishing evil and promoting good and alerting the world. The audience starred in Cheng's plays "Open Crow", "Horse Widow Opens Shop" and "Taking Flowers as Media". Tickets rose from 3 coppers to 10 coppers. At this time, Cheng's plays are a perfect match with his singing and Moon Pearl, which enjoys a high reputation.

Cheng is a screenwriter, director and actor. In performance, he tried to overcome the shortcomings of being tall and having a bad voice, practiced acting hard and had solid basic skills. His "runner" is as fast as running water, and his "five hearts turn" is like Youlong. His acting career has become more and more extensive, and he has appeared in Park Xian (Little Face) in Cyclone, Li Jinshi (Cai Dan) in Li Guixiang Qiao, Zhang Yi (old student) in Dog Back to Man, and Cai Mu (Lao Dan) in Six Heroes in the Snow. He is also good at experiencing life. In order to play the blind man well, he invited the fortune teller to his home and paid close attention to how the blind man walked over the threshold, how to treat people and how to judge things. He learned the action characteristics of the blind, and successfully created some images of the blind with different personalities, such as Zhang Tiezui in Peach Blossom, Hu in Ten Golden Pills, and How in Bigamy, among which there are many loyal people. These characters are still talked about by the predecessors of Pingju until today.

19 17, Cheng has reached middle age and his career is in full swing. This year, he went to Tianjin to perform. At that time, Sun Nanban, Sun Beibei and Mahu Pavilion performed in Jinmen. These lotus species are still in the stage of "matching" or "dismantling". Yongsheng's large-scale stage plays opened their eyes and followed suit. Nan Sunban asked Cheng to tell them stories, and Cheng always gave them generous answers. Finally, I gave the scripts of Du Shiniang, Beating Dogs to Persuade Husband, Causal Beauty and Return of the Black sheep to Nan Sunban. In the second year, Yongsheng entered the class to perform in Shanhaiguan, and was suggested by a local celebrity, Kui Xudong, to change the class name to "Tangshan No.1 Police Society". 19 19, Tangshan founded the Shi Jing Drama Club to perform in Yingkou, and then toured Fengtian (now Shenyang), Changchun, Harbin and other places, taking advantage of one place and becoming famous in the vast areas of Northeast China. Cheng's masterpieces Bao Longshan, Yang Sanjie's Complaints and Stealing the Golden Brick are all masterpieces.

After the May 4th Movement, Cheng was influenced by the democratic trend of thought. According to the true story of Gao, the son of a landlord capitalist in Gao Jiagou Village, Luanxian County, Zhili Province (now Luannan County, Hebei Province) in 1938, Cheng completed his masterpiece "The Complaint", which exposed the greed and accusation of the landlord class. The whole drama has created 52 characters with different identities and personalities, and each character has his own obvious characteristics of the times, class and personality, regardless of his primary or secondary position. For example, Yang Er, who is considerate, honest and kind; High, say "don't talk about human feelings, do whatever you want for cheating"; Niu Cheng, "No matter how wronged and wronged, as long as there is foreign money"; A noble chapter of "getting rich by cunning, not by conscience"; There have been affairs since childhood, unrestrained and free Pei, and so on. Especially the protagonist Yang Sanjie, is more successful. She has a distinctive personality and full image, which is a typical peasant image in the early years of the country under feudal thought. Her wisdom, courage and tenacious will run through her every appearance, which aroused strong resonance from the audience. The play is bold and unconstrained in art, provocative and lively, with strong local flavor and national characteristics. It has been performed on the stage for more than 60 years and has been put on the screen.

1922, Yue Mingzhu, who was only 24 years old, died from overwork in Shenyang. The pearl cultivated by Cheng Yi was exiled, and he and all the actors returned home with uncontrollable sadness. Then, Cheng took Jin, who had been trained by himself for many years, as the protagonist, rallied the first class of the once dissolved drama club and returned to Tangshan on 1923 to perform in Tianjin. In Tianjin, at the suggestion of Lu Haihuan, Pingqiang Bangzi was changed to Pingju, meaning "commenting on the past and discussing the present", hence the name Pingju. Soon, Cheng's Shooting the Camel Dragon came out. Due to the role assignment, the contradiction in the class intensified, and Cheng and He left Class 1 to join Class 3 of the Drama Club. Based on the news that the Korean national hero An Tonggen assassinated Japanese Prime Minister Ito Bowen, a large-scale modern Ju Ping "An Tonggen assassinated Ito Bowen" was created, but it was not released due to the interference of the local reactionary authorities.

1927, at the invitation of his old friend Sun Hongkui, Cheng joined Ban-Zhenxing Drama Club as a literary drama teacher and screenwriter. At that time, Beisunban was playing against Li Jinshun, who is known as the "Queen of Pingju" in Harbin, and the business was light. After Cheng arrived, he tried his best to write a play "Stealing the Golden Brick" in a few days. The whole class rushed through the night and immediately staged. The audience was full, and the theater where Li Jinshun performed was deserted, so he was forced to return to perform for half a month.

Sun Hongkui appreciates Cheng's talent, and Cheng appreciates Sun Hongkui's organizational talent. They share the same interests and discuss how to develop the art of Pingju all day. Cheng's three years in the class is the golden age of the class, with a huge performance lineup and endless new plays. There is a lot of traffic in front of the theater, and there are often signs full of seats. It is considered a great honor to buy a theater ticket. Cheng, who is over 500 years old, insisted on performing on stage and played Duan Qishan in "Black Cat Complaining"; Ma Hongyuan in Gao Cheng's Borrowing Sister-in-law; The high kidnapper is complaining; An easygoing person in Baolong Mountain. 1928, accepted the female apprentice yunzhu. Sun Yunzhu, who is only five years old, is Sun Hongkui's adopted daughter. She is naive, lively, intelligent and lovely. She learned four plays in one year, such as "Send a meal safely", and became famous at the age of six, so she took the stage name "Six-year-old Red".

Just as Beisun Office placed greater hopes on Cheng, Cheng unfortunately fell ill in Jilin Dangui Theatre. During my illness, I wrote two plays, Wedding Candles and Return of Martyrs. After returning to his hometown, he died on February 8, 1929 at the age of 55.

Cheng struggled for folk art all his life, leaving at least 102 scripts. In the summer of his death, Anton (now Dandong) Bookstore published one to six episodes of Grand View of Pingju, which included some of Cheng's plays. After liberation, China Drama Publishing House published Selected Works of Cheng Pingju.

Cheng's plays are bold and unrestrained in conception, complex and changeable, timely and harmful in content, and can resonate with the audience. His representative works have been put on the stage, and after liberation, some plays have been put on the screen and praised by the audience. As Mei Lanfang said: "We can see that the flowers of Pingju are so prosperous today, which is inseparable from Mr. Cheng's hard work. A predecessor who is loyal to art and has creative achievements like Mr. Cheng is worthy of respect and commemoration. "

To commemorate Cheng, the Tangshan Municipal Government and Luannan County People's Government built the "Cheng Memorial Hall" in Shucheng, and the Vice Minister of Culture wrote an inscription for the memorial hall. The epitaph in front of Cheng's grave records his life's achievements.