Wei Changsheng's Life Experience

Wei Changsheng's life journey is full of legends. His original name was Wei Chaogui, and he was the third, so he was called "Wei San". He was born in Qianlong nine years (AD 1744). My family was poor, my father died early, and my mother worked odd jobs to make a living. 10 years old, his mother died, and Wei Changsheng had to associate with street children, collecting rags and preparing for hardship; I once went to Chengdu, the provincial capital, to learn to sing Sichuan opera, and my skills were very general. Around the time he studied art, he got mixed up with Kou Guo Lu Zi, a lower-level Jianghu organization at that time, which changed his life. Mouth-and-pot approach is an early organizational form of Jianghu nursing homes, which started from refugees in Daba Mountain area and then spread to various towns and villages in Chengdu Plain. According to Yan Ruyu's "Three Provinces and My Body", "The middle of Sichuan is fertile and livable. Unemployed people from all provinces gathered in the meantime to form cronies. Its leaders must be talented and skilled, and everyone pushes it. I chose a long forest and a deep valley, and no one has ever walked before. I practiced boxing, sticks, knives and spears, so my skills were quite refined. "

There is a legend among the old artists of Jintang County Sichuan Opera Troupe: Wei Changsheng lives in Shaanxi with a group of Jianghu artists who have participated in Kouguo Luzi, and joined a small Shaanxi opera troupe to study. At that time, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces were under the jurisdiction of the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, belonging to the same administrative region and had frequent exchanges.

After wandering in Shaanxi, Wei Changsheng was bullied because he was a stranger in xi 'an. Injured by a fight with an apprentice of a merchant in a neighboring street, he fled to Luohe and joined Tongzhou Bangzi Troupe. All the retreat was cut off, and the environment forced him to study hard, get up early and get greedy for the dark, sing and play, sweat, suffer a lot, and make a big wish: art is not amazing.

Wei Changsheng is full of adventurous spirit, dares to challenge the environment, and has considerable organizational ability. After ten years of grinding a sword, the sea of art sails. His acting skills first stood out in Qinchuan for hundreds of miles, and then he went north to Beijing with the troupe to win the Central Plains. In the early Qing Dynasty, the most popular operas in Beijing were Kunqu Opera and Peking Opera (originated from Yiyang Opera, also known as "Gaoqiang Opera", which was introduced into Beijing as "Peking Opera", not later formed Peking Opera). During the Qianlong period, society was stable and economy was prosperous. Local operas from various provinces come to Beijing to perform in the name of celebrating the birthday of the emperor or empress dowager. "Southern accent and Northern tune, the fun of preparing quartets." Due to the variety of operas, operas began to be divided into two parts: "flower" and "elegance" in order to "correct their names". "Ya Bu" refers to Kunqu Opera, and "Flower Department" refers to local operas such as Beijing Opera. Except Kunqu opera. At that time, Kunqu opera gradually declined, and Peking Opera was the most popular in the "Flower Department" of Beijing Liyuan, and all operas in Wang Fu performed Peking Opera.

In the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong (1774), Wei Changsheng led Shaanxi opera into Beijing. Troupe business neat, solid basic skills; The play has a deep flavor of life and has been improved. Wei Changsheng's Western Qin Opera is different from "clapping the clappers for the board" and "being good at expressing emotion", so Wei Changsheng's artistic symbols are held high and made a blockbuster. Taoist Xiao Tiedi's "Looking at Flowers in the Sunlight" says: "Born in the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong (1774), I first entered the capital, and I was familiar with his" Rolling the Building ",which made our country crazy." At that time, Zhao Wei, the prince of the royal family, wrote in the book "Xiao Ting Zalv Zhengba": "When I entered Beijing at the age of, I was famous as the capital, and all the princes and nobles, as well as the Yuan Fen Department (that is, the Hanlin Academy-the author), all voted for thousands of heads, so I could not make good friends with Wei for a while."

Strong "Wei whirlwind" blows pear orchards. Not only is Ya Bu's Kunqu opera declining, but even the flowery Peking Opera is greatly discounted, so that it "puts the old Peking Opera on the shelf" (Lan Yan Xiaopu). Wei Changsheng, as an outstanding representative of "Flower Department" in the history of China's traditional operas, has since gone down in history as "three overseas Wei". In the book History of Modern Japanese Drama, Masako Aoki praised Wei Changsheng as "a genius who created a new era in the color world and achieved wonderful realism".

"The wood in the forest is beautiful, and the wind will destroy it." After Wei Changsheng became famous, he was once slandered. Some powerful people falsely accused him of performing "obscenity" and left Beijing.

Forty-four years after Qianlong (1779), Wei Changsheng went to Beijing again. At that time, the attendance rate of the "Shuangqing Department" of Qin Opera Troupe was not good, and it was almost untenable in Beijing. Wei Changsheng stepped forward, willing to take the lead in the class to turn the tide, and said: After two months in the class, the actor's salary must be raised. As a result, he once again won the audience in Kyoto with "Rolling the Building", which was very popular and "the audience was blocked". The "Shuangqing Department" has become a troupe for Beijing citizens to book tickets and watch, and the income of actors has increased greatly. With his own savings, he sponsored many scholars who were in trouble when they came to Beijing to take the exam. The excellent quality of "a teenager is full of fruit" is carried forward in him. The high-surnamed guest in a sickly inn got timely help from Wei Changsheng. Later, he was admitted to Jinshi, assigned to Renzhi County and Huayang County in Chengdu, and reunited with Wei Changsheng in Chengdu. After Wei Changsheng became popular in Beijing, he often met friends and went out for meetings at the Sichuan Guild Hall, where the Sichuan Association of Hometown Association was located. Sichuan Guild Hall is located in Xuanwu Gate, Beijing. It used to be the residence of Qin Liangyu, the heroine of Sichuan in the late Ming Dynasty, and was rebuilt during the reign of Qing Qianlong. Li, a famous native of Luojiang, Sichuan, worked in imperial academy and the official department successively, and made a deep friendship with him. Appreciate Li's beautiful couplets inscribed for Sichuan Guild Hall;

You can stop here, cut the candle at the west window, and occasionally talk about the scenery of your hometown: Jiangexiong, Emeixiu, Bashan Qu, beautiful scenery, countless famous mountains and rivers come into view;

When I went to Beijing, I thought about the past and made suggestions, whipping the North Road, and unforgettable typical sages: Xiang Rufu, Taibai Poetry, Dongpo Wen, Sheng An Ke Di, and Chang 'an meeting beautiful women and talented people.

Couplets depict the famous mountains and rivers in Sichuan, outstanding people and homesickness.

In a performance in Sichuan Guild Theater, two special audiences came-Emperor Qianlong and his favorite imperial concubine.

The imperial concubine gave birth to only one princess. The princess loved her like the apple of her eye, but she died early six months ago. From then on, the imperial concubine was sad and emaciated. In order to relieve the princess's melancholy, Emperor Qianlong took his beloved princess out of the palace for recreation. They came to see a play by the famous actress Wei Changsheng in disguise. The imperial concubine was fascinated by Wei Changsheng's appearance, figure and singing skills. What really shocked her was that Wei Changsheng was very similar to the princess she missed very much. She couldn't help but say to Gan Long, "Long live the princess who plays Liao State is like our dead Heshuo Gege." Afraid that the imperial concubine would be sad, Qianlong immediately said, "Since Ai Qing likes it, we will accept her as Gege and be your goddaughter!" The next day, Wei Changsheng was ordered to make a cosmetic bag for Princess Liao, and went to the palace to thank the emperor and the imperial concubine. Because of this adventure, the people respectfully called him "Wei Huanggu". The immortal was buried in the tomb of his hometown after his death, so he was naturally called "Huanggu Grave". After enjoying the reputation of the capital, Wei Changsheng's master-apprentice dramas were mostly about men and women, and it was inevitable that there were some over-descriptions in the performances, which stimulated the feudal ethics. In addition, the backstage of Class Six are mostly royal dignitaries, who regard Beijing Opera and Kunqu Opera as orthodox and Wei Changsheng Sichuan Opera as devious. Therefore, in the fifty years of Qianlong (1785), the five cities were ordered by the cloth army to ban Shaanxi opera performances. "Kun and Yi are almost going to change. Listen if you don't want to, and find another physiology. Not from evil, handed over to the government for investigation and deportation. " Later, Wei Changsheng changed to sing educational dramas such as loyalty, loyalty, denial and obstinacy of Yichang class in Beijing, Kunming, such as Iron Lotus and Biography of Xiang Lian. The volume remains the same, and the charm still exists, which shows that his artistic attainments are comprehensive and diverse. In the fifty-third year of Qianlong (1788), Wei Changsheng resolutely left Beijing for Yangzhou. The glory of the land is three points, lovely Yangzhou, and you actually accounted for two points. "This is the hub of salt transportation and water transportation, and merchants gather; At the peak of the drama, the "Flower Department" is booming; Shaanxi Opera, Yiyang Opera, Bangzi Opera, Luoluo Opera and Huang Er Opera compete with each other. At this time, Yiling A and Tusi A, the imperial salt transport consultants, were ordered to set up offices in Yangzhou to revise opera scripts and compile a series of Quhai, including local opera scripts 1000.

After arriving in Yangzhou, Wei Qiang became popular in Yangzhou. He was the guest of Jiang Heting. Zhao Yi wrote in "Miscellaneous Notes on the eaves and Colorful Arts in Liyuan": "I was in Wushen (fifty-three years of Qianlong), went to Yangzhou and Wei, and suddenly I was at Jiang Heting's home. The wine room is on the scene. " Li Dou's "Yangzhou Painting Boat Record" Volume 5 records that he "gave a gold medal when he performed." Even the children of Kunban have mentors. For example, Hao Tianxiu, a famous Dan family in Anqing, once studied Wei Changsheng's Rolling to Send Pillows. Therefore, Jiao Xun said in "Hua Bu Nong Tan": "Since Xi Shuwei San, some people have advocated it as a lewd and ridiculous word. Fan Ba and Hao Tianxiu in the market have all changed their faces and imitated them. " It can be seen that Wei Changsheng has great influence in Jiangnan.

Wei Changsheng, known as the "master of wild foxes", once again blew a whirlwind in Yangzhou. According to Yangzhou Painting Boat, "Wei Saner of Sichuan, born at the age of forty, came to the county seat to vote for Jiang Heting (a wealthy businessman who strongly advocated opera), gave a performance (a spring troupe) and gave birth to a daughter. When I tried boating on the lake, I suddenly heard a gust of wind, prostitutes did their best, paddled each other, and the lake was full of fragrance. Immortality is self-sustaining and desolate. " Jiao Xun, a theorist of traditional Chinese opera, presented Wei San with a poem: "Charming songs are intoxicating, even if rich, they are not too light", which was highly appreciated. He also praised: "In the market ... phase change is imitation and affects rural couples."

Actors from nearby provinces and cities flocked to Yangzhou to catch a glimpse of Wei San, watch his performance in "Spring Stage Class" and ask Wei San to teach them skills. Suzhou Opera Troupe invited him to Suzhou, the birthplace of Kunqu Opera. Lingren from the south of the Yangtze River, including children of Kunqu Opera, also came to learn his acting skills, "jumping" and innovative makeup art-"combing hair patches". His wonderful art of "being good at expressing emotion and moving to listen" was planted in pear orchards in the north and south of the river, from which many operas were nourished. His newly-created Western Qin Opera "Hui Ling is the Best" has played a catalytic role in the formation of Beijing Opera art a hundred years later. In the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong (1792), Wei Changsheng was framed by an enemy and "sent back to his original place because of something" (Volume 8 of Miscellanies of Xiao Ting). The specific situation is unknown. He went back to Sichuan this time and bought a garden near Chengdu East School to live in. Xie Yang wrote in "Jincheng Zhi Zhu Ci" engraved in the early years of Jiaqing:

Countless actors live in the east corner, and the director of Shuncheng is Ding Nan. Wuzi Temple is a stone at the end of the world, and it is close to Wei San all the way. At the end of the poem, the original note said: "Many actors live in the East Campus of Wutong Temple in Dongshuncheng Street ... (Wei San) There is another family, and the pavilion is very good in the East Campus of the province." Wei San 10 settled in Chengdu, and next door lived Sichuan Opera artists, many of whom were apprentices who learned to sing Sichuan Opera when he was a child. Wei Changsheng lived with them and performed together, which played a great role in the formation and development of Sichuan Opera's "five-cavity integration".

At this time, Li Yin unjust verdict was exiled back to his hometown in Luojiang County, Sichuan Province. Li Diaoyuan is not only a poet, writer, but also a dramatist. He has a troupe at home, and he "knocks sandalwood lessons by himself". Soon after returning to Li, he wrote a letter to Li. One day, Li received a letter at the banquet of Jintang county yamen, and sang two five-rhythm "Shu", one of which said:

Wang Wei was a guest on the ship and left Yanjing after such a long separation. Suddenly I received a letter from Jin Guan, who is from Xiushui City. Wang Bao's kindness was praised and the name of the wild fox was sung. In the past, stereos were expensive, even if they cost several thousand dollars. Wang Wei's Boat uses the story of Tsao Gong and a geisha traveling by boat to match Wei Changsheng's surname and occupation, and vaguely touches Wei San's status as an "imperial aunt". "Yanjing after a long separation" looked back at the Association in Sichuan Guild Hall. The sentence "Wang Bao" uses the allusion of "Wang Bao is in Qi, he is good in Hexi", which coincides with the "Wild Fox" and implies the ardent expectation for Wei Changsheng, the founder of the "Wild Fox" (the leader of the "Flower Department"), to promote Sichuan Opera.

Wei Changsheng realized his old friend's wish. Soon after he returned to Sichuan, Huayang County, Chengdu Prefecture made a special trip to visit and met in the hall. It turned out that the magistrate of a county was a distinguished man, who was sick and trapped in the capital, and was funded by Wei Changsheng. Later, he was admitted to Jinshi and assigned to Ren Huayang County, Chengdu. At that time, the reconstruction of Chengdu in the early Qing dynasty (due to the war and the ruins of the city in the late Ming dynasty) was almost completed, and the zoning of various industries was planned, but the address of Liyuan Association had not yet been selected. Wei Changsheng submitted a report to the magistrate of a county that Sichuan opera actors applied to build the "Old Wolf Temple". A few days later, the approval came down, and the temple site was selected in the north of Huaxing Street in Chengdu, with a length of 570 square feet from east to west and 330 square feet from north to south. The "Lao Lang Temple" advocated by Wei Changsheng imitates the architectural style of Suzhou Liyuan Guild Hall, and has a statue of Tang, the ancestor of Liyuan. At the end of Qing Dynasty, Laolang Temple was rebuilt as Yuelai Tea Garden. After liberation, it was transformed into Jinjiang Theatre, and now it is the Chengdu Sichuan Opera Art Center. In the past 200 years, it has become a sacred place for Sichuan opera art.

After the completion of the "Old Wolf Temple", Wei Changsheng once staged his masterpiece: Biography of Han Zhen (namely, Sichuan Opera Wang Zhaojun) in the theater. After watching the performance, Li praised: "Recently, watching (Wei San) perform Empresses in the Palace, the volume is real, which makes people want to cry. Sweeping lead is still a good boy in the pear garden. " At this time, Wei San is nearly 50 years old, but because of good maintenance, he still looks youthful and still looks like a "good boy in the pear garden". Li and Wei have a deep friendship. The encounter of the "Gemini" in Sichuan painting circle in the Qing Dynasty was passed down as a much-told story by later generations. In the fifth year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (1800), Wei Changsheng went out of Sichuan to perform in Beijing for the third time. At the age of 57. This time, he starred in Sanqing Department, starring in Xiang Lian String, Roasting Fire, Selling Gold Account and other Shaanxi Opera plays. "The volume is as beautiful as ever, and the martial arts are full of power." The martyrs were full of courage in their later years. The acting skills are still so meticulous, and the martial arts are perfect, which fully shows the fighting spirit and steel backbone refined from the juvenile country.