Pan Changjiang： Go all the way.
At 6: 25 on November 4th, Xiao Junting, a famous Pingju performer and founder of Xiao School, died at Langfang People’s Hospital in Hebei Province at the age of 92.
Become famous at 19
Performed more than 200 plays.
Xiao Junting, formerly known as Zhang Junting, was born in Tianjin in 1921. At the age of 8, he began to study arts. At the age of 13, he was already starring in a troupe. At the age of 17, he became a famous actor in Tianjin with the legend of the White Snake at the age of 19. In 1952, Xiao Junting participated in Jinzhou Pingju Theatre, and two years later, he joined the Second Regiment of Liaoning Pingju Theatre. He once served as vice president of Shenyang Pingju Theatre, director of art committee, and vice chairman of Shenyang Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Liaoning Branch of Chinese Drama Association.
Because of his excellent singing and performance skills, as well as the development and creation of Pingju Qingyi and Laodan’s singing, Xiao Junting emerged as soon as he arrived at Shenyang Pingju Theatre. At the same time, it absorbed Dan Xian, Drum and other performance methods, and gradually formed a low-back, tactful and beautiful artistic style. Xiao Junting’s ballad of the Laodan Xiao School of Pingju Opera, together with the Han School of Han Shaoyun and the Flower School of Hua Shulan in Shenyang Pingju Theatre at that time, was known as "Han Huaxiao" and was selected into the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists in China.
During Xiao Junting’s artistic career of more than 80 years, she has performed more than 200 plays. She has studied the representative plays with low-pitched voice, such as Yang Bajie’s Spring Tour, Playing Golden Branches, Crossfire Gun, Jingtai Club, Yangmen Woman, Mother and Daughter, etc., and has written Selected Singing Styles of Xiao Junting.
After retiring from Shenyang Pingju Theatre, Xiao Junting went to live with Zheng Xiaodi, the eldest daughter of Langfang, Hebei. Even in his later years, Xiao Junting has been active on the stage of Pingju. In 2009, in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Shenyang Peking Opera Theatre and Quyi Troupe, Xiao Junting returned to Shenyang from Hebei and performed on stage. That was Xiao Junting’s last performance in Shenyang.
Mourning from all walks of life
Shen Ping Theatre staff went to Tianjin to mourn.
As a master of drama, Xiao Junting’s death made many audiences feel sad. Lu Jun, Party Secretary and Executive Vice President of Shenyang Pingju Theatre, was at Xiao Junting’s home in Langfang when interviewed by reporters. According to the introduction of the army, the memorial service for Xiao Junting has been confirmed to be held at the First Funeral Home in Tianjin on the 6th. The reason for choosing Tianjin is that Xiao Junting was born and became famous in Tianjin. At the same time, China Pingju Theatre, Tianjin Pingju Theatre, Heilongjiang Pingju Theatre and Changchun Pingju Theatre all sent condolences to Xiao Junting.
According to the introduction of the army, Shenyang Pingju Theatre will organize a number of on-the-job employees to attend the memorial service in Tianjin to remember their predecessors Xiao Junting.
After the news of Xiao Junting’s death was sent out, Pan Changjiang mourned and called him "the master of Pingju" in Weibo. Another great loss on the stage of Pingju! The old man walked all the way. "
Shang Yan lost money and dared not play free teaching and didn’t learn.
The death of Xiao Junting means that all the founders of the three major schools of "Han Huaxiao", which influenced the drama circle in China, have passed away.
Another master left, making people pay attention to the development status of Pingju once again. Pingju was formed in the late Qing Dynasty. With the changes of history, the fate of Pingju has experienced ups and downs. Up to now, the development of Pingju has faced a severe test of talent shortage and market downturn.
When the grand occasion was full, insiders had to buy tickets to limit purchases.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was the golden age for the development of Pingju. According to Lu Jun, Party Secretary and Executive Vice President of Shenyang Pingju Theatre, there were not only Han Shaoyun, Hua Shulan, Xiao Junting, but also Xin Yanling in Shenyang Pingju Theatre at that time, all of whom were well-known celebrities in the country at that time.
Up to now, the army can still recall the grand occasion when Xiao Junting’s Little Son-in-law was staged. "The ticket window of famous artists’ performances has been lined up since the day of invoicing. Even our internal employees have implemented a purchase restriction policy. A person can buy up to four tickets, and more is not enough. In this way, we may not be able to buy the one sung by Han Shaoyun. " The army also said that the Pingju market was hot at that time, which was also related to historical factors. After all, after just ten years of turmoil, the people were extremely eager for cultural life except model operas. "At that time, people’s fashionable consumption was to go to the theatre and watch all-night movies. TV was not so popular, and there were only a few stations, so ordinary people were more willing to go out and spend in the theater. At that time, most of the people chasing Pingju were young people, and watching Pingju was also a fashionable and trendy thing. "
At that time, Shenyang Pingju Theater was large-scale. Han Shaoyun, Hua Shulan and Xiao Junting each took a troupe, and each troupe had 80 to 90 people. Today, Shenyang Pingju Theatre has more than 200 employees, but only about 100 people are engaged in Pingju work, and only one troupe is left.
The status quo of decline Shang Yan plays a game and loses a game, and he doesn’t dare to play at all.
According to the Army, in the middle and late 1980s, Pingju began to decline, small theaters began to decline, and the loss of actors became more and more serious. Today, in the words of the army, it has reached the point where it needs to be "revitalized" and "saved".
There are two recognized reasons for the decline of Pingju in the industry. On the one hand, social development, especially the progress of television, internet and other technical means, has greatly enriched people’s entertainment life, which is a huge impact on the Pingju performance market. On the other hand, Pingju itself has not followed the progress of the times, nor has it kept up with people’s appreciation habits.
The army believes: "The tickets for the performance can’t be sold. If you go to the market, you will basically lose one performance, so you don’t dare to perform at all. For example, for a performance, the high price is 50,000, if it is less, it may only be 30,000. It takes three days to rent a venue for 30,000 a day and install a stage for 10,000 a day. My expenditure for five performances is 180,000, and the income from booking is 250,000. There is a difference of 70,000 in the middle, but I haven’t counted the manpower and material resources for transportation and setting, and the subsidies for actors. Now, the subsidies for actors are 50 yuan, and the laborers in the labor market are still three Even so, it is a loss. "
According to Fei Hongyu, the stationmaster of the well-known Pingju website, from a nationwide perspective, the scale of Pingju Troupe is basically shrinking. This shrinkage is not only due to the lack of employees, but also reflected in the fact that famous artists are hard to get out, and well-known national artists are basically old. Moreover, almost no theater group can adapt to the current Shang Yan market. "The overall environment has been marketized, but the theater group is still an institution. It is basically equivalent to dying to let these theater groups accept market tests."
It is difficult to recruit students in the future, and the industry believes that reform is imperative.
The death of teacher Xiao Junting means that all three inheritors of intangible cultural heritage in Shenyang Pingju Theatre have left. The departure of Xiao Junting also worried Director Fang Wei of Shenyang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center. "The words" non-legacy "and" protection "basically show that this drama has already faced a particularly serious crisis. If the operas flourish, there is no need to protect them at all, and they will naturally be passed down. There are fewer and fewer masters in the whole pingju circle. As an art like Pingju, in people, when people are gone, art is gone. Therefore, we have been committed to letting those living artists pass on their skills as much as possible. "
But this kind of inheritance is also facing a severe test. According to Fang Wei, Xiao Junting has several excellent disciples, but at present, Pingju, like many operas, has difficulties in enrolling students, which is very unfavorable to the development of Pingju.
Lu Jun, Party Secretary and Executive Vice President of Shenyang Pingju Theatre, is also very worried about this. "Pingju has declined from prosperity to today, and the enrollment of Pingju is also facing the status quo from popular to unpopular. Although we are recruiting students for the whole country, the situation is very bad every year, and parents will also consider whether children can make a living by learning Pingju. In fact, not only Pingju, but also many operas are facing this problem. Many theater groups have slogan of free tuition, but the effect is very small. "
As to where Pingju should go in the future, it is generally accepted in the industry that reform is imperative. Besides government support, Pingju practitioners also need to find their own reasons, get in touch with the market, adapt to market competition, and regain their former vitality through commercial operation.(Hua Shang Morning News Hua Shang Xiang Wang reporter Mike Wu)