Mr. Wang Yongchang, an 85-year-old national non-hereditary inheritor and opera musician, has come! Mr. Gao Dingzhu, a 75-year-old former director of the Provincial Cultural Center and a theorist of opera music, has arrived from Jinan! There is also the playwright Mr. Wang Xinsheng, the playwright and local history researcher Mr. Li Zhenxi... They're all coming!
Some of these famous artists, older, have not easily "gone out of the mountains" in recent years, what activities can alarm them?
This is the recent launching ceremony of the compilation of the "History of the Development of Binzhou Lü Opera", and it is also a seminar on Binzhou Lv Opera. The event was sponsored by the Publicity Department of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and hosted by the Municipal Institute of Artistic Creation and the Municipal Lv Opera Performing Arts Co., Ltd.
Lv opera, every Binzhou person is familiar with, and can even hum a few words. It is the most representative local opera genre in Shandong Province, and Binzhou is the birthplace of Lü opera, forming the regional genre of Lü opera "hometown school". So, what is the significance and principle of the compilation of this book? How to look back at the history of Binzhou Lv opera for more than 100 years?
Around 1900, Lü opera was put on the stage, and over the past hundred years, famous artists have emerged and stories have been vast
First of all, why do you want to do it?
According to the organizers, this move aims to deeply do a good job in the protection and inheritance development of Binzhou Lu opera and strengthen the construction of Binzhou opera theory. Taking the "Singing Lü Opera" project as an opportunity, the Compilation of the Book was initiated with the Municipal Institute of Artistic Creation and the Municipal Lv Opera Performing Arts Co., Ltd. as the main body. It is planned to use three years, under the guidance of experts, through comprehensive, systematic and in-depth combing, summarizing and refining, to form a Monograph on the Study of Lü Opera with Binzhou characteristics and a certain theoretical depth.
Wang Xiaojuan, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal CPC Committee and director of the Propaganda Department, said in her speech at the scene that whether it is from the height of strengthening cultural self-confidence and promoting the construction of a culturally strong city, or from the practical need to do a good job in the protection and inheritance of local opera and strengthen the theoretical construction of Binzhou opera, we need to take the initiative to carry out a comprehensive, systematic, and in-depth combing, summarizing, and refining of the origin, representative figures, artistic characteristics, and development process of the drama genre, and form a Monograph on the study of Lü Opera with Binzhou characteristics and a certain theoretical depth.
Second, what are the requirements?
Wang Xiaojuan said: The cultural and tourism departments should raise their standing, earnestly shoulder the responsibility of inheriting and revitalizing local opera, attach great importance to the excavation and sorting out of local opera and theoretical research in the spirit of being responsible for history and the cultural memory of the region, and provide the necessary funds and policy guarantees for the compilation of the "History of the Development of Binzhou Lu Opera" to ensure the smooth progress of this work and ultimately achieve fruitful results.
So, what are the difficulties?
There are many difficulties, such as a long time span and a lot of people and things involved.
Baidu can know that around 1900, Lü opera was put on the stage; after 1917, the Lü opera class society entered Jinan, Dalian and other performances; in 1951, the first Lu opera professional troupe Jinan Lushengqin Theater Troupe (Jinan Lu Theater) was established; in 1953, the first provincial-level theater troupe Shandong Lu Opera Troupe (Shandong Lv Theater) was established, and there were famous artists such as Lang Xianfen, Lin Jianhua, Li Daijiang and other artists, as well as famous plays such as "Sister Easy marriage", "Forced Marriage", "Li Erjie Remarried" and so on. At its peak, there were nearly 100 professional Lv theater troupes across the country, and its influence spread to Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Xinjiang and so on.
Lü opera is a flower that grows from the yellow river watering the yellow earth. A hundred years ago, from one person picking up a stall to a duo to a three-person plate stool, artists from the Shodo Courtyard knocked on lotus flowers and cow bones, and sang country tunes with their choreographers. In the generation of Zhang Chuanhai and Zhang Mingran, the increasingly mature Boxing Lu opera entered the Qushan Art Sea - Jinan Grand View Garden. In the establishment and development of Lü opera units in various places such as the Provincial Lü Opera Troupe, Binzhou Lv opera people have made important contributions. For example, the old artist Zhang Chuanhai was called 'Tan Xinpei of Lü Opera' by Wang Tongzhao. Lü opera masters Lang Xianfen and Li Daijiang have received careful guidance from Mr. Zhang Chuanhai.
Zhang Chuanhai, the first head of the Binzhou Lv Opera Troupe, spoke at the first Wendai meeting in Shandong Province
▲ During the first WenDai in Shandong Province, Zhang Chuanhai exchanged views with young people
Li Ping, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee and secretary of the Party Group of the Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, introduced at the ceremony that Lv Opera has a solid mass foundation and unique advantages in inheritance and development in Binzhou. In 1966, Huimin district developed into 9 professional Lü opera troupes and more than 500 professional Lü opera workers; at the end of the 1970s, all 5 counties that established "propaganda teams" were changed to Lü opera troupes; in May 2011, Binzhou Lü opera was included in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. At present, binzhou has 4 professional Lv opera troupes, namely Binzhou Lv Opera Performing Arts Co., Ltd., Bincheng District Lv Opera Troupe, Boxing County Lv Opera Art Inheritance And Protection Center and Zouping Lv Opera Art Heritage Protection Center.
▲ In 1961, Comrade Li Xiannian, vice premier of the State Council, took a group photo with the cast and crew after watching the Lü opera "Seize the Seal" performed by the Lu Opera Troupe of Huimin Special District in the Shengli Oilfield
Among them, Binzhou Lv Opera Performing Arts Co., Ltd., formerly known as Binzhou Lv Opera Troupe, was founded in 1951, its original body is the Boxing County Lüyi Town Zhuanghu Theater Troupe "Luxing Troupe", touring in Lu, Jiliao, Beijing, Tianjin and other places, many times Jinjing performances, and once performed in Zhongnanhai for party and state leaders. Over the years, his plays such as "Climbing Relatives", "Beach Back to Water", "Drum Rhyme", "Yang Guanghe" and "Life Limit" have been widely acclaimed and won many awards. In the counties and urban areas, the Boxing County Lv Opera Troupe and the Zouping Lv Opera Troupe are also quite influential in the province.
▲ Binzhou actor Li Shengmei (third from left) and Provincial Lv Theater actors Wang Junying (first from left), Lang Xianfen (second from left), and Lin Jianhua (fourth from left).
The five consultants hired are all cultural masters who have experienced the changes of Lü opera
Although the difficulty is great, it is good to have an expert consultant who is guided and confused.
The consultants hired this time include five senior experts, Gao Dingzhu, Wang Yongchang, Wang Xinsheng, Yang Shutong and Li Zhenxi. They have profound achievements in the study of opera theory, text creation, and literary history compilation, and have deep feelings for the development of Binzhou Lü opera.
▲ Wang Xiaojuan, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and director of the Propaganda Department, sent the letter of appointment to Mr. Wang Yongchang
Wang Yongchang has composed more than 150 lu opera repertoire and won the national and provincial composition gold medals. He also participated in the excavation of intangible cultural heritage, fishing drum play, which is one of the most popular "folk music passes" in Shandong Province. In 2012, he was identified as the inheritor of national intangible cultural heritage. In 2016, he was rated by the Department of Culture of Shandong Province as one of the top ten model inheritors of the protection of intangible cultural heritage in Shandong Province in 2015.
Gao Yizhu is also a Boxing native, and in 1999 he was awarded the National Advanced Worker of the Cultural System. He is a famous drama (creation and performance) expert in Shandong Province, the first batch of contracted artists of Shandong Opera Masters Studio, and a member of the Shandong Provincial Stage Art Expert Committee.
Wang Xinsheng has successively created "Red Snow", "Daming Lamentation", "Lingnan Virgin", "Yimeng Love" and other drama masterpieces. His works have won the "Five Ones" Project Award, the Chinese Culture Award, the Chinese Drama Award, and the Cao Yu Drama Literature Award of the Central Propaganda Department.
Yang Shutong has been working in the Binzhou Lv Opera Troupe for many years, and is not only an old artist who has personally experienced the changes of Lü opera, but also an understanding person who records and studies the history of the development of opera, and has preserved a large number of precious materials.
Li Zhenxi, before his retirement, was a research librarian at the Bincheng District Cultural Center, and was both a playwright and a recorder and researcher of Binzhou's history. His works include poetry, drama, music, reportage, and local chronicles.
To compile this book, the Municipal Art Research Institute has a lot of experience. Since the launch of the research and compilation of "Binzhou Local Opera" in 2013, the institute has completed and published a 520,000-word "Binzhou Local Opera Research • East Road Zizi" in 2015, and completed and published a 490,000-word "Binzhou Local Opera Research • Cavity" in 2020. Both books were selected as key topics of art and science in Shandong Province, and both won the first prize for outstanding achievements in social sciences in Binzhou, among which "East Road Zizi" also won the first prize for outstanding scientific research achievements in the protection of intangible cultural heritage in Shandong Province in 2017.
Zang Baorong, director of the Municipal Institute of Art Research, introduced that the two books combine literature examination with fieldwork, build the combing and research of the rise and fall of the drama on the basis of solid visits and research, and use plain and concise writing to refine and integrate the origin and development, artistic characteristics, inheritance genealogy and music script of the two characteristic dramas in Binzhou Territory. Let the East Road Zizi and The Cavity have a professional work of systematic summary and research, which provides an important historical basis and empirical reference for the effective protection and inheritance of local opera in Binzhou.
Zang Baorong said that according to the results of the national census of local opera dramas conducted from 2015 to 2017, there are 348 drama genres in the country, and compared with the compilation of the "Chinese Opera Chronicle" in the 1980s and 1990s, 47 drama genres have died out and 17 drama genres are on the verge of extinction. However, a gratifying phenomenon is that among the 24 existing local drama genres in Shandong, Binzhou accounts for 4. The "Complete Collection of Chinese Opera Genres" compiled by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism includes 19 drama genres in Shandong, and the Municipal Art Research Institute undertakes the task of compiling 3 drama genres. This is the direct result of the vigorous protection and support of the local opera cultural resources by the competent cultural departments of Binzhou, and it is also the result of the joint efforts and initiatives of the cultural and tourism departments at the two levels of Binzhou City and County.
As the birthplace of Lü opera, the compilation of the book is a necessary move to inherit China's excellent traditional culture and strengthen cultural self-confidence
So, at this seminar, what valuable comments and suggestions did the experts put forward on the compilation of the book?
Gao Yizhu believes that the compilation of the book is a necessary move to inherit China's excellent traditional culture and strengthen cultural self-confidence. As the birthplace of Lü opera, Binzhou has an important responsibility for the tracing of the history of the development of Lü opera. In the process of compilation, special attention should be paid to the unity of scholarship, history and information. He believes that a large number of precious first-hand information is in counties, districts, and grass-roots levels. He suggested that in the stage of data collection, the initiative of each county and municipality should be brought into full play. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to important historical chapters such as Binzhou Lü opera going out and Lü opera entering the city. He believes that the writing of the review is of great significance to the book, especially the need for meticulousness, caution, comprehensiveness and objectivity.
Wang Xinsheng believes that the compilation of the book is extremely serious, and the content must stand the test of history. It is necessary to reflect the general consensus of contemporary people, but also to have a historical vision that can withstand the test of future generations, so we must adhere to the principles of professionalism, systematization and scholarship. In the process of searching for materials and visiting old artists, it is necessary to excavate and protect precious historical materials.
"When I quipped to Mr. Wang Yongchang, 'You have innovated in Lu opera music,' and he told me, 'Where there is, where there is, this is the vocal cavity and technique that folk have long had, and he immediately showed me how the old artists sang it... 'This is because Mr. Wang Yongchang has been collecting folk music for decades and has accumulated a lot of valuable wealth."' Wang Xinsheng said that in recording the evolution of Lu opera in Binzhou, it is necessary to write down the intergenerational inheritance of opera. The artists and stories that Binzhou went out were also tracked and recorded. He suggested that at the same time, precious materials such as old costumes, old props, scripts, and music scores of old artists should be collected, so as to establish the "Binzhou Lu Opera Museum" in the future, so that it can become a Binzhou Internet celebrity punch card and nostalgia revisited.
As one of the editors-in-chief of the Binzhou Local Opera Research Series Donglu Zizi and the Binzhou Local Opera Research Series, Li Zhenxi believes that history and zhi are different, and the compilation of this book is more difficult than the first two books. In terms of style, there should be important parts such as development overview, name evolution, script evolution, music evolution, and group history. It is necessary to pay attention to the evolution of professional groups, as well as to the development history of amateur theater troupes in various counties and urban areas. It is necessary to pay attention to important representative figures and record important historical nodes.
In conclusion, Zang Baorong said that the Municipal Art Research Institute will join hands with Binzhou Lvju Performing Arts Co., Ltd., unite professional troupes in various counties and districts, and under the guidance of five consultants, do a good job in compiling the "History of the Development of Binzhou Lü Opera," and strive to carry out a comprehensive, systematic, and in-depth combing, summarizing, and refining of the origin, representative figures, artistic characteristics, and development process of the drama, so as to form a monograph on the study of Lv opera with Binzhou characteristics and a certain theoretical depth. She believes that through the unremitting efforts of everyone, the research work on the protection and inheritance of local opera genres in Binzhou will surely move towards a more comprehensive, mature and systematic direction.
Paying tribute to the "Hometown Pai Lu Opera" and singing a good voice for a hundred years, we wish the compilation of the "History of the Development of Binzhou Lv Opera" smooth! Editor-in-Charge: Sun Jie