After watching "Farewell My Concubine", I went to learn about several related plays. After all, in this movie with opera actors as the protagonists, the drama always complements the plot. If "Farewell My Concubine" can be regarded as an ancient Greek epic, then the play is like a chorus, a plot of the moment, and a foreshadowing of fate.
Cheng Dieyi has sung four plays in the movie: "Farewell My Concubine", "Drunken Concubine", "Peony Pavilion" and "Si Fan". "Farewell My Concubine" has the same name as the movie and appears the most times in the movie. But what caught my attention the most was not "Farewell My Concubine", but "Si Fan". Like me, many of the lyrics that impressed me the most were not "Since I fought with the king in the east and west...", but the line in "Si Fan", "I was originally a female Jiao'e, not a man. "The first three are often sung on the stage, reminding people of famous actors who are graceful, luxurious and calm and open; while "Si Fan" is sung under the stage, accompanied by a large costume with a pure face and blood on the corners of the lips. little boy. In my opinion, compared to "Farewell My Concubine", "Si Fan" is more like the theme of Cheng Dieyi's life.
01 Excerpted play "Si Fan"
"Si Fan", also known as "Si Fan, Going Down the Mountain", is a classic "excerpt play" in Kunqu Opera, which was formed during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Excerpt Opera emphasizes that "the text has a fixed version, the music has a fixed tune, and the performance has a fixed score", that is, the lyrics, body, tune and tune have a strict fixed formula. Therefore, the excerpt opera is also one of the signs of the maturity of Chinese drama art. One kind of excerpts is a relatively complete fragment selected from the whole play, such as "Night Run" in "The Story of the Sword"; the other is evolved from folk "little operas", such as "Si Fan"* The "Nun Going Down the Mountain Opera" based on folk minor tunes is constantly enriched.
The plot of the whole scene of "Si Fan" is not complicated: Zhao Sekong, a young nun, was sent to a temple since her childhood because her parents believed in Buddhism, and she was frail and sick. Now that the heart of spring is sprouting, and I feel that the years are coming to an end, so I flee down the mountain to find the sweetheart. The whole play was completed by Zhao Sekong alone, sometimes telling about his personal life experience, and sometimes expressing his inner yearning for love. The phrase "The little nun is twenty-eight..." recited by Xiaodouzi in the film is derived from the combination of the two passages in the script, "Slope Sheep" and "Scented Snow Lamp".
[Hillside Sheep] The little nun was twenty-eight years old and young, and her hair was cut by the master. Every day, he burns incense and changes water in the Buddhist temple, and sees several children playing games under the mountain gate. He looked at us, and we looked at him. He and we, we share him, and we care more about each other. Enemy, how could the marriage be achieved, and he died in front of the palace of the king of hell. Grind it to pound it, saw it to unravel it, grind it and put it in a frying pan to fry it, ah, it's up to him! Then I saw the living suffer, how could I ever see a dead ghost in a shackle? Ah, let him burn his eyebrows and look at the eyes.
[Fragrant Snow Lamp] Buddha's head lamp cannot be used as a flower candle in the bridal chamber. Xiangji kitchen can't make a tortoise feast in the East Pavilion. The Bell and Drum Towers are not expected to be built. Grass futon, can not do hibiscus, hibiscus soft mattress. The slave was originally a female Jiao'e, not a man. Why is the waist plate yellow and wearing straight stitching? Seeing other couples, a pair facing Jin Chuanluo, oh my god! Can't help people be hot like fire, can't help people be hot like fire!
"Si Fan" was the "Kaimeng Opera" for the disciples of Liyuan during the Xianfeng period, and later became a compulsory opera for the study of Kunqu Opera. Chinese opera has a tradition of not focusing on plot, so its difficulty lies more in the singing and recitation of the actors. Judging from the circulating performance manuscripts, the body program of "Sifan" is extremely complicated, and the statement "Men are afraid of running at night, women are afraid of Sifan" is true. The manager asked if there was a "kunqiang background", and it was reasonable for Xiaodouzi to show "Si Fan".
02 "Si Fan" by Cheng Dieyi
If you pay attention to the plot, it is easy to find that Zhao Sekong and Cheng Dieyi are in similar situations. Although one was sent to a temple far away from the secular world, and the other was sent to a lower-class opera troupe, they were both disciplined by a strict way of life. More importantly, both have the idea of "escape" and emotional impulses in their teenage adolescence. What caused the different results was the choice of the two.
Zhao Sekong's emotional pursuits are incompatible with temples, and there is no need to hesitate to go down the mountain. But Cheng Dieyi was suffering. The play I watched after escaping from the troupe was the key event that prompted the return of Xiao Laizi and Cheng Dieyi. For Cheng Dieyi, the "Farewell My Concubine" starring famous characters is not only a personal exhibition of "dignitaries in front of people", but also outlines a bright future for her with Duan Xiaolou. So he went back and forth, like a nun who was about to go down the mountain and found out that the object of his love was a monk in the same temple, and "chanting" became the only way to fulfill his emotions. Therefore, his cassock cannot be torn apart, and he can only integrate Bawang and Duan Xiaolou, discipline and love, artistic realm and erotic desire in the pain and warmth day after day.
The appearance of "Si Fan" in the film is also very suitable. In the film, "Si Fan" is scattered in three scenes. The first time the troupe practiced basic skills, Xiaodouzi recited "Si Fan", and was beaten for mispronouncing "Men's Lang" and "Nv Jiao'e", and Duan Xiaolou comforted him. At this time, he still resisted discipline, otherwise he would not hesitate to run away after Duan Xiaolou opened the door.
In the second place, the master came to pick people. Although Cheng Dieyi was just emerging, he still mispronounced "Si Fan". This mistake is normal for teenage boys. But Duan Xiaolou punished him, and then Cheng Dieyi finally "read it right". Duan Xiaolou's lesson has the dual nature of discipline and protection, pain, but in order to avoid more severe punishment. This also blurred the boundaries between Cheng Dieyi's emotions and ordination. "From wrong to right", singing has become the realization and carrier of emotion.
After that, Cheng Dieyi officially took the stage, "Farewell My Concubine", "Drunken Concubine", and "Peony Pavilion" came on stage one after another, and Japanese soldiers, national army, and wg rolled in. During this period, Duan Xiaolou stepped down, married a wife, was criticized, and became a mortal person. But Cheng Dieyi's obsession has not changed, and continuing has become the only choice. But this vague obsession has shifted its focus. Duan Xiaolou's marriage and Cheng Dieyi's peeping at Duan Xiaolou and Juxian touched him greatly. Cheng Dieyi still habitually loves Duan Xiaolou, but he transferred part of it to Peking Opera.
"Si Fan" did not appear in the middle. But isn't Cheng Dieyi's life just a "Si Fan"? Duan Xiaolou sighed to him "how to live in this world, in this crowd of mortals", Si'er asked him to come out and watch "the drama of the world is sung until that one", but he did not know that it was his original mortal heart that let him guard Obsession can't "go down to the world",
Cheng Dieyi is like Zhao Sekong, but he is much more unfortunate. He is Zhao Sekong who can't go down the mountain, and is forever trapped in the desire of "Si Fan".
03 Dieyi's death and "down the mountain"
Regarding why Cheng Dieyi committed suicide, if I had to give a reason, I would prefer Cheng Dieyi to find that he had been a prisoner all his life, suddenly felt absurd, regretful, and chose to fulfill himself. The reason for making this judgment is also related to "Si Fan".
The third time "Si Fan" appeared at the end of the movie, the elderly Duan Xiaolou and Cheng Dieyi came to the empty gymnasium to rehearse "Farewell My Concubine". Halfway through the practice, Duan Xiaolou sighed that he was "useless", took off his beard and said, "The little nun is twenty-eight years old...", Cheng Dieyi subconsciously replied, "It's not a female Jiao'e." Cheng Die After Yi said the wrong thing, Duan Xiaolou said with a smile, "Wrong, wrong again." From the tone of his expression, Duan Xiaolou obviously recalled the past of his youth, and when he recited "Si Fan", he seemed to be telling an interesting story about his youth.
The important thing is that Cheng Dieyi's reaction is very different, which is worth pondering. After many years on the same stage again, everything seemed calm, but Cheng Dieyi often had tears in her eyes when she saw Duan Xiaolou. When she heard Duan Xiaolou read "Si Fan" again, she was stunned for a moment, and then the ninja burst into tears. What was she thinking at this point? Maybe it was his submission when he was a teenager, maybe it was Duan Xiaolou who was beaten for him back then... In short, these memories were not happy for him.
Duan Xiaolou said "wrong, wrong again", Cheng Dieyi looked at Duan Xiaolou who mentioned his "wrong" with a smile, and was stunned for a long time. Shocked by his smile, or shocked that Duan Xiaolou still remembers. After that, he turned his eyes to look elsewhere, and said to himself: "I am a man, not a female Jiao'e." It should be noted that this time it is still wrong, just like Xiaodouzi who always read it wrong.
Then, he came back to his senses, looked at Duan Xiaolou, and suddenly smiled. Say, "Come on, let's come again".
Cheng Dieyi's smile was obviously different from Duan Xiaolou. The laughter here may be relief, self-deprecation, or epiphany. After Cheng Dieyi laughed, she eagerly proposed to continue the rehearsal. The sound of gongs and drums sounded around the empty gymnasium, as if it were a grand occasion back then. I see this as the fusion of the scene in the protagonist's memory and reality.
Accompanied by the beat of the drums, Cheng Dieyi sang "The Han soldier came in," and turned back to take a deep look at Duan Xiaolou. This turn of the head is very slow, and you can see that Cheng Dieyi has a gratified and satisfied smile in his eyes when he draws his sword.
I don't know if Cheng Dieyi had the idea of suicide before he came, or if the phrase "I am a man" and Duan Xiaolou's laughing words. But I fully understand his death, and even think it's a good outcome. For Cheng Dieyi, it has been an unreachable love for decades, and the wrong single "Si Fan" is sung. Time is so terrifying, mortals are so forgetful, forgetting the bleeding corners of the mouth, forgetting the injuries beside the fire, forgetting the years and months, forgetting whether it is twenty-two or twenty-one... But to forget is to give up, to let go of obsession So ridiculous. He also understands that youth will never return. If there is a chance, do you still need to be so persistent, do you still have to guard the empty mountain?
It doesn't matter anymore, the young man is exhausted, and the idiot has nothing to do with it.
At this moment, it is downhill.
*It is said that "Si Fan" is taken from "Nie Hai Ji", but there is no complete version of "Nie Hai Ji".
Reference: Yang Qingfan. From Folk Opera to Classic Excerpts——A Case Study of "Si Fan"; Cai Dunyong. "Si Fan" and "Nie Hai Ji"
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