binnovel Chapter 53 The Performing Arts of the Era (Including the War of Resistance) 2
Chapter 53 The Performing Arts of the Era (Including the War of Resistance) 2
After serving Wang Juan for more than a year, Liu Yuxi was known for her steady and thoughtful approach to things. She was not at all like a child, but whenever Wang Juan was feeling irritable or tired, she could act as a source of joy and make Wang Juan happy. Although she was very clever, she was upright and honest.
After more than a year of assessment, Wang Juan accepted Liu Yuxi as her apprentice. On February 18, 1935, after a formal apprenticeship ceremony held in the opera troupe, 11-year-old Liu Yuxi became a Peking Opera apprentice and began learning opera from Wang Juan. Her position was taken over by another girl in the troupe, Xu Xiaoya, since she now had to get up early to practice and couldn't always be by Wang Juan's side. However, she would still follow Wang Juan in her spare time, especially when Wang Juan went out to perform, because she was perceptive and knew how to talk.
Peking Opera, also known as Beijing Opera, Pingju, or Guoju, is one of the major genres of Chinese opera. Centered in Beijing, it is found throughout the country. Peking Opera originated in Beijing in the mid-19th century, blending elements of Huiju and Hanju operas and incorporating the strengths of Qinqiang, Kunqu, Bangzi, and Yiyangqiang operas. After its formation, Peking Opera experienced unprecedented prosperity within the Qing Dynasty court. Its melodies are primarily based on Xipi and Erhuang tunes, accompanied mainly by the erhu (a two-stringed bowed instrument) and percussion instruments, and it is considered a national treasure of China.
Peking Opera performance can be divided into four main forms: singing, recitation, acting, martial arts, and dance. It uses specific performance techniques to narrate stories, portray characters, and express emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, surprise, fear, and grief. Roles are categorized into four main types: Sheng (male), Dan (female), Jing (male), and Chou (both male and female). Characters are distinguished by their loyalty and treachery, beauty and ugliness, and good and evil, each vividly and realistically portrayed.
Dan roles refer to female characters in traditional Chinese opera, which can be categorized into Qingyi, Huadan, Daomadan, Wudan, Laodan, and Caidan. Qingyi, also known as Zhengdan, often portrays dignified and composed middle-aged and young women, and is known for her singing skills, such as Qin Xianglian in "The Case of Chen Shimei" and Li Yanfei in "The Second Visit to the Palace".
Hua Dan: They often portray young, lively, and clever girls from humble families or maids, and are known for their acting skills and recitation, such as Hong Niang in "The Romance of the Western Chamber" and Sun Yujiao in "Picking Up the Jade Bracelet".
Martial Arts Actress: Characters who possess martial arts skills, such as women from the martial arts world or mythical creatures. They often wear tight-fitting clothes and their performances emphasize acrobatics, such as the Green Snake in "The Legend of the White Snake".
Female warrior roles: These roles portray female generals or marshals, and generally require wearing heavy armor. The performance emphasizes the armor's structure and posture, such as Mu Guiying in "Mu Guiying Takes Command".
Old woman roles: portraying elderly women, singing and reciting in her natural voice, with multiple singing skills, such as Grandma Li in "The Red Lantern" and Madam Kang in "Hanging the Golden Turtle".
The clown (or "ugly old woman") role, also known as the "comedic female role," uses her natural voice for both singing and recitation, essentially a comedic performance. Simply put, the clown role emphasizes spoken dialogue, primarily in Beijing dialect, focusing on exaggerated acting and makeup. These comedic characters are not all villains; some are used to satirize foolish and self-important people, such as Cheng Xueyan in *The Phoenix Returns to Its Nest*, and Dong Shi in *Xi Shi*. Others represent women with a forthright, bold, and unrestrained personality, such as Hua Po in *The String of Dragon Pearls*, Wan Shi in *The Four Scholars*, and Chen Xiuying's mother in *The Iron Bow*. Still others create witty and humorous artistic images, such as Liu the Matchmaker in *Picking Up the Jade Bracelet*.
Wang Juan was a Qingyi actress, which means she was the leading lady in every theatrical performance. When she taught Liu Yuxi, she taught her as a Zhengdan actress. Qingyi actresses place the most emphasis on singing skills. However, because Liu Yuxi had already demonstrated great strength and martial arts skills, Wang Juan felt that she couldn't let them go to waste. She believed that Liu Yuxi could handle any role except for Laodan. Therefore, she was very strict with Liu Yuxi during her daily training. Since she herself was not good at Wudan roles, she even paid a high price to invite a Wudan actress she was on good terms with to teach Liu Yuxi singing, recitation, acting, and fighting in Wudan roles.
Liu Yuxi also made her look good. After getting used to the singing style of Peking Opera, Liu Yuxi's singing skills improved rapidly, and she mastered the basic skills of martial arts roles very quickly.
After two years of systematic study and training, Liu Yuxi, now 37 years old, is already able to perform some minor roles on stage. As for taking on leading roles, he still needs more practice. After all, this is a live performance, and there is no room for error. If you mess up those classic pieces, the reputation of the opera troupe will be ruined. The opera troupe's signature pieces are all rehearsed countless times, and all the actors can only go on stage after they have developed muscle memory for them.
Unless you become a star, and a famous one at that, if you make a small mistake during a performance, it might be called a "celebrity anecdote." As a famous actor, Huang*, once said, "When you become famous, you will find that everyone around you is a good person!" Before you reach that level, you have to work hard and practice diligently, step by step.
Liu Yuxi was content. In this world, besides learning to sing opera, she had no other ambitions. She lived each day as it came. She was currently pondering that the eight-year War of Resistance against Japan was about to begin, and those days were incredibly destructive, with our army suffering excessive casualties. Although she was a woman, she felt that anyone from the modern world who transmigrated to this era would be willing to go to the battlefield, especially since the system had given her a high level of combat power and the advantage of having a spatial ability.
Since she started serving Wang Juan, Liu Yuxi had a legitimate income. Having some medical knowledge, she prescribed herself remedies. Over three years later, although only 13 years old, she was already 1.6 meters tall, a very tall stature for that era, comparable to many men. It's worth noting that a survey conducted during the Republic of China era showed the average height for men was 165cm, and considering that women were generally about 13cm shorter than men, her average height would be around 152cm. Therefore, she could definitely be considered very tall. If she cut her hair short, bound her chest, put on makeup, and changed her voice, she could easily fool 99% of people.
She still doesn't know how to tell her master, Wang Juan, and the troupe leader about this, but it won't be long. Shortly after the "July 7.7th Incident" this year, the Japanese army will march into Beijing, and the people in the troupe won't have an easy time either. She needs to make plans in advance. Every time this happens, it's truly agonizing. You know what will happen, but you can't say anything, and no one will believe you anyway. Then you have to make up a reason to convince others to follow your arrangements. It's driving me crazy! (This is the author's first time writing, and these kinds of parts are always incredibly mentally taxing! Now I finally understand why online novel authors all go bald!)