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14 Nov 2010
by Admin
Shanghai
Opera (沪剧):
Preserve
the Fire in Reed Marshes
芦荡火种
A piece from the opera
performed by Zhang Qing as an
injured resistance warrior (张清) and Shi
Xiaoying (石筱英) as a
village grandma.
Zhang
Qing as the warrior:
月似银钩星似棋，
山河如画多娇丽。
虞山脚下稻初熟，
阳澄湖里蟹正肥。
浪里有渔舟撒丝网，
又见那水击芦苇野鸭飞。
这鱼米之乡好江南，
好一个大江南,
岂容那日寇强占据。
近日来鬼子扫荡多猖獗，
斗争越来越艰巨。
但愿我早复健康归部队，
重把快机手中提。
与同志们并肩作战去反扫荡，
要拔尽那江南膏药旗！
The moon is like a
silver hook,
The stars are pieces on a chess board,
The landscape is so breathtaking
As if a scroll of ink painting:
By the foot of Yu Hill
Rice crops start to ripen;
In the deep of Yangcheng Lake
Crabs begin to gain weight.
In between the waves,
Fishermen's nets are spread
out;
From the reed marshes
Wild ducks take flight.
This is the land of
rice bowl and fish ponds,
This is our great South Yangtze River,
Which must not be colonised by Japanese,
Never!
But the devils grow so
hysterical and callous,
The battles become more brutal
Than ever.
I can't wait to recover
From wounded leg
To return to the battlefield sooner,
And to trash all of Japanese flag
That sticks on the face of China
Like a piece of medicated plaster.
Of
eight Model Operas dominated the stage
during the Cultural Revolution years, two
were conveyed from Shanghai Opera
repertoires.
Among
all Chinese operas, that are based on
various local dialects and amount to 300 plus,
Shanghai Opera is known to be the most
innovative and fashion conscious, always
keen to keep up with the latest traits to
remain relevant and never afraid of
trying out new things to explore wider
horizons.
Shanghai
Opera The Successor (自有后来人) by Patriots Shanghai
Opera Troupe (上海爱华沪剧团) depicts a Chinese
resistance warrior in disguise as a
railway worker in the region under the Japanese
occupation.
As soon as it was staged in early 60s,
the tickets were sold like hot potatoes;
and among many causes for its huge
popularity, one big contributing factor
is the appearance of a specially-made
huge electronic toy engine that would at one point
run across the stage to add visual
effects to the show. Later the play was
conveyed to Beijing Opera and retitled The
Legend of Red Lantern (红灯记), with the fancy part
involving the toy engine excluded. The
engine has never returned to Chinese
stage since.
The
second Shanghai Opera that has been
conveyed to Beijing Opera and becomes a
Model is Preserve the Fire in Reed
Marshes (芦荡火种), originally created by
Shanghai Opera Troup (上海市人民沪剧团) based on a true
historical event. During the WWII, there were 36 injured
resistance warriors hidden in a village
called Shajiabang by the Yangcheng Lake (阳澄湖) near Shanghai. When Japanese army and
their local collaborators searched the area, the
injuied were forced to take refuge in the
marshes and spend a lengthy period living
a life with no shelter, medicine and
food. But they all survived the ordeal,
thanks to the collective rescue effort
made by a teahouse owner, the villagers
and the underground CCP organisation.
The
play received enthusiastic responses from
the audience in Shanghai and in its surrounding regions in the South Yangtze
River, for its beautiful music, its
intricate storyline and its humorous
dialogues.
Later
when it was conveyed to Beijing Opera it
has been renamed Shajiabang (沙家浜), but the original
version in Shanghai opera has never lost
its appeal and is still performed on
stage to this day.
This is an episode from Preserve
the Fire in Reed Marshes recorded in
early 60s, Jie Hongyuan (解洪元, Zhang
Qing and Wang Huazhong's teacher and
voted by Shanghai audience as the Emperor
of Shanghai Opera) as doctor disguised by
CCP chief, Ding Shie (丁是娥, known as
the Queen of Shanghai Opera) as teahouse
owner and Shi Xiaoying (石筱英, the
creator of Shi Style) as village grandma.
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