Uncle Beijing, a play by Beijing People's Art Theatre, can be said to be a representative example of this kind of works, but the starting point is slightly different, which directly shows the meaningful mentality of a Beijinger in the tide of commodity economy. The story described in the script is not complicated: the ancestral home of Deren Jia Gui, an old Beijinger, is located in a prime location, and the government does not allow it to be rebuilt. Therefore, many businessmen who want to establish themselves in Beijing are extremely interested in it and try their best to fight for the right to use it. However, German father thinks it is an ancestral business and will not sell it anyway. In order to strengthen this conflict, the script has fully paved the way from two aspects. First, it highlights the economic crisis faced by German families, especially the closure of the factory contracted by German parents' son Devin Gao, and the mortgage of real estate behind his father's back. The younger son Devin Man owed gambling debts and was knocked on the door, which formed an urgent situation that could not be solved without selling the house. Second, Guangdong businessman Ou Rihua and Miss Shanghai Xu Yaxian condescended to achieve their respective goals. One pretended to be a migrant worker and the other pretended to be a hotel waiter. They approached German families in different ways, and then offered extremely generous terms, which not only made German families tempted by outsiders except the elderly, but also made it clear that this was the only good way to get out of trouble. There is also a small overlap, that is, the German family had hoped to dig out the treasures buried by their ancestors. However, after many twists and turns, they found that the so-called treasure was just a string of copper coins and an ancestral training, and their hopes were finally completely dashed. Finally, Ou Rihua returned to his true colors as a senior manager of a big company in Guangdong, wearing a suit and tie and carrying a password box full of 200,000 cash. Miss Xu, a former competitor, has changed her home and invested in Europe, Japan and China. How will German families, especially German fathers, choose? The curtain fell, leaving the answer to the question to the audience.
Under the framework of this story about buying or selling a house, the implied or real dramatic conflict is the conflict between traditional morality and modern consciousness in the tide of commodity economy. According to the writer's creative thinking, the main characters in the play are roughly divided into three groups: one group is a generation represented by Germany, his old friend Shen Shaoshan and his wife, Aunt De, who belongs to the "sunset culture" of Beijing School and "may gradually withdraw from the historical stage in the future"; The second is the second generation of Dejia, "in the face of rapidly changing reality, it is in a passive position or just beginning to split", among which the two sons and eldest daughter-in-law of Dejia are in a passive position, and their daughter Devin Zhu is the one who began to adapt to the economic tide and joined in; Third, foreigners represented by Ou Rihua and Xu Yaxian, Zhongying Street thinks: "It cannot be said that these scheming foreigners represent advanced ideas and can be used to transform ancient orthodoxy, but at least, their diligence, wisdom and enterprising spirit, as well as their courage to try their best to seize the commanding heights in order to achieve their goals, are worth thinking about."
[1] As far as the script is concerned, the second group of characters is undoubtedly an organic part, which plays an important role in enriching the plot and intensifying the conflict; However, it is more meaningful to create the first and third groups of characters, especially the images of Deren Gui and Ou Rihua, in expressing the above conflicts and the playwrights' creative motives. In fact, judging from the audience's reaction after the performance, the second group of characters did not cause any controversy, and the playwright's treatment of this group of characters was consistent with the audience's evaluation of them. On the contrary, for Father De, the head of the German family, and Ou Rihua, a businessman from Guangdong, the situation is much more complicated. It is difficult for people to express their views on these two images in one or two sentences. This should be said to be normal, because this is exactly what the playwright expected. In other words, the audience's different opinions are consistent with the script's vague treatment of these two images. In Deren Gui, the author deliberately highlights his excellent qualities of abiding by traditional morality and being unmoved by money, and at the same time depicts the conservative and even closed side of his character. In Ou Rihua, the author not only exaggerates his cleverness, pioneering spirit, and will never give up until he reaches his goal, but also shows the other side of his unscrupulous way to achieve his goal. Of course, to be fair, Ou Rihua entered the German family disguised as a wage earner, and then won the favor of the German family. Although this is unfair, it can't be said to be immoral. However, if Xu Yaxian's practice is linked with Europe, Japan and China, the essence of the problem will be clearer: in the final analysis, although Xu and Europe have different actions, they are the same by hook or by crook. In this way, Derengui and Ou Rihua have not been completely affirmed or completely denied by the author, nor have they given a clear evaluation. And the audience, it is difficult to simply use the word good or bad to judge.
In fact, the most important thing is not the ambiguity of the playwright's attitude, but the confusion of real life itself. Not to mention that we can't ask the playwright to give the audience a clear evaluation, even if the playwright gives it, it can't replace the audience's own understanding and understanding of life. If we carefully taste the whole play and grasp the author's tendency from the overall atmosphere of Uncle Beijing, we can easily feel the critical attitude of the script to Uncle Beijing, which is also pointed out by many commentary articles. But the question is, is the "Uncle Beijing" criticized by the author only aimed at Devin Gao, a dependent figure who is used to the state-owned assets system but not familiar with business, or a dude who is still a legacy of the Eight Banners' children, or will an honest and frank self-respecting person like Deren Gui represent the fine qualities of old Beijingers and include people who are not without shortcomings? Furthermore, can we completely split the duality of Deren Gui's personality, criticize its negative side and affirm its positive side?
This is indeed a rather difficult problem. If you think that Uncle Beijing only criticizes the German second generation, then you still have a positive attitude towards the German father. To tell the truth, this is a misunderstanding of the script and the author. However, if we think that we can split Deren Gui's image in two, criticize its conservatism and closeness, and affirm that it values righteousness over profit, it will not work in fact. There is a simple reason. The dual nature of Deren Gui's image is actually the same thing, but the judgment is different because of different eyes. Therefore, if one party affirms, the other party will be affirmed, and if one party denies, the other party will be denied. Therefore, don't say that the audience is confused about the value judgment of De Gui Ren's image, even the actors in the play are difficult to grasp. For example, Yang Lixin, the actor of Ou Rihua, lamented: How to face Jing Ye? How to face such excellent moral quality of Beijingers? How to face Uncle De's self-discipline, self-improvement and self-confidence? I'm still confused! Lin Liankun, the actor of De Gui Ren, thinks that De Gui Ren not only represents Uncle Jing, but also has different pronunciations and meanings. The former is honorific, while the latter is derogatory. The idea he abides by is the traditional idea of our nation. The house is always moving, whether to rent or not, whether to sell or not, closely surrounding the rise and fall of this family. The house is the symbol and symbol of the family, and selling the house means losing the family. ...
De Guiren's spiritual world belongs to the East. My ancestors gave me an inch of land, and I enjoyed the blessing of this inch of land, which shows that he abides by this creed. In today's materialistic world, this spirit should also be commendable. People always pursue something when they live in the world, but whether they pursue material or spiritual things, these are two completely different life concepts. This spirit possessed by Deren Gui is his wealth, a "soul" and a "spiritual spirit" ... This is the indomitable noble character of our nation.
[2] The confusion is reasonable, which is Lin Liankun's understanding of the positive significance contained in the image of Deren Gui. As an old Beijinger and an actor of Beijing People's Art, Mr. Lin knows Derengui in life too well, and he knows the psychological and spiritual world of such old Beijingers. I vaguely feel that there seems to be some discrepancy between Mr. Lin's understanding of the image of De Gui Ren and the playwright's creative intention, and this discrepancy is mainly the difference in emphasis: Mr. Lin focuses on the positive side of De Gui Ren's personality characteristics; The author of the play, Mr. Ying Jie, focuses on the negative character of Deren Gui. At the same time, this difference is also due to the difference in judgment vision or judgment scale. In the words of Deren Gui quoted by Mr. Lin, "We don't recognize the same principle in two eras." Yes, everyone is right, which is recognized by everyone. However, whose reason is more reasonable? I'm afraid it's not that easy to say. Just because Deren Gui is like this, so are those who judge Deren Gui. There are different opinions about the evaluation of Derengui's image and significance. Many people think that Uncle Beijing shows the conflict of values between different regional cultures, which is not unreasonable. Ou Rihua is from Guangzhou and Xu Yaxian is from Shanghai, which in itself provides a basis for the above understanding, and the playwright Zhongying Street is a Cantonese writer living in Beijing, which invisibly encourages this statement. But in my opinion, the meaning of Uncle Beijing actually transcends the criticism of a certain regional culture and has more universal significance. The Beijing quadrangle in the play is indeed symbolic. As a cultural code, it represents the legacy left by our ancestors and is a witness of their achievements. Therefore, selling or renting this old house implies that you can't stay, or even be a black sheep; And the willingness to accept poverty and keep this pure land in the bustling market with high-rise buildings seems to reflect some commendable moral integrity. This is the crux of the problem. I don't know the original intention of the playwright, but for any audience with a little flexibility and a little broader vision, what he feels and associates from the embarrassing situation of this quadrangle and German family should be not only the joys and sorrows of a family, but also the re-selection of values in regional culture. In the historical process of economic system transition, such as the merger and joint venture of state-owned enterprises, the establishment of economic development zones, and even the situation similar to the old concession and within one country, as in Pudong, Shanghai and Yangpu, Guangdong, is actually quite similar to the situation of Dejia quadrangles, which also brings similar confusion to people. Therefore, the problem raised by Uncle Beijing is not limited to the conflict of different values between regional cultures, but the quadrangle symbolizes not only a nostalgic complex of old Beijingers, but also a far more complicated problem. By the same token, all kinds of controversies surrounding Uncle Beijing should be rooted in the current reality in China. I don't intend to link the problems that belong to literary criticism with the problems of system reform, but as long as I think deeply about the problems raised in the script, the final answer still needs to be found in the social reality of China today.
Indeed, "we didn't recognize the same principle twice." As a dramatist, including an actor, he can identify his own reasons, which will play an important role in the fullness, vividness, truthfulness and credibility of the characters. For a literary critic, there is no need to answer which question is more reasonable. He can separate moral judgment from historical judgment and avoid making a choice between them. However, the practical problems outside the script are unavoidable for anyone. Zhongying Street is right: "Moral criticism and historical criticism are both necessary, but moral criticism cannot replace historical criticism." It is understandable that Grandfather De is really respectable and lovely, but we might as well ask: If the ancestors of Grandfather De also stick to their ancestors' career, then they are not still nomadic on the grassland outside the customs, cooking milk tea and roast leg of lamb in tents, how can they leave it to Grandfather De's quadrangle?
Aside from the specific content of the conflict in the script, Uncle Beijing undoubtedly provides very beneficial enlightenment for the current drama creation in terms of the dramatic effect produced by this conflict. Many people believe that the success of Uncle Beijing is related to its outstanding regional cultural characteristics or the mentality of the characters. This makes sense. But it should be noted that this is only one of the reasons for Uncle Beijing's success, not the main reason. In fact, the success of Uncle Beijing is not mainly because of its regional cultural characteristics, or even because of its dramatic skills, but because of the particularity of dramatic conflicts. Specifically, the particularity of this conflict is manifested in two aspects: one is its strong reality, and the other is that its conflict elements are similar to paradoxes in logic. As a contrast, we might as well take a look at the other two plays, The First Floor in the World and Alley, which were also staged by Beijing people. As far as regional culture is concerned, The First Floor in the World obviously has its own unique features, and its artistic techniques are also embellished by Lao She's masterpiece Teahouse, so once it was staged, it became famous and received rave reviews. But it tells an old story, which is not as close to reality as Uncle Beijing, and has no thought-provoking connotation. Alley is a realistic work, which reflects the changes brought about by the renovation of dangerous houses in Beijing. There is no doubt that the theme of the script has distinct reality, although it has some regional and cultural colors, but it does not win. Most importantly, the conflict in the script does not constitute a sharp and difficult-to-coexist opposition, and it is too easy to resolve the conflict, so it lacks shocking or intriguing dramatic effects. Uncle Beijing's situation is different. On the one hand, it organically combines regional culture with realistic factors, among which realistic factors are in the primary position; On the other hand, the contradictions that constitute the drama conflict are quite extensive and urgent, and both opposing sides have their own sufficient reasons for existence. In other words, the two sides that constitute the conflict are not good and evil or right and wrong in the general sense, so it is difficult to judge by a single value scale. In this way, the charm of the script lies not in the novelty brought by a special cultural color, but in the concern and thinking about practical problems caused by this conflict itself.
This is the characteristic of paradoxical drama conflict. From the standpoint of Party A, what it has done can be said to be completely justified and beyond reproach; From the standpoint of Party B, the same is true. More importantly, on the basis of the values of both sides, it is difficult for us to put forward a higher judgment principle recognized by both sides. Therefore, the paradoxical conflict puts the characters and even the audience in a dilemma. In this dramatic situation, the traditional either-or thinking mode is seriously challenged, and people have to re-examine their previous concepts, exchange positions and change their perspectives in order to have a clearer understanding of the problems raised.
Contradictions and conflicts have a long history in the history of drama, and the ancient Greek tragedy antigone is a very representative example. This play highlights the conflict between blood relationship, brotherhood and national interests, and the laws of the city-state: Polonius led an army to attack the city of Tebai and was defeated and killed. King Creon ordered a ban on funerals, and offenders were sentenced to death; Antigone, the younger sister of Polex, buried Polex from her own flesh and blood, regardless of her death. Obviously, both sides of the conflict have their own rationality, but this rationality is in the same situation and diametrically opposed, thus forming a paradoxical drama conflict. Hegel, a German classical aesthete, spoke highly of antigone, calling it "the noblest work of art in ancient and modern times, and the most outstanding work of art from all angles".
[3] The reason for this is mainly because this drama can best reflect Hegel's understanding of the nature of tragic conflict. In Hegel's view, the real tragic conflict should be a kind of opposition between good and evil, that is to say, both sides of the conflict have their reasonable good side and unreasonable evil side, and if either side wants to achieve its reasonable goal, it must be based on the premise of damaging and destroying the other side's good. For example, in antigone, Creon denies the kinship between antigone and national laws, while antigone harms national interests by kinship. Behind this conflict, it actually reflects a basic law in the process of historical development, that is, the interweaving and mutual negation of good and evil constitutes the driving force of historical development. Because of this, paradoxical conflict often reflects the conflict between different values at the major turning point in history, and reveals the profound historical connotation through the complexity of the conflict.
Generally speaking, most contradictions and conflicts exist in tragedies, because they are determined by the nature of conflicts. Since the protagonists representing both sides of the conflict want to deny each other for their reasonable actions, they will inevitably pay the price or even die. Moreover, in a considerable number of paradox conflicts, conflicts often enter the character level from the concept level, which is directly manifested as the split of the character's personality. In other words, conflict is not only the opposition between different characters, but also the inner contradiction of a single character, and the so-called character tragedy is determined by the paradoxical conflict of this character. Such as Shakespeare's tragic characters, as well as Cao Yu's Thunderstorm and Yuan Ye, all obviously have this feature. It is precisely because of the successful application of paradoxes and conflicts that these works have a strong dramatic effect.
Of course, Uncle Beijing is not a tragedy, let alone a tragedy of character, because its conflict is still a conflict of different ideas between characters, and it has not yet formed a split personality. However, we can see that the use of paradox conflicts has laid a good foundation for its success. In particular, this kind of contradiction and conflict has distinct reality and reflects the major issues that people are concerned about during the transition period. Therefore, although the script ends in an unresolved way, it leaves the audience with room to think and ponder. This is not the author's intention to mystify, but really depends on the complexity of the problem itself. However, for the careful audience, it is not difficult to feel the author's tendency.
The success of Uncle Beijing seems to show that exploring the forms and techniques of expression is a way to win the audience with novelty. However, if we can make more efforts in selecting topics and setting drama conflicts and be really close to reality, I am afraid we can give full play to our drama expertise and let the audience take the initiative to participate.