Every era has its own art master.
He is the first genius in China to establish a systematic drama theory; he wrote the first truly self-written work in the history of world drama, "Xian Qing Ou Ji"; he is the earliest in the history of Chinese literature. professional writer; he is the publisher of China's first painting manual "Mustard Seed Garden Painting Biography"...
Li Yu, this 400-year-old art master, traveled through time and space and influenced Follow us.
Singing on the stage
It is night, the sound of the flute is fresh and melodious, and the rehearsal curtain of Lanxi City's literary evening to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Li Yu's birth "Eastern Love" is slowly opening - on the stage! In the center, a beam of light falls from the sky and shines on the statue of Li Yu. He is holding a fan in his right hand and pinching "Xian Qing Ou Ji" in his left hand, facing us like a dream...
Autumn wind, Pulling aside the overlapping curtains of time, we will follow the plot to visit this master of art from 400 years ago.
Who in the world would set up a stage to sing on the top of Mount Huashan?
"Except for crazy people!" In the summer of 2011, Li Caibiao, Li Yu's 11th grandson and vice president of Lanxi City Li Yu Research Association, visited the world's tallest restaurant again on his way to "find Li Yu's footprints" The stage - Canglong Ridge, Huashan Mountain, is the "premier stage" of Li Yu's family's opera career. This is the "premier stage" of Li Yu's opera career. In the sixth year of Kangxi (1667), 57-year-old Li Yu did something special - running a theater troupe. That year, he returned to Nanjing after his trip to Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu. He took his family and Ji and the four of them to Mount Huashan with great interest, and "sung opera" in Canglongling.
The "Anthem" on the top of Mount Huashan is the "premier performance" of Li Yu's Family Theater Troupe. Before climbing Mount Huashan, Li Yu successively created 9 scripts including "Compassion as a Companion", "Kite Mistaken", "Jade Scratching the Head", "Mirage", "Flying Together", and "Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix", and founded the Family Class, Rehearsing his own script has been Li Yu's long-cherished dream for many years. "Huashan provided Li Yu's family with an unprecedented Kunqu opera 'performance' platform, and it also became the beginning of a new period in Li Yu's opera career." Li Caibiao said that Li Yu served as the screenwriter and director of the troupe and traveled around to perform. "However, the members of the troupe, no outsiders, are all his relatives."
In Li Yu’s ups and downs life, the years he lived in the Mustard Seed Garden were his most prosperous and happiest years. In Nanjing's Mustard Seed Garden, Li Yu often performed in his family's opera troupe, making friends through opera and literature.
Li Yu's troupe also often goes out to perform. Sometimes they go north along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to Anhui, Shandong, Hebei and other places to sing operas and celebrate the birthdays of dignitaries. Sometimes, the Li Yujia Troupe also traveled west along the Yangtze River to perform in Wuhan, Hubei, Changsha, Hunan, Jiujiang, Jiangxi and other places. They performed while traveling and visited more than ten provinces and cities. Their performances include "Nai He Tian" and "Bibi Fish" There are more than ten kinds of duets by Li Weng such as "The Mirage" and "The Mirage". The content is close to social life and has left a profound impact in various places.
The ever-living drama soul seems to be hidden in the drama box. On August 15, 2011, we found a homeless opera box No. 7 in Licun, Lanxi, with the words "Licun, Lanxi" written on it: In Xixia, Hunan, during the Wuchen Mengxia period, Li Shen built a hall. Hiding suitcase.
Village director Li Zhizhen proudly said that in addition to his hometown, Suzhou is also an important touring place for Li Jiaban. Li Yu has stayed in Suzhou Baihua Lane many times and purchased an apartment, which became a place for famous opera artists to exchange art at that time. .
Li Yu wrote countless novels and scripts and acted in countless plays throughout his life, but perhaps the most beautiful and bizarre scene in his performance was him himself - a man who displayed his talents on the stage. A dramatic genius, his life experiences are now reproduced on the stage in the form of drama. "The Story of Li Yu" performed by Lanxi Wu Opera Troupe brought the image of Li Yu to the stage for the first time; the drama "Wind Moon" launched by Beijing People's Art Theater, starring famous actors Pu Cunxin and Xu Fan, reproduced Li Yu's opera career; an opera written by Nanjing writer Zhao Jingyang "Mustard Seed Garden" will be performed in October this year.
In fact, Li Yu’s favorite and most affectionate music in his life is probably Kun Opera. Although a generation of talented people passed away in melancholy, they left behind for future generations "Ten Types of Legends of Li Weng", "Collection of Ci and Fu", "Occasional Posts of Leisure Love", and the novels "City Wall" and "Twelve Floors"