What contribution did Li Chengzhi make to Yunnan Opera?

Li Chengzhi, formerly known as Li Chongxin, a native of Kunming, is a famous actor of Yunnan Opera. Known as "Master of Yunnan Opera", "Calling Heaven in Yunnan" and "King of Yunnan Spirit". He likes opera since he was a child, and he is also smart. When studying in a private school, he often went to the teahouse near Youer Street to listen to and sing Yunnan Opera.

After a long time, Li Chengzhi hummed with others, and then mastered the basics. Moreover, Li Chengzhi's voice, figure and appearance are very good, so when he was sixteen or seventeen, he was attracted by several old artists of Yunju and took part in the mobile team singing in Mengzi area.

At the age of 20, Li Chengzhi officially attended classes in Mengzi. The old artists congratulated him and said, "Today is the day when you sing successfully."

To commemorate this day, Li Chengzhi changed his name from "Chongxin" to "Chengzhi" according to the date of success. Later, he was listed in various places and officially entered the performance career of Yunnan Opera.

He didn't learn from his teacher, but famous artists at that time, such as Qi Shan, Jiang Yueting, Lu and Peng, all had a deep influence on him. Among them, Shengjiao Li Shaobai and Nestorianism Qishan had the greatest influence on him.

Li Chengzhi learned from others in his artistic practice and created his own playing method. After years of seeking advice, practice and research, her singing skills have become more and more mature, and she has formed her own characteristics and become an outstanding actress in Yunnan Opera.

Later, during his illness, Li Chengzhi carefully studied Yunnan Opera based on his years of artistic experience. On the basis of analyzing, comparing and absorbing the essence of Peking Opera, I personally compiled 12 volumes of Yunnan Opera Guide.

Li Chengzhi attached great importance to the social function and role of drama. In the preface of the Guide to Yunnan Opera, he began by writing:

Drama research belongs to the category of literature and art, which has considerable social value ... Although it is fun to express feelings, it has already benefited the world before it started to criticize vulgarity and remedy decadent style.

Li Chengzhi clearly pointed out that drama should attack the secular world to benefit the society and achieve the goal of "restoring the Cultural Revolution and improving the society". These views are the embodiment of "high platform education" advocated by traditional operas.

Li Chengzhi also believes that in order to give full play to the social functions of Yunnan Opera, it is necessary to carry out comprehensive innovation on Yunnan Opera, and put forward the principle of "eliminating its dross, eliminating its essence, deleting its redundancy and correcting its mistakes".

Around 1930, Li Chengzhi led the Yunnan Troupe to perform in Guizhou and Sichuan, which was highly appreciated by the audience and peers outside the province. Around 1940, an improved class of "Ji" in Yunnan opera was founded, and it persisted in running the school in the danger of war, and trained a large number of outstanding Yunnan opera talents. In addition to performing in southern Yunnan, Li Chengzhi also runs a school and performs in Lao Lang Palace. Taihe Tea Garden, Golden Horse Teahouse and Justice Theater are also his main performance venues.

In the performance, Li Chengzhi starts from the characters and digs into their psychological activities and personality characteristics through the plots. When he and Li Ruilan co-starred in Sang Huiyuan, there were too many audiences, so they pressed the balcony. The reason is that Li Chengzhi sings not to sing, but to enliven the emotions of the characters and make the ice show hot.

In the singing of "Seven Stars Lights", Li Chengzhi changed his face through qigong, which showed Kong Ming's manner before he died. This is a must. He plays Bai Huai in Burning Horse Barn, Song Shijie in Four Sons, Li Bai in Drunken Palace and Xu Ce in Running the City, which fully shows his profound skills in singing, reading, doing and acting. Li Chengzhi's performances in clown plays such as A Gift from Miller are also particularly unique.

In addition, The Empty City Strategy is Su Chengzhi's masterpiece, which is known as the "master of Yunnan Opera" and tells the story of Zhuge Liang's taking Sima Yi in the Three Kingdoms.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang lost his strategic street pavilion because of the misuse of Ma Su, and Wei took advantage of the situation to lead Sima Yi to the Xicheng where Zhuge Liang was located.

At that time, there were no generals around Zhuge Liang, only a group of civil servants. Half of the 5,000 troops led by Zhuge Liang went to transport food and grass, leaving only about 2,500 soldiers in the city. Everyone was shocked to hear that Sima Yi was coming with troops. After Zhuge Liang boarded the tower to watch, he said to the people, "Don't panic. I can teach Sima Yi to retreat a little. "

So Zhuge Liang ordered all the flags to be hidden, and the soldiers stayed where they were. If anyone goes out without permission or makes noise, they will be beheaded immediately. He also asked the soldiers to open four gates, and sent 20 soldiers above each gate to dress up as ordinary people and sprinkle water to sweep the street. Zhuge Liang put on a crane himself, put on a tall black silk scarf, led two extremely young children, took a piano, sat down on the railing in front of the watchtower in the city, lit incense, and then slowly played the piano.

Sima Yi's vanguard troops arrived at the gate. Seeing this momentum, they dared not enter the city easily and hurried back to report to Sima Yi. Upon hearing this, Sima Yi smiled and said, "How is this possible?"

So he stopped the three armies and flew to watch. Not far from the city, he really saw Zhuge Liang sitting on the rostrum, smiling, burning incense and playing the piano. On the left is an extremely bookish man with a sword in his hand; There is also an extremely young man on the right, with a dusting in his hand. Inside and outside the city gate, more than 20 ordinary people are sweeping their heads, and no one is watching.

When Sima Yi saw this, he was puzzled, so he went to Zhong Jun and made the rear army the former army. The former army hurried back. Si Mazhao, the second son, said, "Zhuge Liang's family has no soldiers, so he did this on purpose? Father, why do you want to retire? "

Sima Yi said: "Zhuge Liang was cautious all his life and never took risks. Now that the gate is wide open, there will be an ambush inside. If our army goes in, it will just fall into their trap. Or hurry back! " So all the soldiers and horses retreated.

In this play, Zhuge Liang played by Li Chengzhi is loved by people. Li Chengzhi summed up six "keys to Yunnan opera" through chanting: first, there are four essentials in opera, namely, sound, word, tune and purpose; Secondly, there must be five voices in the play, namely, lips, teeth, nose, tongue and throat; The third is the division of thirteen rhymes; Fourth, four tones of speech, that is, opening, arranging teeth, closing mouth and clamping mouth; Fifth, we should distinguish sharp circles; Sixth, the plate cavity system of Yunnan cavity.

Li Chengzhi devoted his whole life to the revitalization of Yunnan Opera, and left an indelible contribution to Yunnan Opera in terms of repertoire, performance, theory, moral performance and education.