The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Shaoshan contains many of the Chairman's relics, among which the most opera is among the more than 2,000 records and tapes. The living conditions during the Yan'an period were very difficult. In the limited cultural and entertainment activities,

Chairman Mao loves Chinese traditional culture very much. He not only has high attainments in classical poetry and calligraphy, but also loves traditional opera art. The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Shaoshan contains many of the Chairman's relics, among which the most opera is among the more than 2,000 records and tapes.

The living conditions during the Yan'an period were very difficult. In the limited cultural and entertainment activities, the only thing that could allow Chairman Mao to take the time to participate was to watch the show. At that time, opera performances were usually arranged in a small, simple and airy auditorium. The chairman always looked forward to the start time and came to the auditorium on time. He would neither be late nor leave early. He said: "Come and leave early are disrespectful to the actors, and it will also affect others' viewing of the show."

The chairman never makes people arrange fixed seats in advance when watching the show. He sits wherever there is a space, and stands quietly at the end when there is no space. He usually communicates with the audience around him in a home-style manner during the few minutes of the show, asking about his name or work, and even asking the person watching the show: "Comrade, I'm tall. If you block your show, tell me, I'm wrong next to you." When the show is in a wonderful place, the chairman will applaud as warmly as everyone.

Once, after the opera performance, Chairman Mao sat in a seat inside, so he got up until everyone finished walking. As soon as the chairman stepped out of the threshold of the auditorium, he heard the staff who were climbing on a high place to unload the steam lights shouting loudly: "Hey, comrade, don't go first, help me pick up the lights!" Chairman

turned around and responded: "Okay!" After the staff members got off the ladder, they saw that it was Chairman Mao who helped him pick up the lights. They were very embarrassed.

After the founding of New China, cultural undertakings flourished and various forms of entertainment activities became more and more abundant. However, what Chairman Mao was most interested in was opera, especially Peking Opera . Whether it was going out to inspect entertainment performances in various places or internal performances arranged by Zhongnanhai , what Chairman Mao mentioned most was Peking Opera, and had cordial conversations with many Peking Opera actors.

Mei Lanfang : The chairman is more powerful than many professional actors

In June 1949, Mei Lanfang, as a representative figure in the Shanghai cultural circle, was invited to Beiping to attend the first National Cultural Congress. It was warmly welcomed by the public along the way. After arriving in Peking, celebrities from the Liyuan circle such as Shang Xiaoyun , Tan Fuying , Xun Huisheng and other celebrities from the Liyuan circle went to Qianmen Station to greet him. People learned that Mei Lanfang was coming and rushed to tell him. Soon the Qianmen Railway Station was surrounded. It is said that the number of people who came to greet Mei Lanfang at that time was as high as 50,000 to 60,000, which was very rare. Later, the news even reached Chairman Mao’s ears.

Chairman Mao and the representatives of the Cultural Congress, the second right is Mei Lanfang

During the Cultural Congress, Chairman Mao shook hands with all the representatives. When he walked to Mei Lanfang, the Chairman said humorously: " Comrade Mei Lanfang, the people of Peking are welcome to you, no less than the scenes when the People's Liberation Army entered Peking. Your fame is greater than mine! ." Mei Lanfang, who has seen countless big scenes, was so shy that she didn't know how to answer the Chairman's words.

Mei Lanfang is very particular about the costumes of various characters on the stage. When he performed " White Snake Legend ", his decorations from head to toe were reforming as his understanding of this character continued to deepen. In the Qing Dynasty, Bai Suzhen's headdress was covered by a fisherman's headdress, and when Mei Lanfang premiered in 1915, she changed the headdress to a large mat. Later, he felt that Bai Suzhen could not be considered a female general, so she was inappropriate to wear a large mat, so she changed it to a soft mat. After many changes, Mei Lanfang's White Snake appearance added a big red pomrose to the face card. Her white body and a little red on her head not only made Bai Suzhen more pretty, but also made the character's personality more prominent.

During the first month of 1951, Mei Lanfang led the troupe to Zhongnanhai to perform to celebrate the Spring Festival with the leader. On the first day, he personally performed two repertoires "Jinshan Temple" and " Broken Bridge ". Chairman Mao watched it very seriously off the stage. The next day, Mei Lanfang's son Mei Baojiu is the starring actor, and Mei Lanfang also sat in the audience to watch.After the performance, Mei Lanfang met Chairman Mao in the backstage lounge. When the chairman talked to him, he mentioned his appearance on the stage and said, "The White Snake who watched you perform yesterday not only sang impeccably, but also had unique appearances. He was dressed in plain clothes and had a little red on his head."

Mei Lanfang (center) appearance of White Snake

Mei Lanfang immediately became a little more admirable for Chairman Mao. He later said to the actors of his troupe: " for so many years, no one has ever noticed my White Snake appearance. The Chairman is the first one, which is better than many professional actors. I changed it. It took a long time to study it. ”

The last play that Chairman watched before his death

1958 to 1966, Tianjin was the capital of Hebei Province. In May 1960, during her inspection in Tianjin, Chairman Mao watched " Tiangong " rehearsed by the Hebei Bangzi Theater. At that time, Pei Yanling played Sun Wukong. His lively performance and wonderful martial arts posture left a deep impression on the Chairman, especially the more than 90 spins she twisted in one breath made the Chairman praise it.

Pei Yanling's "Discovery in the Heavenly Palace"

After the performance, Chairman Mao went to the backstage to meet Pei Yanling. At that time, he was already a 67-year-old man, but he still bent down to have a cordial exchange with the 13-year-old girl.

Chairman

Although Pei Yanling is not old, he did not show any fright when facing Chairman Mao’s face-to-face questioning, and replied in the voice of the bell: “Report to Chairman, I am thirteen years old this year.”

Chairman quipped with a smile: “A girl is young and has such great kung fu, can you sing?”

Pei Yanling answered confidently: “Yes!”

So, Pei Yanling sang a short Peking Opera Mapai section " Borrowing the East Wind ". After listening to it, Chairman Mao applauded with satisfaction and encouraged Pei Yanling to continue to learn and sing well.

Two years later, Chairman Mao watched "The Lotus Lantern" starring Pei Yanling in Beidaihe again. After the performance, when Chairman Mao met the actor, he recognized Pei Yanling, the girl who played Sun Wukong two years ago. He smiled and pointed at Pei Yanling as if he had seen an old acquaintance and said, "The little monkey has become a little agarwood."

Pei Yanling "The Lotus Lantern"

In the communication with Pei Yanling, the chairman understood that At that time, Pei Yanling also learned "Night Run" from Jingkun Road. The chairman said: " should learn Beikun , it is best to learn from Hou Yongkui . "Night Run" performed by Mr. Hou is a person from beginning to end, singing and chanting and figure, and it is very exciting everywhere. His performance is difficult and has high requirements. It will be beneficial to you to learn it. " After Chairman Mao finished speaking, Pei Yanling and everyone present sincerely admired it. No one expected that the chairman was so professional in drama knowledge.

Not long after, with the recommendation of Chairman Mao, Pei Yanling really got the opportunity to come to Beijing to become a disciple of Hou Yongkui. She was smart and studious, and she could understand many things at a glance. In addition, she had the foundation of Beijing and Kunqu. After the guidance of a famous teacher, she learned this difficult drama in a very short time.

Pei Yanling's "Night Running"

One day in 1976, Chairman Mao, who was seriously ill in bed, suddenly suggested that he wanted to see the "Bao Lotus Lantern" played by Pei Yanling. Therefore, the leaders of the cultural department at that time urgently informed Hebei Province that they immediately tried every means to arrange the rehearsal, and at the same time asked Tianjin TV to produce video materials in the form of "color video".

When he received the order, Pei Yanling, who had left the stage for more than ten years, had gone from a 15-year-old girl to a mother of two daughters, and her youngest daughter was not yet full month old. But in order to help Chairman Mao, the "old friend", realize this wish, she ignored her health while still in the "confinement period", and temporarily sent her youngest daughter back to her hometown, gritted her teeth and practiced hard, and soon met the performance requirements.

Tianjin TV station cannot complete the task of "color recording" due to the limitations of equipment and manpower. So after an emergency meeting and research, the cultural department finally decided to make a movie directly.So, Beijing Film Studio quickly set up a filming team, and Pei Yanling and her troupe also came to Beijing Film Studio , and completed all the shooting tasks of the movie in more than 20 days.

Later, Chairman Mao watched the movie "The Lotus Lantern" starring Pei Yanling. At the same time, this was also the last play that Chairman Mao, who had always loved the art of drama, watched before his death.

Chairman gave the red line woman motto

In addition to his work, Chairman Mao is also very interested in various local dramas . In January 1958, the Chairman watched "Zhaojun Going Out of the Frontier" starring Red Line Girl with cadres from Guangdong in Guangzhou. Three months later, Chairman Mao visited Guangzhou again and had a long talk with the Red Line Girl during this period. Chairman Mao told the Red Line Girl a lot of opinions on literature and art, and also mentioned the reform of Cantonese Opera . In the later recollection of the Red Line Girl, Chairman Mao was not only approachable, but also knowledgeable and talented, and was versatile in astronomy, geography, history, and literature.

Red Line Girl

Chairman Mao learned that the move of the Red Line Girl returning to the Mainland from Hong Kong has been criticized by many Hong Kong people, so she encouraged the Red Line Girl and said: " It is right for you to come back from Hong Kong. No matter how others say it, you don't care. Some people don't want you to live, don't worry about him, you go your way, and keep working hard if you go right. "

Red Line Girl replied: "I just came back and didn't understand anything, and there would be some discomfort. Please write me a motto so that I can work hard with some basis."

Chairman 0 replied readily: "Okay!"

In November 1958, when Chairman Mao presided over the meeting in Wuchang , the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Troupe went to Wuchang to perform, and the Red Line Girl also came with the team. After Chairman Mao finished watching the play, when the Red Line girl and the cadres sent Chairman Mao out of the theater gate, he mustered up the courage and said, "Chairman, didn't you agree to write a motto for me?"

then suddenly remembered this and said, "Okay!"

Chairman Mao wrote the inscription for the Red Line girl

The next day, the Red Line girl received a letter from a special person. A letter written by Chairman Mao himself was written by Mr. Lu Xun's famous line " is cold and pointed at thousands of people, and is willing to be a child's cow", while the content of the letter is "... Living, living, living, and becoming a red line girl of the working people. "

red line girl In the second half of her life and acting career, no matter how hard life is, she always remembers Chairman Mao's encouragement to her.

Zuo Dayan 6 years old and close contact with Chairman Mao

1959, Chairman Mao watched the Hunan Hunan Opera Troupe's performance "Three Women Grab the Board" at the Hunan Provincial Social Affairs Office. He believed that the content reflected in this play was communist and proposed to change the name of the play " Life and Death Card ". The actor who plays the protagonist Wang Yuhuan in the play is Zuo Dayan, who has just turned 16.

If you have never heard of the name "Zuo Dayan", you must be familiar with the roles she has played. She is the actor who plays the Guanyin Bodhisattva in the 1986 version of " Journey to the West ". Her dignified, generous and majestic appearance in the play is very in line with the image of Guanyin in the minds of the audience.

At that time, although Zuo Dayan had only been in the art for two years, she was quite talented and already well-known in the Hunan Drama world. When she received a notice from the troupe leader to perform "Three Women's Chasing Board" at the Hunan Provincial Social Affairs Office, she thought that it was usually a place to receive important guests or major leaders. Since she had to perform on such an important occasion, there should be a very important activity, so he prepared more seriously than usual.

The moment she stepped onto the stage, the scene in front of her confirmed her conjecture. There was a person she had dreamed of meeting - Chairman Mao. She was excited and nervous. If she hadn't had so much experience in large-scale performances, she might have forgotten the words. Fortunately, after a quick adjustment of her state, she successfully completed the entire performance.After the performance of

, when Zuo Dayan was taking off his makeup in the background, a strange lesbian suddenly pushed the door and said with a smile: "It was you who played Wang Yuhuan just now? Chairman Mao admired your performance very much. You can dance with Chairman Mao later!" When

heard that he wanted to dance with Chairman Mao, Zuo Dayan's heart, which had finally calmed down, became nervous again, and replied carefully: "I can't dance."

The lesbian comforted her and said, "It doesn't matter. I'll let someone teach you a few simple movements right away, which is easy to learn."

A few minutes later, Chairman Mao's guard found Zuo Dayan and said he wanted to teach her to dance. After Zuo Dayan expressed his gratitude, he learned it very carefully. Although it was just a few simple movements, Zuo Dayan had to learn it many times before he could barely learn it.

After a while, the lesbian just came over and asked, "Have you learned it?" Zuo Dayan was unsure, but just blushed and nodded gently. Afterwards, the lesbian held Zuo Dayu's hand and walked through the crowd to a tall figure. Zuo Dayu raised his head carefully and became even more nervous because standing in front of her was Chairman Mao who had just watched the show off the stage. Chairman Mao looked at Zuo Dayi's nervous look and said with a smile: "Baby, dancing should be moving, just like you are singing an opera on stage, you can't always stand."

Zuo Dayi didn't expect Chairman Mao to be so approachable, and he felt much more relaxed, and he slowly moved with Chairman Mao's dance steps. Chairman Mao may have felt that Zuo Dayu had not completely relaxed, so he chatted with her and asked her some questions about how old she was, where she was, and who she learned the drama from. Zuo Dayu didn't dare to look up from beginning to end, and put all her attention at her feet. She was afraid that she would accidentally step on the chairman's leg. Zuo Dayi recalled the Chairman's question many years later and said with a smile: "My mind was blank at that time. I had long forgotten what I said at that time. Although I was a little regretful, I felt very honored to have such a close contact with Chairman Mao."

Although it was only a brief contact, this little fellow villager had left a deep impression on Chairman Mao.

This year, during the National Day, Zuo Dayan followed the Hunan Opera Troupe to Beijing to participate in the performance, Chairman Mao made a special arrangement to invite representatives of the Hunan Opera Troupe to visit his residence in Zhongnanhai. The representatives of the troupe were still dozens of steps away from the entrance of Chairman Mao’s Juxiang Bookstore , and saw the Chairman standing at the door early to greet them personally. The Chairman saw Zuo Da at a glance from the delegation’s team.黑, said kindly: "We are already considered old acquaintances! We are born again and we are familiar with each other!"

Zuo Dayan and his father sighed that Chairman Mao was knowledgeable and

Since then, every time Chairman Mao returned to his hometown in Hunan, Zuo Dayan was arranged to perform for Chairman Mao, or chat with her. So after getting along several times, Zuo Dayan gradually became familiar with Chairman Mao, not as nervous as before.

Once, two people were chatting, and Chairman Mao suddenly asked with a smile: "Why are your surname Zuo? Not your surname?"

. Zuo Dayan didn't know how to answer Chairman Mao's half-joking question, so he had to say naively: "My father's surname is Zuo, so of course I am Zuo."

"What's the name Zuo?"

Chairman Mao might have asked Zuo Dayan the origin of her name, but Zuo Dayan did not hear this meaning, but heard the Chairman pronounced the word "王" (bīn) in his name as "fēn", so he immediately retorted: " Chairman, you are such a great leader, and you still pronounce the word "fēn" so much. If you don't pronounce it, you should pronounce it "bīn"! "

Chairman Mao laughed: " Did I pronounce it wrong? Baby, go back and ask your father, go and read the "Da Cihai". Don't look at the "Xiao Cihai". This word has two pronunciations. Can you pronounce it as "fēn"? ​​"

Chairman Mao continued to ask: "Your surname is Zuo, Zuo Zongtang , who are you?"

Zuo Dayan has not read many books since he was a child. He didn't know who Zuo Zongtang is, nor did he know that Zuo Zongtang is also from Changsha, Hunan, so he shook his head.

Chairman Mao asked again, "Who are you?"

"He is my uncle." Zuo Dayan continued, "My father is Zuo Zonglian . He used to be a post under General Cheng Qian's headquarters."

Chairman Mao nodded after hearing this, and said, "Your uncle is a famous juren. He was a high-ranking official during the Qing Dynasty and participated in Tongmenghui . It's not simple!"

According to incomplete statistics, Chairman Mao has read about 130,000 books in his life, and he never leaves books almost every day. Even during the most difficult Long March period, Chairman Mao did not interrupt his habit of reading books. Zuo Dayu, who had been very interested in performing operas since he was a child, had less than one ten thousand of the knowledge at that time than Chairman Mao.

When she returned home, she immediately told her father about Chairman Mao’s name pronounced “fēn”, and also conveyed the “task” of Chairman Mao’s asking him to check “Da Cihai”.

Zuo Zonglian immediately dug out the "Da Cihai" and checked the word "王", and found the pronunciations of "fēn" and "bīn". The father and daughter suddenly realized and admired the Chairman's extensive knowledge from the bottom of their hearts.

Chairman Mao and Zuo Dayan drank a cup of tea together

Another time, when Chairman Mao was resting, Zuo Dayan accidentally saw that the tea was just brewed for Chairman Mao, and the tea leaves stood in the water one by one, so he asked the Chairman: "Chairman Mao, what kind of tea are you drinking? Why is it so good?"

Chairman Mao first glanced at the tea, then looked at Zuo Dayan with a smile and replied: "Doll, this is the Maojian from Junshan, Yueyang, which is a top-notch good tea. You don't understand if you don't drink tea."

Zuo Dayan didn't even think about it, and a sentence came out of his mouth: "I want to drink your tea too, I'm thirsty."

Chairman Mao smiled and said, "Drink, thirsty, thirsty."

Chairman smirked and said, "Drink, thirsty." Let's drink it, let's have a cup of tea."

At this time, someone came to Chairman Mao to report on his work. Zuo Daqin originally wanted to avoid it. The chairman not only did not let her avoid it, but also introduced to the person who reported on his work: "This kid is Zuo Daqin, an actor from the Hunan Theater."

After the person who reported on his work left, Zuo Daqin sat on the bench and gently pulled Chairman Mao's hand, looking at it and asked: "Chairman, how many snails do you have? I heard from the old man that the more snails, the better!"

Chairman Mao did not believe this superstitious thing, and never paid attention to his hand. He asked, "Hey you?"

Zuo Daqin said in a helpless tone, "I only have one snail, born in nature." "

Chairman Mao suddenly noticed that since he met this girl, every time he saw her, she was wearing the same clothes, and joked: "Is a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a snail a singular! " Chairman Mao laughed happily after hearing this and said, "Don't believe that, no matter who it is, you have to work hard."

In the later conversation, Chairman Mao also reminded Zuo Daqing: "Your literature and art are good, but don't ignore strengthening cultural learning and cultivation." After taking a sip of tea, the food continued to ask, "Do you go to the countryside for more performances?"

Zuo Dayan said, "I go often."

"There are very few special venues in the countryside. Where do you usually perform?"

"As long as everyone likes to watch, we can perform anywhere. We have performed more in the drying guping floor, and have performed many times in the harvested rice fields."

Chairman Mao asked curiously: "The rice stubble in the rice fields will stumbling. How to perform opera? It's not performing crosstalk!"

Zuo Dayan said seriously: "Yes, we often get tripped while acting, and we will be stumbling by rice fields."

Chairman Mao smiled happily after hearing this.

Zuo Dayan took half of the cigarette from Chairman Mao

One day in 1963, Chairman Mao came to Changsha again. He did not see Zuo Dayan in the reception team, so he asked, "Didn't Xiao Zuo come?" The cadre in charge of the reception said, "Report to the Chairman, Xiao Zuo is performing in another place."

"Oh" Chairman asked again, "Which play is she playing today?"

" Chairman, Xiao Zuo plays "Life and Death Card" today.”

Zuo Dayan "Life and Death Card"

Although the chairman did not say anything, the cadres in charge of the reception immediately arranged the car and asked someone to pick up Zuo Dayan, who was performing in Yuanling more than 300 kilometers away.

After meeting Chairman Mao, Zuo Dayan first chatted with the chairman, and then sang a caper, asking the chairman to check whether he had practiced his skills well.

After listening to it, Chairman Mao said: "Your voice is a little hoarse, baby, are you catching a cold? Have a good rest. ”

Zuo Dayan saw Chairman Mao smoking and said, “Chairman, please smoke less, for your health. "

Chairman Mao said: "I have been smoking for decades and I'm used to it, it doesn't matter. "

Zuo Dayan treasured the Chairman's half cigarette

Zuo Dayan knew that the Chairman was very good at smoking and was not easy to persuade him, so she plucked up her courage and directly took away the half cigarette stomped in the Chairman's fingers.

Chairman was not angry, but laughed and said, "Okay, okay, don't smoke it anymore. "

Few people know that the half cigarette that Zuo Dayi plucked up the courage to "snatch" from Chairman Mao's hand. She did not throw it away. Instead, she carefully treasured it after returning home. She regarded it as a souvenir left to her by Chairman Mao, and later became the only souvenir.

On September 9, 1976, the bad news of Chairman Mao's death suddenly came on the radio. Zuo Dayi looked at Chairman Mao who had treasured for more than ten years but had not finished smoking half a cigarette, and cried sadly for a long time...