He performed in street squares, and his specialty was his best. One person plays multiple roles, sometimes men and sometimes women, sometimes young and old, and very vivid.

Reporter | Kong Bingxin

A legendary figure in Mengjia in the 1960s. He performed in street squares, and his specialty was his best. One person plays multiple roles, sometimes men and sometimes women, sometimes young and old, and very vivid. The onlookers were applauding and were known as "Thirteen Sounds".

——"The story told by my mother opened this work, throwing it into a calm pond like a stone, causing ripples of memory to spread outward..." Zheng Zonglong said so. As the "successor" chosen by Lin Huaimin, the founder of Yunmen Dance Collection, this time Zheng Zonglong came to Shanghai to promote the Yunmen 2 work "Thirteen Sounds" that will be staged at the Oriental Art Center in October. It inevitably made the media "moved" and came to see "the 'clouds' rise again in the sky."

Zheng Zonglong was born in Wanhua, Taipei (formerly known as Mengjia), and has been setting up stalls and selling slippers with his family since he was a child. The vitality of the street and the various aspects of life have finally become the source of inspiration for his future creation. After graduating from the Department of Dance at Taipei University of Art, he served as a dancer in Yunmen Dance. He began to create in 2002, and his works were performed on stages in Europe, America, Asia and Australia, and won awards repeatedly. In 2014, he took over the artistic director of Yunmen from Lin Huaimin; from 2020, he will succeed as the artistic director of Yunmen Dance after Lin Huaimin retires.

Zheng Zonglong (Photography | Li Jiaye)

This time in "Thirteen Sounds", Zheng Zonglong invited Lin Qiang to to make the soundtrack.

In 1990, Lin Qiang's song " Going Forward " received positive reviews, bringing new style to the Taiwanese rock music industry. Later, he starred in Li Tianlu in the music TV film "Black Wheel Bo" and entered the film industry. In 1993, Hou Hsiao-hsien, who watched "Hyung Bo", used him to star in "Handi Wheel" in "Handi Wheel" ". Throughout the 1990s, Lin Qiang was a representative rock star in the Taiwanese music industry.

Lin Qiang (Photography | Li Jiaye)

After quitting the music scene, Lin Qiang was committed to the promotion of Taiwanese music and participated in the movie soundtrack, and won many awards. He cooperated closely with Hou Hsiao-hsien, Jia Zhangke and others. Many wonderful musicals of " Millennium Mambo ", "Happy Goodbye in the South", "Assassin Nie Yinniang", "Unuseless", "Hidden People in the Three Gorges ", and "Hidden Twenty-Four Cities " were all written by him.

Before the interview, the reporter was reminded by a friendly person: Teacher Lin Qiang doesn’t say much, and (maybe what I want to say) is all in the music.

During the interview, Lin Qiang seemed quite talkative. He smiled: "I learned a lot from the past classics. I am also happy to listen to Hou (Xiaoxian) or some old predecessors tell stories and reason. When I was young, I was indeed rebellious, which stems from the 'bad roots' that were not taught in nature. If you search Google, I may have a lot of 'deeds'. I always have rebellious in my heart, but I have grown old and now I know how to restrain myself."

Interestingly, Zheng Zonglong, when he was young, also worked as a "bad boy" for a period of time: smoking and fighting, "I didn't study, I swayed around every day, rode a modified motorcycle, ran around, called brothers and brothers, and joined a small gang"... Look, is there any trace of the combination of "Brother Qiang Zonglong"? It is really a "dignified" in the dark.

The Thirteen Tone that the audience will see also has "reverse bones": the dancers dance various disorderly, hunched, bizarre, absurd but eye-catching movements, using the muscles of their throats, laughing, howling, strange sounds, and strange tones without reservation. Zheng Zonglong admitted that such dances had initially caused him to fall into an indescribable mood of "smiling" - the Minnan dialect "smiling" has a sense of shame, and the sense of shame comes from the contrast between the body of the common people and the Yingting ballet.

Photography | Li Jiaye

But there is no right or wrong with the sound and the body. Zheng Zonglong put aside the choreography technique of "precision calculation", boldly scattered, and gave it to the mood to dominate the mind. The dancers and artist team jointly created it, and with a vigorous spirit, they transformed the moving melody and body of the common people that had passed through time and space into another different vitality.

"Xinmin Weekly" interviewed Zheng Zonglong and Lin Qiang

Xinmin Weekly: When you first stayed by Lin Huaimin's side to "lay the foundation", from "only listening to Jacky Cheung , Jay Chou " to being shocked by the wall of the entire wall of the bookcase at Teacher Lin's home, you truly understand art, music, dance, history, and devote yourself to mainstream Western art; after years of accumulation, do you feel that you are "opening up that wall"?

Zheng Zonglong: For me, everything goes with the flow. I started learning to dance at the age of 8. When I was a child, I listened to Taiwanese rock music by Brother Qiang (Lin Qiang), and then there were songs by Jacky Cheung and Jay Chou. In fact, in modern society, pop culture is within reach and develops very quickly. So when I grow up listening to pop music, I have a special feeling about these songs and can easily be moved by the lyrics and melodies.

But it is not until you want to choreography that you will deeply realize that a young man needs to face the problem of "how to support himself and where does the income come from" when he starts to devote himself to creation. At that time, I often worked with my work partners in a small space in a building gym; and when Teacher Lin Huaimin and Teacher Roman Fei learned that I wanted to create, they used various ways to help me and gave me the opportunity to choreograph.

In fact, Teacher Lin tried every means to help many young people. To me, Teacher Lin might have considered: "Well, this little guy has a car, so let him carry it." In this way, I have some income from the fare; every time I get to a destination, Teacher Lin will pay me the fare like taking a taxi when getting off the bus. Fortunately, the teacher would listen to Taipei Philharmonic Radio in the car, playing classical music; he also often went to see some cultural and artistic performances. If there was an extra ticket, I could sit next to me and listen to symphony from Peking Opera with him. After the performance, when he sent the teacher home, he would share his thoughts in the car and give me some advice on how to understand classical music - whose work is this? What are the characteristics of music?

The wall at Teacher Lin’s house is full of books. For the first time, I saw it, “Wow, the creator has this side, and he actually needs to absorb so much knowledge and so many things from different categories!” From then on, I threw down popular and popular things a little bit "cut" and began to receive a large number of classical music and books. To be honest, I didn’t feel a lot at first, but after the teacher’s guidance, I would feel enlightened and gradually “grow my branches and leaves” and take the initiative to find what I am interested in. Slowly, this even became a net, opening up a broader life. It turns out that there are so many people in the world with different souls and different concepts, who express their emotions and ideas in various ways and very different ways - I am always deeply touched by this.

Photography | Liu Zhenxiang

Xinmin Weekly: What do you think is the difference between Yunmen 2 and Yunmen Dance Collection? Movement and stillness? Modern and classical? More down-to-earth and lofty? More possibilities are related to "persistence"? Where is the main manifestation of the "interconnection and connection between the two"?

Zheng Zonglong: The dancers of Yunmen 1 and Yunmen 2 receive the same physical training, such as martial arts, Tai Chi, meditation, etc., that is, the foundation of all our courses is the same. The difference is that the first regiment only dances with Mr. Lin's works. When the 2nd regiment was founded, the artistic director Roman Fei hoped that this regiment could become a platform for young creators - this is also our mission and mission, so exhibitions like Chundou are held every year to provide a stage for young artists to show their madness. Because every generation and everyone has different ideas, what kind of dance does young artists want to care for and respond to society, and hope to release more personalities on this stage. Yunmen 1 and Yunmen 2 have the same foundation, but their creativity is different.

Xinmin Weekly: Since 2011, to the Wanhua Temple Fair in Yunmen 2 Spring Fight, the action scenes of the spirit mediums playing the spirit, and the colorful temple features. To this "Thirteen Sounds", you can see that you have tried to trace your own culture and explore Taiwan's local beliefs and evolution.Is the childhood growth environment affecting your creations more and more? Is there any new breakthrough in choreography in "Thirteen Tones"?

Zheng Zonglong: My starting point is actually not deliberately emphasizing local or something, but just thinking, what is in my life experience? What kind of pictures and sounds have the images in my memory played? I tried to "jump into" the scene of my past experience, and then reflect the things I saw, were moved, and felt, including contradictions, and nutrients.

For example, Mengjia has many temples, with some formations, which are a bit like a carnival. As long as there is a celebration, there are teams parades like folk performances on several streets. Their basic training should be martial arts, but the fiddling of their bodies is so different from Yunmen, which makes me very interested. Folk martial arts movements have a way to become so lively. They use so many crotch swings to bring a sense of lightness and pleasure in the performance. I just thought, is it impossible to grasp some elements from this?

I always search for my own life experience. My body and voice are innate, and everyone is different. So, my starting point did not say that I must focus on the local government and Taiwan, but what I have gone through and what these processes have given me. Maybe in the future, I will experience more, so I may have some other changes in my creation.

Photography | Liu Zhenxiang

Xinmin Weekly: You once admitted that "I will have a cycle of confusion every few years, and I don't know why I want to dance." Do you have such "confusion" and self-doubt at the moment? Can you reveal one or two more about the development plan of Yunmen 2?

Zheng Zonglong: There has been no confusion cycle for a long time. The previous cycle of confusion was in the dance process and the time when I left the Yunmen. Because during the dance process, you don’t quite understand what the dancer can do and how to support himself. Is this a profession? Due to the social environment, a dancer is a vague character. Everyone thinks it is strange for boys to learn to dance and they can't survive. The father believes that the son should be a person who can support the family and must have a fixed income. The public's standards and vision will affect my own view of dancers. But under Yunmen and under the guidance of Teacher Lin, dancing has become a career that can make a living and a career. After understanding that, my body was unable to continue dancing due to injuries and turned to the choreography, which was another confused process. Now, I feel everything is good and I believe in what Yunmen is doing.

I think it is very important that we are all passionate about dance, and we also believe that dance can change many things, bring a lot of warmth, solve a lot of worries, and soothe melancholy mood. We will continue to bring dance to more people, not just in the theater. We will go to places without a theater and introduce dance in other ways, so that the audience can get close to the scene and understand dance. Another thing is creation. Teacher Lin said that we should not become a "museum dance troupe", so we hope that Yunmen will continue to promote dance, continue to innovate, keep going, and keep going, so that our works can communicate with young people and future people, correspond to society, and use dance to make some sounds.

The teacher once said, "Grow flowers on the concrete ground." Dance art is not a necessity for life, and the soil for growth is not the best now. People still think that entering the theater and watching dance is "very high." If we can change a little bit of this situation and "plant flowers on different cement floors", that is exactly what we should insist on.

Xinmin Weekly: It is said that 16-year-old Zheng Zonglong used your "Spring Breeze Boy" to compile the first dance of his life. In this way, is your music for "Thirteen Sounds" this time considered the "second close collaboration" between the two? You are a representative rock star in the Taiwanese music industry in the 1990s. Now you think you are still that "Spring Breeze Boy" in your creation?

Lin Qiang: Zong Long, he didn't know me at first, and he used my music indirectly and didn't tell me. Later, he found me directly and asked if he could get to know me first and come out to chat. When we first met, he did not finalize me to make the soundtrack for "Thirteen Tones". After all, we were a different age round, so we must have some different and unfamiliar views. It was only after the later stage that he formally proposed the question of hoping for my soundtrack. During the conversation and interaction, if we can never reach a consensus, he will change to someone else, and it will not be me who will have the music for "Thirteen Tones".

In fact, this has always been the case between me and the potential partner. Both parties first make an appointment to meet, sit down and have a cup of coffee and chat, and roughly understand each other's ideas - of course, if I think "the way is different", then "flash if you can". I am no longer young, so I cherish my time very much and don’t want to waste it on unnecessary things.

As creators, they all yearn for maintaining a childlike heart and must have unrestrained and free and innocent creative energy, as well as children. I understand "Spring Breeze Boy" as a childlike heart, and everyone must preserve it well, but that attitude - the kind of rebellion, confrontation with society, and speaking very violently, regardless of the world's rules, there will definitely be no more. Your age is here, and it keeps reminding you that pretending to be young is no longer possible. For example, I didn’t feel anything when I stayed up late in the past, but now my body can’t stand it, and I may feel dizzy after a while.

Photography | Liu Zhenxiang

Xinmin Weekly: What is your inspiration for the soundtrack of "Thirteen Sounds"? What musical elements have you used?

Lin Qiang: Zong Long knew that I was making electronic music and liked this part more. Therefore, when he communicated with me, I first asked him if he was sure he wanted a type of creation like me. After figuring out what the roughly route it was, he added some things from Taiwanese folk customs. If Zong Long wanted a piano or violin set, I would definitely not, and he would not have thought of finding me at all. In other words, you must communicate with the choreographer when making the soundtrack. If you cannot meet the choreography requirements, you should speak out on the spot.

Zong Long told me that the Minnan pop music played in Monga in his childhood impressed him. Did he find a few representative songs to sing? Then I suggest that songs that are older and farther away from the present can be used. Later, I found "Manchurian Minor" and "Cow Mother's Companion" - Manchurian Minor" is not a pseudo-Manchurian Minor, but a small village near the seaside in southern Taiwan.

Xinmin Weekly: You have won awards for many excellent movies. So do you feel that there are any differences that need to be paid attention to for the soundtrack of the movie and the soundtrack of the dance?

Lin Qiang: This is the first time I have played dance music. At present, I cannot share in detail and in detail how different the dance music is and the movie music is. However, one more obvious difference is that in terms of specific matters, there was a script before the filming started, and Zong Long did not give me the script. What I wrote about the first paragraph and what I wrote about the next paragraph is at least clearer in the movie. Zong Long and I just kept discussing and knowing each other and getting to know each other. I felt that in the end, I seemed to know, but I didn't know, as if there were, and it seemed, as if there were, and it seemed, but it was not. I gave him the prepared soundtrack to see his response. He said it was OK, so he went down; if it was not possible, so he found a problem and then practiced it. For me, it is probably this kind of semi-learning and semi-exploratory state.

I have played many movies before, and there are some extremely tangled processes.For example, a young director came here and hoped that I would help make the soundtrack. However, perhaps because they were not sure what they wanted, they were repeatedly exploring, which caused the music to be changed over and over again, as if it was endless, as if they were doing exam training. What should I do when communicating if those young directors are two rounds younger than me? I still listen to the director and choreographer ideas more, and politely suggest that I will not surpass or overtake them because I think I am older and understand the business better. This is work ethics.

Photography | Liu Zhenxiang

Xinmin Weekly: Lin Huaimin praised "Thirteen Sounds", saying "Mongka is New York, Lin Qiang is Beethoven ". There is the meaning of cultural confidence. How do you think of this (cultural confidence) problem yourself?

Lin Qiang: Teacher Lin is encouraging the younger generation. If someone can't give you a hat, you can wear it safely. Your blessings are not so great, and you are not so powerful. If something goes wrong, something will happen.

The good classics outside are indeed beautiful and touched me, but I can’t learn them like them. The whole world embraces diversity, and the existence of every life has its own beauty - and I have my own beauty, and I don’t have to learn from other people’s beauty. We should know how to appreciate ourselves and try our best to give full play to our characteristics. The value of beauty is not single, for example, Western classical music is beauty, and other good music is also beauty. Because I have never been influenced by classical music since I was a child and have not worked hard in this regard, I have not achieved profound attainments in classical music and do not force it.

Every grass and tree in this world has a meaning of survival. Wild grass is not as graceful and wealthy as peonies, but if you slowly appreciate the changes in its light and shadow, you will feel that why is this grass so beautiful? This is the meaning. I think the deeper a person learns and the wider the level of attention, the more he knows how to respect diversity.