I. Introduction:
Sichuan Opera is one of the traditional operas of Han nationality, which is popular in eastern and central Sichuan, Chongqing and parts of Guizhou and Yunnan. Sichuan Opera facial makeup is an important part of Sichuan Opera performance art, and it is a treasure of Han folk art created and passed down by Sichuan Opera artists in past dynasties.
Changing face is a stunt used in shaping characters in Sichuan Opera. Revealing the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters in the play is a romantic technique. Face-changing originally refers to the emotional makeup in China traditional operas, and later refers to a stunt that changes facial makeup many times in an instant. This kind of performance can be found in many operas, among which Sichuan Opera is the most famous.
Second, the technique of changing face:
There are many kinds and methods of changing faces in Sichuan Opera. To sum up, there are eight kinds: rubbing, rubbing, blowing, painting, wearing, holding back and pulling. In terms of "wiping", there are one-handed wiping and two-handed wiping; One hand, one finger, two fingers, three fingers, and so on.
Face-changing, as early as in the Ming drama "Jiro Guankou beheaded Jiao Jian", there was a record of "turning green face". Only at that time, the method of changing face was very simple, and the method of "changing" was single and not very skillful.
The preciousness of Sichuan Opera's changing face is not only a gimmick, but also reflects the traditional directing art of Sichuan Opera. It can also be asserted that the traditional directing art of Sichuan Opera is the inheritance and development of "changing face", and this stunt is applied to the traditional directing technique.
Here, through eight types of face-changing in Sichuan Opera, we can understand the ingenuity of the traditional director's technique in the use of face-changing.
Wipe is "wipe your eyes". Xiao Fang killed Xiao Fang, the water thief in the boat. I heard that the boat had reached the ruthless crossing and the plot to kill the husband and wife was completed. Shouting: "Gold is of great use!" If the windmill rotates once, a Hei Bang (named "wooden stick") crosses its eyes; "You can't live!" Lost his hat, flying shirt, knife, and went straight to the back cabin. What does Xiao Fang want? The audience has clearly seen the series of performances of Wipe Eyes.
Pei Sheng of Hong Mei Ji Fangfei was shocked when he heard that the assassin sent by Jia Sidao was coming-he still showed the horror of the characters through the enlargement and thickening of his eyes.
Rub your face-use the original heavy eyebrows, black eyes, foundation and oily face on your character's face and rub it with your hands.
Zhao Kuangyin, the "king of starting a business at once", appointed Ouyang Fang as the commander in chief and Hu Yanfeng as the general, and personally signed Hedong Bailong (Lower Hedong). Prime Minister Ouyang Fang secretly communicated with Bailong, trying to achieve the plan of usurping power. Excuse me, when you stand in front of you, you want to kill Zhao. Because of Zhao Kuangyin's bravery, the traitor Ouyang Fang was defeated by Kuang Yin. At this point, the domineering Ouyang Fang struggled to get up from the ground, and his face showed the color of dying. He swept away the vicious image just now, picked up his tail and fled the imperial camp. By "rubbing", he punished Cao Cao, a traitor who held the relieving power, and found out the "blood imperial edict" from the prince's maternal uncle's mansion that ordered the prince's maternal uncle to unite with the foreign minister to punish Cao Cao, so he took everyone into the palace combatively. Cao Cao killed Queen Fu in front of Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty and killed the second prince. Cao Fei used words to test her father: Do you have the heart to usurp the throne? Where do you put your daughter? Because the time was not yet ripe, Cao Cao made a false oath to dispel doubts-lifting his robe and kneeling, kowtowing-and saw Cao Cao's eyebrows blurred, his eyes glazed over and his white face turned to ashes. "Wipe your face" and "shine" the "ghost" in the heart of the adulterer who gambled on the "wrong curse".
Ma Bai and Qing Er fought fiercely for Xu Xian in Jinshan, but lost the bridge. I was ordered to meet my wife at Broken Bridge for nothing. Xiaoqing (played by a Sichuan opera actor), in full swing, heard Xu's call and flew into a rage, shouting, "... wait, the handmaiden will pick you up!" " Jumping with both feet, I immediately turned around-the handsome face suddenly turned red. B. Catch up and grab Xu, but I use the golden cicada to get out of the shell and glare at Xu. It is also a mistake to write "blue shirt" often. Yi shirt, eyes wide with anger, then hands folded ... his face turned from red to black; Bai hurriedly rushed up to protect and repel Xiaoqing. Angry to return, but was stopped by his master, green more and more angry-black face melting gold. Xu Xian in Qing Er's "Three Chases and Three Catches" changed his face three times, which not only showed Qing Er's "masculine" characteristics, but also highlighted Qing Er's strong character, adding a "spicy" style to the unique Sichuan opera "Broken Bridge".
Blowing "Qingzhou Grave" (also known as "Li Cunxiao's apparition"): In March in Tomb-Sweeping Day, Li Keyong, king of Jin, visited the grave for his adopted son Li Cunxiao. When he arrived at Shuikou, Wang learned that soldiers surrounded Qingzhou grave and came after Li Keyong. Save filial piety and lead Yin soldiers to save the car-relying on Jia to pretend to be an insider of Thirteen Pacific Insurance. Seeing that Yan Zhang, the defeated army, broke his oath to the Tang Dynasty before he died and wanted to hurt his adoptive father, he turned around and shook his head. Suddenly, Tang Yin blushed and "jumped into the sky", which scared Yan Zhang out of her wits. The actor who plays the role of filial piety changed his appearance by blowing air through his mouth, which enhanced the dramatic atmosphere on the stage and showed Li Cunxiao's heroism. All the gold is on the face, and the original "red sky" remains the same, which also shows the superb skills of the actors in "blowing".
Painting is painting changes. Actors use pens and paints as tools to change their faces.
In the Southern and Northern Dynasties (Song Dynasty), the deposed emperor Liu was ignorant and helpless, so he killed the hero and ruined the ethical code. His uncle Dai Faxing risked his life and was beheaded at the noon gate, and his younger brother, Wang Liu of Xiangdong, was also killed in the Golden Temple ... So, a palace coup broke out, and the king of Xiangdong led the crowd to Zhulin Hall.
When everyone shouted "Clean the Golden Temple, King Xiangdong ascended the throne", Liu, who was dressed as a worker together, turned around triumphantly-a piece of pink "dried bean curd" was added to his white face, accompanied by a "hee hee" sharp smile and a funny performance. An emperor with a "flower nose" was overthrown, and a new monarch with a "flower nose" came. The actors on the stage and the audience under the stage naturally made a proper judgment on this "acceded to the throne": "Another bad king!" This is the end of the traditional directing technique in Zhulin Hall of Sichuan Opera. So is an example.
The story drama of the Romance of the Gods-Guang's "Three Visits to the Biyou Palace" used the seal of heaven to turn the disciples of Tianshi into the prototype of the beast three times in a row. The Taoist priest smelled the newspaper three times and looked angry-the Taoist priest in heaven dressed as a handsome man changed his face every time he heard the fierce news. This painting (except for the first time) changed his face, and he played four sentences. The audience not only got artistic enjoyment from it, but also vividly saw the escalating anger in Tian Tong's leader's chest, which also laid the groundwork for Tian Tong's leader to make a big mistake. So is the second example.
Dai's "Capture alive": The scholar started an incident and eventually abandoned it, causing two women to hang themselves. One night, two female ghosts went to the study to kill Wang Huai. Two teachers who were teaching homework went to Wang's study. When Wang was unconscious, they woke up and questioned him. Wang Huai, who was in a coma, saw the arrival of the Second Division, and her voice was abnormal-her pink-faced husband became a pink lady-he "wore" a thin woman mask with almond eyes and cherry mouth-and "wearing" changed the female voice of Wang Huai played by Vincent, and her horns and claws were more inclined to the plot. Imagine that if Wang Huai was not talking to himself about the past, how could the second teacher record his "confession" of his negative behavior? Its artistic appeal is also greatly weakened, and the role of punishing this ungrateful person will not be so strong.
The family of Li Yangui, the son of Shang Shu, was suddenly changed by the Ministry of War. His father was imprisoned and the whole family raided. Yan Gui boarded his mother and sister-in-law in the ancient temple; Yan Gui asked Shangshu (the father of his fiancee) for help and was humiliated by Huang's breach of contract. In desperation, they make a living by selling water ... Where did the official children work as coolies? When he tried his best to suck milk and barely picked up a bucket filled with dozens of pounds of water, the gentle, delicate and handsome white-faced scholar became a "red-faced Guan Gong"-the director mobilized the means of "holding back" to change his face and perfectly handled a trivial detail in Selling Water: Selling Water Scholar. There is no need to use lines such as "bitter", which also reflects the tragic situation of this poor scholar.
Pulling face is the most technical and difficult method in changing face.
Bei Rong, a hero of Dongting, is a chivalrous man who helps the poor. Robbery of Huanggang official silver angered the official government, captured it with paintings, changed Bei Rong's appearance with "moving capacity", and saved the day-all the plots about Bei Rong in Guizheng Building. The director grasped the details of the official painting to catch the righteous thief, and used the "shifting capacity" to let Bei Rong slip away from your official's eyes. "Changing face" provides the actor who plays Bei Rong with skills, and also provides the audience with an opportunity to appreciate this stunt. In the off-season of "dog days" and "three days" in the old days, the troupe could be packed as long as it hung the "Guizheng Building" and performed "Nine Changes". This shows the artistic charm of this "face-changing" stunt, and only in this play at that time did it have a face-changing point of view.
Bei Rong is not the main character in Guizhenlou. Because of the use of the "La" change, the "seating order" of the characters rose, and the subtitle of "Jiu Bian" came into being after the name of the play was renamed.
The directors of Sichuan Opera not only designed a "pull" change for Bei Rong, but also made detailed and concrete treatment in some places in the "nine times" face change:
The fierce "Mountain of gongs and drums" played a magnificent North Glory-his face was colorful, his eyes were round, his mouth was big, his eyebrows were red and his beard was red-his face was big. Bei Rong, played by Wu Sheng, uses the gesture of "palm board mouth" and "Tiger Claw" and bears the same pace-"Deng Da" in Sichuan Opera Hualien; After the "colorful" mask was pulled off, the image of an old man with full forehead wrinkles, white eyebrows and silver whiskers appeared-percussion music cooperated with the actors' slow body movements, from slapping to slow playing (half drum). After that, the face was stretched and the gongs and drums changed. When the face of "Bei Rong" has the face of "clown", the percussion music is changed to "small beating" with small gongs and cymbals as the main parts, and the actors also shrink their hands and feet and use "short legs" ... The performance of "Bei Rong" changes face again and again, always looking around and exploring the content. When he was sure that there was no pursuer to catch up with the Song Dynasty and there was no official interception before, he revealed his true self and left smartly.
The method of "pulling" the face in Nine Changes was borrowed from the pot boy in Shuiyong Jinshan Temple after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and was well received by experts and audiences at home and abroad. Because the materials of "pull" noodles are superior to those of the old days, the reform is more diverse and ingenious than before. Unfortunately, many people have learned to "pull" the face, but few people have studied the reasons why the ancestors used this technique, so they used it in general, which is not suitable for occasions or characters, making this stunt lose its charm of attracting the audience.
Generally speaking, there are three ways to change your face: wiping your face, blowing your face and pulling your face. In addition, there is a special "luck" face change.
"If only local changes are needed, paint can be applied only at the position to be changed. For example, the old ghosts in The Legend of the White Snake, those released from Peili and those in Feiyun Sword all use the method of "wiping their faces".
"Face Blowing" is only suitable for powdered cosmetics, such as gold powder, toner and silver powder. Some put a small box on the ground of the stage and put powder in it. When an actor is doing a prone dance, he takes the opportunity to blow his face close to the box, and the powder falls on his face, which immediately becomes a face of another color. Be sure to pay attention: close your eyes, shut your mouth and hold your breath when blowing. Zizi in Capturing Zizi alive and Le Yangzi in Treating Zhongshan were all transformed by blowing their faces.
"For example, the bowl in The Legend of the White Snake (Zijin Bowl) can turn seven or eight different faces such as green, red, white and black." Another example is the thief in the old main building. Seeing Nie Long in Niangniangtan, he also makes faces. It's hard to pull a face. First, don't have too much glue on your face, lest you tear it off at that time or tear off all the faces at once. Second, the action should be clean and neat, and the fake action should be clever and can deceive the audience's eyes.
Another way is "luck changes face". Legend has it that when Peng Sihong, a famous actor in Sichuan Opera, played Zhuge Liang in "Empty City Plan", when Qin Gui reported Sima Yi's abdication, he could turn his face from red to white and then from white to green with qigong to show Zhuge Liang's fear after liberation.
In a word, changing face is a unique skill in Sichuan opera ("changing face in five years, returning face in ten years"), which was borrowed from other brother operas and spread abroad.