“非遗”档案：温州鼓词

●阮世池：满头青丝变华发，无悔鼓词伴一生Ruan Shichi: No Regret for Devoting All His Life to Guci though the Hair Grows Whiter

阮世池，男，浙江温州瑞安人，国家级非物质文化遗产项目代表性传承人，代表项目为温州鼓词。新中国成立后，他成为温州鼓词第二代代表人物，17岁以唱《十二红》、《五凤图》成名。创立鼓词三大派之一“阮派”。1958年，阮世池参加全国首届曲艺会演，演唱鼓词《别靠天》;1993年，他获得浙江省文化厅首批命名的“民间艺术家”称号；2000年，中国曲艺家协会授予其“新中国曲艺五十年特别贡献艺术家”称号。

Ruan Shichi, male, was born in Rui'an, Zhejiang Province. He is a state-level intangible cultural heritage project representative. Wenzhou Guci is his representative project. In new China, he became a representative of the second generation of Wenzhou Guci performers who gained his name in singing Twelve Reds and Five-Phoenix Painting when he was seventeen.Later,he created the“Ruan School”that is now one of three major schools of Wenzhou Guci. In 1958, he attended the First National Folk Art Festival,singing Don't Rely on the Heaven.In 1993,he won the title of“Folk Artist”from the Department of Culture of Zhejiang Province. He also won the title of “Chinese Special Contribution Artist in Fifty Years of New China Folk Art Forms” given by the Chinese Ballad Singers Association in 2000.

满头青丝变华发，无悔鼓词伴一生

口述：阮世池 整理：南欣岸子

初学鼓词为生计

我初学鼓词是在12岁的时候，目的只有一个：为了混口饭吃。

我年少时家中兄弟姐妹多，家境贫穷。我是家中老二，必要成为家中主力。但却因年少不懂事，在6岁倒立运动过程中伤到了自己的腿，导致左腿不便，终身残疾。母亲担忧我的后半生，怕我做生意不方便，其他行业也吃不消，适逢父亲请瑞安陶山很有名的鼓词大师陶山华（本名王启华）来玉环县唱词。母亲便想要先生收我为徒，她找了个机会和陶山华商量：“先生看看我家的娃能不能跟你去唱词，他左腿不便，个子也小，其他出路吃不消，跟着你，好歹也能混口饭吃。”先生想了想，让我先唱首歌给他听，我就唱了一支歌，先生听完后觉得我的声音够清亮，唱得也不错，就当场收下我当徒弟了。

我跟先生第一次去唱词是在玉环县。那时，我们刚到码头就已经有很多人守在那里等着先生唱娘娘词了，他们都是先生的词迷。当我看到这人山人海的场面，腿抖，心更抖，想着：“原来唱鼓词是件这么体面的事啊！”从这时候起，我开始对鼓词产生了兴趣，就下定决心好好学习，好好唱。

学习鼓词是件很辛苦的事，每天不管是风吹雨打，还是艳阳高照，我都一定要去老师那背诵词句。当时学鼓词是没有文本的，老师唱一句，我们学一句，死记硬背，每天背20句，同时还要一个晚上边学边唱2本词。我其实真的很想放弃，但是我的母亲说：“干事情要成功，辛苦是一定要付出的，而且我们家穷，你不唱了，一家七口是很难养活的。”所以我咬咬牙，坚持了下来。

一年以后，我迎来了人生中的第一次表演——在瑞安南门渡口仙岩头为码头的搬运工人表演。唱的词本是我同陶山华学的第一首词《蟠龙镯》。刚开始只有几十个人围着八仙桌听我唱词，慢慢地，慢慢地，变成了几百人。两个小时的时间，我唱完了《蟠龙镯》，工人们也听得很尽兴，他们大方地凑出了一块银圆给我当报酬，这在当时对一个贫寒的家庭来讲是很多了，我的父亲干半个月工作也就一两块银圆。一路上，我就捧着这银圆跑回家，回家后，正面反面反反复复止不住地摸着，这件事更坚定了我唱鼓词的心。

从那以后，我的演唱之路越来越顺，大家都夸我唱得好，称我为“词童”“神童”。但好景不长，新中国成立前我唱红了以后，很多地痞、流氓、吃白食、敲竹杠的都来了。他们天天向我索要香烟啤酒，如果没有给他们，就会把好端端的词场弄得乌烟瘴气——砸桌椅，捣琴鼓，为非作歹。在新中国成立前的日子里，我只能忍气吞声，有时抹抹眼泪，很想就此罢唱。

峥嵘岁月鼓词人

新中国成立后，从事文艺工作的人迎来了新的春天。政府有意培养我们这些艺术工作者，同时大力开展艺术活动。

因为我年纪小，声音好，听众多，政府就着重培养我，将我送入曲艺学校学习。同时，政府还专门派人来听我唱词，给我命题《党在我心中》。我自编自唱了这首词，政府很满意，就邀我参加了许多演出和活动，像1956年我曾赴省城去演唱《秋香爱社》。

正好这段时间，也就是20世纪50年代左右，毛主席号召兴修水利，省里组织了一场关于这个话题的文艺会演，它也是浙江省第一届曲艺会演。我表演了鼓词《山冈红波》，获优秀演出奖。省里觉得我唱得好，于是推荐我去参加“全国首届曲艺会演”。

曲艺会演在北京长安戏院举行，有300多名艺人登台表演，轮到我的时候，我看见前面第三排有三个位置是空的，后来发现原来是周总理他们来了，心里紧张又激动，这是我第一次近距离看见周总理！

我唱的《不靠天》最终得了一等奖。1958年8月16日，我们在北京怀仁堂受到了周总理等党和国家领导人的接见并合影留念。我想，这是我一生中最难忘的事情了！同样在这个时候，我们成立了全国第一届曲艺家协会。那年我29岁，是年龄最小的艺人，作为青年代表登上了主席台。接着又随文化部组织的“优秀巡演团”先后到东北沈阳等11个城市作历时4个多月的演出。因为是在戏院里演出，在我唱的同时有字幕打出，所以不担心听众听不懂。

后来演出终止，领导让我们去福建等前线慰问解放军。因为我唱的是地区方言，担心解放军听不懂我的演唱，于是报告团长想取消自己演唱。但团长说这是关乎名誉的事情，一定要唱。于是我用自己那半生不熟的普通话唱了鼓词《李大娘智捉特务》，每个连都唱了个遍。

尽管我普通话不是很好，但战士们非常热情。有个连的战士问起我是哪里人，我说我是温州人，他一听，哎呀，激动地直呼：“老乡啊，老乡啊！”后来连长问我他们会唱点莲花，我会不会唱，能不能跟他们一起合唱，我说：“当然可以啊。”

我们唱得非常尽兴。唱罢，战士们要点炮轰击金门了，他们邀我一起去点燃炮火，这件事情令我至今记忆尤深。

1980年，我被分配到瑞安市文化馆工作，同年被评选为第二届浙江省曲协副主席。

在2008年2月18日，我光荣地成为国家级非物质文化遗产项目温州鼓词代表性传承人。

这些是我的荣耀，更是温州鼓词的骄傲。

老树发枝三丈高

说到鼓词的派别，温州鼓词一共有三个派别，分别是以丁凌生为代表的丁派，以陈志雄为代表的陈派和以我为代表的阮派。丁派擅长武打，陈派擅长故事述说，而我的阮派则擅长抒情。

我喜欢吸收民间俗语和其他艺术门类之长，像京剧、越剧这类，进而把它们转化为属于自己的东西。所以阮派听起来有点戏曲的调子，同时阮派咬字准、清，道白通俗、唱词婉约，以刻画大家闺秀、小家碧玉和农妇村姑见长，艺术风格纤细华美，所以大家喜欢听。

我还喜欢在表演的时候运用生动有趣的表情，眼睛睁大，显得有精神。但刚开始的时候，大家都不接受这种表演方式，因为我们的祖师爷是盲人，他们表演看不见，所以也没有表情。当我表演加入喜怒哀乐，并且手上增加了些有趣的手势时，观众不能理解我，觉得我违背了传统的鼓词之道，但我坚持自己，我想要大家更加投入地表演。渐渐地，大家接受了这种表演方式。如今面对没有表情与手势的表演反而不习惯，更是觉得我表演得好极了。每次我表演的时候，总是会有许多人特地赶场来看我，他们都亲切地称我为“阿池”先生。

现在，无论是集市表演，还是市里领导开会，总要指名我去演唱。

因为鼓词也需要经常性的临场发挥，有时候一张嘴，就能吐出大家喜爱的词句，所以我常常在脑海里构想新鲜的词本。我曾自编自演过许多词本，例如《林海雪原》，取自《智取威虎山》，还有《火烧翠华宫》等，得过许多奖。但如今我已年老，声音不比当年，所以便退休在家。闲暇时节，我还会坚持不懈地创新词本，为新一辈们提供丰富的词本资源。

笑把灯火传后人

关于未来，我不确定鼓词究竟能发展成什么样。但在女儿小时候我就传授给她鼓词，培养出了她对鼓词的热情。在她上小学时的一个六一儿童节，老师还专门请我写一本词给女儿表演，我还记得名叫《赤脚医生》。当时，女儿还去多处表演，受到多少赞扬！我不能阻止大家遗忘了“非遗”文化，但却可以身体力行传承文化。如今女儿在鼓词和莲花方面成就颇高，她，是我的骄傲。

每年6月的第二个星期六是“文化传承日”，每当这个时候，我就会和其他艺人去表演属于我们的艺术，这也是我们独一无二的节日。文化馆还每月征集我与其他艺人写的词本，出版一本专属鼓词的书。

我还经常会去学校讲课，给孩子们唱《铜片》，这是孩子们会喜欢的类型，我希望通过这种方式能够让他们爱上鼓词这门艺术。

传承文化，首要的事当然还有收徒。我改革创新，不再按照老一辈的要求去收盲人子弟，做我的徒弟要符合3个基本要求：五官端正、声音要好、初高中文化水平。起先有很多反对的声音，大家都认为唱鼓词应以盲人为主，而不应该在乎这些无关的东西。而我认为这是一门艺术，应广大推传，不该固守陈规。我的徒弟如今分布在浙江各地，为鼓词的传承点燃星星之火。

如今87岁的我，已经退休在家10多年了，但只要有什么“非遗”活动邀请我去参加，我会二话不说地答应。传承文化，不应只是口头上说说，还应该动手去实施。这是一份责任，也是一份延续不断的热情，我相信：鼓词是不会消失在历史里的，有人听，就一定会有人唱。

No Regret for Devoting All His Life to Guci though the Hair Grows Whiter

Narrator: Ruan Shichi Compiled by: Nan Xin'anzi

Beginning of Life

I began to learn Guci at the age of twelve for the mere purpose of keeping body and soul together.

I was the second child in the family, and I had many sisters and brothers in my family when I was young. Since my family was poor, I had to be a main breadwinner. However, being young and ignorant, I hurt my leg performing a handstand at the age of six. This directly affected the movement of my left leg, and I became permanently disabled. Mother worried about the rest of my life, fearing that it would be difficult for me to do business and other trades. Then came a time when my father invited a very famous master of Guci from Taoshan Rui'an, called Tao Shanhua (whose primitive name was Wang Qihua) to sing at Yuhuan County. Mother wanted the master to accept me as his disciple, so she found a chance to talk with Tao Shanhua:“Master, I wonder if my child could go with you to sing Guci? Something is wrong with his left leg, so it is difficult for him to find a trade. If he follows you, in the worst case he can support himself.” The master thought for a moment, and then he let me sing a song for him. I did. He thought my voice was clear enough and my singing was also good, so he took me as his disciple on the spot.

The first place where I went with the master to sing Guci was in Yuhuan County. When we arrived at the wharf, there were many people already waiting for the master to sing niang-niang ci. They were all the fans of the master. When I saw the sea of people, my heart beat faster and my legs began to shake. I said to myself:“How honorable it is to sing Guci!” From then on, I became interested in Guci and determined to learn and sing well.

Learning Guci is a very difficult thing. Rain or shine, I had to go to the master's home to recite the words every day. At that time, Guci had no text. The way we learned was that when the master sang a line, we followed the line. Every day we had to learn by rote twenty sentences and had to learn to sing two pages every evening at meantime. I really wanted to give up, but my mother said:“If you want to succeed, it is necessary to do hard work. What's more, our family is so poor that we can't support seven people at home if you give up.” Therefore, I gritted my teeth and marched on.

A year later, I had my first performance in life. I performed for the stevedores at the wharf in Xianyantou at the ferry of South Gate,Rui'an.I sang Panlong Bracelet, the first Guci I learned from Tao Shanhua. At the beginning of the performance, there were only dozens of people around the square table listening to my singing. By and by, hundreds of people joined in.I finished the Panlong Bracelet in two hours,the workers were fully content, and then they pitched in one silver dollar as my reward. It meant a lot for a poor family at that time. My father had to work hard for half a month for a silver dollar. I ran home all the way, holding it in my hand. I touched its front and back repeatedly while getting home. This performance strengthened my determination to sing Guci.

From then on, I felt the road to my singing would be smoother and smoother. Everybody praised me for my singing and called me a “child prodigy,” but it didn't last long. After I became popular, many local ruffians, hooligans and freeloaders came to blackmail me. They asked me for cigarettes, beer and so on every day. If I didn't give them anything, they would make the show place a foul atmosphere, breaking the furniture and drums. Before the foundation of the P. R. China, I could do nothing but restrain my anger, keep silence with tears and even thought of giving up singing.

Eventful Years of Ruan

After the foundation of the P. R. China, literary and art workers ushered in a new spring, and the government intended to foster us, vigorously developing art activities.

Because I was young and had a good voice and a large audience, the government focused on training me, sending me to a folk art school, and they even appointed an expert to guide me. He gave me the proposition, The Communist Party Is in Our Hearts that I wrote about and sang by myself. Satisfied with what I had done, they invited me to many activities,such as sending me to the provincial capital to sing Qiu Xiang Loves the Cooperative in 1956 and so on.

In the 1950s, Chairman Mao called on people to carry on the large-scale building of water conservation projects; hence, an art performance about this topic was organized by the provincial government. It was also the first folk art joint performance in Zhejiang Province. The Guci The Red Wave on the Hill I performed won the outstanding performance award. They thought I sang well and recommended me to participate in the “First National Folk Art Festival”.

The National Folk Art Festival was held in Chang'an Theater Beijing. More than 300 artists gave performances on stage. When it was my turn, I found there were three empty seats in the middle of the third row. Later, I discovered it was for Premier Zhou Enlai! I was both nervous and excited! It was the first time that I was so close to Premier Zhou!

My Guci performance Don't Rely on the Heaven won the first prize.On August 16, 1958, in Huairen Hall, Premier Zhou and other Party and government leaders received us and took a group photo with us to mark the occasion. I think this is the most memorable moment in my life! Meanwhile, we set up the first Chinese Ballad Singers Association. At that time, I was twenty nine, the youngest artist, and chosen as the representative of the youth to be seated on the rostrum. Then I joined the “Excellent Performance Tour Delegation” organized by the Ministry of Culture to travel to eleven cities such as Shenyang in the Northeast China to give performances for more than four months. Because there were subtitles in the theater while I sang, the audience could easily understand what I sang.

After the tour, we were sent to the front lines like Fujian to give PLA men special performances as an expression of gratitude and appreciation. As my performance was given in local dialect, I worried that the PLA men wouldn't understand, so I asked our leader to cancel my performance. Anyway, the leader said it was all about the reputation of the delegation,so I must sing.Then I tried to sing Guci Aunt Li Caught a Spy in my half-baked Mandarin. I tried my best to sing it to the soldiers in every company.

Though my mandarin was not very good, the soldiers were extremely happy. One soldier in a company asked me where I was from. I replied “Wenzhou”. Hearing this, he was excited:“Fellow! Fellow!” And the company leader said they could sing some Lotus, and asked if I could sing with them. “Of course!” I said happily.

We enjoyed ourselves very much. After all was finished, the soldiers began to bombard Jinmen. They invited me to ignite the shell. Even now I still remember the scene clearly.

In 1980, I was assigned to work in Rui'an's Cultural Centre and selected as the vice-chairman in the Second Ballad Singers Association of Zhejiang Province.

I was proud of being a state-level intangible cultural heritage project representative about Wenzhou Guci on February 18, 2008.

These are my glories, and also the pride of Wenzhou Guci.

The Veteran Branches Out

Speaking of the schools in Wenzhou Guci, it has three altogether. Ding Lingsheng represented Ding, Chen Zhixiong represented Chen and I represented Ruan. Ding is good at martial arts, Chen is good at storytelling, and Ruan is good at lyrical.

I am fond of absorbing the wisdom of folk proverbs and the strong points in other artistic classes like Beijing Opera and Shaoxing Opera and transforming them into my own. Therefore Ruan sounds a little like the opera tunes. On the other hand, with its clear and accurate enunciation, spoken parts popular and easy to understand, and graceful and restrained aria, Ruan is expert in describing girls from respectable families, daughters of humble families and the peasant women and country girls. As its artistic style is both slender and gorgeous, it is popular among the public.

What's more, I like to have vivid expressions, as well as eyes wide open in performance, for this can make me more spirited. However, in the beginning, not all people could accept the way I performed, since masters of the older generation were blind persons. They couldn't see when they performed, so they didn't think it was necessary to have expressions. When I added emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, happiness and some interesting gestures, the audience couldn't understand me. They thought I violated the traditional way of Guci. However, I stuck it out. I want the people more indulged in performance. Gradually, they accepted my way. Nowadays, they even feel unaccustomed to watching performances with no expression and gesture. They think my style is better. Every time I perform, there are always many people coming especially to express their loving care for me. They are always cordial and call me Mr. “A Chi”.

Today, whether in a rural fair performance, or at meetings in the city, they often designate me to sing Guci.

Guci always needs improvisational performance. Sometimes you must immediately compose some sentences as soon as you open your mouth. Therefore, I often meditate on new scripts in my mind. I wrote and sang them by myself many times,for example,Tracks in the Snowy Forest taken from Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy and Burning Cuihua Palace.They both won many prizes.Nevertheless,I am already old now, and the voice cannot compare with the one I had when I was young, so I retired and stay at home. But in my leisure time, I am still unremittingly innovating new script for the younger generation.

Legacy for the Younger Generation

I am not sure how Guci will develop in the future. However, I imparted Guci to my daughter when she was little and successfully made her love Guci. One day when my daughter was a schoolgirl, her teacher came, asking me to write a special Guci script for her to perform on Children's Day. I did so. I still remember the name Barefoot Doctor.During that time,my daughter went to many places to perform it and got much praise. For fear that intangible cultural heritage might disappear from people's minds, I should do something myself to help pass it on. And by now, my daughter gets high achievements in Guci and Lianhua (Lotus). She is my great pride.

The second Saturday of June every year is “Cultural Inheritance Day”. On that day, I will go with other artists to give performances for our festival. Every month the Cultural Center collects works from us artists to publish as a book about Guci.

I often go to several schools to teach children Guci. I once wrote a piece called Sheet Copper for children to sing.This is a type of Guci that children will like.I hope in this way they will become fond of Guci.

To pass on culture, the most important thing, of course, is to take a disciple. I made some reforms and no longer obey the older generation's rule of only taking blind people as disciples. I have three basic requirements for my disciple: good features, a good voice and a middle school or high school educational background. First, there was a lot of opposition. Everybody thought Guci should be sung by the blind and shouldn't have anything to do with these irrelevant things. However, I think Guci is an art. It ought to be popularized rather than be settled. Now, I have my disciples throughout Zhejiang Province. They all try their best to pass on Guci.

At present, I am eighty-seven and have already retired at home for a decade. But as long as I am invited to the activities concerning Guci, I will promise to go without any hesitation. Something should be done for culture not by words but by deeds. This is a duty that should be done with continuous enthusiasm. I believe: Where there are people who will listen to Guci, there are people who will sing it.

默契的虔诚——访阮世池有感

文：南欣岸子 指导教师：蔡亮、卜霄艳

采访阮世池老师之前，温州鼓词和非物质文化在我心中是很难有关联性的。作为一个地道的温州人，我对鼓词的印象也就仅仅停留在儿时依稀的记忆里，更不用说对它身后一直默默付出的传承人有何印象了。

我童年时候，记得外公外婆非常喜欢听温州鼓词。每天晚上看温州台的鼓词节目成为他们生活中的一个重要活动。电视里，唱词人一边敲着琴、打着板，一边唱着词；板凳上，外公外婆一边聚精会神地听，一边时不时附和两句。我很好奇为什么电视内外的人似乎有一种约定好的认同，那份默契里充满了仪式般的虔诚。而这种好奇就这样伴随了我的整个童年。

对阮世池老师的采访仿佛又把我拉回到童年的电视机旁，我看着曾经端坐在电视机里的唱词人，脑海里不断出现外公外婆的模样，慢慢地，这两个影像重叠在了一起，而我童年的疑问也在这访问中逐渐清晰起来。

歌者的虔诚是热爱

从12岁拜师习鼓词起，到如今87岁高龄的阮世池虽已退休，却还在曲艺事业的前线奋斗。这种坚持的精神，敢问现在有多少人能够做到？他经历过新中国的建立，经历过“文革”，也经历了改革，却始终选择鼓词，未曾放弃。采访时，提起过去受到的苦，他坦然说之，因为苦过，更知珍惜。鼓词一路传承不易，但更可敬的，不应该是他们这些始终未曾放弃这份文化遗产的人吗！

能够懂得坚持的人也是纯真的，因为他们的心只容得下一件事，而不被琐事困扰。艺术事业的成功者，哪个又不是如此？他们把自己毕生的热情全给了艺术，心无旁骛。同样，这种热情也回馈了他们。

阮老师还自创了鼓词三派之一的“阮派”。采访中，他反复强调着阮派的最大特点是表情和手势丰富多变，从中可以看出阮老师本人其实感情非常丰富。

感情丰富的人大都热爱生活，唱词唱词，有时唱的也是人的一生。如果不是对生活有很好的体验，感情把握不对，又怎能让多变的表情引领观众进入剧情。

阮老师也自编自演过许多词本，这些，无不需要从生活中取经，若不是热爱生活的人，是不会有如此成就的。很多时候，对生活的热爱往往会促使成功。当今社会，经济发达的同时，压力也大，抱怨声随处可闻。他们抱怨家庭，抱怨生活，抱怨社会，那么这样的他们又有什么热情去拼搏，去奋斗。

奥斯特洛夫斯基曾说：“无中不能生有，无缝的石头流不出水来。谁不能燃烧，就只有冒烟——这是定理。生活的烈火万岁！”

听者的虔诚是热爱

茶馆里、小巷中、码头上……过去，你可以经常在大街小巷看见唱词人站立在八仙桌上，拍打着板子唱词，周围满满的都是听众。

我们知道，新中国成立前，老百姓受压迫，很贫穷。在这种时候，大家都还是要请鼓词先生唱词。很多人就是只赚来一文钱都要凑钱给先生，请他唱词。阮老师说，当时他去码头给工人们唱词，结束后，工人硬是凑齐了1块银圆给他当报酬，请他下次一定一定再来唱词。还有一次，他跟师傅去县里唱词，刚到码头，看见上面已经黑压压的全是听众，他们都在等待着唱词人的到来。

我相信，鼓词故事中花好月圆的爱情故事和悲欢离合的家庭故事肯定给人们带来了很多希望与对未来的憧憬。

时代在变迁，人们对鼓词的热爱却是不会变的。在阿池先生的记忆中，始终有那么一群人，无论他走到哪里，他们总会跟随他去，听他唱词。还有的人，把自己所拥有的10枚戒指都卖掉攒钱给他买礼物，请他唱词。听的群众里老、中、少都有，爱鼓词是不分年龄的。

不可消逝的虔诚

采访完，我看着老人有点想哭。鼓词现在还在流传，但很多时候，文化的消逝不是你一个人努力就可以阻止的，它需要的是大家共同的努力。很多文化其实都已消逝不见，弹词、道情……鼓词的保留是有多少像阮老师一样的人努力的结果。又有多少人是像我一样，虽是温州人，却一点也不了解自己家乡的文化。

现如今，很多年轻人哈韩、哈日、哈美，总觉得国外的就是好的。我虽不是这类，却也不怎么喜欢国粹，总是听了几句就没有耐心了，家里老人拉着我听，给我讲剧情，我总是找个理由就走了。想想，其实如果我们真的安静下来，认真去听，未必不能融入意境，喜欢上它。若等我们这一代长大，可能有很多文化就要消失了吧。

这次采访结束，我买了一盘鼓词的碟片带回去给外婆外公。他们感到很意外，也很惊喜，迫不及待地拿出来在电视里播放，边听边附和着唱两句。这一幕让我渐渐湿润了眼眶。仿佛间，我又看到了外公外婆年轻时相偎品赏鼓词的场景，看到了那份虔诚的默契。

Tacit Piety—After the Visit to Ruan Shichi

By Nan Xin'anzi Supervised by Cai Liang, Bu Xiaoyan

Before interviewing Ruan Shichi, it was very difficult for me to imagine the connection between intangible cultural heritage and Wenzhou Guci. As a native Wenzhounese, my impression of Guci only resided in a hazy memory of my childhood, to say nothing of the impression of Guci inheritors who have made great efforts for the art.

In my childhood, I remembered that my grandparents loved listening to Wenzhou Guci. The most important activity in their lives was to watch a Wenzhou Guci program on Wenzhou TV every night. In the television show, inheritors beat a cowhell-chord zither while singing. Sitting on the bench, my grandparents were absorbed in listening and sometimes repeated certain words. The scene aroused my curiosity about why the people in and outside the television seemed to have an identical feeling for Guci and that feeling was filled with ritual piety. This curiosity accompanied my whole childhood.

My interview with Mr. Ruan put me back to my childhood. It seemed as if I saw the person who was performing Guci on television. At the same time, the image of my grandparents emerged in my mind continually. Slowly, these two visions coincide, and my doubt became clear.

Singer's Piety: Devotion

From the age of twelve when he began to learn Guci to the age of eighty-seven when he was in retirement, Ruan Shichi has been striving in the vanguard of folk art. How many people have made it like he has? He has experienced the foundation of the P. R. China, the “Cultural Revolution”, and the Reform and Opening-up, but kept on choosing Guci as his career and never gave up. During the interview, he mentioned his pains calmly. He has had a rough time, so he cherishes the present all the more. Carrying on Guci is not easy; therefore, people who persist in such a cultural heritage all the way deserve our respect.

People who can comprehend perseverance are also pure in mind because they devote all their enthusiasm to the art and are never bothered by triviality. It's the same with all successful artists. And the enthusiasm repays them.

Mr. Ruan created the “Ruan” school. In the interview, he stressed that the most important features of this school are varied facial expressions and gestures. Actually, we can see that Mr. Ruan himself is a person with intense emotion.

We all know emotional people are mostly people who love their lives. Singing Guci sometimes is also like singing of life. If a folk artist doesn't have rich experiences in life and can't reflect it in the art properly, how can he involve the audience in the story?

Mr. Ruan wrote and sang many scripts by himself. The material in these scripts all came from life. If one doesn't love life, one can't reach such achievements. In most cases, the love for life often leads to success. In today's society, economy is developing while the stress of life is also intense. People's complaints can be heard everywhere. They complain about family, life and society, but if they act like this, they will have no passion to fight, to struggle.

Ostrovsky said:“Nothing comes out of the sack but what was in it. A seamless stone does not produce water. Who can't burn only smoke—This is a theorem. The fire of life lives forever!”

Listener's Piety: Devotion

Teahouse, alley, wharf... In the past, from time to time, you could see a folk performer standing on the square table, singing Guci. There was a large audience around the table.

Before the foundation of the P. R. China, the common people were oppressed and very poor. Nevertheless, many people still invited folk performers to sing Guci under such circumstances. Ruan recalled that once he had sung to dockers on the wharf, after the performance, they gave him one silver dollar as reward and urged him to come again. On another occasion, Ruan and his master went to one county to sing Guci. On arriving at the wharf, he saw that it was heavily packed with a crowd who was already waiting for his arrival.

I believe the story about exceedingly sentimental love and the vicissitudes of life in Guci at that time certainly brought people a lot of love and hope for the future.

Times are changing, but people's love for Guci will not change. There is always a group of people in Ruan's memory. No matter where he went, they would go with him and listen to him. He remembers clearly a woman who sold ten of her rings to buy gifts for him, inviting him to sing Guci for her. The audience included people of all ages who love Guci.

Piety: Never Vanish

After the interview, I wanted to cry before the old man. Yes, Guci is still spreading now. However, sometimes, the vanishing of an ancient art can't be stopped by efforts from a few artists. It needs the efforts of the whole people. Many arts are actually gone by now, such as Tanci, Daoqing, and others. The retention of Guci is owed more or less to the people like Ruan, but as a Wenzhounese, I don't even understand this art of my hometown at all.

Nowadays, many young people worship Japan, Korea or the U.S. They always think everything overseas is better. Although I am not one of this type, I don't like the quintessence of Chinese culture, either. I never have the patience to listen to Guci. Old members of my family always ask me to sit with them to listen to Guci together, and they tell its stories to me. I will invariably find an excuse to leave. Just think, if we really get down, listen attentively, we may get involved in its plot, and may indeed like it. After our generation grows up, maybe many arts will vanish, I guess.

When this interview finished, I bought a recording of Guci for my grandparents. They got a nice surprise at this unexpected gift and couldn't wait to play it on the television. They listened while singing along. When I saw this, tears came to my eyes. Suddenly, I saw that reverent piety again.