Du Huanrong

Du Huanrong

Du Huanrong is a native of Hebei village in xunzhen town of Hequ County, and the fourth generation descendant of Errentai. From a 14-year-old girl to a 53 year-old woman, Du Huanrong has witnessed the calamity and glory of the folk song duet in Hequ since the founding of the people's Republic of China.

Personal profile

"The dumbest" excellent actor has been studying the notation for a whole year

At the age of 14, Du Huanrong, who was in the Sanjiao middle school (junior high school) in xunzhen town of Hequ County, was suddenly called home by his mother, who rushed to the school. Her mother said that she would not be allowed to go to school in the future.

When she was young, she didn't understand the cruelty of that time. She must let her mother tell her why. Seeing that she couldn't hide it, her mother told the truth, because her family was a wealthy middle-class peasant. If they didn't go to school, there might be a way out in the future. If they insisted on going to school, they would not be recommended for further study, but they might also bring unexpected disasters to their family.

With tears in his eyes, Du Huanrong left the school and joined the "small Troupe" in the village.

Du Huanrong's natural beauty and innate super sense of music soon made him stand out from the small troupe in the village. At the age of 16, Du Huanrong was selected into the county troupe.

At that time, many of the big sisters and brothers in the troupe were already well-known. Du Huanrong got up before dawn every morning and began to press his legs, split his legs and lower his waist. In the evening, when others fall asleep, she pushes her legs against the wall, holds a simple manual in her hand, and practices over and over again with an oil lamp. Half a year later, Du Huanrong's basic skills were well practiced, but she was still stumbling on the score. Her peers all laughed that she was the "dumbest" excellent actress.

In this way, it took only three months for others to learn the simplified notation, while Du Huanrong studied it for a whole year.

I dare not sing on my lips, but I can only hum in my heart

Er Ren Tai, commonly known as "Er Ren ban", was born in the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. It was based on folk songs and was mainly popular at the junction of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia. As early as his childhood, Du Huanrong learned duet tunes from local villagers, such as ZOUXIKOU and Da cherry. However, when Du Huanrong happily entered the troupe, hoping to sing the duet more beautifully, he learned that the "four old" which lasted for more than 300 years must be eradicated.

At that time, Du Huanrong felt very depressed -- how could the beautiful melody he had heard from childhood become "four olds"? "Ten kinds of grass grow on the hillside, nine kinds see elder brother, ten kinds are good", "elder brother you go to Xikou, younger sister I really can't stay", these popular lyrics can't be talked about, instead of those model operas such as "red sister-in-law" and "outwit Tiger Mountain" adapted from the tune of Errentai.

"Black Ge Indigo's hair, white GE's teeth, small mouth to say that Nu words, hair gourd Lu eye should call elder brother how." One morning in 1970, when Du Huanrong got up early to practice, he took advantage of no one around him and began to sing softly. When he was singing happily, he suddenly heard a dry cough behind him: "who asked you to sing these messy songs?" Du Huanrong looked back and saw that he was a deputy head of the troupe. He didn't know when he was standing behind her. Du Huanrong was scared out in a cold sweat, but he kept arguing: "they are breaking the four old ways, and the tone used in" outwit Tiger Mountain "is not our duet?" The deputy commander didn't expect that the little girl would be so serious. He told her to stop. He said that the tune had not changed, but the words had changed. If he wanted to sing Errentai, he could only sing it in his heart. Don't let people hear her. If it was not good, he would be criticized.

The kind-hearted leader left, Du Huanrong was still beating the drum in his heart, knowing that his negligence almost led to disaster. From then on, she did not dare to sing any more. She just hummed a few tunes of Errentai when she was happy. "Anyway, the model plays such as" red sister-in-law "are also duet tunes. No one knows what they are humming about."

The wounded performance in the countryside moved the audience

In the early 1980s, the era of "breaking the four old" has finally passed. We no longer have to hide in the corner and secretly hum "brother, you go to Xikou". However, due to the difficult conditions, many people, including Du Huanrong, withdrew from the duet stage.

At that time, the league members went to the countryside by big trucks and lived on the earthen Kang of their hometown. The houses in the countryside are bitten by mosquitoes in summer and extremely cold in winter. Everyone tried to burn Kang with firewood, but the Kang was not hot enough, but the room was still an ice cellar.

One day in the summer of 1985, Du Huanrong went to Daixian with the troupe to perform. The actors bumped along on a wooden box behind a 142 truck. When the car passed Yangmingbao, it suddenly began to rain cats and dogs. Everyone held their breath and put a Dacron shirt on their heads. Unexpectedly, when the car passed through a big pit, it bumped Du Huanrong and a companion into the mud pit under the car. Despite the pain, his companion rushed to pull Du Huanrong. However, Du Huanrong had fallen into the muddy water. His leg was full of blood and muddy water. The pain made him unable to stand at all. The muddy water flowed all over her body along her neck and chest. The car stopped, and everyone carried the injured Du Huanrong onto the car.

At that moment, with tears in his eyes, Du Huanrong made up his mind that he would never live this kind of life again.

That night, the team leader found Du Huanrong, made an exception to allow her to "rest" and asked her for advice. Du Huanrong knows that in fact, apart from her, the troupe has no other protagonists this time. Looking at the commander, she had to knead her leg and agreed to go on stage. That night, the troupe's program was Fang Si Jie, which reflected the sufferings of the child's daughter-in-law. Du Huanrong's face is full of tears when she thinks of her experience in the afternoon when she reaches the climax carrying a three edged shoulder pole and a bucket with a sharp bottom. The emotional performance of the actors on the stage infected the audience. For a moment, the audience burst into tears. An old lady watching the performance fainted on the spot. People wake the old man up and realize that the old man is associated with his own fate similar to the protagonist. He is so sad that he faints.

"In comparison, at that time, the relevant departments still attached importance to Errentai, but the conditions were too harsh, they couldn't eat enough and sleep well. Seeing the prosperity of the troupe, I chose to leave. Unexpectedly, the decline of the whole troupe followed. " Du Huanrong said.

Leaving County troupe to invite partners Everbright Errentai

In the 17 years since Du Huanrong joined the county troupe, she has played the leading role in almost every play she has performed. This feeling not only brings honor and pride, but also makes young Du Huanrong feel a sense of loneliness from his sisters. This kind of different feeling, coupled with the difficult performance conditions, made Du Huanrong make a decision: to leave the troupe.

In the autumn of 1985, after several considerations, Du Huanrong made a request to the county troupe to change his job. At that time, the Errentai troupe was booming, and no one thought what would happen without Du Huanrong. After many persuasions, the leader of the troupe saw that she had decided to go, so he had to agree to her request.

In fact, Du Huanrong's new work is not much different from that in the troupe, but he has changed from showing his face frequently on the stage to directing behind the scenes. She was transferred to the county cultural center, responsible for the training of folk song duet.

To Du Huanrong's surprise, after he left, another pillar Zhang was transferred to a bank in Hequ County. In a short period of two months, five members of the county troupe resigned or transferred. From 1985 to the end of 1986, as many as 20 people resigned or transferred from the erhentai troupe of Hequ County, and the troupe of Hequ County has survived in name. Looking at the gradual decline of Errentai day by day, Du Huanrong was very sad: did the achievements accumulated by the predecessors with their wisdom and efforts for hundreds of years die out in the hands of our generation?

Du Huanrong decided to recruit a group of brothers and sisters who love Errentai with his own skills and reputation, so as to carry forward Errentai. Her idea soon received support from all sides. A year later, an amateur Errentai troupe with more than 20 actors was born.

Development experience

In 1990, a person in charge of the Public Security Bureau of Hequ County found Du Huanrong, hoping that she could work in the public security department. Du Wanrong declined politely. In 1993, Hequ County Tax Bureau needed a literary backbone and found Du Huanrong, who did not agree. In 1995, a company in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, asked Du Huanrong to work in Inner Mongolia. Du Huanrong refused

Du Huanrong knows that compared with the county cultural center, these units are much better, but her only idea is not to let the Errentai, which has not been well spread, disappear. Since the 1990s, there have been almost no new people in Errentai, and some old actors are still playing the roles of that year. Du Huanrong tried to find local leaders, but the problems such as low salary and difficulty in recruiting people made people reluctant to enter the industry.

On September 2, 2005, 70 projects in our province, including the folk song duet of Hequ, participated in the application of the national intangible cultural heritage list. At the same time, Du Huanrong and other generations of inheritors of Errentai are also working hard, hoping that Errentai can go to a broader stage.

With the efforts of all parties, Hequ Errentai has finally moved towards a new glory

In November 2003, Shanghai held a national performance of original singing. Du Huanrong and Xin Lisheng, as the only representative team of the Han nationality, presented beautiful programs such as "going west" and "paying homage to the new year".

In June 2006, Du Huanrong and other actors had just finished the intangible cultural heritage tour in our province, and they were invited by the cast of "Avenue of stars" to participate in the competition of that month. Du Huanrong and others were invited to participate in the Fourth Beijing Olympic Cultural Festival on July 13.

Du Huan, October 2006

Chinese PinYin : Du Huan Rong