名家名伶-白驹荣 （汉语、英语）

翻译制作：国家艺术基金“面向东盟国家粤剧多语种传播平台建设”项目组

中文：

白驹荣（1892—1974）粤剧白派艺术创始人。原名陈荣，字少波，广东顺德人。其父陈厚英是粤剧演员。白驹荣九岁丧父，因生活无依由大母亲韦氏抚养长，供读私塾四年。十四岁家贫辍学，十九岁之前在家乡当学徒和店员。

1912年，二十岁的白驹荣到“民寿年”班任第二小生，师事著名男花旦扎脚文，两人合演《仕林祭塔》《闺留学广》等戏，广获好评，不久被提为正印小生。1913年下半年，白驹荣进入宝昌公司属下的四大名班之一的“国丰年”班任第二小生，演出《柴桑吊孝》时唱自己设计的新腔，演出《狄青三取珍珠旗》改动唱词，特别是演出《金生挑盒》时，创造了用广州方言唱“平喉”(真嗓)，大受观众欢迎，白驹荣由此而成名。此后又转到“华天乐”班任正印小生，往来演出于广州、香港各大戏院。从1917年到1925年，是白驹荣粤剧艺术发展的黄金时期。他演出连台本戏《再生缘》时饰演皇帝一角，因在表演上精雕细刻，唱腔新颖丰富，令观众耳目一新，在澳门和香港引起轰动。因为表演技艺精进和艺术造诣高超，被广大观众和戏班同行美誉为“粤剧小生王”。

1926年到1937年期间，白驹荣两度出国演出，先是1926年应美国三藩市大中华戏院之聘，到该市合作演出《泣荆花》《客途秋恨》等剧，大受华商观众欢迎。后来又于1936年到越南的海防、西贡和新加坡马来亚以及菲律宾等国家和地区演出，粤剧“小生王”的美誉蜚声海外。这十年之间，白驹荣因不甘受制于宝昌公司的老板，一度暂停舞台演出，专事灌制唱片的工作，主要的片有《金生挑盒》《再生缘》《泣荆花》等。1937年的白驹荣开始罹患眼疾，影响了他的舞台演出活动。1937年至1947年，是白驹荣舞台生涯的低落时期。1938年日军飞机轰炸广州，他与薛觉先同往香港参加“觉先声”剧团,各自发挥所长，合演《十三妹》《女儿香》《苏小妹三难新郎》等剧，仍然受到观众欢迎。日本侵略军占领香港后，为了维持同行艺人的生活，他冒险组班演出《双枪陆文龙》《落霞孤鹜》等戏。

1951 年，白驹荣参加广州市曲艺大队，担任队长，为抗美援朝捐献飞机大炮义演， 1955 年曲艺大队演出粤剧《重冤得雪太阳红》，他饰瞎子爷爷，大受观众欢迎。1953 年初，广州市粤剧工作团成立，担任团长的白驹荣仍坚持参加演出《白蛇传》《宝莲灯》等剧，改演老生、丑生。演出前，工作人员在舞台地毯下放上几条长竹片，他凭触觉辨别舞台前后及出入口位置，凭听觉与合演者交流。白驹荣于1955 年加入中国共产党，是粤剧界第一个艺人党员。1956 年，他赴京参加全国先进生产（工作）者代表大会，在中南海怀仁堂演出短剧《二堂放子》，与其他演员一起受到周恩来总理的接见。1958 年，他调任广东粤剧院艺术总指导，次年任广东粤剧学校校长，培育了大批粤剧接班人。白驹荣曾任广东省人民代表大会代表、中国戏剧家协会广州分会主席。1974年2月13日，白驹荣因病医治无效，在广州市第一人民医院逝世，终年八十三岁。他在粤剧界较早将观众难以听懂的舞台官话改唱白话（即广州方言）。他的念白，有声有味，富有音乐感，演唱吐字玲珑，叮板扎实，感情细腻，运腔简朴流畅，跌宕有致，令人感到韵味无穷。他经过反复实践，发展了金山炳的"平喉"（即小生演唱由假嗓改用真嗓），成为粤剧的一种主要唱法，对发展粤剧唱腔艺术做出了贡献。

英文：

Baak Keol Wing(白驹荣, Bai Jurong. 1892-1974) is the founderof the Baak School of Cantonese Opera. Originally named Chen Rong, and stylinghimself Shaobo, Baak was from Shunde district of Foshan, Guangdong. His father,Chen Houying, was a Cantonese opera performer. Baak lost his father at the age of nine. He was brought up byhis legal mother Wei, and received four years of education in the old-styleprivate school. However, because of poverty, he had to quit school and workedas an apprentice and shop assistant to make a living.

In 1912, the 20-year-old Baak KeolWing joined the Minshounian Troupe as the supporting xiaosheng (young scholar)and was apprenticed to huadan (young belle) actor Zhajiao Wen. They co-acted inMadame White Snake, The Butterfly Lovers (Liang Shanbo and ZhuYingtai) and other operas. This has earned Baak recognition and he was promotedto be zhengyin xiaosheng (正印小生,the leading performer who plays a young scholar in Cantonese Opera). In thesecond half of 1913, he joined Guofengnian Troupe, one of the fourbest-regarded troupes affiliated with Baochang Cantonese Opera Company as asupporting xiaosheng actor. In Zhuge Liang's Cry for Zhou Yu, he performed withthe tune designed by himself; in How Tik Ching Thrice Seized the Pearl Flag,he changed the libretto; in A Scholar Meets His Girlfriend in Disguise,he sang "Pinhou (平喉,male vocal in Cantonese Opera)" with his real voice in Cantonese. This hasearned him popularity and fame. Later, he joined Huatianle Cantonese OperaTroupe as zhengyin xiaosheng (正印小生,the leading performer who plays a young scholar in Cantonese Opera) actor. Atthat time, he frequented major theatre houses in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Yearsfrom 1917 to 1925 saw Baak's greatest achievements in Cantonese operaperformance. In the serial opera, Eternal Happiness he acted as theemperor. His exquisite performance and novel style were refreshing for theaudience, which made a stir in Macao and Hong Kong. Because of his brilliantperforming skills and artistic attainments, he was reputed as "CantoneseOpera Xiaosheng King."

From 1926 to 1937, Baak twice gave performances abroad. In 1926, at theinvitation of The Great China Theater, he co-acted in operas like Story ofthe Wronged Wife and The Pain of Separation in San Francisco, which wonpopularity among the overseas Chinese merchants. In 1936, he performed in HaiPhong, Saigon, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and other places inSoutheast Asia. It was then when he was recognized as Cantonese Opera "xiaosheng King" overseas. During this decade, becauseBaak was reluctant to be constrained by the boss of Baochang Cantonese OperaCompany, he suspended his stage performances for a while and turned togramophone record making. The records he produced included A Scholar MeetsHis Girlfriend in Disguise, Eternal Happiness, and Story of theWronged Wife. In 1937, his eye disease began to stand in the way of hisstage performance. As a result, the years from 1937 to 1947 witnessed thedownfall of his career. In 1938 when the Japanese airforce bombed Guangzhou,Baak joined Sit Kok-Sin on his journey to Hong Kong. In Kok Sin SengCantonese Opera Troupe, they each gave play to their own strengths andco-produced some popular operas such as Sap-Saam Mui (The ThirteenthSister), Mei Anxiang, and Su Xiaomei's Three Questions. When HongKong was illegally occupied by the Japanese forces, to help his fellows make aliving, Baak risked organizing new troupes and performing Twin-Spear LuWenlong, A Lonely Bird in the Sunset and other plays.

In 1951, he joined the Guangzhou Quyi Team as the teamleader. In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (KoreanWar from 1950 to 1953), the Team did charity performances to raise money andbuy fighter planes or cannons for the Chinese voluntary army. In 1955, in theopera Injustice Undone, he acted as a blind old man and thus won popularityamong audiences. At the beginning of 1953 when Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Groupwas established, Baak, who was then head of the Group, insisted on actingoperas like Legend of the White Snake and The Lotus Lamp, playinglaosheng (old man role) and chousheng (male clown). Before each performance,the staff members of the theater put long strips of bamboo under the carpet onstage, so that Baak could tell where he was on the stage. He played his part inthe play in reference to the aural communication with other performers. In1955, Baak joined the Communist Party of China, becoming the first Party memberin Cantonese opera community. In 1956, he went to Beijing to attend theNational Advanced Production Workers Conference. At Huairen Hall of Zhongnanhai(where the Chinese leader's office is), he performed one of the operahighlights from The Lotus Lamp and was received by Premier Zhod Enlaitogether with the other opera players. In 1958, he was appointed art directorof Guangdong Cantonese Opera Theater. In 1959, he took office as the presidentof Guangdong Cantonese Opera School and cultivated lots of successors. BaakKeol Wing was also the deputy to the People's Congress of Guangdong Provinceand the chairman of Guangzhou branch of Chinese Dramatists Association. OnFebruary 13, 1974, he died of illness at the age of 83 in Guangzhou No.1People's Hospital. In Cantonese opera community, Baak was one of the earliestartists who substituted Cantonese for Mandarin to make operas more accessibleto the audience. His monologue was lively and rhythmical; hisutterance, clear and emotional; and his singing, fluent and cadent - all ofthese have offered his audience lingering charm to savor. Through repeatedpractices, he developed "Pinhou (平喉, male vocal in Cantonese Opera)" of Jin Shanbing(the xiaosheng actors would sing in their real voice rather than in falsetto).It later became the major form of singing and enriched the singing method inCantonese Opera.