Zhou Kongkong (formerly known as Dapeng) was born in 1887 in Changshou County, Chongqing City. My grandfather, Zhou Zeyu, traveled outside the province as an official in the Qing Dynasty and once served as a teacher to a certain "imperial relative". In his later years, he retired and returned to his hometown. After Peng Fenghe, a native of the county, he presided over Changshou Fengshan Academy. Kongkong's father had many descendants. His father's name was Zhou Zhongyu, and he was an eunuch son who could read his father's letters. Her mother, Han, was also a lady from a well-known family. She was proficient in poetry and calligraphy at a young age, and was quite knowledgeable. She founded the longevity women's school in her early years and served as the first principal. She was a rare talent in the world of longevity women at that time. Kongkong studied at a private school when he was young. He was intelligent and talented, especially fond of various arts. He is good at writing and painting, and is especially good at music and performance. He is good at calligraphy in running script and official script, and he can write with a brush in his mouth (oral calligraphy); he is good at painting, landscapes, and figures, and he can also paint with his fingers dipped in ink (finger painting). He wrote and painted for others, often using the nickname "Yang Zhen". As for music, he could play and sing, and he was also proficient in classical instruments such as the lyre and the then imported accordion. I can sing Sichuan Opera and Peking Opera, especially Sichuan Opera. He is as famous as Fu Shuzhi and Zhang Kaixian, the famous Sichuan opera "players" who lived long at that time. Fu sings raw roles, Zhang sings niche roles, and Kongkong is good at clowning, and sometimes also sings "little throat" (dan role). At that time, in Changshou City and Hejie, no matter whether they were wealthy families or well-off civilians, they would perform Sichuan opera sit-down singing at every wedding or funeral event. Fu, Zhang, and Zhou must be invited to the scene every time they sing. Whenever they arrive, there is a crowd of people watching (listening). In addition to often singing "Playing Friends", they occasionally have theater troupes come to perform in Changshou, and they also perform on stage for ticket sales. Kongkong's multifaceted artistic hobbies laid a good foundation for him to later become a professional artist.
In the last years of the rule of the Qing Dynasty, internal exploitation was intensified, politics was corrupt, and the people were in dire straits; externally, they were ceding land to pay compensation, losing power and humiliating the country. The country was in danger, and people were in constant panic. At that time, some aspiring young people with longevity, such as Tu Defen, Zuo Shang, Yang Chongchi, etc., had joined the Tongmenghui led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen as early as when they were studying in Japan. After the Sichuan Road Protection Movement, the people of Sichuan launched a heroic and fierce armed struggle against the reactionary rule of the Qing Dynasty. In 1910, Liao Ziya (a member of the Tongmenghui) from Jintang came to Sichuan from Shanghai to be hired by Yin Huating, the principal of Changshou School, as a physical education teacher at the school , Shi Zhou Kongkong also taught music at the school. Because Liao knew that Linzhuang Academy had a batch of ammunition and weapons, he had the purpose of conspiring to organize a revolution when he applied for Changshou. After arriving at the school, he secretly developed an organization with Tu Defen, Zuo Shang and others. Zhou Kongkong, Yin Lu, Kong Qingzong and others all participated in the revolutionary organization led by Liao. The clarion call of the Wuchang Uprising of 1911 blew throughout Bashan and Shu. In the early morning of November 18th of the same year, with the dawn dew and the stars and moon in the sky, Liao Ziya made an appointment with Zhou Kongkong, called a few strong students, and brought several Mauser guns with them to break into the county government office. Suddenly, Liao, Zhou and others rushed into his bedroom, woke up the county palace, showed off the "bomb" they had made in advance with mud balls coated with gold powder, and shouted to Shen: "We are a revolutionary party. Hand over the seal quickly." , or I'll treat you to a bomb!" The county magistrate was so frightened that he had to bow his head and obey his orders, saying repeatedly: "Hand it, hand it..." and immediately handed over the county seal obediently. Soon, the banner of "Commander Liao" was hung at the four gates and streets of the county town. A few days later, Chongqing declared independence, and the situation in Changshou became increasingly stable. In order to celebrate the success of the revolution, Zhou Kongkong and others staged a fashion drama in the city, and he also played the female role.
In Zhou Kongkong’s scholarly family, he is the smartest among the five brothers and sisters. His parents hoped that he would study hard and make progress in his studies, so that he could become a scholar and shine brightly in his family. Unexpectedly, he only likes to play, play, play and sing, and does not engage in "real work". Therefore, he was very dissatisfied with him for a long time and severely reprimanded him many times. Now Kongkong is secretly joining some kind of "revolutionary party" behind his back on his family. If he doesn't do it right, it will bring disaster to the whole family. Moreover, a eunuch son with a majestic body of seven feet openly puts on makeup and powder on the stage to pretend to be a woman. Oh, that's totally rebellious. Since then, his parents have become more distant from him, and his emotional distance from his family has also become longer and longer. Kong Kong's first wife is an old-fashioned woman who wholeheartedly respects the three obediences and the four virtues. She has always been on the side of Weng Gu, and the husband and wife have long been at odds.
One day, his mother called him to him and said, "Dapeng, how come you are such a prodigal son!" Kongkong replied with his inherent humor: "Since you are a Dapeng, you must spread your wings and fly high, what a prodigal son!" The father next to him was already furious and slapped him in the face, "Fly! Let you spread your wings and fly high, get out of here!" From then on, Kongkong resolutely left home and came to Chongqing alone.
Wandering away from home, like a lonely goose lost in a flock, inevitably feels a sense of desolation; at the same time, thinking about how unkind his relatives are to him, he has a deeper understanding of the world and human nature. After he arrived in Chongqing, in order to make a living, he officially went to sea to sing Sichuan opera and changed his name to "Kong Kong". Soon after entering the sea, he gradually became famous. Everyone goes in and out in a sedan chair with arch poles. Two large lanterns were hung on the sedan curtain, with the word "empty" written on them. In Chongqing, he also accepted two apprentices, one named "Miaomiao" and the other "Mangmang". After a few years, I felt that I couldn't get along with some of the old habits of the artists in the class. Secondly, I felt that I used to be free and unrestrained in performing arts. Now I have to make a living by singing and opera, and I have to often deal with some warlords, bureaucrats, local ruffians, gangsters, and sometimes I had no choice but to be humble and conceited. I deeply felt that it would not be a good idea to continue like this in the long run, so I wanted to find another way out. Around 1922, Kong Kong resigned from the theater troupe, bought a boat and went east, broke through Kuimen, and left the Three Gorges. Along the way, he enjoyed the scenery of the mountains and waters on both sides of the Yangtze River, and arrived in Hankou in a few days. What did you plan to do before leaving Sichuan? Kong Kong has no definite plan in mind. After arriving in Hankou, he negotiated with others and used part of his savings from singing opera to partner with friends to do business in Hunan. Kong Kong was born as a young master, loved art all his life, and was a complete layman in the business world. Soon the business collapsed, and after some planning, he moved to Shanghai.
I lost money doing business in Hunan, and the little money I accumulated from singing opera in Chongqing was almost spent. I came to this colorful world ten miles away empty-handed, with no money on my bedside, but I had to consider the future of life. . At first, he played the role of "prophet" and made a living by fortune-telling and fortune-telling on the beach of Huangpu. At the same time, he used his own expertise to sell calligraphy and paintings in the hotel. At that time, there was a Japanese man named Matsumura who admired his oral calligraphy and finger paintings. He helped him go to Japan with financial support. After returning from Japan, he sang a one-man show and performed a juggling act on the rooftop garden of Shanghai Mining Company. He can play, pull and sing by himself when performing a one-legged opera. He hits the bowl with his left foot, steps on the floor with his right foot to play the drum, and plays the huqin with both hands. He also holds a mallet under his right arm to hit the gong and sings by himself. The content of the program changes frequently, and I compiled it all by myself at night in the hotel after pondering over it. He performs juggling and singing monkey tricks, wearing bare feet, shorts and a red coat, imitating monkeys opening and closing boxes and doing somersaults. Holding a small gong to ask for money from the audience and other actions, and winking, it is lifelike, just like a small monkey. His movements of imitating monkey somersaults are particularly exciting. Every time he does a somersault, the audience will keep shouting "One more, one more!" The performance is performed at Yong'an Company, twice a day at midnight and at night. Soon, he became famous, and many people in Shanghai knew that Zhou Kongkong was a member of Yongan Company. At this time, he adopted many godchildren, about dozens of whom learned juggling and one-man show from him.
After becoming famous, he filmed Zhu Zhishan (1926) in "Tang Bo Hu Spots the Fragrance of Autumn" (Three Smiles) produced by Shanghai Tianyi Film Company; Zhang Shichuan, the boss of Shanghai Star Film Company, took his fancy. In 1924, Kongkong was recruited into the Star Company to make movies. He has starred in more than ten films, including "Ji Gong Living Buddha", "Pan Si Liu", "The Peacock Flies Southeast", "Qianlong's Journey to the South", "Tang Minghuang's Journey to the Underworld", and "Grandma Liu Enters the Grand View Garden". Since then, he has become famous in the film industry and has become a nationally famous funny movie star, known as the "Oriental Chaplin". Kong Kong, like Hu Die, is regarded as a cash cow by the company's boss.
In 1930, he returned to Sichuan to organize the early Mo Mei Film Company. At the same time, he wanted to take his mother to Shanghai to support her and return to his hometown of Changshou. Kong Kong has been away from home for more than ten years. His parents have become addicted to aphrodisiac, and the family has fallen into decline. Unexpectedly, the "prodigal son" who was criticized as disobedient and unfilial, did not study and was not an official, could now "make a name for himself". Of course his parents changed their views on him. The family is reunited and feels cordial.
After living in Changshou for a period of time, Kongkong went to Chongqing again in early May of the same year.
This time he returned to Sichuan from Shanghai, and he also had a group of apprentices including Chen Fantong, Song Wanquan, Li Xiaohui (female), and singers Huang Jin and Huang Hou who were famous for singing "Mo Mei Shan Song" (and had recorded it). As soon as he arrived in Chongqing, he rented a theater to perform his self-written new fashion drama. The golden age when Zhou Kongkong's art reached maturity was from the mid-to-late 1920s. Due to the historical limitations of the semi-feudal and semi-colonial society at that time, his art inevitably contained traces of formalism and bourgeois commodity art. Some low-grade, vulgar performances. But on the other hand, because he was influenced by bourgeois democratic revolutionary thoughts in his early days; and he personally experienced many tortures in his family and society, his performing art was able to absorb some nutrients from real life and basically conformed to reality. ism, this is the biggest difference between him and ordinary comedians in the early film industry who simply relied on gimmicks to cater to the small bourgeoisie. Some of the new plays he wrote and acted in were mostly cynical works, which aimed at the social injustice at that time and ruthlessly criticized it, thus being able to lament the current ills, see the poignancy in the laughter, and deeply touch the hearts of the audience. He choreographed and performed a new play called "The Massacre of Zhao Erfeng" in Chongqing. Using the past to satirize the present, the target of the attack was directed at Liu Xiang, the great warlord of Sichuan at that time (Liu Xiang was the superintendent of Sichuan at the time). Therefore, Liu Xiang sent people to assassinate him. Fortunately, his acquaintances, Fan Shaozeng and Chen Lanting, the commanders of the Liu Department (Chen was also a "playmate" in Sichuan Opera), sent ten short guns to protect him every day and tried their best to mediate in front of Liu Xiang, so the matter was finally settled. Kongkong couldn't stay in Chongqing anymore, so he had to move the troupe to Hechuan.
Kong Kong has a slender figure and a humorous nature, with a sense of humor in every move he makes. He can often amaze everyone with his laughter in any situation. He is also quick in writing, well-spoken, and can improvise lyrics. When filming "Grandma Liu Enters the Grand View Garden" at Star Company, Kong Kong played the role of Grandma Liu, and all conditions were agreed upon. When it came time to put on makeup for the filming, Kong Kong didn't shave his beard (he usually has a "Hudanhu" on his upper lip). Everything is ready, all we need is the east wind. The boss Zhang Shichuan was so anxious that he walked around the room and said to him: "How can Grandma Liu grow a beard? Are you kidding me?" Kong Kong said sternly: "The hair and skin of your body are given to you by your parents. This is no joke!" As a result, Zhang Shichuan said: Ishikawa gave another three hundred silver dollars as a reward, and Kong Kong shaved off his beard.
As a very talented folk artist, Zhou Kongkong could have entered the golden avenue of realism with great ease. However, on the eve of the end of his life at the age of 43, the director in Chongqing shot a film "Confession" that slandered the people's revolution, which was a major stain on his artistic career. On August 12, 1930, Zhou Kongkong died of a sudden illness!