Ma and Hou's personal views, which are the most influential in the field of phonology, are mainly influenced by geographical factors, the style and theme of cross talk performance, the need for publicity, the relationship between teachers and students and interpersonal relationships.
First of all, talk about the influence of geographical factors. Ma Lao is a native of Lanzhou, a Hui nationality and a Beijinger. After 1949, he settled in Tianjin and worked in Tianjin Quyi Troupe. Mr. Hou is the standard bearer of Beiping. After 1949, a rap group was launched in Beijing, China. Although Beijing is now the political, economic, cultural and commercial center of China, in 1949, Tianjin was regarded as the economic center of the north, and its status was much higher than that of Peiping at that time. There has always been an unwritten emphasis in the field of Quyi, that is, it is popular to perform in Tianjin and be recognized by the audience in Tianjin. This reason is related to the composition of Tianjin Quyi audience. During the Republic of China, there were many residents in Beiping who listened to Quyi, but in Tianjin, because of the water transportation on the dock, it was often the porters who worked hard on the dock, commonly known as porters. These people have been described in Degang Guo's cross talk. Generally speaking, these porters go to work during the day and rest at night, get the completion money, iron a pot of wine, listen to a song and have fun. Compared with the young and old, these ordinary people have no extra money for entertainment, so once the Quyi actors perform brilliantly, they will hold them vigorously and then pass them on from mouth to mouth until they become popular; On the other hand, if there is no real kung fu to talk and sing, these people are not well educated and naturally clamor to smash other people's business. Up to now, the audience in Tianjin are also interested in Quyi, and they will listen and love to hear it.
Both Mr. Wang and Mr. Hou are performing in Tianjin. At that time, the Heather III and Hongqiao in Tianjin were mixed, which was also the main position of Quyi performance. About 1940, Mr. Hou came to Tianjin to perform, which became an instant hit and then went to Beijing. Tianjin audience's love for crosstalk and folk art is very helpful to the actors' career. However, with the gradual decline of Tianjin's status after 49 years and the rise of Beijing as a political and cultural center, the audience of crosstalk and folk art is no longer the old people of the Republic of China, but also includes a large number of officials who have entered the city. This is actually the same as the current gathering of domestic movies and musicians in Beijing. There is no doubt that Beijing will have more resources. The settlement of two old gentlemen in different places, one is a declining industrial city, and the other is a rising political culture, will naturally have a great impact on the development of their respective performing arts.
Secondly, talk about the style of cross talk. The style of the two old gentlemen is simply: the comic dialogue is vulgar and Hou's comic dialogue is elegant. Let's talk about Ma Lao first. "Vulgar" is a compliment here, that is to say, Ma Lao's cross talk, whether a 70-year-old man or a few-year-old child, will laugh after listening to it, because there are too many street people in Tianjin in Ma Lao's cross talk, and the audience has a strong sense of substitution. Ma Lao's classic jokes "teasing you", "crossing the distance", "practicing Qigong" and "family secrets" all sound like things around ordinary people. Moreover, the theme is mostly satire, satirizing some weaknesses of human nature and some unhealthy trends in society. I can't help thinking of a story at school. It was Bai Juyi who changed his poems until they could be understood and loved by the old ladies in the street. In fact, it illustrates a truth: the simpler, the more grounded, the closer to the public, and the more people's voices can be aroused. Mr. Hou's joke is "elegance". Technically, Mr. Hou is good at singing, while Mr. Ma is often a long-term expert. Based on his early study of Peking Opera, Mr. Hou raised the techniques and themes of cross talk to an unattainable height. After reading an exclusive interview with Mr. Hou, he himself commented that "Hou's cross talk is clean." Indeed, most of the crosstalk performances in the Republic of China were flyovers. No matter what, teahouses, church meetings and even brothels, all kinds of people were audiences, so it was inevitable that there were some jokes on the theme to cater to the aesthetic taste of low taste. Some of Mr. Hou's famous passages, such as "Eight major career changes" and "Empty City Plan", are all expressed by singing in combination with the contents of Beijing Opera. It is also Mr. Hou's mastery of cross talk, which has improved cross talk by more than one grade.
In fact, when it comes to the style of cross talk, the actors are different from person to person. Even if the same paragraph text is performed by different cross talk teachers and oral performers, the effect is different. Personally, the difference in style between the two old gentlemen is not enough to explain which is higher or lower in art, but it is different for publicity.
After 1949, it is well known that the new regime has carried out socialist transformation, three major movements and so on, so I won't comment here. Crosstalk is an art form that spread from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, and as an industry, it also has a very strong feudal guild color. Pay great attention to the teacher's inheritance and genre of actors. In fact, it is not only crosstalk, but also traditional Chinese medicine, martial arts and so on in China before industrialization. However, after 1949, these feudal guild systems were restricted. But because crosstalk can be used as a propaganda tool, it actually means "leniency" in the transformation. From 1950s to 1960s, many crosstalk plays a role in praising the new regime and criticizing the enemy and old customs. For example, Mr. Hou's "Buy a Buddhist Shrine". Of course, this is inseparable from the political climate of that year.
Back to the original question, publicity needs this factor, which has a great influence on Mr. He Hou's artistic life. Ma Lao's cross talk is mostly satirical. Meet the Fans satirizes bureaucracy, and Buying Monkeys satirizes careless salespeople. However, such satirical cross talk would offend some authorities, and as a result, it was labeled as a rightist in 1957 and sent to the suburbs, which had some negative effects on Ma Lao's artistic influence. And Mr. Hou gave a performance to the chairman in Beijing, which of course had a greater influence.
In addition, the relationship between teachers and students and interpersonal relationships can not be separated from the influence of two artists. Ban Degui, Chang, Yin, Chang Baofeng, etc. have close personal relationships with mentoring. Among Mr. Hou's apprentices, Ma Ji,,, Shi,, and so on have good personal relationships. Now, Yin and two old gentlemen are still talking cross talk in a teahouse in Qianxiang, Tianjin. They are nearly 80 years old and respectable. From the academic point of view, it is obvious that Mr. Hou's apprentice is more influential or powerful. One reason is that Ma Lao's qualifications are too high, and the resistance to accepting disciples is too great. An example is that in the 1980s, Ma Lao considered taking Mr. Li Wenhua as an apprentice, but there were many opponents. As a result, it was not until Mr. Ma died that he learned from Mr. Ma, which was regarded as a formal introduction and entered the pedigree of phonology in China. I can't help but sigh.
In terms of interpersonal relationship, Ma Lao and Ma Zhiming, a young Mayan, have poor interpersonal relationships. To put it bluntly, they are less able to make ends meet, so they are more honest and frank. Interested friends can have a look at Lu Yu's online interview with Mr. Ma Zhiming. After the anti-Rightist movement, the two fathers were excluded from the Quyi Troupe until the 1990s. In the 1990s, when Ma Zhiming stepped onto CCTV's Quyuan miscellaneous altar, the following Tianjin Quyi Troupe colleagues called for harmony. After all, these two fathers are not the kind of folk art actors who take official careers.