馮其庸的昆曲情緣

馮其庸先生是當代中國著名學者，無錫人，上世紀50年代到北京，先以戲劇評論馳名，后以《紅樓夢》研究名世，為著名“紅學家”。2005年中國人民大學校長紀寶成宣布組建國學院，聘請年已83歲高齡的馮老任院長。馮老對中國傳統文化有六七十年的學術底蘊，他善詩能文，揮灑丹青，晚年對中國字畫的研究更顯示他非凡的胸襟與學養。

讓人更為傾心的是，馮老還是一位資深的戲劇專家，他對昆曲的戲碼、曲牌如數家珍；對昆曲的名人、名角更了如指掌。我有幸認識馮老，是因為昆曲表演藝術家張嫻的那本回憶錄。寫書整整兩年，張嫻曾多次談及她與馮其庸先生和國風蘇昆劇團的往日友情。

馮其庸先生比張嫻小8歲，張嫻于上世紀40年代初結識馮先生。那時正是抗戰艱難時期，由朱國梁當班主的國風蘇昆劇團流落到了馮老的家鄉無錫前洲鎮。馮老那時在讀中學，劇場離學校很近，馮先生每天下午下課后就趕到劇院看戲，有時連晚飯也不吃，等看完了晚場再回家吃飯，所以“國風”當時演出的戲，他基本上都看過，特別是王傳淞、周傳瑛的《訪鼠測字》，王傳淞、張嫻的《活捉》，張嫻、周傳瑛的《長生殿·小宴、定情、驚變、埋玉》等戲，印象最為深刻?！皣L”在無錫前洲的時間不短，馮其庸天天去看戲，很快就與“國風”班子的人熟悉了，尤其是朱國梁、王傳淞、周傳瑛、張嫻等主要演員。

1956年，馮老到北京已經兩年，一天忽然接到朱國梁的電話，告訴他劇團到北京來演出，劇目是《十五貫》，希望馮先生能夠去觀看和指導，因為朱國梁擔心南昆的語言和曲詞北方人能否聽懂，這出昆劇能不能在北京打響。馮老看了彩排十分激動，與朱國梁、王傳淞、周傳瑛說：“這個戲肯定能打響，語言和曲詞不難聽懂?！?/p>

在京期間，馮老在廣和劇場還觀看了“國風”的《長生殿》，周傳瑛飾唐明皇，張嫻飾楊貴妃。那日馮老恰好坐在前排，看得十分真切，他評價周傳瑛的唐明皇風流瀟灑，書卷氣十足；而張嫻的貴妃從唱念到做絲絲入扣，扮相嫵媚、大雅，嗓音甜美圓潤，“嗲”而不俗，加上優美的身段，使觀眾感到舞臺上這兩人的戲真是“如膠如漆”。至今回顧這一情景，馮老還感嘆地說：“這樣的楊貴妃，真是‘解語花’，這樣的楊貴妃，唐明皇怎能不‘三千寵愛在一身’呢！這一場戲，豈止是繞梁三日，對我來說，是繞梁50年，因為從那場演出至今，恰好已是50年了。可以毫不夸張地說，從這個楊貴妃以后，我再也沒有見到過這樣好的‘楊貴妃’了！”

1975年馮老因事來杭州，特意看望了傳瑛和張嫻，那時張嫻60多歲，離開北京演出已20來年了。一場“文化大革命”使大家飽經風浪，見面后感慨萬端。別時馮老贈詩兩首。

為了給張嫻那本回憶錄增色，馮老特為之作序，但他囑咐要看些張嫻的資料。2007年3月的一個下午，我趕到北京通州張家灣芳草苑馮老寓所，開門的阿姨熱情地迎我進去，馮老得知我的到來，從廂房邁步進入客廳。雖和馮老初次相見，卻絲毫沒有半點生疏之感覺，馮老慈眉善目，談笑儒雅，精神極好，待馮老坐定后，談話很快切入正題。我遵照馮老的囑咐，準備了不少有關張嫻的資料，其中包括一些歷史照片和一張光盤，內有《長生殿·小宴、定情、驚變、絮閣》，雖圖像不十分清晰，有些畫面依稀難辨，但周傳瑛、張嫻那舞臺風姿一絲不減。當我將張嫻的錄音放到馮老耳邊時，馮老聽后脫口而出：“噢！張嫻的聲音還是那么好聽?！碑斔弥@本傳記暫名為《往事如煙》時，連連搖頭說：“勿好！勿好！”我忙解釋說：“這好像剛剛出生的孩子，報了個戶口而已，不作數，請馮老賜個好名！”。

馮老平時極忙，不時有造訪者的電話，時間對馮老極其珍貴，很幸運，正因為馮老和昆曲的情緣，我才可能零距離與馮老對話，聆聽他對當代文化藝術的真知灼見。

不久我收到馮老從北京寄來的特快專遞，打開封口，就看到馮老書寫的序、馮老給書賜名《夢回錄》封面題簽并撰有“讀阿潘所記張嫻回憶錄感賦三絕”，真是讓我喜出望外。

馮老的序回顧了他與浙江昆劇人半個多世紀的交往，情深意篤；當年看過的劇目，“一閉眼，當時的聲情依然歷歷在目?！彼f：“張嫻的早年是歷盡危難困苦的，但她卻學得一身好功夫，特別是善于領會角色，加上她天賦的好嗓音，經過苦練和領悟學得的好身段，所以她的舞臺形象會永遠留在觀眾的腦子里?！?/p>

他在題《夢回錄》中，寫下感賦三首：

乞巧雙星萬古情，長生殿卻未長生，

可憐魂斷梨花下，轉叫牽牛笑此盟。

艱難半世一伶仙，藉藉聲華動九天，

絕代霓裳羽衣曲，江風吹去渺云煙。

猶記當年步步嬌，教人一曲一魂銷，

風吹雨打云飛盡，賴有潘郎記舊朝。

讀阿潘所記張嫻回憶錄成賦三絕

丁亥春馮其庸八十又五于京華瓜飯樓

馮老憑借他深厚的國學內涵，春風化雨，折葉堆花，談笑風生，溫文爾雅，這投足舉手之間，讓我領悟到中國傳統文化的深厚底蘊和魅力。

Scholar's Passion for Kunqu Opera

By Ah Pan

Feng Qiyong， a prominent scholar of modern times， is best known for his drama criticism in the 1950s and studies of the \"Dream of Red Mansions\"， a classic novel of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In 2005， the 81-year-old Feng was engaged to preside at the College of Chinese Studies when it was established by the Beijing-based China Renmin University.

As a drama critic， Feng is quite knowledgeable about Kunqu Opera， its history， tunes and artists. I came to know Master Feng through Zhang Xian， an eminent Kunqu artist who has been writing her memoir over the past two years. During this period， Zhang Xian chatted with me about Feng and the Guofeng Troupe， an influential Kunqu troupe in the middle of the 20th century.

Zhang Xian came to know Feng Qiyong in the early 1940s when the troupe， headed by Zhu Guoliang， drifted to Qianzhou Town in the suburb of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province. Feng Qiyong， eight years younger than Zhang Xian， was a middle student in town. As the theater was very close to the school， Feng came to watch performances every day. As the troupe stayed in town for quite a long time， Feng became acquainted not only with its Kunqu repertoire， but also with its artists.

In 1956， two years after he had come to Beijing， Feng Qiyong received a call from Zhu Guoliang， learning that the troupe was about to stage Kunqu shows in the capital. Zhu was worried about the possible difficulty the audience in Beijing might have in understanding the dialect used in the \"15 Strings of Coins\". After seeing the rehearsal， Feng Qiyong assured Zhu and his artists that it would be a great success. Feng was right. The success of the play led to the renaissance of the age-old opera.

It was during the troupe's visit that Feng also watched \"Hall of Longevity\". The Kunqu Opera masterpiece brilliantly depicted the intoxicated Lady Yang， a concubine favored by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Zhang Xian acted as Lady Yang. Fifty years later， Feng Qiyong still remembered Zhang's performance vividly. He commented in 2006 that he had never seen another performance better than Zhang's interpretation since 1956.

In order to write a preface for Zhang Xian's memoir， Feng asked for references before setting pen to paper. I tripped to Beijing for this purpose. One afternoon in March， 2007， I visited Feng. Though it was the first time I met with the scholar， we soon chatted like old friends. With sweet smile and in high spirits， the old man chatted in an elegant and academic way. The reference materials I brought to him included a compact disk and some very old photographs. He listened to Zhang's talk recorded on the disk and observed that Zhang's voice remained sweet.

Shortly after I returned to Hangzhou， I received an express mail from Feng. He not only penned a preface and picked a better name for the memoir， but also wrote three short poems in the classical style in memory of his bonding with Kunqu Opera and Zhang Xian's performance.

(Translated by David)