The long narrative poem "Pipa Xing" by the Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi has always been known as the best poem of the Tang Dynasty and has been recited from generation to generation. The central prop of "Pipa" plays a pivotal role in the opera adaptations of "Pipa Xing", and due to the story mode of each play and the difference in the theme center, the effect of this central prop and the meaning contained in it, The emotions expressed and the emotional tension have also undergone different changes.

As far as the story mode of the work is concerned, Ma Zhiyuan's "Tears in the Blue Shirt" and Gu Dadian's "The Tale of the Blue Shirt" belong to the same system. The slave was deceived into marriage by a tea merchant and was also taken to Jiangzhou. Bai Juyi saw off the guest on a moonlit night, and when he heard the sound of Xingnu's pipa, the two met again. In the end, Bai Juyi returned to office and married Pei Xingnu by order. In addition to depicting Bai Pei's love, "The Story of Qing Shirt" also increases the entanglement between Bai's concubine Fan Su, Xiao Man and Pei Xingnu, and the plot tends to be complicated; Clues to make a big fuss.

And Jiang Shiquan's "Four Strings of Autumn" completely abandoned the love story mode of "Tears of Qing Shirt" and "The Story of Qing Shirt", strictly according to the original meaning of the poem "Pipa Xing", referring to the "New Book of Tang" Yuanhe nine years, The ten-year historical facts and the materials provided by Bai Juyi in "The Preface to the Pipa" play down the relationship between men and women, take the Pipa woman as the core character throughout the play, and express the many minds in the feudal society through the lamentation of the Pipa woman's sad life experience. The depression, grief and anger of the extraordinary and hard-to-find intellectuals highlighted the theme of "the same is the end of the world".

It is precisely because of the different story modes and different themes that the central prop "Pipa" plays a different role in the three works and contains different meanings.

1. Initial acquaintance

At the very beginning of "Tears in the Green Shirt", "The Story of the Green Shirt" and "Four Strings of Autumn", "Pipa" took on an important medium for Bai Juyi to meet the Pipa Girl.

In "Tears of Qingshuang" and "Records of Qingshuang", the prostitute Pei Xingnu's famous pipa skills in the capital are an important factor that attracts Bai Juyi to visit," said the person who heard it. A daughter in my mother's family. Xiaozi Xingnu, so clever, especially good at pipa, is a famous horn prostitute in this capital. The three of us have visited together." And it was this visit that led to the love between Bai and Pei. , and also triggered various joys and sorrows between the two in the future.

In "Autumn with Four Strings", Bai Juyi was sailing on the moon at night when he suddenly heard the sound of the pipa, which aroused thousands of emotions, and then invited the pipa girl to board the boat for a talk. And this "narration" is completely different from the "interviews" in "Tears of Qing Shirt" and "The Story of Qing Shirt". Hearing the sound of the pipa, which seemed familiar and had the same depressing tone, the feeling of pity for the same illness and mutual pity was born spontaneously, so it was very natural to have the heart to meet the soulmate, "(sheng)! This pipa sound has the sound of Kyoto, left and right, But go to the boat and ask who is playing and singing!"

It can be seen from the above that in the three works, "Pipa" also assumes the role of the "first acquaintance" tool of Bai Juyi and Pipa Girl, but there are essential differences. In "Tears of Qing Shirt" and "The Story of Qing Shirt", "Pipa" promotes the knowledge of love; in "Four Strings of Autumn", "Pipa" promotes the meeting of bosom friends. No matter from the point of view of elegant and vulgar style, or from the point of view of following the original meaning of the poem "Pipa Xing", "Four Strings of Autumn" is better.

2. express

In the poem "Pipa Xing", the "Pipa" obviously plays the role of lyricism, and this use is still used in his opera adaptation works, but due to the different themes of the story, the use of the pipa is used. The content and emotional intensity of expressing feelings have also changed.

In "Tears of Qing Shirt" and "The Story of Qing Shirt", the expressive function of the pipa mainly focuses on expressing Pei Xingnu's strong yearning for Bai Juyi and his resentment for forced marriage to a tea merchant. After Pei Xing slaves settled on Bai Juyi, he wanted to marry her as his wife. Unexpectedly, the marriage did not happen, but Bai Juyi was demoted to Sima of Jiangzhou. Since then, the two were separated from each other. Later, because the bustard's greed for profit, forced her to marry a tea merchant, Xingnu was even more grief-stricken. When the boat sailed to Jiangzhou, Xingnu was saddened by the scenery, and he saw things and people, so he borrowed the pipa to express his thoughts and anger. So, there is the following bridge: "(once holding the pipa) the shadow is like a white ball fan, tuning the Zhuxian Qin. There is no peace at all, and the resentment is still present. The slave family just closed the cabin door, rejected the servant, and liked him to make sex. , I went up the cliff. Now I will go to the bow of the boat to have fun again. You can see that the river is quiet in the middle of the night, the moon is cold and the wind is clear, and it is very miserable. The day before yesterday, I heard that Bai Xianggong was exiled from Jiangzhou, and this is the place in Jiangzhou. Cough, only In one place, I can't meet each other, it's so bitter! Where is the water? (Ugly pretending to be a boatman) Turn the rudder with the wind and push the boat with the current. What's Pei Niang's order? (Dan) A little water, you put this bow on In the moonlight, I parked on the shore of this reed flower, and waited for me to play the pipa to myself.

In "Autumn with Four Strings", the content of pipa's expression is completely different from the lovesickness in "Tears of Qing Shirt" and "The Story of Qing Shirt". The sadness of the empty boudoir, and the sorrow of the poet Bai Juyi's banishment to Jiangzhou, his ambitions are not rewarded. Hua Tuihong was originally a famous prostitute in the capital. When she got old, she married a tea merchant in Xunyang. The merchants valued profits over partings. They often went out to sell tea. , Feeling that the youth is fleeting, the pain and loneliness is difficult to sleep, and I can't help sighing: "Cough! The sky is long and the shore is wide, the grass is long and the warbler chirps, so I have to live by guarding the pipa. Then the river water is nine sloping, ready to shed like tears. Afterwards, Hua Tuihong played the pipa on a moonlit night, and the sound of the pipa led Bai Juyi. The two knew each other and became close friends. Tuihong used the pipa to tell everyone the sadness of his old age and the sadness of being alone in an empty house. Yin, Lenovo was so sad and angry that he was underappreciated, and unknowingly wept on his blue shirt: "The feeling of prosperity and decline is really sad." And this also happened to express the original meaning of "Pipa Xing": "The same is the end of the world. Why do you have to know each other when you meet?"

3. Reunion

In addition to the above-mentioned functions, "Pipa" plays an important role in the opera adaptation of "Pipa Xing", which is an important tool for the reunion of Bai and Pei. This effect is only reflected in "Tears of Qing Shirt" and "The Story of Qing Shirt", and is not involved in "Four Strings of Autumn", which is mainly closely related to the difference in the story mode of the two. The former is a love story about a scholar and a prostitute falling in love. Bai Pei fell in love with each other because of the pipa. After they separated, they reunited because of the pipa. The pipa is used as an important prop, and runs through the beginning and end of the play, forming a "acquaintance - parting". - Reunion" drama framework; at the same time, it also satisfies the Chinese audience's expectation of a happy ending. "Four Strings of Autumn" is not a love theme. There is no love between men and women, and there is no hatred of parting between Bai Juyi and the Pipa girl. The two only have the same sympathy and pity for each other "at the same time in the world". the hatred of decline. Therefore, in terms of storyline and emotional needs, the reunion of "Pipa" should not appear in the play.

To sum up, it can be seen that the central prop "Pipa" plays a pivotal role in the opera adaptations of "Pipa Xing", and due to the story mode of each play and the difference in the theme center, the effect of this central prop includes: The implication, the emotions expressed, and the emotional tension have also undergone different changes.