口衔百音 延响千年
鸟叫声,滴水声,机械操作声......这些逼真的世间百音,有些人仅仅依靠调动面部丰富的表情与灵活的嘴部技巧便能复刻出来,让人仿佛身临其境。
Bird chirps, water drippings, mechanical clicks...all these natural sounds can be replicated by using only the rich facial expressions and the flexible mouth techniques, forming a sound “mirage”.
这种凭借人体本身模仿各种声音的高超技艺叫作:口技。
Such superb technique of sound imitation by mouth is called Chinese ventriloquism.
口技作为国家级非物质文化遗产之一,距今已有千年的传承历史。在上古时期,人们通过模仿各种动物的声音来骗取猎物,获得食物,口技作为狩猎技巧出现;自宋代开始,口技逐渐演化成了一门成熟的表演艺术。清代文学家林嗣环曾在《口技》一文中记载:“京中有善口技者”“满座宾客无不伸颈,侧目......以为妙绝”,可见口技表演发展到清朝已经受到民众的广泛欢迎。随着时间的流逝,现代电影业在各个制作方面不断精益求精,电影拟音制作也因此受到更多关注;口技作为其重要组成部分,逐渐被大家所熟识。
As a national intangible cultural heritage, the art of ventriloquism has been passed down for thousands of years. In ancient times, people imitated animal sounds to lure prey for food, and ventriloquism was developed as a hunting skill. Since the Song Dynasty, ventriloquism has been evolving and ended in a mature performance art. In the Qing Dynasty, the litterateur Lin Sihuan recorded in his article Ventriloquism that “there is someone proficient in ventriloquism in the capital city” “all guests stretched their necks out to watch his performance...and were deeply impressed”, contributing to the fact that in the Qing Dynasty, ventriloquism had already been widely accepted by the people. As time passed, production techniques used in the modern film industry were perfected in all aspects, and accordingly, the sound imitation production in film received a wider attention. As an integral part of the sound imitation production, ventriloquism was gradually introduced to the public.
口技这门技艺看似容易,好像只需调动五官便可完成,实际上背后却要花费很多功夫去琢磨、练习,很多人都因为训练过程辛苦而半途而废,能够真正传承下来的人屈指可数。因此,口技也成为需要政府帮扶的非物质文化遗产项目之一。
Ventriloquism seems to be simple, as it seemingly requires only the use of the five sense organs. However, it in fact demands a great deal of effort and meticulous practice. Many were deterred by the harsh trials and gave up halfway; only a handful remained. Therefore, ventriloquism has become one of the intangible cultural heritage projects in dire need of government support.
面对口技人才缺失这一现象,作为退伍军人的江联营毅然接过传承火把,数十年如一日地反复学习、精炼口技技艺,将这一国家级非物质文化遗产成功传承下去。
Worried about the inheritance of ventriloquism, Jiang Lianying, a veteran, resolutely took over the mission. For decades, he studied and refined his ventriloquism skills, successfully passing down this national intangible cultural heritage.
来自吉尔吉斯斯坦的留学生梅静雅来到中国后,一直对中华传统的口技表演十分感兴趣。在看完江联营老师生动的表演后,她在为江联营精湛技术大加赞美的同时,也对这种技艺如何完成感到十分好奇,问到:“请问您是如何仅靠嘴巴发出不同的声音的呢?”
Mei Jingya is a student from Kyrgyzstan. Upon arriving in China, she fell in love with the traditional Chinese ventriloquism performances. Impressed by the vivid performance by Jiang Lianying, she was amazed at Jiang’s excellent skills and grew so curious as to ask Jiang, “How could you manage to produce so many different sounds with mouth only?”
江联营老师耐心地回答:“口技的发声主要是靠嘴唇,牙齿,舌头,上颚等部位相互配合发出声音。”
Jiang patiently replied, “in ventriloquism, the sounds are mainly produced by the lips, teeth, tongue and palate. They work together.”
随后梅静雅便跟着江联营老师从基本的猫狗叫声开始学起,在江老师一步一步的引导下,通过利用字母辅助发声,调动牙齿、舌头等部位的配合,她逐渐掌握了发声技巧。在一次次练习的过程中,梅静雅不禁感叹发声技巧的精妙,对中国古代人民的智慧赞叹不已。
Mei Jingya decided to learn Chinese ventriloquism from Jiang. She started from the basic sounds of cats and dogs, and under Jiang’s guidance, she gradually mastered the techniques of voice production assisted by letter pronunciation and coordination of the teeth and the tongue. As she practiced from time to time, Mei Jingya couldn’t help marvel at the delicacy of voice production techniques. She truly admired the wisdom of ancient Chinese people.
当谈及到历史上关于口技的故事时,江联营提到距今2300多年,齐国的孟尝君要带领一行人逃离秦国,他通过模仿狗的叫声来骗过守卫,以此得到用来贿赂秦王爱妃的裘皮大衣;还通过模仿鸡的叫声来骗过守卫,打开城门,得以成功逃离。
When it comes to the history of ventriloquism, Jiang mentioned that more than 2,300 years ago, Lord Mengchang of the State of Qi planned to flee from the State with his followers. He fooled the guards by imitating dog barking, so as to steal the fur coat with which they bribed the beloved concubine of the Emperor of Qin. Then, he managed to escape by deceiving the guards with imitated rooster crow, and the guards were fooled to open the city gate.
“太神奇了!这跟我之前对于口技的印象完全不一样!”梅静雅不禁感叹。
“Amazing! This is totally different from my previous impression of ventriloquism!” Mei Jingya cannot help but sigh.
在交谈的过程中,梅静雅了解到江联营老师学习口技的过程并非一帆风顺。从他小时候单纯模仿牛羊的叫声、救护车或者消防车的警笛声开始,到初中时跟着《洛桑学艺》这一栏目进行口技的模仿和表演,再到2013年正式拜师牛玉亮先生进行系统化的口技技艺学习,经过三十年地磨练,江联营最终成功接过文化传承的大旗,成为国家级非物质文化遗产口技项目的第四代代表性传承人。在不断学习前进的过程中,江联营的每一次重复练习都给他带来新的感悟与提升。他逐渐意识到,口技的传播与传承需要在传统的基础上进行创新,让古典艺术与现代审美融合,才能让口技这门非物质文化遗产技艺葆有不朽的生命力。
As the conversation rolled, Mei Jingya learned that Jiang had also gone through trials in his ventriloquism learning. In his childhood, Jiang imitated the sounds of cows and sheep, as well as the sirens of the ambulance and the fire truck; entering middle school, he tried to imitate and perform following the TV program “Luosang Learns to Perform”. In 2013, he formally started to apprentice under Mr. Niu Yuliang for systematic ventriloquism studies, and after three decades, Jiang finally succeeded in taking over the banner of cultural inheritance and became the fourth-generation representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage of ventriloquism. As he learned and progressed along the way, he repeatedly drew new insights and improvements in each practice. He gradually came to know that promotion and inheritance of ventriloquism demand innovation on the basis of tradition, so that classical art and modern aesthetics can be integrated to breeze in immortal vitality to ventriloquism as an intangible cultural heritage.
口技项目第四代代表性传承人江联营
Jiang Lianying, the fourth-generation representative inheritor of Chinese ventriloquism
作为一名非遗传承人,江联营这些年来为了传承这门技艺进行了许多尝试。例如,用口技为电影、皮影戏拟音,或者将口技与古琴音乐剧进行结合,试图将口技与其他艺术表演形式结合,在不同艺术领域扩大口技的影响力,让口技在新的土壤重获生机。除了对内寻找传承方法,江联营还积极走出国门,在各个国家的舞台上进行口技表演,让口技作为中国的传统技艺受到外国友人的喜爱,将中华民族的优秀传统技艺推向整个世界。
As an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, Jiang has made repeated attempts over the years to pass down this skill. For example, he joined the sound imitation production for film and Chinese shadow puppetry, using ventriloquism skills; he also combined ventriloquism with Guqin (a seven-stringed plucked instrument peculiar to China) musical dramas, attempting to integrate ventriloquism with other forms of artistic performance to expand its influence across and flourish in different artistic fields. In addition, Jiang went across the borders and passionately performed ventriloquism on world stages; he wished to draw the eyes of international audience and promote this excellent traditional Chinese skill to the entire world.
江联营(左)为某电影配音
Jiang Lianying (left), dubbing a film
口技这门技艺距今已流传2500多年,江联营认为自己有责任与义务将它传承下来,且创新下去。江联营希望可以将传统文化项目与现代电子传播相结合,利用互联网将口技这一非遗项目更广泛地传播给大众,让更多人喜欢口技,并加入口技传承的行列中来。
The art of ventriloquism enjoys a history of more than 2,500 years; Jiang feels obliged to inherit and innovate the art form. He hopes that he could combine the traditional cultural project with modern electronic media, using the Internet to spread the intangible cultural heritage of ventriloquism to a wider audience, so that more and more people will love the art form and join efforts for its inheritance.
江联营参加《非遗进军营》栏目
Jiang Lianying Participating in the “Introducing Intangible Cultural Heritage to the Military” Program
当谈及对下一代非遗文化传承的的期待,江联营提到:“希望喜欢和感兴趣的同学们都可以尝试学习一下口技,在成长的过程中将非遗当做自己的艺术爱好,把这门非物质文化项目传承下去。”
Talking about passing down the intangible cultural heritage to the next generation, Jiang expressed his expectations, “I hope that young students interested in ventriloquism can try to learn it and treat the intangible cultural heritage as an art hobby. As they grow up, they may carry the cultural heritage forward.”
文字:周子桐 马天
