口銜百音 延響千年
鳥叫聲,滴水聲,機械操作聲......這些逼真的世間百音,有些人僅僅依靠調動面部豐富的表情與靈活的嘴部技巧便能復刻出來,讓人仿佛身臨其境。
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”.
這種憑藉人體本身模倣各種聲音的高超技藝叫作:口技。
Such superb technique of sound imitation by mouth is called Chinese ventriloquism.
口技作為國家級非物質文化遺産之一,距今已有千年的傳承歷史。在上古時期,人們通過模倣各種動物的聲音來騙取獵物,獲得食物,口技作為狩獵技巧出現;自宋代開始,口技逐漸演化成了一門成熟的表演藝術。清代文學家林嗣環曾在《口技》一文中記載:“京中有善口技者”“滿座賓客無不伸頸,側目......以為妙絕”,可見口技表演發展到清朝已經受到民眾的廣泛歡迎。隨著時間的流逝,現代電影業在各個製作方面不斷精益求精,電影擬音製作也因此受到更多關注;口技作為其重要組成部分,逐漸被大家所熟識。
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.
口技這門技藝看似容易,好像只需調動五官便可完成,實際上背後卻要花費很多功夫去琢磨、練習,很多人都因為訓練過程辛苦而半途而廢,能夠真正傳承下來的人屈指可數。因此,口技也成為需要政府幫扶的非物質文化遺産項目之一。
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.
面對口技人才缺失這一現象,作為退伍軍人的江聯營毅然接過傳承火把,數十年如一日地反覆學習、精煉口技技藝,將這一國家級非物質文化遺産成功傳承下去。
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.
來自吉爾吉斯斯坦的留學生梅靜雅來到中國後,一直對中華傳統的口技表演十分感興趣。在看完江聯營老師生動的表演後,她在為江聯營精湛技術大加讚美的同時,也對這種技藝如何完成感到十分好奇,問到:“請問您是如何僅靠嘴巴發出不同的聲音的呢?”
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?”
江聯營老師耐心地回答:“口技的發聲主要是靠嘴唇,牙齒,舌頭,上顎等部位相互配合發出聲音。”
Jiang patiently replied, “in ventriloquism, the sounds are mainly produced by the lips, teeth, tongue and palate. They work together.”
隨後梅靜雅便跟著江聯營老師從基本的貓狗叫聲開始學起,在江老師一步一步的引導下,通過利用字母輔助發聲,調動牙齒、舌頭等部位的配合,她逐漸掌握了發聲技巧。在一次次練習的過程中,梅靜雅不禁感嘆發聲技巧的精妙,對中國古代人民的智慧讚嘆不已。
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.
當談及到歷史上關於口技的故事時,江聯營提到距今2300多年,齊國的孟嘗君要帶領一行人逃離秦國,他通過模倣狗的叫聲來騙過守衛,以此得到用來賄賂秦王愛妃的裘皮大衣;還通過模倣雞的叫聲來騙過守衛,打開城門,得以成功逃離。
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!這跟我之前對於口技的印象完全不一樣!”梅靜雅不禁感嘆。
“Amazing! This is totally different from my previous impression of ventriloquism!” Mei Jingya cannot help but sigh.
在交談的過程中,梅靜雅了解到江聯營老師學習口技的過程並非一帆風順。從他小時候單純模倣牛羊的叫聲、救護車或者消防車的警笛聲開始,到初中時跟著《洛桑學藝》這一欄目進行口技的模倣和表演,再到2013年正式拜師牛玉亮先生進行系統化的口技技藝學習,經過三十年地磨練,江聯營最終成功接過文化傳承的大旗,成為國家級非物質文化遺産口技項目的第四代代表性傳承人。在不斷學習前進的過程中,江聯營的每一次重復練習都給他帶來新的感悟與提升。他逐漸意識到,口技的傳播與傳承需要在傳統的基礎上進行創新,讓古典藝術與現代審美融合,才能讓口技這門非物質文化遺産技藝葆有不朽的生命力。
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.
口技項目第四代代表性傳承人江聯營
Jiang Lianying, the fourth-generation representative inheritor of Chinese ventriloquism
作為一名非遺傳承人,江聯營這些年來為了傳承這門技藝進行了許多嘗試。例如,用口技為電影、皮影戲擬音,或者將口技與古琴音樂劇進行結合,試圖將口技與其他藝術表演形式結合,在不同藝術領域擴大口技的影響力,讓口技在新的土壤重獲生機。除了對內尋找傳承方法,江聯營還積極走出國門,在各個國家的舞臺上進行口技表演,讓口技作為中國的傳統技藝受到外國友人的喜愛,將中華民族的優秀傳統技藝推向整個世界。
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.
江聯營(左)為某電影配音
Jiang Lianying (left), dubbing a film
口技這門技藝距今已流傳2500多年,江聯營認為自己有責任與義務將它傳承下來,且創新下去。江聯營希望可以將傳統文化項目與現代電子傳播相結合,利用網際網路將口技這一非遺項目更廣泛地傳播給大眾,讓更多人喜歡口技,並加入口技傳承的行列中來。
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.
江聯營參加《非遺進軍營》欄目
Jiang Lianying Participating in the “Introducing Intangible Cultural Heritage to the Military” Program
當談及對下一代非遺文化傳承的的期待,江聯營提到:“希望喜歡和感興趣的同學們都可以嘗試學習一下口技,在成長的過程中將非遺當做自己的藝術愛好,把這門非物質文化項目傳承下去。”
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 馬天
