杨洁自述：我的九九八十一难

by 杨洁

《杨洁自述：我的九九八十一难》是82版《西游记》导演杨洁女士年届85岁高龄时完成的一部人生自传，讲述了她这一生的坎坷经历，独家披露了她从一个懵懂少年成长为一代著名导演的历程。其曲折丰富的人生生涯和从容淡然的气节风骨，让我们看到了一个内心纯净的文化人对理想和事业的真挚热忱。1950年可以看作杨洁一生的分水岭。1950年之前，当她还只是一个十七八岁的懵懂少女时，就满怀着对延安天堂的幻想，被父亲送往延安，开始她的寻梦生涯。她以少女敏锐纯真的视角体验和观察着延安，记录下那时的人与事，这些看似碎片的记录却为我们呈现出了那个最真实但却鲜为人知的世界。1950年后，她嫁为人妇，却仍旧一心扑在事业上，从播音员、编辑到毛遂自荐成为电视剧导演，不仅成功导演了众多我们耳熟能详的优秀影视剧，还为我们留下了《西游记》这部永恒的经典，拍摄过程中那些突如其来的纠葛、磨难和复杂至极的人际关系，令人感叹不已。一代影视才女杨洁的一生，是充满磨难的一生。全书以流畅优美、不乏犀利的笔锋，描述了她从1930年代的所见所闻到延安整风、“三反五反”、“文化大革命”等特殊历史时期的亲历故事，叙述了从播音生涯向影视导演的转变，记录了在其成为《西游记》《司马迁》《朱元璋》等名剧导演的道路上，所历经的争议、坎坷等诸多人际遭遇。这是一个人的人生口述史，典型地折射出20世纪中国知识分子复杂曲折的心路历程。

Paperback

Published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all - a little bit of background story. The author is the director for a hit Chinese TV show, filmed in the 1980s, called “Journey to the West”. The book’s title, “九九八十一难” (if I attempt to translate this into English, there’d be too much of a lost in translation), is a direct reference to the TV show’s story, of how difficult a group’s journey to a destination is.

For all the Chinese born before the 2000s, her TV show carries strong resonance. So much so that decades after the show’s premier, the TV show still replays in many Chinese stations to this day.

Her book began with her childhood. Born in an intellectual family, she experienced the Japanese invasion, and her dad being a secret Communist party member. They later migrated to CCP’s headquarters. Yet, during this part of the book, the book reads more like a mere narration of her life without much commentary.

The second part of her book deals with her professional life. She began her professional life staging shows for the audience. There’s one part of her life I find particularly interesting: she was asked to move from Beijing, the capital, to Hunan, a mere province. Later she found out that she was in charge of staging shows for Mao Tse-Tung alone as Mao was in Hunan, his birthplace. In order to entertain one person, several theatrical companies are on standby constantly to stage shows whenever Mao feels like it. She mentions that since Mao’s command is so irregular, many actors would often have to sleep with their costume on. She also chronicles her intense sadness of how many of the great actors of her time were jailed and punished during the cultural revolution, many of them left no record of their entire existence.

The last part of her book deals with her filming of several television shows, including “Journey to the West”. The intense bitterness of her words shows how frustrated she was - and still is as of the time of her writing (she has passed away in 2017). Filing the TV show was incredibly difficult, as she repeatedly mentioned, since most people at the time favored the other TV show’s production, “Dream of the Red Chamber”. She often found herself having to deal with lack of money, technological know-how as well as lack of proper equipment. To make the matter worse, even though the TV show was wildly popular, the first production was cut short abruptly - as the author speculated - due to her constant run-ins with her superior. Her superior believes that her show is too “俗” - a word still frequently used by the CCP to this day. In China, a country where superiors, not the customers, often have speaking power, a popular show - even privately funded (although the author’s shows are all publicly funded) - can be axed overnight due to any reasons.

At first, I thought about writing a much longer review. Since the author’s commentary of the workspace environment echoes not just in the entertainment field in China, but in almost all fields in China. But sometimes when you’ve cried so much that your tears have run dry, you become numb and you move on since you have long voted with your feet.