Jia Pingao's Reading Comprehension of Shaanxi Tune

Mountains and rivers are different, so customs are different, customs are different, so drama is different; People all over the world have different appearances and different melodies. Beijing, Henan, Jin, Yue, Huangmei, Erhuang, Sichuan Gaoqiang, there are dozens of kinds of melodies. Some people ask: Which has the longest history, which is the most serious in civil and military affairs, and which is the most fierce in right and wrong? Answer: This is Qin opera. Just as its strengths and weaknesses were as prominent as its style, when it came to Shaanxi opera, those who loved it would love it to death, and those who hated it would hate it to death. Outsiders, especially those who boasted of their talent in the Yangtze River basin, were most afraid of the shock of Qin opera. The comments were euphemistic: singing vigorously, and blunt: shouting. Therefore, there were weak women who often covered their ears with velvet under the stage, or lectured someone on weekdays, saying,"If you don't do anything, I'll let you watch Qin opera tonight!" Qin opera became synonymous with punishment. Therefore, other operas could be circulated in various provinces, but Qin opera was like Qin people, who would never leave their nests. The serious concept of local culture also made it impossible for them to leave their nests. Some markets might still change their tune in several places in the northwest, but they would never be able to rush out of Tongguan in the southeast.
However, for hundreds of years, Qin opera had not been eliminated and had not fallen into obscurity. This had puzzled many people. There was a solution, and it was in Shaanxi. A yellow-brown plain; on the vast horizon, there were mud houses with wooden rafters that were more than a foot wide. They were crude and solemn. Poplars, melia, and purple locust trees rose into the sky. The branches were as thick as barrels, but the leaves were as small as copper coins. They flipped in the wind... You would immediately understand that the geographical structure here was actually vividly unified with the melody of Qin opera! Then, he would go and interact with the Qin people. They were like the reappearance of a group of Qin Shi Huang's terracotta warriors and horses. They were tall, had thick eyebrows, and their eyes were slightly separated from each other. Their hands and feet were as thick as each other, and their upper bodies were slightly longer than their lower bodies. When they carried heavy triangular ploughshares on their backs, drove the mountain-like Qinchuan bulls, held head-sized Yaozhou porcelain bowls, squatted on stone rollers that were either standing or lying, and ate mutton buns, one couldn't help but change their worldview. Ah, what an empty and solid land this was, and what a " dumbstruck " people were crawling and rolling on this land! In the evening when the sunset was burning, the setting sun on the horizon was a painful pregnancy that couldn't go away. Five miles to a village, ten miles to a town, the Qin opera that was transmitted through the tweeters intertwined and collided with each other. This Qin opera was actually the sound of Qin Chuan's nature, the resonance of the earth and the people!
A play was arranged and a person spread the news. The whole village was excited and looked forward to the date of the performance. Finally, the gongs and drums stopped. The curtains opened and the characters appeared. However, regardless of whether they were men or women, they did not face the audience when they came out. They all turned their backs and covered their faces. The women moved back in small steps, as if they were floating on water. The audience shouted: Look at that waist, that shoulder, a whole body of drama! If it was a man, he would shake the hat feather, sometimes double shake, sometimes single shake, while flying up and down, while not moving at all, the audience would shout: Awesome! Awesome! When the character suddenly turned around, raised his head, and let out a loud cry, the sound was like a thunderclap that ran over everyone's heads. The whole audience shivered, and from head to toe, every finger and every hair felt numb. If they were acting in " Save Pei Sheng," Hui Niang would squat down on the stage. Slowly, slowly, Hui Niang would squat down, and the heads of the audience would be half a foot lower. When Hui Niang stood up, slowly, slowly, Hui Niang would stand up, and the necks of the audience would all be elongated. They didn't like to watch new plays, but they welcomed familiar plays. They knew every tone and tone. Whoever sang well, they would shake their heads and sing along. Whoever went out of tune, there would be people in the audience to correct them. To put it bluntly, watching Qin opera was not for novelty, they just wanted to have fun.
Whoever insulted Qin opera, they would fight to the death to reason with you, even to the point of fighting, so that you would always remember the lesson. Every time there was a funeral in the village, they would have to book a Qin opera set. The children would be greeted with Qin opera, and the funerals would be mourned with Qin opera. It was as if the world of life was the stage of Qin opera. As long as people were on the stage, they would show their true nature. The evil exaggerated their ugliness, the good highlighted their beauty, the good gave them a beautiful education, and the evil turned their ugliness into beautiful art.
Since ancient times, the Qin people had been suffering and enjoying themselves. What else could their hometown symphony have other than shouting Qin opera?
1. Why is Qin opera "absolutely unable to rush out of Tongguan, which is heading southeast"? And why hadn't Qin opera been eliminated or sunk into oblivion for hundreds of years?
2. What were the characteristics of the Qin people and Qin land? How did Qin opera resonate with it?
3. The author of the third paragraph described the scene of the passionate interaction between the Qin opera characters and the audience below the stage. What was its function?
4. Please summarize the theme and style of this article.

Answer 1

One of Jia Pingao's representative works was " Qin Qiang." This was a long novel based on the folktales and legends of the Guanzhong region in Shaanxi Province. It told the story of a once glorious Guanzhong region that gradually declined due to the changes of times.

The story of Qin Qiang is very complicated, so I'll try to summarize it briefly. The protagonist of the story was an opera actor named Blind Chen. He had been working hard to inherit the opera culture of Guanzhong because of his love for the opera industry, but he was suppressed and excluded by local officials and business giants. After experiencing all kinds of setbacks and difficulties, Blind Chen finally succeeded in creating a new art form of opera through self-study and continuous research and passed it on.

The story of an opera actor in this novel reflects the inheritance and decline of the culture in Guanzhong area, as well as the influence of the changes of the times on the local society and people's lives. At the same time, the novel also showed Blind Chen's indomitable and innovative spirit, as well as his love and persistence for traditional culture.