Start telling crosstalk from Tingyunxuan

Chapter 25: Jokes Are Not Nonsense
Yan Hexiang released his hand that was covering Yang Yunsheng's mouth, put his hands on his hips and asked Yang Yunsheng, "No, what kind of nonsense are you looking at?"

Seeing this, Yang Yunsheng rolled up his sleeves.

"Tell me what you think are the four great classics!"

Yan Hexiang said: "The four great classics are the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber, which you just mentioned!"

Yang Yunsheng's face showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is also one of the Four Great Classical Novels!"

Yan Hexiang snorted, looking a little helpless.

"It seems this guy doesn't even know that the Three Kingdoms is one of the Four Great Classical Novels!"

Yang Yunsheng asked, "Have you read Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"

Yan Hexiang: "Nonsense, I told you, I've read all four great classics!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Yunsheng became interested: "Since you have read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, let me test you."

Yan Hexiang smiled contemptuously: "Test me? Sure!"

Yang Yunsheng moistened his throat and cleared it.

"Question: In the Three Kingdoms, who was Zhuge Liang's wife?"

Yan Hexiang was a little surprised and said, "It's quite tricky. Most people would be stumped by it, but I know Huang Yueying!"

When Yan Hexiang said the three words Huang Yueying, Yang Yunsheng crossed his arms.

"wrong!"

One typo and Yan Hexiang was stunned.

The audience in the audience also looked at Yang Yunsheng in amazement.

Zhuge Liang’s wife was named Huang Yueying, that’s right!
Huang Yueying, also known as Huang Wanzhen and Huang Shuo, was a female figure in the Three Kingdoms period. She was from Baishui, Miannan, Jingzhou. Her birth and death years are unknown.

Although there are only a few brief descriptions of Huang Yueying in the Records of the Three Kingdoms and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there is no doubt that Zhuge Liang's wife was Huang Yueying.

Yan Hexiang looked at Yang Yunsheng suspiciously: "No, have you ever read Romance of the Three Kingdoms? In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang's wife is Huang Yueying."

Yang Yunsheng looked at Yan Hexiang with some pride.

"Big mistake!"

Yan Hexiang said dissatisfiedly: "Then tell me, who is Zhuge Liang's wife?"

Yang Yunsheng replied: "Zhuge Liang's wife is of course Zhou Yu!"

As soon as the word "Zhou Yu" came out, the audience's eyes widened.

How could Yang Yunsheng say such outrageous words?

Zhuge Liang's wife Zhou Yu, this is simply too outrageous.

Yan Hexiang looked at Yang Yunsheng with a smug look on his face and patted his arm.

"Hey, you said Zhuge Liang's wife was Zhou Yu, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

Yang Yun said angrily, "You still don't believe it. If I hadn't read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I wouldn't believe it either!"

Yan Hexiang hesitated for a moment and asked, "How do you say that?"

Yang Yunsheng explained, "The book says that Zhou Yu wasn't actually dead. After expressing his regret for not having Liang, he developed admiration for Zhuge Liang. So, he changed his name to Huang, faked his death, and married Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang claimed his wife was too ugly to be seen in public, but this was actually to prevent others from recognizing her as Zhou Yu."

Yan Hexiang glared and said, "This is pure nonsense! Zhou Yu married Zhuge Liang. You can't distort history just because Zhuge Liang settled in Chengdu!"

Settled in Chengdu, the whole audience burst into laughter as soon as these four words came out.

The laughter came in waves, almost blowing the roof off.

They didn't want to understand, but when Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang thought about Chengdu, it seemed reasonable.

Seeing that Yan Hexiang didn't believe it, Yang Yunsheng shook his head slightly.

"I still don't believe it. I can tell at a glance that you haven't read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms carefully!"

Yan Hexiang said indignantly, "I haven't read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms yet. You haven't read it carefully, otherwise you wouldn't say such a ridiculous thing!" Yang Yunsheng knew that Yan Hexiang was not convinced, so he said, "Teacher Yan is not convinced. Since that's the case, let me ask you again, whose son is Liu Chan?"

Yan Hexiang rolled his eyes: "Of course he is Liu Bei's son, are you saying he is Zhuge Liang's son?"

Yang Yunsheng crossed his arms again to express his opinion.

"wrong!"

Yan Hexiang was surprised and asked, "Wrong again?"

Yang Yunsheng said: "Liu Chan is actually Cao Cao's son!"

The whole audience was in an uproar again.

How come Liu Chan became Cao Cao's son?

Yan Hexiang wondered, "Is this the record in the Three Kingdoms that you read?"

Yang Yunsheng said, "After Liu Chan died, Zhao Yun, fearing punishment, took Cao Cao's son as a hostage. Cao Cao's men, fearing harm to their lord's son, dared not kill him, allowing Zhao Yun to slaughter him seven times. After Zhao Yun escaped, Liu Bei saw that it was not his son and threw him in anger. Otherwise, no matter how powerful Zhao Yun was, how could he have fought his way in and out of an army of millions?"

Yan Hexiang stroked his chin and thought.

“That makes some sense!”

Among the audience, most of them have seen the Three Kingdoms segment.

Indeed, no matter how powerful Zhao Yun was as a military general, he could not fight his way in and out of an army of millions.

Apart from Yang Yunsheng's explanation, they could not think of a second reason.

Soon, they reacted.

It was obvious that Yang Yunsheng was talking nonsense, but they actually believed it.

Horrible, the art of language is very terrible.

If a person is eloquent enough, he can bewitch others.

Next, Yang Yunsheng asked several questions about the Three Kingdoms, which made everyone laugh but also prompted them to think very carefully.

That is the meaning of Yang Yunsheng’s crosstalk.

Although it is purely funny, it is a very meaningful thing.

But crosstalk is an artistic heritage and also a mission.

It's more like a subtle irony, or even an art of self-deprecation.

While they were thinking, Yan Hexiang made a summary.

"From now on, please read less of those messy unofficial histories. Parody is not nonsense, and adaptation is not fabrication. We, as artists, should maintain a certain level of rigor and respect the authenticity of the original work. We should not make random adaptations without any purpose. This is irresponsible to our work and to the audience."

After saying this, the tone of this crosstalk was basically set.

Although Yang Yunsheng's crosstalk this time was wild, it also expressed his own attitude.

After listening to it, the audience also applauded.

Even after Yang Yunsheng and Yan Hexiang bowed to thank the audience, their applause continued for a long time.

Being funny is important, but at the same time, the work should not lose its cultural and historical value.

Of course, don’t just focus on value.

After all, whether it is sketches, crosstalk or other forms of artistic performance, they are not for serving a small group of people, but for serving the people of the whole country.

During happy festivals, perhaps we should just smile simply. Art without so many rules and regulations is the art that people really need.

Yang Yunsheng felt that the performance was very successful.

If there is a tour in the future, he will also bring this work to the tour stage.

Let the audience know and understand this work.

By the way, the TV series "Infiltration" directed by a national first-class screenwriter and a well-known director, in which Yang Yunsheng plays Liao Wentao, an underground member of the Chinese Communist Party, will be released in both film and television and theaters next year!
(End of this chapter)