Liyuan Opera
01 · Historical Records
Liyuan opera originated in Quanzhou during the Song and Yuan dynasties; together with the nanxi (southern drama) of Zhejiang it is jointly known as the 'Min-Zhe sound' for 'performing the sung and recited vocal styles of the Southern Song play-texts'. With a history of more than eight hundred years to the present day, it is acclaimed as a 'living fossil of the ancient southern drama'. Unlike the 'one table and two chairs' arrangement of the general opera stage, only a long bench was placed at the rear of the shed (peng); the props (qiemo) of the Southern Song dynasty zaju Yanyao Suan (The Eye-Medicine Quack) can still be seen today in the performances of the jing (painted face) and chou (clown) role types of Liyuan opera.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Liyuan opera circulated widely in Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and Xiamen in Fujian, in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, and in the Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions, as well as in the settlements throughout Southeast Asia where Minnan-speaking overseas Chinese reside. Liyuan opera has preserved many of the plays, vocal styles, and performance regulations of the Song and Yuan dynasty nanxi. Liyuan opera still exists on the stage today, and has essentially preserved its original, unadorned style of theatre. It has a complete set of strictly regulated performance forms; its basic movements are known as the 'eighteen-step kemo' (the eighteen fundamental movement formulae), which every role type must observe. Liyuan opera music has preserved the nanxi practice of accompaniment chiefly by drum, xiao (vertical flute), and strings; its vocal style derives from the singing of the ancient music of the Jin and Tang dynasties and is sung in the Quanzhou pronunciation, with many notes sung to a single syllable, and belongs to the qupai (fixed-tune) system; to this day it still uses the ancient tune-pattern names such as Mokedoule (The Mo Reed Tune) and Nishang Yuyi Qu (The Melody of Rainbow Skirts and Feather Robes). The pipa used in Liyuan opera is the nanpa (southern pipa), held horizontally and plucked, similar in construction to Tang dynasty instruments; the manner of stringing is a survival of the Jin dynasty xiqin tradition; the dongxiao is the chiba (a flute one chi and eight cun long) of the Tang dynasty; and the percussion is led by the nan gu (pressed-foot drum), played in a distinctive manner. The 'shed' (peng) is the traditional performance space of Liyuan opera; before a performance, a 'shed-offering' (xian peng) ceremony must be held, in which Tian Du Yuan Shuai (Marshal Tian Du), the patron patriarch of the players, is worshipped; only afterwards do the actors begin to apply their makeup and perform the 'jia guan' (official of promotion) dance. In terms of historical and cultural significance, Liyuan opera is an intangible, comprehensive treasury of the arts. With the changes of the times, the audience of Liyuan opera has dwindled day by day, and the survival of the genre has fallen into serious crisis.
Zhu Wen
It is divided into three schools: Xiaoliyuan (the 'seven-member troupe', qizi ban) and, within Daliliyuan, the 'Shanglu' (Upper Road) and 'Xianan' (Lower South) schools; each school has its own reserve repertoire known as the 'eighteen shed-heads' (shiba pengtou), preserving 25 nanxi plays including Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie, and Wang Kui.
Liu Wenlong
It is divided into three schools: Xiaoliyuan (the 'seven-member troupe', qizi ban) and, within Daliliyuan, the 'Shanglu' (Upper Road) and 'Xianan' (Lower South) schools; each school has its own reserve repertoire known as the 'eighteen shed-heads' (shiba pengtou), preserving 25 nanxi plays including Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie, and Wang Kui.
Cai Bojie
It is divided into three schools: Xiaoliyuan (the 'seven-member troupe', qizi ban) and, within Daliliyuan, the 'Shanglu' (Upper Road) and 'Xianan' (Lower South) schools; each school has its own reserve repertoire known as the 'eighteen shed-heads' (shiba pengtou), preserving 25 nanxi plays including Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie, and Wang Kui.
Wang Kui
It is divided into three schools: Xiaoliyuan (the 'seven-member troupe', qizi ban) and, within Daliliyuan, the 'Shanglu' (Upper Road) and 'Xianan' (Lower South) schools; each school has its own reserve repertoire known as the 'eighteen shed-heads' (shiba pengtou), preserving 25 nanxi plays including Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie, and Wang Kui.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It is divided into three schools: Xiaoliyuan (the 'seven-member troupe', qizi ban) and, within Daliliyuan, the 'Shanglu' (Upper Road) and 'Xianan' (Lower South) schools; each school has its own reserve repertoire known as the 'eighteen shed-heads' (shiba pengtou), preserving 25 nanxi plays including Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie, and Wang Kui. Liyuan opera has preserved both documentary and living materials of Song and Yuan dynasty drama, from which the important characteristics of nanxi culture and of the regional culture of southern Fujian can be discerned.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Xu Tianxiang (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, of the Han ethnicity, born in 1942, a native of Shishi, Fujian. In 1956 Xu Tianxiang entered an actors' training class for Liyuan opera, and successively studied under the veteran Liyuan artists Cai Youben, Yao Suqin, Li Qinghe, Xu Maocai, and Shi Jiaoen. On the basis of the rigorous and standardized traditional kemo performance of Liyuan opera, he continually absorbed performance techniques from other operatic arts and elements of folk dance, broadened the expressive content of the traditional chou (clown) and mo (secondary male) role types, and created richly varied characters. His performance is delicate and vivid; his representative works include Li Yaxian and Fenglin Wan (The Maple Grove at Dusk). A representative inheritor of Liyuan opera, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the second national batch, and a national second-class performer. Zeng Jingping (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Female, of the Han ethnicity, born in 1963, a native of Quanzhou, Fujian. In 1982 Zeng Jingping entered the Fujian Liyuan Opera Experimental Troupe, specializing in the performance art of the dan (female) role type of Liyuan opera; she studied under the renowned Liyuan teachers Pan Zhi, Yao Suqin, Shi Zhi, He Shumin, Xu Tianxiang, Wang Shengli, and Wu Mingsen, and has mastered and performed a large number of traditional plays and newly written works. Zeng Jingping employs the traditional kemo of Liyuan opera with complete mastery, and gives her characters a nuanced, personality-driven interpretation; her singing shows fine control of breath, and is gentle, moving, reserved, and subtle. Her representative works include Chen San and Wuniang (Chen San and the Fifth Lady), Su Qin, and Dong Sheng and Li Shi (Dong Sheng and Madam Li), among others. A representative inheritor of Liyuan opera, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the second national batch; director of the Fujian Liyuan Opera Experimental Troupe; a national first-class performer; a two-time winner of the China Theatre Plum Blossom Award; and a recipient of the special government allowance of the State Council.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Xu Tianxiang 02-0420
- Cengjingping 02-0421
- Chen Jimin 03-0967
- Cai Yazhi 03-0968
- Wang Shengli 03-0969
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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