Chaoju Opera
01 · Historical Records
It is a branch of the Southern Opera (nanxi) of the Song and Yuan dynasties, with a history of more than four hundred and thirty years, and is distributed mainly in eastern Guangdong, southern Fujian, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. The traditional repertory of Chaozhou opera falls into two broad categories: plays descended from Song-Yuan Southern Opera and Ming-Qing legends, and civilized drama (wenmingxi) and newly written historical plays. It comprises more than two thousand titles. After the mid-Qing period it further absorbed banshi (metrical-pattern) music, giving it greater flexibility and variety. After 1990, Chaozhou opera has suffered the constraints of the market economy and the impact of diverse modern forms of art and literature: investment has shrunk, talent has drained away, artistic standards have fallen, and the finest traditional performance techniques face extinction. The genre is in a difficult state of development and urgently needs protection and support.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Traditional plays occupy an important place in Chaozhou opera, with such fine works as Lijing Ji (The Lychee Mirror), Su Liuniang and Liu Mingzhu; the traditional excerpt plays Sweeping at the Window, Yang Lingpo Pleads Ten Counts and The Hairpin Quarrel gather the essence of traditional Chaozhou opera and are acclaimed as the "three gems of the hundred-flowered Chaozhou stage". In performance, among the role types of Chaozhou opera it is the sheng (male), dan (female) and chou (clown) roles that carry the strongest local character. In the old-chou play Chai Fang Hui (The Meeting at the Firewood Shed), the clown's ladder-sliding technique is unique to Chaozhou opera and enjoys wide renown in the operatic world. The music of Chaozhou opera belongs to the qupai-linked-suite system and sings southern and northern tunes; its vocal melodies are graceful, light and winding, and well suited to lyric expression. Chaozhou opera preserves more than two hundred traditional qupai (tune patterns) and over a thousand pieces of music, which constitute important material for the study of Chinese operatic vocal music. Singing in Chaozhou opera uses the natural voice, and both song and recitation follow the ancient "two-four notation" (ersi pu), giving it a rich flavour. Its melodic modes include the gentle and soft qingsanliu mode, the even and dignified zhongsanliu mode, the mournful huosanwu mode, and the light and humorous fanxian mode. The percussion instruments of Chaozhou opera are all pitch-tuned, and the accompaniment has the beauty of polyphony and harmony; since 1950 it has been emulated by many sister genres.
Lijing Ji (The Lychee Mirror)
Traditional plays occupy an important place in Chaozhou opera, with such fine works as Lijing Ji (The Lychee Mirror), Su Liuniang and Liu Mingzhu; the traditional excerpt plays Sweeping at the Window, Yang Lingpo Pleads Ten Counts and The Hairpin Quarrel gather the essence of traditional Chaozhou opera and are acclaimed as the "three gems of the hundred-flowered Chaozhou stage".
Su Liuniang
Traditional plays occupy an important place in Chaozhou opera, with such fine works as Lijing Ji (The Lychee Mirror), Su Liuniang and Liu Mingzhu; the traditional excerpt plays Sweeping at the Window, Yang Lingpo Pleads Ten Counts and The Hairpin Quarrel gather the essence of traditional Chaozhou opera and are acclaimed as the "three gems of the hundred-flowered Chaozhou stage".
Liu Mingzhu
Traditional plays occupy an important place in Chaozhou opera, with such fine works as Lijing Ji (The Lychee Mirror), Su Liuniang and Liu Mingzhu; the traditional excerpt plays Sweeping at the Window, Yang Lingpo Pleads Ten Counts and The Hairpin Quarrel gather the essence of traditional Chaozhou opera and are acclaimed as the "three gems of the hundred-flowered Chaozhou stage".
Sweeping at the Window
Traditional plays occupy an important place in Chaozhou opera, with such fine works as Lijing Ji (The Lychee Mirror), Su Liuniang and Liu Mingzhu; the traditional excerpt plays Sweeping at the Window, Yang Lingpo Pleads Ten Counts and The Hairpin Quarrel gather the essence of traditional Chaozhou opera and are acclaimed as the "three gems of the hundred-flowered Chaozhou stage".
Yang Lingpo Pleads Ten Counts
Traditional plays occupy an important place in Chaozhou opera, with such fine works as Lijing Ji (The Lychee Mirror), Su Liuniang and Liu Mingzhu; the traditional excerpt plays Sweeping at the Window, Yang Lingpo Pleads Ten Counts and The Hairpin Quarrel gather the essence of traditional Chaozhou opera and are acclaimed as the "three gems of the hundred-flowered Chaozhou stage".
The Hairpin Quarrel
Traditional plays occupy an important place in Chaozhou opera, with such fine works as Lijing Ji (The Lychee Mirror), Su Liuniang and Liu Mingzhu; the traditional excerpt plays Sweeping at the Window, Yang Lingpo Pleads Ten Counts and The Hairpin Quarrel gather the essence of traditional Chaozhou opera and are acclaimed as the "three gems of the hundred-flowered Chaozhou stage".
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Chaozhou opera, also known as Chaozhou play (Chaozhou xi) and Chaoyin play, is an ancient local operatic genre sung in the Chaozhou dialect. The sheng-dan play Sweeping at the Window is acclaimed as a typical example of how Chinese opera tells its stories through song and dance; the chou roles of Chaozhou opera are divided into ten categories, of which the fan technique of the xiangshan chou is famed north and south and praised by all.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Chaoju Opera · Chaoju Opera · Chaoju Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Chaozhou opera is a vivid example of ancient Chinese opera still alive on the stage and one of the outstanding representative forms of Chinese national culture, possessing profound historical significance and high aesthetic value. Chen Peng (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han ethnicity, born in 1942, a native of Chaozhou, Guangdong. Over half a century of performing career, Chen Peng has accumulated and mastered all the traditional tune patterns (qupai), compositional techniques and performance practices of Chaozhou opera, and the Chaozhou opera works he has composed enjoy considerable influence throughout the areas where the genre circulates. Representative works include The Girl Mochou, Baolian Deng (The Lotus Lantern), Qi Ri Hong (Seven-Day Red) and Yichun. Representative inheritor of Chaozhou opera, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the second batch; a national second-grade composer. Zheng Shunying (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, of Han ethnicity, born in 1962, a native of Chaozhou, Guangdong. After joining the Chaozhou Municipal Chaozhou Opera Troupe in 1981, she performed in a large number of traditional plays and newly written works. Zheng Shunying's voice is clear and rounded, and her performance is beautiful and elegant. Representative works include The Meeting in the Reed Grove and Yang Bajie Forces Youzhou. Representative inheritor of Chaozhou opera, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the second batch; a first-grade actress. Zheng Shunying is a new-generation inheritor of Chaozhou opera trained after the end of the Cultural Revolution: in 1978 she entered the Chaozhou Chaozhou Opera Trainee Class, studying under such Chaozhou opera masters as Shen Xuehua and Yu Jinming, and specializing in the qingyi and daomadan roles.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Fang Zhanrong 02-0424
- Yao Xuanqiu 02-0425
- Chen Peng 02-0426
- Zheng Shunying 02-0427
- Lin Roujia 05-2308
- Li Tingbo
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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