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.

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. Fang Zhanrong (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han ethnicity, born in 1948, a native of Puning, Guangdong. He took up the stage in 1959 and has performed for more than fifty years, specializing in the chou (clown) line. He studied under the Chaozhou opera masters Chen Dakuang, Yang Jiangquan, Chen Wanxi, Cai Jinkun and Li Youcun, and has a wide stage range. He is especially skilled at using costume, props and stage movement as means of performance, handles with ease such operatic techniques as the Chaozhou clown's fan work, chair work and ladder work, and brings a character's thoughts and feelings to full expression; the xiangshan chou, gongpao chou, laochou, wuchou and nüchou categories of the clown line are all at his ready command. Representative works include Chai Fang Hui (The Meeting at the Firewood Shed), The Hairpin Quarrel, Peach Blossom Crossing, The Unwitting Divine Physician and The Old Soldier Returns Home. Representative inheritor of Chaozhou opera, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the second batch; a first-grade actor. Yao Xuanqiu (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, of Han ethnicity, born in 1935, a native of Chenghai, Guangdong. Yao Xuanqiu specializes in the dan (female) line. She studied under the noted Chaozhou opera artists Yang Qiguo, Lu Jinlong and Huang Mi, and mastered a solid performance technique; her singing is deep-founded, beautiful and fluent, and her acting is rigorous, elegant and lyrical. In a performing career spanning more than sixty years, Yao Xuanqiu has portrayed highly distinctive female figures, ancient and modern, and enjoys high renown throughout the areas at home and abroad where Chaozhou opera circulates. Representative works include Su Liuniang, Chen San and Wu Niang, and Cilang Zhou. Representative inheritor of Chaozhou opera, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the second batch; a first-grade actress.

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

1. Chaoju Opera (Shantou, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Fang Zhanrong · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Yao Xuanqiu · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗