Chaoju Opera
01 · Historical Records
Chaozhou opera, also known as “Quan-Chao elegant tune”, “Chaoyin opera” and “Baizi opera”, is a local genre sung in the Chaoshan dialect with a history of more than four hundred years; it is found in Zhangzhou in Fujian, in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, and in Chinese communities in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Yunxiao county in Zhangzhou is a principal area of its popularity, and the genre flourished there from the late Qing through the Republican period, when more than thirty professional troupes such as Jinxiuchun and Yongzhengxing appeared. Yunxiao and Chaozhou and Shantou belong to the same Chaoshan-speaking region; drawing on local opera annals and Yunxiao cultural materials, Chaoju is thought to have been introduced into Yunxiao from the Chaoshan area around the late Ming and early Qing and to have influenced, and been influenced by, local Minnan opera. Troupes declined around the War of Resistance, and after 1950 Yunxiao established both professional and amateur Chaoju companies, allowing the genre to continue.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Chaozhou opera brings poetry, song, dance and drama together in a vividly expressive performance; the traditional “jinge” excerpts Yang Lingpo Pleads Ten Counts, Sweeping at the Window and The Hairpin Quarrel are praised as the “three jewels” of the genre. Yunxiao Chaoju inherits the combined qupai-linked-suite and banshi-variation vocal system, sung in the Chaozhou dialect, with the erxian leading the melodic ensemble and percussion built around the shenbo gong. Yunxiao troupes are especially noted for performing such excerpt plays. Chaoju companies also frequently tour Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, playing an active role in spreading traditional Chinese culture, linking the affections and kinship of overseas Chinese and supporting national reunification. After the founding of New China, Yunxiao county not only established a professional Chaoju company but also formed many amateur ones.
Sweeping at the Window
A traditional jinge excerpt and one of the “three jewels”, frequently staged by Yunxiao Chaoju troupes and noted for the dan role's singing and acting.
The Hairpin Quarrel
A traditional jinge excerpt and one of the “three jewels”, carried by the chou role's comic acting and witty recitation.
Yang Lingpo Pleads Ten Counts
A traditional jinge excerpt and one of the “three jewels”, a major singing vehicle for the laodan role.
Lijing Ji (Chen San and Fifth Madam)
A celebrated traditional play derived from a Ming Jiajing-era Chaozhou–Quanzhou script, recounting the love story of Chen San and Huang Wuniang.
Su Liuniang
A celebrated traditional play about the love tragedy of Su Liuniang and Guo Jichun.
The Maiden Jinhua
A traditional play circulated in Chaoshan and Minnan, exemplifying the genre's vernacular singing and its strength in domestic and moral themes.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Yunxiao, Zhao'an, Dongshan and Zhangpu and other coastal counties of southern Fujian are the genre's principal distribution area in Fujian. Through long interaction with Xiangju (Gezaixi), Gaojia opera and Zhuma opera, this Fujian strain of Chaoju has absorbed certain Minnan stage characteristics, being of one origin with Chaoshan Chaoju yet distinct in flavour and forming the eastern wing of the genre's cross-provincial spread, with the Chaoshan homeland as the western wing.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Chaoju Opera · Chaoju Opera · Chaoju Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Chaoju employs the folk music of the Minnan and Chaoshan regions and has absorbed the vocal styles of Yiyang qiang, Kunqiang, Xiqin qiang and Waijiang opera; safeguarding the genre therefore has high scholarly value for the study of the ancient operatic forms of southern Fujian. Yunxiao Chaoju also preserves precious information about the genre's early forms together with Minnan folk music and dialect. Centring on the Yunxiao Chaoju Heritage and Safeguarding Centre, the county sustains the genre by reviving traditional jinge excerpts and running school programmes; yet, at present, under the impact of the market and other pluralistic cultures, audiences have shrunk sharply, companies struggle to survive and the genre is steadily declining, so the state should take timely protective measures to rescue this ancient operatic form. Trends of ageing audiences and a contracting market have not yet been fundamentally reversed.
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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