Qinqiang Opera
01 · Historical Records
Gansu Qinqiang took shape around the turn of the Ming and Qing dynasties, evolving from the fusion of Gansu's “shadow-puppet tune” (also called “Lanzhou shadow”) and “Western Qin tune”, with singing and recitation in the Gansu dialect. Gansu Qinqiang has a rich repertory of some three thousand traditional plays, most drawn from stories of the Warring States, the Three Kingdoms, the Yang family generals and Yue Fei; the earliest surviving script dates from the Yongle reign of the Ming. Drawing on the Gansu volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu, the banqiang embryo of Gansu Qinqiang can be traced to the confluence of mid-Ming Western Qin tune with shadow-puppet and quzi opera; after the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing it spread throughout the province with trade routes and temple fairs and became the dominant operatic form in town and countryside.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Qinqiang is the largest operatic genre in north-west China, popular in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang. Gansu Qinqiang has a rather distinctive vocal system, taking the form of “ban-shi plus qupai, with qupai also serving Buddhist chant”; it includes six ban types—manban, erliuban, jianban, daoban, gunban and daiban—nearly one hundred qupai such as Ting Genggu, Hongyan Fei, Chuiqiang, Gaoqiang, Zhuangyuan Ling and Zhongjun Ling, and Buddhist melodies originating in temple faqu, including “fojizi”, “damo”, “fohao”, “daoge” and “quanshan diao”. Its musical means are rich and varied, with both ban and pai capable of hua-yin and ku-yin opposition. Its accompaniment is divided into civil and martial sections: the civil section basically keeps the accompaniment form of Ming-Qing Western Qin tune, with huqin, menhuzi, sanxian, yueqin and flute as the main instruments, led by the huqin; the martial section uses drum-board, gong, nao and cymbals as its main instruments, with the bangzi marking the beat and the tanban and gan drum directing the whole. Gansu Qinqiang's roles comprise sheng, dan, jing and chou, each further subdivided, and in performance each has developed its own role singing and conventions. Its performance emphasises “framework”, “sheng and jing”, and “special skills and showpieces”, fully expressing a fiery, vigorous and martial style.
Zhan Qin Ying (Beheading Qin Ying)
A staple of Gansu Qinqiang and one of the signature works of the representative inheritor Dou Fengqin.
Zhan Dou E (Beheading Dou E)
A dan singing play adapted from The Injustice to Dou E and one of Dou Fengqin's signature works.
Longfeng Chengxiang (Dragon and Phoenix Bring Auspice)
A traditional Qinqiang play on Liu Bei's marriage in Wu, and one of Dou Fengqin's representative works.
Huoyan Ju (The Flame Steed)
A classic Qinqiang play known for its balanced singing and acting and its dramatic turns.
San Di Xue (Three Drops of Blood)
A famous traditional Qinqiang play with a courtroom plot, widely circulated.
Zhou Ren Hui Fu (Zhou Ren Returns to Court)
A celebrated traditional Qinqiang play, noted for the xusheng role's singing and bearing.
Xia Hedong (Descending on Hedong)
A traditional Qinqiang play on early-Song campaigns and a major vehicle for the xusheng role.
You Xihu (Li Huiniang)
A celebrated traditional Qinqiang play featuring such feats as fire-blowing, exemplifying Gansu Qinqiang's emphasis on special skills.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Within the province Gansu Qinqiang has formed several regional branches: the Lanzhou–Baiyin line approaches the legacy of the “Lanzhou shadow”, Longdong and Longnan are more deeply influenced by Shaanxi Qinqiang, and troupes along the Hexi Corridor have blended with local quyi and Meihu. Gansu Qinqiang shares a common origin with Shaanxi Qinqiang but is a distinct current, its singing more hoarse and mournful and its recitation carrying Gansu pronunciation.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Qinqiang Opera · Qinqiang Opera · Qinqiang Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Qinqiang repertories have had no small influence on all the major local operatic genres, and to a degree they have shaped the aesthetic psychology of urban and rural people in China, making a positive contribution to the development of a national aesthetic consciousness. Dou Fengqin (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): female, Han, born in March 1959 in Ningxian, Gansu. A national first-grade actor. She excels in singing technique, phrasing, embellishment and vocal style, and her sustained-note singing (tuoqiang) is especially distinctive; such signature works as Zhan Qin Ying, Longfeng Chengxiang and Zhan Dou E rank first in the Qinqiang world today. Many of the young and middle-aged dan actors active on Gansu stages come from her school. She is a representative inheritor of Qinqiang in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects and has taken part in national performances and won awards many times.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Ma Youxian 03-0978
- Yuanzonghan 03-0979
- Li Aiqin 03-0980
- Xiao Yuling 03-0981
- Kang Shaoyi 03-0982
- Lvmingfa 03-0983
- Yu Qiaoyun 03-0984
- Ma Lanyu 05-2312
- Wei Zancheng 05-2313
- Dou Fengqin 05-2314
- Li Dongqiao
- Su Fengli
- Li Mei
- Huiminli
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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