Qinqiang Opera

01 · Historical Records

Around the turn of the Ming and Qing dynasties, Qinqiang was carried by Shaanxi merchants into the Central Plains and the eastern, central and southern regions of China, and in the early Qing it became an operatic genre of major influence throughout the country. The form of Qinqiang current in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region derives from the folk tunes of the Shaanxi-Gansu area and the gong-and-drum (naogu) variety plays of the Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties; it took shape in the mid-Ming and was once influenced by Kunqiang, Yiyangqiang and Qingyangqiang; it keeps time with the bangzi woodblock, its tunes are high-pitched and vehement, and it excels at expressing heroic and grief-stricken emotion. In 1918 Chen Bihuai, intendant of Shuofang Circuit, celebrating his mother's birthday, asked Zhao Manrui, a Manchu bannerman, to invite the Qinqiang Guangsheng Troupe from Shaanxi Province. In 1935 the Juemin Study Society was founded, laying the foundation for the growth of Qinqiang in Ningxia.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Chengyi Troupe, founded in Zhongwei County (now Zhongwei City) and also called the Jijiawa Troupe (“Ji Family Child Troupe”), makes the circulation of Qinqiang in Ningxia traceable back to the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty. The Hulu (“Gourd”) Troupe, complete with sheng, dan, jing and chou role types, was active in Ningxia for more than twenty years, performing to unprecedented success. The artistic characteristics of Qinqiang in the Ningxia region are mainly embodied in its performance techniques: for example the xiaosheng's “playing with the pheasant plumes” (shua lingzi), the chou's “balancing an oil lamp” (ding dengyou), the hualian's “fire-spitting” (pen huo), the laosheng's “flicking the beard” (shuai shaozi) and the real swords and spears of the martial-combat scenes. Classic plays include The Injustice to Dou E, Substituting a Palm Civet for the Crown Prince, Zhou Ren Returns Home, A Visit to West Lake, Bright Moon over the Three Passes, Qingfeng Pavilion, Loyal Defender of the State, The Mute Girl's Complaint, The Lotus Lamp, Zhuangfei and Dorgon and Sounds of Hua'er. On the basis of inheriting the performance conventions of Shaanxi Qinqiang, Ningxia Qinqiang preserves a rugged, bold and uninhibited manner of performance, fervent and impassioned.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Qinqiang is an operatic vocal genre formed around the Yuan and Ming dynasties through the combination of the quanshan (exhortation-to-goodness) tunes current in the Guanzhong region with local folk music and the Guanzhong dialect; it is popular mainly in Shaanxi Province, Gansu Province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in China's north-west. But under the influence of regional culture it has absorbed such local musical elements as daoqing narrative-singing, Ningxia zuochang (seated singing) and hua'er songs into its music. Its spoken recitation also takes on dialect in plays that depict the Ningxia region.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Qinqiang Opera · Qinqiang Opera · Qinqiang Opera.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Qinqiang troupes such as the Chengyi Troupe, the Guangsheng Troupe, the Hulu Troupe and the Juemin Study Society once had a considerable influence on the transmission and development of Qinqiang in the Ningxia region. Listening to and roaring out Qinqiang is a spiritual way of life for the people of Ningxia and indeed of the whole north-west; Ningxia Qinqiang has become a vehicle for releasing emotion and gives voice to a scale of values and human sentiment that distinguishes right from wrong, knows honour from disgrace and tells good from evil; it bears the social and cultural functions of cultural enlightenment, moral instruction and the dissemination of knowledge.

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

1. Qinqiang Opera (Ningxia) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗