Jinju (Shanxi Opera)

Ⅳ-18Traditional OperaZhangjiakou, HebeiBatch 2 (2008)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

In the early Qing dynasty, Puzhou bangzi (the Puzhou clapper opera) spread into central Shanxi, where it combined with the Qitai yangge and the folk tunes of central Shanxi; under the influence of Shanxi merchants and local scholars it developed into Jinju.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Jinju is one of the four great bangzi (clapper) genres of Shanxi Province. Because it arose in central Shanxi it is also called the “central-route bangzi” (zhonglu bangzi); in provinces outside Shanxi it is called “Shanxi bangzi”. It is distributed mainly over central and northern Shanxi and parts of Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and Hebei. After several subsequent changes it spread to central Shanxi, northern Shanxi and parts of Inner Mongolia, Hebei and northern Shaanxi. Jinju has a rich traditional repertoire, with more than two hundred plays performed regularly, among them The Wei River (Weishui he), Beating the Golden Branch (Da jin zhi), Mount Lintong (Lintong shan), The Belt of Heaven and Earth (Qiankun dai), The Kingdom of Shatuo (Shatuo guo), The Battle of Wancheng (Zhan wancheng), White Water Shoal (Baishui tan), The Golden Water Bridge (Jinshui qiao), The Fire Colt (Huoyan ju), The Palace of the Brahma King (Fanwang gong) and Twin-Locked Mountain (Shuangsuo shan). In the course of its development Jinju retained the stirring and impassioned artistic character of Puzhou bangzi, while at the same time forming a gentle and delicate lyrical style. Its vocal styles are rich, including luantan (free-rhythm singing), qiang’er and quzi; its metrical patterns are many and its expressive power is strong — the luantan alone is divided into seven metrical types: Pingban (level plate), Jiaban (double plate), Erxing (second mode), Liushui (flowing water), Jieban (interlude plate), Gunbai (rolling speech) and Daoban (conducting plate). Under the influence of modern ways of life and the impact of the commodity economy, the number of Jinju plays performed has fallen away rapidly; urban audiences have been lost in large numbers, while rural audiences consist chiefly of the elderly.

The Wei River

The traditional repertoire of Jinju is rich, and more than two hundred plays are performed on a regular basis, including The Wei River (Weishui he), Beating the Golden Branch (Da jin zhi), Mount Lintong (Lintong shan), The Belt of Heaven and Earth (Qiankun dai), The Kingdom of Shatuo (Shatuo guo), The Battle of Wancheng (Zhan wancheng), White Water Shoal (Baishui tan), The Golden Water Bridge (Jinshui qiao), The Fire Colt (Huoyan ju), The Palace of the Brahma King (Fanwang gong) and Twin-Locked Mountain (Shuangsuo shan).

Beating the Golden Branch

Mount Lintong

The Belt of Heaven and Earth

The Kingdom of Shatuo

The Battle of Wancheng

White Water Shoal

The Golden Water Bridge

The Fire Colt

The Palace of the Brahma King

Twin-Locked Mountain

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Jinju in Zhangjiakou is also called “kou bangzi” (mouth bangzi). It takes in the local dialect and draws on the artistic features of Beijing opera, Pingju and Hebei bangzi, so that its singing is full of flavour, and at the same time it has brought into being a body of repertoire peculiar to itself.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Jinju (Shanxi Opera) · Jinju (Shanxi Opera) · Jinju (Shanxi Opera) · Jinju (Shanxi Opera) · Jinju (Shanxi Opera).

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

In these circumstances the prospects for Jinju are worrying, and it is in urgent need of protection. Niu Xuezhen (per the official records of associated inheritors): female, of Han ethnicity, born in October 1942, native of Qingxu County, Shanxi Province. A national first-class performer. She studied Jinju successively under Shi Xianren, under Yang Danqing, the “queen of the dan role in Jinju”, under Li Shenghe known as “Seventeen Red”, and under Ding Guoxian, the “king of the xusheng role in Jinju”. She inherited the vocal style of the Ding (Guoxian) school and formed a singing style in which the characters are cleanly cut and the rhymes agree, the tone is mellow, broad and expansive, hardness and tenderness are combined, and the melodic line and its ornamentation are delicate and steady. She is able to reveal with accuracy the inner world of the characters she portrays by means of different artistic techniques. She has played leading roles in plays such as Beating the Golden Branch (Da jin zhi), Beheading the Son at the Palace Gate (Yuanmen zhan zi), Going Down to the Yellow River (Xia he dong) and The Suit of Pan and Yang (Pan Yang song), successfully creating many character images including Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Zhao Kuangyin and Yang Jiye. Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item Jinju. She has won the performer first prize at the Hebei Province Theatre Festival many times; in 1989 the Hebei Provincial Department of Culture named her a model performer, and in 1991 she was named an advanced worker of the national cultural system.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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