Jinju (Shanxi Opera)

Ⅳ-18Traditional OperaJingxing, HebeiBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

In the mid-nineteenth century Jinju was introduced from Shanxi into Jingxing county, Hebei, on its border, and after several decades of fusion it formed a distinctive style. Drawing on local opera annals, in the mid-nineteenth century the Shanxi zhonglu bangzi came into Jingxing along trade routes through the Niangzi Pass, and the troupes gradually localised as they performed at mountain-village temple fairs and markets; the first half of the twentieth century saw its heyday, and after the Jingxing county Jinju troupe was founded in 1952 a fairly stable professional transmission took shape.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Jingxing Jinju currently has more than three hundred pieces and more than five hundred qupai, with sixteen classic repertory pieces such as Fire Burns the Qinggong Tower and The Princess Becomes a Nun. Compared with traditional Jinju it has the following features: in singing it blends the soft smoothness of Shanxi bangzi, the high pitch of Hebei bangzi and the hard ring of Jingxing speech, combining hardness and softness; in recitation, based on Jinju stage speech, its diction is clear and its tone firm; in repertory, unlike Shanxi Jinju, which favours singing with martial arts secondary, it gives equal weight to civil and martial; nearly all its actors are Jingxing natives; eighty per cent of its scripts are original or adapted works; and each troupe has its own lineage, such as the Hetaoyuan, Nanzhangcheng, Changping and Jingxing Jinju troupe lineages.

Huoshao Qinggong Lou (Fire Burns the Qinggong Tower)

One of the sixteen classic repertory pieces of Jingxing Jinju, drawn from its three hundred or more plays and five hundred or more qupai.

Huanggu Chujia (The Imperial Aunt Takes the Vow)

One of the sixteen classic repertory pieces of Jingxing Jinju, drawn from its three hundred or more plays and five hundred or more qupai.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Jingxing Jinju takes families and village troupes as its units of transmission, the Hetaoyuan, Nanzhangcheng and Changping lineages each having their own lines of master-to-disciple succession, with the Jingxing county Jinju troupe as the professional mainstay. Influenced by the Taihang terrain and local speech, its singing and recitation add Jingxing pronunciation to the Shanxi bangzi base, forming a local colour distinct from both Shanxi Jinju and Hebei bangzi.

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

Founded in 1952, the Jingxing Jinju troupe once flourished, but in recent years the performance market has shrunk severely, actors' incomes are meagre and successors are lacking, so protection of Jingxing Jinju is urgent. With its mainly self-written and adapted repertory and its many village and family lineages, Jingxing Jinju is a typical case of how an imported vocal style completed its localisation in the Taihang mountains; in recent years the locality has promoted transmission through troupe performances, revived productions and school programmes. Luan Debao (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in June 1942 in Jingxing county, Hebei. A national first-grade actor. Fond of opera from childhood, in 1956 he entered the Jingxing county Jinju troupe, specialising in the chou role, and through diligent study became equally accomplished in civil and martial skills with a style of his own. Roles such as Jiao Guangpu in Dang Ma, Liu Lihua in Sanchakou, Lou Ashu in Shiwu Guan, Liu Ren in Xiaoxiang Night Rain, Mugua in Sanguan Dianshuai and Liang Dou in the modern play Longma Jingshen were all portrayed with vivid individuality and great lifelikeness, to the audience's delight. After retirement he still does his utmost to coach the Jingxing youth Jinju troupe, rapidly raising its artistic level. He wrote the eighty-thousand-character Jinju chapter for Jingxing History and Culture (Arts Collection volume) and compiled the two-hundred-thousand-character History of the Jingxing County Jinju Troupe. He is a representative inheritor of Jinju in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects, and he created such special skills as “spinning the prayer beads with cap-tip, elbow-tip and toe-tip”, “spinning the cap-wings and nose-whiskers at once” and “twin pheasant feathers standing upright”, which he passed on unreservedly to his disciples.

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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