Jinju (Shanxi Opera)

Ⅳ-18Traditional OperaHuhehaote, Inner MongoliaBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Zhonglu bangzi, also called “Shanxi bangzi” or Jinju, was introduced into Inner Mongolia in the late Qing and early Republic. In the 1950s and 1960s, with strong support from the Party and government, zhonglu bangzi held a dominant place on the Inner Mongolian stage. Drawing on the Inner Mongolia volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu, zhonglu bangzi came into central and western Inner Mongolia in large numbers with Shanxi merchants' “journey beyond the western pass” and waves of migration in the late Qing and early Republic, performing first in the guild halls and temple fairs of mercantile towns such as Guihua (today's Hohhot) and Baotou, and in the 1950s and 1960s, with government support, became one of the leading genres of the Inner Mongolian stage.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

After entering Inner Mongolia, zhonglu bangzi absorbed Jin speech, Beijing speech and local dialects; its performance is plain, its appearance pure and handsome, its singing vigorous and rough-hewn, and its tunes melodious and pleasing. More than two hundred pieces are commonly performed, representative works including Da Jinzhi, The White-Haired Girl and Gada Meilin. Inner Mongolia Jinju has a full range of role types, with the singing roles of qingyi, xusheng and hualian especially developed; besides traditional plays its repertory includes original works on steppe history and life, reflecting the localising creativity of the genre in cross-regional transmission.

Da Jinzhi (Beating the Princess)

A representative work among the two hundred or more pieces commonly performed by Inner Mongolia Jinju.

The White-Haired Girl

A representative work among the two hundred or more pieces commonly performed by Inner Mongolia Jinju.

Gada Meilin

A representative work among the two hundred or more pieces commonly performed by Inner Mongolia Jinju, taking a Mongolian historical hero as its subject.

Mandoohai

One of the representative plays of Inner Mongolia Jinju, drawn from a Mongolian historical figure and starring the inheritor He Xiaoju.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Inner Mongolia Jinju is most widely spread around Hohhot, Baotou and Ulanqab; its singing and recitation use Jin and Beijing speech together with the local Chinese dialect and absorb melodic and rhythmic elements of Mongolian music, forming an open and expansive steppe style that differs from Shanxi Jinju in pronunciation, singing and subject matter.

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 recent years, owing to economic development and changes in lifestyle, and with a gap in creation and reserve artistic talent, the prospects for its transmission are not encouraging and its future is worrying. As a living sample of Jinju's spread beyond the Great Wall, Inner Mongolia Jinju carries the historical memory of a migrant society and traces of Mongol–Han cultural exchange; relying on institutions such as the Hohhot Mass Art Centre, the locality sustains the genre by reviving traditional plays and training young actors. He Xiaoju (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): female, Han, born in March 1962 in Shangdu county, Inner Mongolia. A national first-grade actor. In 1976 she entered the Shangdu county Jinju troupe, in 1983 transferred to the Ulanqab league (now city) Jinju troupe, and in 1991 moved to the Hohhot Jinju troupe as leading actress. She has starred in Mandoohai, Selling the Clever Boy, Tears on the Ground of Yearning and Da Jinzhi, among others. She has mastered the performance craft of the Jinju qingyi role, her stage image is fresh, and she blends Mongolian musical elements into Jinju music, enriching Jinju vocal composition and creating several young female characters; she is credited with opening up steppe Jinju. She was selected for the second batch of Inner Mongolia's propaganda and culture system “four batches” talent programme. She is a representative inheritor of Jinju in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects, was named an outstanding expert by the Ministry of Culture in 2008, and won the twenty-third China Drama Plum Blossom Award in 2007.

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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