Yuju (Henan Opera)

01 · Historical Records

According to the Xinjiang volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and the Great Dictionary of Chinese Yuju, Yuju was introduced to Xinjiang from the 1930s of the twentieth century, and gradually formed artistic characteristics created and performed jointly by the masses of the Han, Hui, Uyghur, Kazakh and other ethnic groups. In 1954 the Yuju master Chang Xiangyu led a troupe to Xinjiang to give performances of greetings and consolation, promoting the spread of Yuju in Xinjiang. In 1959 the first professional Yuju organisation in Xinjiang — the Children’s-voice Yuju Troupe of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps — was founded. The early Yuju repertoire in Xinjiang was mostly transplanted from the inland provinces; from the 1980s of the twentieth century adaptation and re-creation began on the basis of these transplantings.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Yuju is one of the genres of Chinese traditional drama. It grew up in the rich soil of Yellow River civilisation, developed on the basis of Henan bangzi, and is distributed in every part of Xinjiang. The Yuju Troupe of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps is the provincial-level troupe of Xinjiang. Besides retaining the distinctive artistic style of Yuju, Xinjiang Yuju also absorbed fine cultural elements native to Xinjiang and from all parts of the country. It shares the same lineage and the same origin with Yuju of the Central Plains, yet in such matters as music and acting it has a character of its own. As large numbers of people from the inland came to support and settle in Xinjiang, the Yuju audience in Xinjiang grew steadily. Afterwards dozens of Yuju troupes were founded in various parts of Xinjiang. The Corps Yuju Troupe achieved considerable results in the creation of modern plays and in other respects. The first generation of Xinjiang Yuju artists entered Xinjiang with the Children’s-voice Yuju Troupe and played a decisive part in the opening up of Yuju in Xinjiang. The third generation of Yuju artists, combining the distinctive geographical environment and cultural depths of Xinjiang, created, staged and performed a number of large-scale Yuju plays, and a number of outstanding Yuju actors emerged.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

During the period of transmission by the fourth generation, Xinjiang Yuju developed further, and a batch of plays with local characteristics and reflecting the military reclamation of the Corps came into being, winning several national-level awards, such as Yingwu Xiangfei (The Heroic Fragrant Consort), Tianxue (Heavenly Snow), Tianshan Renjia (Households of the Tianshan) and Gebi Muqin (Mother of the Gobi). Xinjiang Yuju carries the history and culture of the ethnic groups, vividly reflects the local folk customs and tastes, and cultivates the moral character of the people.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Yuju (Henan Opera) · Yuju (Henan Opera).

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Through years of excavation, reconstruction, systematisation and original creation, Xinjiang Yuju now has more than 300 large and small plays, including traditional plays, modern plays, study-repertoire items and newly created works of several types. Over the past decades Xinjiang Yuju has been transmitted chiefly by master-disciple teaching and by institutional education, relying on the performance practice of the troupes, and it has now passed through four generations. The second generation of Yuju artists, while transmitting the fine traditional drama, also carried the special mission of the Corps in maintaining stability and guarding the frontier. As it developed continuously on this fertile soil of Xinjiang, it not only enriched the spiritual life of the people of Xinjiang and of the Corps, but also played a positive role in bringing the hearts of the people together in strengthening the border and the country through culture and in safeguarding the long-term stability and security of Xinjiang; it has high social and cultural value.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Ma Jinfeng 02-0478
• Zhang Baoying 02-0479
• Humeiling 02-0480
• Wu Bibo 02-0481
• Jia Tingju 02-0482
• Zhang Meizhen 02-0483
• Li Shujian 02-0484
• Wang Guanjun 03-0997
• Feng Zhanshun 03-0998
• Miao Wenhua 05-2320
• Li Xianmin 05-2321

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Yuju (Henan Opera) (XPCC) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗