Yuediao
01 · Historical Records
Drawing on the Henan volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu, Yuediao has been current in south-western Henan for centuries; the Dengzhou and Nanyang line is based mainly on locally transmitted zhengzhuang plays, already known as “village opera” by the Jiajing reign of the Ming, and troupes succeeded one another from the Qing, with the Dengzhou Yuediao troupe becoming the professional transmission body after the 1950s.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Dengzhou Yuediao, also called “Nanyang Great Yuediao”, is the representative of western-Henan Yuediao and was already prevalent as “village opera” in the counties of Nanyang and beyond during the Jiajing reign of the Ming. It consists mainly of folk, orally transmitted full-length plays; its singing has nine modes and eighteen tunes, embellished with florid passages (huazhang), high and bright, with the “elephant-trunk four-string” as its principal accompanying instrument. Its expressive power is rich and its style distinctive, excelling at grief, anger and indignation, with a pronounced personality, hence its name “bitter Yuediao”. It has three hundred and sixty-nine traditional plays, representative works including Da Bao Guo, San Ku Dian and Changban Po, over fifty of them. In its traditional repertory the black, red and painted-face roles and the “four beams and four pillars” form the core, with a complete range of sheng, dan, jing, mo and chou roles, constituting its distinctive character. Its roles comprise a full range of sheng, dan, jing, mo and chou, its singing excelling at grief, anger and indignation, and it enjoys a stable audience in south-western Henan and northern Hubei.
Da Bao Guo (Defending the Realm)
One of the more than fifty representative traditional plays of Dengzhou Yuediao.
San Ku Dian (Three Weepings in the Hall)
One of the more than fifty representative traditional plays of Dengzhou Yuediao, noted for its grief-and-anger singing.
Changban Po (The Slope of Changban)
One of the more than fifty representative traditional plays of Dengzhou Yuediao, drawn from the Three Kingdoms cycle.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In Henan Yuediao is broadly divided into a central-Henan line centred on Xuchang and a western-Henan line centred on Dengzhou and Nanyang. Dengzhou Yuediao is also called “Nanyang Great Yuediao”, its singing comprising nine modes and eighteen tunes embellished with florid passages, its principal instrument the elephant-trunk four-string, hence the name “bitter Yuediao”; compared with the luantan singing of Xuchang Yuediao, the Dengzhou line lays greater stress on grief, anger and vehemence. In Henan Yuediao is broadly divided into a central-Henan line centred on Xuchang and a western-Henan line centred on Dengzhou and Nanyang. Dengzhou Yuediao is also called “Nanyang Great Yuediao”, its singing comprising nine modes and eighteen tunes embellished with florid passages, its principal instrument the elephant-trunk four-string, hence the name “bitter Yuediao”; compared with the luantan singing of Xuchang Yuediao, the Dengzhou line lays greater stress on grief, anger and vehemence, and its elephant-trunk four-string and florid singing are especially representative of western-Henan Yuediao.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yuediao · Yuediao · Yuediao.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present Dengzhou Yuediao's performing groups are shrinking, audiences falling sharply and the performance market depressed, with some traditional plays, performing skills, singing and music on the verge of loss, urgently requiring protection. Its more than three hundred traditional plays, centred on the black, red and painted-face roles and the “four beams and four pillars”, preserve a large orally transmitted repertory and a distinctive singing style, making it a living sample for the study of folk opera in south-western Henan. Dengzhou Yuediao performs all year round at temple fairs and village stages in south-western Henan and northern Hubei, an important cultural memory for local people; relying on the Dengzhou Yuediao troupe the locality sustains the genre through revived productions and teaching, though the shrinking market and the threat of lost skills still call for attention.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- He Quanzhi 02-0493
- Mao Ailian 03-1001
- Yuan Xiulian 05-2324
- Ye Xiangcheng 05-2325
- Shenxiaomei
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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