Handiaoerhuang
01 · Historical Records
The Shan'erhuang popular in the Yunyang district (Shiyan city) is a local operatic genre of Shiyan, Hubei, with a history of more than two hundred and fifty years. In the Qianlong reign of the Qing migrants from Huangzhou prefecture moved to north-western Hubei and combined the Chudiao they brought with the local dialect and folk music, gradually forming Shan'erhuang. Drawing on the Hubei volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu, the migration of Huangzhou prefecture people to north-western Hubei in the Qianlong reign combined Chudiao with the local dialect and folk music to form Shan'erhuang, with the Yunyang and Zhuxi area becoming its main distribution zone and a transmission of more than two hundred and fifty years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Handiao erhuang, also called “Shan'erhuang”, is popular in Shaanxi, Hubei and parts of Sichuan and Gansu. Its singing is mainly xipi and erhuang and also absorbs other vocal styles and local folk music, sung in dialect. After the founding of New China the counties of the Yunyang district established Shan'erhuang troupes one after another, the Zhuxi county erhuang troupe being one of them. Shan'erhuang's singing stays close to local speech, its recitation close to dialect, its plots close to life and its actors close to the people, with free and varied performance, flexible conventions and rich means. It can perform both traditional and modern plays, both full-length grand plays and small life sketches; it has the bearing of a major genre and the characteristics of a local one, appealing to both refined and popular taste and suitable for old and young. The Zhuxi county Shan'erhuang troupe performs more than one hundred pieces, of which more than thirty are commonly staged, Qingfeng Ting and Qiangtou Ji being the most influential and enduringly popular in town and countryside and known to every household. The Zhuxi Shan'erhuang can stage both full-length grand plays and excels in small life sketches, its recitation using the local dialect and its conventions flexible, combining the bearing of a major genre with the liveliness of a local one.
Qingfeng Ting (The Clear Wind Pavilion)
The most influential of the Zhuxi Shan'erhuang troupe's commonly staged pieces, enduringly popular in town and countryside.
Qiangtou Ji (The Tale at the Wall)
The most influential of the Zhuxi Shan'erhuang troupe's commonly staged pieces, a life-subject play known to every household.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Handiao erhuang, also called “Shan'erhuang”, is popular in Shaanxi, Hubei and parts of Sichuan and Gansu, developing different singing styles from region to region according to dialect and lineage; Zhuxi county Shan'erhuang is characterised by a singing close to local speech and dialect recitation, forming a line of its own between north-western Hubei and southern Shaanxi erhuang.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Handiaoerhuang.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present the surviving material of Shan'erhuang lacks collation, and as the old artists pass away much orally transmitted artistic material is steadily lost; the Zhuxi county erhuang troupe, the only one performing Shan'erhuang, also faces a gap in talent and a break between generations. This precious local genre is on the verge of extinction and urgently needs rescue and protection. It excels in life-subject plays such as Qingfeng Ting and Qiangtou Ji and preserves precious traces of the blending of Chudiao with the folk music of north-western Hubei; as old artists pass away and orally transmitted art is widely lost, the Zhuxi County Shan'erhuang Opera Conservation, Transmission and Performance Centre sustains the genre through recording, collation and talent training.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Fayun 02-0523
- Gong Shangwu 02-0524
- Huang Caiping
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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