Liuzi Opera
01 · Historical Records
Qingfeng Liuzi opera, also called “Baidiaozi”, “Beidiaozi”, “Liuziqiang” and “Xianzi opera”, is a local vocal genre that evolved from the northern-qu xianqiang of the Yuan and Ming; it is found mainly around Qingfeng in Henan. In the Hongwu reign of the Ming court opera was introduced into Qingfeng, its vocal music mostly in the “north-south combined suite” form. In the Guangxu reign of the Qing Liuzi troupes covered the towns and countryside of Qingfeng and Puyang, and there were also performances in the neighbouring areas of Hebei, Shandong and Anhui. Liuzi opera has a long history and rich cultural deposits; it once had more than three hundred pieces, of which about one hundred survive.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
This fairly new genre has both the bold, rough manner of northern qu and the plaintive, fine character of southern opera. Its roles are complete and its vocal music belongs to the qupai system, with more than three hundred qupai in two broad classes, principal tunes and guest tunes. The principal tunes are the xiansuo mode, also called “laluo mode”, mostly from xiansuo, word-few and tune-long, each piece made up of an introduction, a main tune and a coda; the guest tunes include Kunqiang, Yiyang and luantan, absorbing and blending qupai from other vocal systems and divided into the five suites Huangying, Zhuyun Fei, Suo Nan Zhi, Shanpo Yang and Wawa, each qupai having orthodox and variant ways of singing. Its roles are mainly sheng, dan, jing and chou, its plays mostly on history and family themes, and its performance keeps the archaic, steady character of xiansuo singing, sharing an origin with Shandong Liuzi opera yet developing differently.
Dou Gong Song Zi (Duke Dou Escorts the Child)
A traditional Liuzi opera play in which the inheritor Yang Xiangyu created the “running the umbrella” special skill.
Sun An Dong Ben (Sun An Memorialises the Throne)
A representative traditional Liuzi opera play, noted for the sheng role's singing and recitation.
Baitu Ji (The White Rabbit)
A traditional Liuzi opera play, of the Southern Opera lineage.
Wan Hui Tiao Chuan (Boarding the Boat at the Fair)
A traditional domestic sketch of Liuzi opera, combining its qupai singing with rustic subject matter.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Liuzi opera is an ancient genre of the xiansuo system, popular in Shandong, Henan, northern Jiangsu, southern Hebei and northern Anhui. It combined with the popular folk tunes and xiaoling of the region, such as Liuzi, Huangying'er, Shanpo Yang, Suo Nan Zhi and Shuahaier, and took Liuzi as its tuning standard, gradually forming Liuzi opera. Qingfeng Liuzi opera, also called “Baidiaozi” and “Beidiaozi”, shares an origin with the Liuzi opera of Shandong, northern Jiangsu, southern Hebei and northern Anhui and has formed the Qingfeng line in northern Henan through dialect and lineage, the Qingfeng County Liuzi Opera Art Transmission Centre and folk troupes jointly carrying on the tradition.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Liuzi Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Yang Xiangyu (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): a national third-grade director. He commands more than three hundred qupai, his main singing styles including laluo mode, Qingyang mode, Wawa mode, luantan mode, Kunqiang, gaoqiang and xuzi mode. “Running the umbrella” is a special skill he created while playing Duke Dou in Dou Gong Song Zi, highly dance-like and regarded as unique; without departing from Liuzi opera tradition he deftly employs its vocal styles, forming a personal manner that is fresh and plaintive, deep and reserved and full of feeling. Male, Han, born in August 1939, died in November 2018, a native of Heze, Shandong; a representative inheritor of Liuzi opera in the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. To ensure successors, he trained more than eighty reserve talents, some of whom have become national first-grade actors or directors and some troupe managers. Liuzi opera preserves a wealth of the xiansuo legacy of Yuan-Ming northern qu and is of great value for studying the survival of northern qu and the “north-south combined suite” in local opera; relying on the transmission centre, Qingfeng county sustains the genre through reviving traditional plays and training young actors.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Yanzhen 02-0538
- Huang Zunxian 02-0539
- Li Songyun 03-1023
- Kong Xiangqi 03-1024
- Feng Baoquan 03-1025
- Chihaowen 04-1637
- Yang Xiangyu 04-1638
- Chen Yuan
- Yang Chunwei
- Chang Yinliang
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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