Shouning Beilu Opera

01 · Historical Records

Beilu opera, popularly called Fujian luantan or hengshao xi, is a local operatic vocal genre that took shape when luantan, introduced into Fujian in the middle of the Qing dynasty, fused with local folk opera. It once circulated in northern, central and eastern Fujian and has a history of more than 300 years, making it a rare genre that represents the luantan vocal tradition of the Qing dynasty.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Except for a very small number of items that carry the characteristics of the gaoqiang tune-pattern system, the vocal styles of Beilu opera belong for the most part to the banchang (metrical) system; the melodies are beautiful, the rhythm lively, the singing flowing, and the presentation distinctly narrative. Both its spoken dialogue and its singing use Putonghua (common speech), which has become a striking characteristic of Beilu opera. Over centuries of performance, Beilu opera has worked out a set of performance forms deeply favoured by audiences: whatever the role type, the performer uses the bodily language of hand, eye, body, method and step to portray the character's disposition and mental activity and to move the plot forward. This reinforcement of physical movement, externalising the character's inner life and closely combined with the vocal style, makes singing and acting highly harmonious, produces many forms of performance that are at once song and dance, literary and martial, and enriches the expressive power of the theatre. The representative repertoire of Beilu opera mainly includes Exploring Yin Mountain, The Paired Pearl Rings, The Chronicle of the Paper Horses, and Fengjiao and Li Dan.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

After luantan entered Fujian it produced troupes of the upper route, lower route, northern route, southern route and so on, of which the northern-route troupe was the strongest; after the other troupes dissolved one after another, the northern-route troupe remained active in the north-east of Fujian, and it is from this that Beilu opera takes its name.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

As one of the influential rare genres of Fujian, Beilu opera has extremely deep cultural content and very high historical value. Miao Qingqi (official archive record of the associated inheritor): male, of Han ethnicity, born in 1963, a native of Shouning, Fujian. Miao Qingqi joined the Beilu Opera Troupe of Shouning County in 1978 and has worked there ever since, studying under Ye Mingsheng and Liu Jingcang. He has made a fairly deep study of such role types of Beilu opera as laosheng, wusheng and wuchou; his performance is layered and has its own style, and he has well inherited the performance conventions and the character of the vocal styles of Beilu opera. His representative works include The King of Qi Weeps for His General, The Hongbi Marriage, The Fairy Descends to the Mortal World, The Dragon and the Tiger, The Couple at Midnight and The Iron-Blooded Mandarin Ducks. Representative inheritor of Shouning Beilu opera in the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects; head of the Beilu Opera Troupe of Shouning County, Fujian Province; national second-grade actor. Liu Jingcang (official archive record of the associated inheritor): male, of Han ethnicity, born in 1940, a native of Shouning, Fujian. Liu Jingcang entered the Beilu Opera Troupe of Shouning County in 1952, was transferred in 1988 to the Bureau of Culture, Sports and Radio of Shouning County, and retired in 2000. He studied under the master Ying Atian, specialising in the laosheng and wusheng roles, inherited the traditional performance style, and has considerable attainment in the vocal styles of Beilu opera and in hand, eye, body, method and step. His representative works include The Civet Cat Swaps the Prince, The Five Passes Refused, The King of Qi Weeps for His General, The Hongbi Marriage and Yue Yun Goes to Battle. Representative inheritor of Shouning Beilu opera in the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects; national third-grade actor.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Mouqingqi 02-0544
• Liu Jingcang 02-0545

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Shouning Beilu Opera (Shouning, Fujian) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Mouqingqi · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Liu Jingcang · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗