Xiqin Opera
01 · Historical Records
In the Ming dynasty, Xiqin qiang from the northwestern region flowed into the Haifeng-Lufeng area, where it merged with local folk art; by the early Qing dynasty Xiqin opera had taken shape.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xiqin opera is also called Luantan opera (miscellaneous-tunes opera); it is current in Haifeng and Lufeng in Guangdong, the Chaoshan area, southern Fujian and Taiwan. The music and vocal system of Xiqin opera is a banshi (metrical) varied form built on parallel couplets of uniform syntax; its tunes fall into four classes: zhengxian, xipi, erhuang and xiaodiao. Zhengxian is the principal vocal system of Xiqin opera, and is itself divided into erfang, pingban and bangzi. Singing and speech in Xiqin opera follow the Zhongzhou phonology and rhyme; men and women use different timbres on the same tune, men singing in the true (natural) voice and women in the false (falsetto) voice. The orchestra is divided into two kinds, the wenpan (civil side) and the wupan (martial side); the wenpan uses instruments such as the head string (touxian), second string, third string, yueqin, suona and haotou horns, while the wupan mainly uses percussion instruments such as gongs and drums. The performance style of Xiqin opera is rough and unrestrained, sonorous and impassioned; it is strong in martial plays (wuxi), and its fighting techniques draw on the southern school of martial arts. The role types of Xiqin opera fall into several groups: damian hang (painted-face row), daatou hang (plain-garb row), wangbian hang (braided-hair row) and qijun hang (banner-troops row). The damian hang includes red-face, black-face and chou roles; the daatou hang includes zhengdan, huadan, lanshan and pojiao; the wangbian hang includes laosheng, wensheng, wusheng and gongmo; the qijun hang includes wujun and hongjun. Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
Gong Keji
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
Hall of the Three Officials
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
The String of Precious Beads
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
The Horse-Trading Chronicle
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
Beating Li Feng
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
The Chessboard Meeting
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
The Beheading of Zheng En
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
Returning to the Kiln
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
Ge Nenniang
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
Qin Xianglian
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
The Orphan of Zhao
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
Touring West Lake
Xiqin opera has more than one thousand traditional plays. The more influential of them include Gong Keji, Hall of the Three Officials, The String of Precious Beads and The Horse-Trading Chronicle among the “four great bow-and-horse plays” (si da gongma xi); Beating Li Feng and The Chessboard Meeting among the “thirty-six bentou plays” (sanshiliu bentou xi); The Beheading of Zheng En among the “seventy-two outline plays” (qishier tigang xi); and plays such as Returning to the Kiln, Ge Nenniang, Qin Xianglian, The Orphan of Zhao and Touring West Lake are also warmly welcomed by audiences.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Xiqin opera is also called Luantan opera; it is current in Haifeng and Lufeng in Guangdong, the Chaoshan area, southern Fujian and Taiwan. Xiqin qiang from the northwestern region in the Ming dynasty flowed into the Haifeng-Lufeng area and merged with local folk art, and by the early Qing dynasty Xiqin opera had taken shape. It takes the two counties of Haifeng and Lufeng as its core area of circulation; troupes mostly perform on the stages put up for temple fairs in market towns and for deity birthdays along the Fujian-Guangdong border, and it preserves the vocal elements of northwestern Xiqin qiang within its four classes of tunes: zhengxian, xipi, erhuang and xiaodiao.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Xiqin opera preserves artistic elements of the ancient genre Xiqin qiang; it is living evidence of the spread and transformation of local operatic vocal systems in the Qing dynasty, and it has very high research value. At present only one Xiqin opera troupe is registered in Haifeng County, with fifty-odd people engaged in the art; traditional plays and such traditional features as daatou singing, percussion, tune patterns and stage properties are all on the verge of disappearing; the break in the succession of performing talent is extremely serious, and rescue and protection work is urgent. Lü Weiping (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han nationality, born in 1966, native of Shanwei, Guangdong. His performance is refined and dignified, generous in bearing, and he is skilled at shaping character through vocal emotion. Representative works include Liu Xi Teaches His Son, The Beheading of Zheng En, Xue Rengui Returns to the Kiln and The Orphan of Zhao. Representative inheritor of Xiqin opera in the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, and head of the Xiqin opera troupe of Haifeng County, Guangdong Province. Yan Mutian (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): A skilled xiaosheng (young male role) with more than sixty years of professional experience. His performance is sonorous and impassioned, dense and generous in manner; he has carried on the traditional style of Xiqin opera and has achieved notable results especially in research on the traditional music and vocal styles of the genre, compiling and writing the 450,000-character A Brief Probe into the Traditional Music and Vocal Styles of Xiqin Opera, which filled a gap in Xiqin opera research. He actively trains young people, passing on the traditional vocal styles, performance and instrumental playing methods of Xiqin opera. Male, of Han nationality, born in January 1938, died in January 2020, native of Haifeng County, Guangdong Province. Representative inheritor of Xiqin opera in the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Lvweiping 02-0546
- Yan Mutian 03-1029
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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