Sipingdiao
01 · Historical Records
In the Qing dynasty huagu opera was repeatedly banned; to survive, its artists renamed it “civilised huagu” and “huagu dingdang”. Northern Anhui huagu thus evolved into Sipingdiao, ending its days as a ground-mat performance and taking the stage. Jining lies in south-western Shandong and is an important county of Sipingdiao's distribution there; drawing on local opera annals, in the Qing huagu opera was repeatedly banned and its artists renamed it to survive, so that Huai River huagu gradually evolved into Sipingdiao and took the stage, and the troupes around Jining developed in this process.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Northern Anhui huagu has a history of nearly three hundred years and is popular in northern Anhui, northern Jiangsu, north-eastern Henan and south-western Shandong. Later, on the basis of the Pingdiao ban patterns of huagu opera and absorbing parts of Pingju, Yuju and Peking opera singing, with added string accompaniment, it formed the “sipingdiao”. Because its singing is steady and even with four lines of melody to a section, it was renamed “Sipingdiao”. It is famed for its singing, its physical performance a system of its own, with the gaohu as its principal accompanying instrument in performance. It performs more than two hundred pieces, drawn from the people and carrying a rich flavour of life. Over more than a century Sipingdiao has matured through development and change, accumulating a large amount of valuable artistic material. Jining Sipingdiao is famed for its singing, its physical performance a system of its own, with the gaohu as the lead instrument, its singing steady and even with four lines to a section; its plays come mostly from the people and carry a rich flavour of life, with traditional and modern plays alike.
Chen Sanliang Pa Tang (Chen Sanliang at Court)
A representative Sipingdiao play, widely circulated around Jining.
Pei Xiuying Gao Zhuang (Pei Xiuying's Suit)
A traditional Sipingdiao play noted for the dan role's singing and its courtroom plot.
Xi Xiang Ji (The Romance of the Western Chamber)
A traditional play adapted into Sipingdiao and among the pieces commonly staged by local troupes.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Jining, Chengwu and elsewhere in Shandong are the main areas of Sipingdiao activity in south-western Shandong, sharing an origin with the Shangqiu and Fanxian line of Henan yet each with its own local style; the Jining County Public Cultural Service Centre sustains the genre through troupe performance and teaching.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Sipingdiao · Sipingdiao · Sipingdiao · Sipingdiao.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present Sipingdiao struggles to survive with a worrying future. Shandong once had several professional Sipingdiao troupes; today only the Chengwu Sipingdiao Troupe still performs all year round, and the amateur troupes are in poor shape, so positive measures are needed to rescue and protect this excellent folk operatic genre. It preserves a large amount of folk-derived repertory and vocal material and is an important sample for studying the evolution of folk opera in the Jiangsu–Shandong–Henan–Anhui borderland; facing a shrinking performance market, Jining county relies on the public cultural service centre to sustain the genre through reviving plays and teaching.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zou Aiqin 02-0554
- Baijinrong 02-0555
- Cui Taixian 02-0556
- Zhang Xubin 02-0557
- Liu Yuzhi 03-1033
- Wang Fengyun 03-1034
- Fumei
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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