Yueju (Shaoxing Opera)

01 · Historical Records

Yue opera is popular in Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu and many other provinces, cities and regions. It originated in the Sheng County area of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, and in the late Qing dynasty it first took shape on the basis of the quyi form of luodi changshu (story-singing performed on the ground), absorbing the repertoire, tunes and performance art of such genres and opera forms as Yuyao tanhuang and Shao opera; at that time it was called xiao ge ban (small song troupe) or di du ban. When it entered Shanghai in 1916 it was known as Shaoxing wenxi (Shaoxing literary play), and after 1930 it further developed into nüzi Shaoxing wenxi (women's Shaoxing wenxi), performed entirely by actresses. In 1938 it was renamed Yue opera. From the early 1930s onward Yue opera already began to use three-dimensional stage settings with the character of Chinese painting, coloured lighting, recorded sound and oil-based make-up; costume styles were designed in relation to the plot, drawing on ancient paintings of beauties and gentlewomen while inheriting tradition, with fresh and natural cuts and soft, restrained colours and materials — a notable development of traditional Chinese opera costume. After the beginning of the 21st century, as people's spiritual needs diversified and cultural and artistic forms multiplied, the survival and development of Yue opera came under threat.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Later, in the course of development, it matured further and formed a beautiful, lyrical artistic style. Yue opera is a late-emerging genre; it is skilled at drawing on the strengths of many others and putting them to its own use. The vocal system of Yue opera belongs to the banqiang (set-metre) type; its early tunes were monotonous, but it later absorbed music from other opera genres and quyi forms and gradually grew richer. Yue opera's melodies are clear, leisurely and turning, beautiful to the ear and skilled in lyrical expression. There are three main vocal systems: chi diao (chi mode), si gong diao (four-gong mode) and xian xia diao (string-low mode); chi diao is in turn divided into manban (slow metre), zhongban (moderate metre), lianban (linked metre), sanban (free metre), xiao ban, er fan and liushui ban (flowing-water metre), among others. Early Yue opera performances were relatively simple; later it took over movement routines from other opera genres and also distilled from daily life a set of basic movements. In 1942, under the advocacy of Yuan Xuefen and others, Yue opera on the one hand absorbed the performance methods of spoken drama and film, portraying characters' personalities and mental activity truthfully and in detail, and on the other hand studied the graceful dancing carriage and performance routines of Kunqu and Peking opera, making external movement more finely articulated and more rhythmic. The organic combination of these two aspects produced the distinctive artistic style of Yue opera performance, which unites the freehand and the realistic. Yue opera has many excellent plays that are widely known; among the more representative are Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (The Butterfly Lovers), Hong Lou Meng (Dream of the Red Chamber), Xiang Lin Sao, Xi Xiang Ji (The Romance of the Western Chamber), Zhui Yu (Chasing the Fish), Qing Tan (Probing the Heart), Pan Fu Sou Fu (Searching for the Husband), Liu Yi Chuan Shu (The Story of Liu Yi), Bi Yu Zan (The Green Jade Hairpin), San Kan Yu Mei (Three Looks at the Imperial Sister), Da Jin Zhi (Beating the Golden Branch), Yu Tang Chun (Jade Hall in Spring), Pi Pa Ji (The Pipa Record) and Kong Que Dong Nan Fei (The Peacock Flies Southeast). Stage art is likewise a highly characteristic organic component of Yue opera. Within a mere century Yue opera matured into a rare flower in the hundred-blossom garden of Chinese opera. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yue opera spread rapidly to East China, Southwest China, North China, Northwest China, Central-South China and Northeast China, and, as foreign cultural exchange developed, won a measure of international acclaim for its typically Eastern artistic character.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Yue opera's role types fall into six great categories: xiao dan (young female), xiao sheng (young male), lao sheng (old male), xiao chou (young clown), lao dan (old female) and da mian (painted-face). Xiao dan divides into six kinds — bei dan (tragic female), hua dan (florid female), gui men dan (boudoir female), hua shan (flower-pattern female), zheng dan (main female) and wu dan (martial female); xiao sheng into four — shu sheng (scholar), qiong sheng (poor scholar), guan sheng (official) and wu sheng (martial); lao sheng into two — zheng sheng and lao wai; xiao chou into four — chang shan chou (long-gown clown), guan chou (official clown), duan shan chou (short-jacket clown) and nv chou (female clown).

Other submitting regions for the same item: Yueju (Shaoxing Opera) · Yueju (Shaoxing Opera).

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Yuan Xuefen (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Yuan Xuefen entered the Sijichun (Four Seasons Spring) training class in Sheng County to study opera in 1933. In 1942, at the Dalai Theatre in Shanghai, she was the first to advocate reform of Yue opera, establishing in the Yue opera world a regular system of playwriting and direction and a new form of stage presentation; she also blended the realistic performance features of spoken drama and film with the strengths of Kunqu — its integration of singing and dancing and its emphasis on the beauty of physical movement — forming a comprehensive performance art of writing, direction, music, stage art and acting that unites the realistic with the freehand. Her representative works include Xiang Fei (The Fragrant Consort), Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (The Butterfly Lovers), Xi Xiang Ji (The Romance of the Western Chamber) and Xiang Lin Sao. Female, Han nationality, born in 1922, died in 2011; a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang. Representative inheritor of Yue opera in the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects; honorary president of the Shanghai Yue Opera Theatre; first-class performer. Xu Yulan (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, Han nationality, born in 1921; a native of Fuyang, Zhejiang. At twelve years old Xu Yulan enrolled at the Dong'an Stage, where she first studied the hua dan (florid female) role and later changed to lao sheng (old male). In 1939 she and Wu Yuekui and others founded the Xinghua Yue opera society. On 19 December 1941, at the Laozha Theatre in Shanghai, she partnered Shi Yinhua and switched to playing xiao sheng (young male) roles; in 1947 her Shi Wo Cuo (It Was My Fault) established the standing of the 'Xu school' of xiao sheng, ranking level with the Yin school and the Fan school. From 1948 onward she worked for many years with Wang Wenjuan, serving as a leading performer at the Shanghai Yue Opera Theatre. Her vocal style is high-pitched and stirring, ardent and unrestrained, combining hardness with tenderness, with brilliant ornamentation and dramatic rise and fall; her performance is full of passion, she is good at shaping character images, and her stage appearance is handsome and free-spirited, with a bearing that dazzles the eye. Her representative works include Hong Lou Meng (Dream of the Red Chamber), Xi Xiang Ji (The Romance of the Western Chamber), Chun Xiang Zhuan (The Story of Chunxiang), Zhui Yu (Chasing the Fish) and Bei Di Wang (The King of Beidi). Representative inheritor of Yue opera in the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects; first-class performer.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Mao Weitao 02-0564
• Dong Kedi 02-0565
• Yuan Xuefen 02-0566
• Xu Yulan 02-0567
• Fu Quanxiang 02-0568
• Wang Wenjuan 02-0569
• Fan Ruijuan 02-0570
• Zhang Guifeng 02-0571
• Jin Caifeng 03-1039
• Lvruiying 03-1040
• Bi Chunfang 03-1041
• Qian Huili 05-2362
• Wang Junan 05-2363
• Fang Yafen
• Wu Fenghua

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Yueju (Shaoxing Opera) (Shanghai) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Yuan Xuefen · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Xu Yulan · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗