Yangju Opera

01 · Historical Records

In the early 20th century it entered large cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou; in the 1950s and 1960s Yangju opera began to flourish, performances in Zhenjiang, Nanjing and Yangzhou enjoying a vogue for a time and forming a tripartite contest among the three cities.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Yangju opera was originally called Weiyang xi and is popularly known as Yangzhou xi; it is current in Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Nanjing and other places of Jiangsu Province and in parts of Anhui Province, and Yangju plays are also performed in Shanghai. Yangju opera is based on Huagui opera, a small folk song-and-dance play of Yangzhou, and on Xianghuo opera, performed by male shamans at the thanksgiving and deity-propitiation temple meetings of the folk of northern Jiangsu; absorbing Yangzhou qingqu, local folk songs and simple tunes, it gradually developed into an independent drama genre. The vocal music of Yangju opera belongs to the tune-pattern system and consists mainly of three parts: Huagui opera music, Xianghuo opera music, and Yangzhou qingqu together with xiao chang (short sung pieces). Its accompanying ensemble is divided into a wen chang (civil section) and a wu chang (martial section). The civil section mainly uses string and wind instruments such as the zhu hu, zheng gong, pipa, sanxian, yangqin, flute and suona; the martial section mainly uses percussion such as the ban drum, large gong, small gong, nao and bo, and hall drum. Although the role types of Yangju opera are divided into sheng, dan, jing and chou, the distinction is not strict; performers cover a wide range, and in the vocal line only a male style and a female style are distinguished. The performance of each role type draws largely on and absorbs the conventions of Kunqu, Beijing opera and the like, yet it always keeps the plain and lively character of Huagui opera, with a strong flavour of everyday life. Yangju opera has more than four hundred traditional repertoire works, the more influential of which include Yu Qingting (The Jade Dragonfly), Zhenzhu Ta (The Pearl Pagoda), Shen Tudì (The Trial of the Land God), Xiu Fu Yuan (The Embroidered Tally), Wang Zhaojun (Lady Zhaojun of the Han), Nao Deng Ji (The Trouble with the Lanterns), San Xi Bai Mudan (Three Plays of the White Peony), Ming Fu Yan (The Noble Lady's Feast), Qiaofu Yu Hua Nü (The Woodcutter and the Painted Maiden), Hongyan Chuanshu (Wild Geese Carrying a Letter) and Bai Sui Guashuai (The Hundred-Year-Old Takes Command).

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Yangju opera was originally called Weiyang xi and is popularly known as Yangzhou xi; it is current in Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Nanjing and other places of Jiangsu Province and in parts of Anhui Province. In the early 20th century it entered large cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou, and in the 1950s and 1960s it began to flourish, performances in Zhenjiang, Nanjing and Yangzhou enjoying a vogue for a time and forming a tripartite contest among the three cities. The Jiangsu Yangju Opera Troupe concentrates on the sorting out of traditional repertoire works and on the creation of newly adapted historical plays and modern plays, while the troupes of Yangzhou and Zhenjiang have their respective divisions of labour in the range of repertoire they present.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Yangju Opera · Yangju Opera.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Over the past ten years, under the impact of the pluralistic culture of modern society, people's aesthetic ideas have changed, so that the audience for Yangju opera has diminished, the performance market has contracted and the art survives with difficulty; in these circumstances it is necessary to formulate measures to strengthen the protection and support of Yangju opera. Jiang Jianfeng (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): He can play an enormous number of plays; over seventy years in the art he has performed every traditional repertoire work of Yangju opera. He took part in the creation, direction and performance of newly adapted historical plays and modern plays. In 1959 he went to Beijing for a reporting performance and was received by leaders of the Party and the state. Male, of Han ethnicity, born in June 1928, died in March 2012, native of Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. Representative inheritor of Yangju Opera, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the third batch. His representative repertoire works include Bai She Zhuan (The Legend of the White Snake), Bai Sui Guashuai (The Hundred-Year-Old Takes Command), Yuan Qiao Bai Du (Yuan Qiao Working the Ferry), Seng Ni Xia Shan (The Monk and the Nun Descend the Mountain), San Nu Shen Zi (Three Women Judge the Son), Zhu Hongwu yu Ma Niangniang (Zhu Hongwu and Lady Ma), Bao Gong Gao Zhuang (Bao Gong Files a Complaint) and Qingshan Hongmei (Green Hills, Red Plum Blossoms); he took part in the writing of Bai Sui Guashuai, and in 1954 he attended the first theatre review and performance convention of the East China Region, winning the second prize for acting performance. He trained a number of leading stars, principal young male roles and heads of troupes for the Jiangsu Yangju Opera Troupe and the Yangzhou Yangju Opera Troupe. Wu Huiming (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, of Han ethnicity, born in September 1946, native of Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. A national first-class performer. She works in the dan role type and studied under the noted Yangju performing artist Gao Xiuying, taking up the Gao school vocal style and inheriting such classic Gao school plays as Hongyan Chuanshu (Wild Geese Carrying a Letter) and Duan Taihou (The Dowager Empress Deposed). In carrying on the art of the Gao school she has paid attention to combining traditional singing with modern scientific vocal production, so as to form her own style of singing. She has starred in Gun (The Gun), Shanxiang Fengyun (Storm Clouds over the Mountain Village), Shanhua Lanman (Mountain Flowers in Full Bloom), Haigang (The Harbour), Enchou Ji (Record of Gratitude and Grudge), San Nu Shen Zi (Three Women Judge the Son) and Luopaji (The Silk Handkerchief), among others. Representative inheritor of Yangju Opera, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the third batch. In 1996 she won the honorary award at the first Jiangsu Youth Theatre Festival for starring in Muqinhe (Mother River), and in 1997 she won the performance award at the second Jiangsu Theatre Festival for playing Lady Sun in Wang Zhaojun (Lady Zhaojun of the Han). She takes an active interest in the growth of young actors and passes on her stage experience without reserve; she filmed the celebrated Gao school play Hongyan Chuanshu (Wild Geese Carrying a Letter) as teaching material, and it was used as a textbook of the Jiangsu Theatre School.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Li Kaimin 02-0578
• Wang Qin 02-0579
• Jiang Jianfeng 03-1046
• Wu Huiming 03-1047
• Xiaoronggui 03-1048
• Yao Gonglin 03-1049
• Xu Xiufang 05-2366
• Li Zhengcheng

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Yangju Opera (Yanyijituanyangjutuan, Jiangsu) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Jiang Jianfeng · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Wu Huiming · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗