Luju (Anhui) Opera

01 · Historical Records

Lu opera was originally called “daoqi xi”; it developed out of the mountain songs of the Dabie Mountains area of western Anhui, the menge songs of Hefei, the folk songs of the Chaohu Lake area and the huadeng song-and-dance of the Huai River region, absorbing the vocal styles of luogushu, duangong xi and haizi xi. Because its centre of creation and performance lay in central Anhui, historically under the administration of Luzhou, it was finally named Lu opera. With Hefei as the centre of the central road, it also carries the features of the upper-road shanqiang and the lower-road shuiqiang; it is bright and unpretentious, natural and fresh, and is one of the principal local vocal genres of Anhui Province.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Lu opera was originally called “daoqi xi” and is one of the principal local vocal genres of Anhui Province. It is popular over wide areas of central Anhui, western Anhui and the riverside areas of Anhui Province, as well as in parts of the region south of the Yangtze. The traditional repertoire of Lu opera falls into several kinds: full plays, excerpt plays and huaxiang short plays. The full plays take love stories and legal cases as their main content, the excerpt plays are the finest portions drawn out of the full plays, and the huaxiang short plays consist mainly of little comedies and farces. The more influential Lu opera plays include The Match at the Brocade Tower, The Chronicle of the Medicinal Tea, The Map of the Heavenly Treasure, The Chronicle of the Axe, Borrowing the Silken Robe, Beating the Reed Flower, Begging for School Fees, The Repudiation of Dingxiang, Xuemei Viewing the Painting, Releasing the Parrot and Selling the Silk Thread. The upper road centres on Lu'an; its music is rough and high-pitched, rising and falling, with the character of the mountains, and is called “shanqiang”. The lower road centres on Wuhu; its music is clear and graceful, delicate and even, showing the flavour of the water country, and is called “shuiqiang”. The central road centres on Hefei; its music combines the features of the upper and lower roads, bright and unpretentious, natural and fresh. The singing of Lu opera falls into two large classes, the principal melody and huaxiang. The principal melody is the main vocal style of the full plays and the excerpt plays; it can both narrate and express feeling, and is suited to the portrayal of complex emotions. Huaxiang consists mostly of folk ditties, light and lively, and is commonly used in the short plays. Lu opera has a rich variety of ban patterns; at the close of a ban there is often chorus support, the whole stage singing in unison, which is called “yaotai”. Traditional Lu opera has no orchestral accompaniment, using only gongs and drums for the opening, the interlude and the accompaniment, popularly called “a stage full of gongs and drums, half a stage of play”. The performance of early Lu opera was comparatively simple, being basically a combination of local ditties with folk dance, and the movements generally did not follow the plot. Performances mostly followed a scenario outline, with basically no fixed lines, largely using improvised linking words and stock phrases. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Lu opera underwent considerable reform in its performance art and in other respects. Lu opera is highly absorptive, inclusive and widely popular. In its singing it has taken in the music of local folk ditties, mountain songs, love songs and the Macheng “gaoqiang”; in its performance it has taken in the techniques of eastern Hubei's “huaguxi”, “duangong xi” and “haizi xi”; and the concepts and content of Buddhist, Taoist and other religious cultures have been blended into many of its plays.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Lu opera developed out of the mountain songs of the Dabie Mountains area of western Anhui, the menge songs of Hefei, the folk songs of the Chaohu Lake area and the huadeng song-and-dance of the Huai River region, absorbing the vocal styles of luogushu, duangong xi and haizi xi. Because its centre of creation and performance lay in central Anhui, historically under the administration of Luzhou, it was finally named Lu opera. Within Anhui Province, Lu opera has formed an upper road, a central road and a lower road according to region.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Luju (Anhui) Opera · Luju (Anhui) Opera.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

In this sense, Lu opera has certain historical, cultural, cognitive and artistic value. In recent years, as production and ways of life have changed, the trend towards diversified cultural needs has become ever more marked, and new forms of cultural entertainment have dealt a tremendous blow to traditional opera, so that the living space of Lu opera keeps shrinking and the number of troupes still able to perform full-length plays can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The rescue and protection of Lu opera should be placed on the agenda as soon as possible. Huang Bing (per the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, of the Han ethnic group, born in 1959, native of Wuhu, Anhui Province. His performance is mature, his technique and foundation solid, his voice full and rounded, and his use of the head voice and falsetto free and at will; he both inherits the traditional characteristics of Lu opera and brings new ideas and breakthroughs. His representative works include En Chou Ji, Fifteen Strings of Cash, Qin Xianglian and The Butterfly Lovers. He is a representative inheritor of Lu opera in the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects, deputy director of the Lu opera theatre of Hefei City, Anhui Province, and a national second-class actor. Ding Yulan (per the official dossier of an associated inheritor): a national first-class actor and an expert enjoying the special government allowance of the State Council. At the age of twelve she became a disciple of Guo Shilong, specialising in huadan and qingyi, and at eighteen her fame had spread throughout the Jianghuai region. After 1951 she became the leading huadan of the Lu opera troupe of Anhui Province. Her singing is clear, sweet and mellow, rich in elasticity; she is particularly outstanding in rendering the “nine modes and eighteen tunes” of Lu opera, and is honoured as the “queen of Lu opera”. In performance she combines dance movements and strengthens the dramatic plot, forming the “Ding school” art that swept the whole Jianghuai region. Her representative works include Borrowing the Silken Robe and Qin Xuemei Viewing the Painting. Female, of the Han ethnic group, born in August 1931, deceased in September 2025, native of Feidong County, Anhui Province. She is a representative inheritor of Lu opera in the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. She performed many times in Beijing and won awards. In 2003 she founded the Yulan Lu opera troupe, devoting herself to the dissemination and popularisation of Lu opera and training a group of outstanding new performers.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Huang Bing 02-0580
• Wu Keying 02-0581
• Ding Yulan 03-1050
• Sun Bangdong 03-1051
• Wu Daofang 05-2367

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Luju (Anhui) Opera (Hefei, Anhui) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Huang Bing · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Ding Yulan · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗