Huangmei Opera
01 · Historical Records
Huangmei opera took shape around the Jiaqing reign of the Qing dynasty. It has exerted broad influence throughout China and enjoys considerable renown overseas. The Dictionary of Chinese Opera and Folk Art, in its entry on 'Huangmei tea-picking drama', records: 'The Huangmei tea-picking songs of Hubei, combined with stilt-walking, daoqing and other folk song-and-dance forms, developed and changed over a long period, and Huangmei tea-picking drama came into being around the Jiaqing reign of the Qing dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Huangmei opera, originally called 'Huangmei diao' or 'tea-picking drama', is one of China's local opera genres. It circulates mainly in Hubei and Anhui provinces, and is also found in other provinces and regions. The vocal music of Huangmei opera is mellow and flowing, distinguished by its brightness and lyricism, and it has rich expressive power. Its vocal system is divided into three categories: the principal vocal system, the 'flower' vocal system and the three-section system. The principal vocal system is the one commonly used in the traditional full-length plays. In the course of development, its musical accompaniment passed through such stages as 'vocal chorus accompaniment' and 'three beaten, seven sung'; after 1949 it was formally established as an accompaniment system with the gaohu as its principal instrument. The performance of Huangmei opera has an artistic style that is plain and meticulous, fresh and natural, and rich in the flavour of everyday life. Its role types developed from the 'three little plays' and are divided into the formal sheng, small dan, xiaosheng, huadan, small chou, laodan, laosheng, painted face, martial female (daomadan), martial painted face (wu'erhua) and others. Although the roles are divided, an actor may also play roles outside his or her own line. Huangmei opera has a rich repertory and a wide range of subjects. In former times it was said to have 'thirty-six full plays and seventy-two short plays'; roughly 300 plays (or short plays) survive today, the most representative being Tianxian Pei (The Fairy Couple), Nü Fuma (The Female Bridegroom), Niulang Zhinü (The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl), Fuqi Guandeng (Husband and Wife Watching Lanterns), Da Zhucao (Gathering Pigweed) and Fang Miansha (Spinning Cotton Yarn). Huangmei opera flourished in eastern Hubei during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty. As it spread to surrounding regions it continually absorbed and fused elements from them, and through four stages — the one-act play, the 'three little plays', 'three beaten, seven sung', and accompaniment by wind-and-string orchestra — it became a genre of considerable influence. Professional troupes stage about 2,000 performances of various kinds every year, with audiences running into the millions. As a highly integrated form of traditional dramatic art, Huangmei opera both carries the stylised, formulaic character of Chinese opera performance and bears the human history, folk customs and artistic flavour of the Hubei-Anhui region. Through song-and-dance stories that ordinary people enjoy, it reflects their ideals and life aspirations, discloses good and evil, instructs through entertainment and expresses feeling through reason, giving it considerable social, cultural and artistic value.
Tianxian Pei (The Fairy Couple)
Huangmei opera has a rich repertory and a wide range of subjects. In former times it was said to have 'thirty-six full plays and seventy-two short plays'; roughly 300 plays (or short plays) survive today, the most representative being Tianxian Pei (The Fairy Couple), Nü Fuma (The Female Bridegroom), Niulang Zhinü (The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl), Fuqi Guandeng (Husband and Wife Watching Lanterns), Da Zhucao (Gathering Pigweed) and Fang Miansha (Spinning Cotton Yarn).
Nü Fuma (The Female Bridegroom)
Huangmei opera has a rich repertory and a wide range of subjects. In former times it was said to have 'thirty-six full plays and seventy-two short plays'; roughly 300 plays (or short plays) survive today, the most representative being Tianxian Pei (The Fairy Couple), Nü Fuma (The Female Bridegroom), Niulang Zhinü (The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl), Fuqi Guandeng (Husband and Wife Watching Lanterns), Da Zhucao (Gathering Pigweed) and Fang Miansha (Spinning Cotton Yarn).
Niulang Zhinü (The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl)
Huangmei opera has a rich repertory and a wide range of subjects. In former times it was said to have 'thirty-six full plays and seventy-two short plays'; roughly 300 plays (or short plays) survive today, the most representative being Tianxian Pei (The Fairy Couple), Nü Fuma (The Female Bridegroom), Niulang Zhinü (The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl), Fuqi Guandeng (Husband and Wife Watching Lanterns), Da Zhucao (Gathering Pigweed) and Fang Miansha (Spinning Cotton Yarn).
Fuqi Guandeng (Husband and Wife Watching Lanterns)
Huangmei opera has a rich repertory and a wide range of subjects. In former times it was said to have 'thirty-six full plays and seventy-two short plays'; roughly 300 plays (or short plays) survive today, the most representative being Tianxian Pei (The Fairy Couple), Nü Fuma (The Female Bridegroom), Niulang Zhinü (The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl), Fuqi Guandeng (Husband and Wife Watching Lanterns), Da Zhucao (Gathering Pigweed) and Fang Miansha (Spinning Cotton Yarn).
Da Zhucao (Gathering Pigweed)
Huangmei opera has a rich repertory and a wide range of subjects. In former times it was said to have 'thirty-six full plays and seventy-two short plays'; roughly 300 plays (or short plays) survive today, the most representative being Tianxian Pei (The Fairy Couple), Nü Fuma (The Female Bridegroom), Niulang Zhinü (The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl), Fuqi Guandeng (Husband and Wife Watching Lanterns), Da Zhucao (Gathering Pigweed) and Fang Miansha (Spinning Cotton Yarn).
Fang Miansha (Spinning Cotton Yarn)
Huangmei opera has a rich repertory and a wide range of subjects. In former times it was said to have 'thirty-six full plays and seventy-two short plays'; roughly 300 plays (or short plays) survive today, the most representative being Tianxian Pei (The Fairy Couple), Nü Fuma (The Female Bridegroom), Niulang Zhinü (The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl), Fuqi Guandeng (Husband and Wife Watching Lanterns), Da Zhucao (Gathering Pigweed) and Fang Miansha (Spinning Cotton Yarn).
Shuang Xia Shan (Two Descend the Mountain)
Of these, the nine state-owned professional troupes are the main force of transmission, employing more than 500 performing and creative staff in total and creating a large number of fine Huangmei plays, among which Shuang Xia Shan (Two Descend the Mountain), Wei Liao Qing (Unfinished Love) and Mei Wa Yao Guo He (The Little Sister Crossing the River) have enjoyed considerable influence nationwide.
Wei Liao Qing (Unfinished Love)
Of these, the nine state-owned professional troupes are the main force of transmission, employing more than 500 performing and creative staff in total and creating a large number of fine Huangmei plays, among which Shuang Xia Shan (Two Descend the Mountain), Wei Liao Qing (Unfinished Love) and Mei Wa Yao Guo He (The Little Sister Crossing the River) have enjoyed considerable influence nationwide.
Mei Wa Yao Guo He (The Little Sister Crossing the River)
Of these, the nine state-owned professional troupes are the main force of transmission, employing more than 500 performing and creative staff in total and creating a large number of fine Huangmei plays, among which Shuang Xia Shan (Two Descend the Mountain), Wei Liao Qing (Unfinished Love) and Mei Wa Yao Guo He (The Little Sister Crossing the River) have enjoyed considerable influence nationwide.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Its bearers of transmission fall into three groups: state-owned professional troupes, privately run troupes and village amateur companies.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Huangmei Opera · Huangmei Opera · Huangmei Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In Hubei Province, Huangmei opera is transmitted mainly through master-and-apprentice succession and through institutional education, carried forward on the basis of performance practice. Of these, the nine state-owned professional troupes are the main force of transmission, employing more than 500 performing and creative staff in total and creating a large number of fine Huangmei plays, among which Shuang Xia Shan (Two Descend the Mountain), Wei Liao Qing (Unfinished Love) and Mei Wa Yao Guo He (The Little Sister Crossing the River) have enjoyed considerable influence nationwide.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Han Zaifen 02-0584
- Zhao Yuanyuan 02-0585
- Huang Xinde 02-0586
- Zhou Hongnian 02-0587
- Wu Yaling 04-1646
- Yang Jun 05-2371
- Zhang Hui
- Wang Qin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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