Caicha Opera
01 · Historical Records
Gannan tea-picking opera originated in the area around Jiulong Mountain in Anyuan County, Jiangxi Province, and has a history of more than three hundred years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Gannan tea-picking opera is popularly known as "dengzi xi" (lantern play) or "chalan xi" (tea-blue play). It is the most representative variety among the Jiangxi tea-picking operas, and Tian Han praised it as "an unusual flower in the hundred-flower garden of Chinese theatre". It grew out of folk song-and-dance; its subject matter is close to everyday life and its language is witty and humorous. It has more than 280 traditional tune patterns, which, according to their origin, style, string-band line, mode and usage, fall into four groups: "tea tunes" (chaxiang), "lantern tunes" (dengxiang), "road tunes" (luxiang) and "miscellaneous tunes" (zadiao). In performance the actors, over the accompaniment, deftly employ characteristic movements such as the short-statured step (aizibu), the fan flourish (shanzihua), the single long water sleeve and a number of gestures imitating animal forms; they sing as they dance, displaying a rich local flavour and a marked Hakka character. The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang. After the founding of the People's Republic of China a further batch of fine plays appeared, among which Chatong Xizhu was filmed by the Shanghai Film Studio as an opera film and shown nationwide; the newly written modern tea-picking plays Zenme Tan Bulong and Fengyu Jiemeihua were also in turn brought to the screen.
Nanshan Gengtian (Ploughing the Fields at Nanshan)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Dazhu Cao (Cutting Pigweed)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Jiulongshan Zhai Cha (Picking Tea on Jiulong Mountain)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Meizi (The Girl)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Tongnian (Childhood Companion)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Diao (Fishing)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Shang Guangdong (Going to Guangdong)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Mai Huaxian (Selling Flower Thread)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Da Quanfu (Persuading the Husband)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Si Jie Fanqing (The Fourth Sister Renounces Love)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Bu Pixie (Mending Shoes)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Bu Gang (Mending the Crock)
The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.
Chatong Xizhu (The Tea Boy Teases His Master)
After the founding of the People's Republic of China a further batch of fine plays appeared, among which Chatong Xizhu was filmed by the Shanghai Film Studio as an opera film and shown nationwide; the newly written modern tea-picking plays Zenme Tan Bulong and Fengyu Jiemeihua were also in turn brought to the screen.
Zenme Tan Bulong (How the Talks Failed)
After the founding of the People's Republic of China a further batch of fine plays appeared, among which Chatong Xizhu was filmed by the Shanghai Film Studio as an opera film and shown nationwide; the newly written modern tea-picking plays Zenme Tan Bulong and Fengyu Jiemeihua were also in turn brought to the screen.
Fengyu Jiemeihua (Sister Flowers in Wind and Rain)
After the founding of the People's Republic of China a further batch of fine plays appeared, among which Chatong Xizhu was filmed by the Shanghai Film Studio as an opera film and shown nationwide; the newly written modern tea-picking plays Zenme Tan Bulong and Fengyu Jiemeihua were also in turn brought to the screen.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It formed gradually on the basis of the Jiulong tea lantern (Jiulong chadeng), absorbing the other folk arts of southern Jiangxi; it circulates mainly in southern Jiangxi, northern Guangdong and western Fujian, and for a time also spread to the southern part of Guangxi. Southern Jiangxi is a settlement area of the Hakka people. After the Hakka ancestors settled there they made their living by picking tea, and tea-picking opera, as a local play known in every household and loved by everyone, has become an artistic bond that gathers the Hakka people's hearts and unites Hakka kinsmen; it is important material for the study of Hakka language, art and folk culture.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Caicha Opera · Caicha Opera · Caicha Opera · Caicha Opera · Caicha Opera · Caicha Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present most Gannan tea-picking opera troupes lack staff for scripting, composing, performing and research; some Gannan tea-picking plays survive only through the singing of old artists, and the number of artists who can sing tea-picking opera keeps falling, so protective measures must be taken. Chen Binmao (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han nationality, born in October 1946, native of Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province. National second-grade director. At the age of 13 he was admitted to the Gannan Arts School, where he studied under old artists such as Kuang Gonghai, Xie Desheng and Lin Shenghao, inheriting the essence of tea-picking opera in a relatively complete way. In 2010 he took part in the filming of the CCTV television feature Changjiang Xihua zhi Ganjiang Goyun (A Talk on Yangtze Drama: Ancient Charm of the Gan River). Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Caicha Opera (Gannan tea-picking opera). In 1999 he was awarded the first Gannan Hakka Arts Education Fund Award. In 2005 he received the First Prize for Compilation Results for his outstanding contribution to the compilation of the Jiangxi volume of the national collection of ten major arts integration records. The Jiangxi Gannan tea-picking teaching model course he compiled and choreographed won the Contribution Award for Protecting Traditional Dance Culture at the ninth Taoli Cup Dance Competition in 2009. He has taught at institutions such as the Beijing Dance Academy, and has warmly devoted himself to training artistic talent.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Shengqiang 02-0595
- Li Jiagao 03-1057
- Chen Binmao 04-1647
- Wan Anan 04-1648
- Wu Yancheng 04-1649
- Peng Jinhua 05-2376
- Wu Lan
- Chu Fengrong
- Fei Lijun
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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