Hua Lantern Opera

01 · Historical Records

Hua lantern opera originated in the folk flower-lantern song-and-dance and is a form of local opera that took shape in the late Qing and early Republican period. Yunnan hua lantern opera originated in the folk flower-lantern song-and-dance and is a local opera that took shape in the late Qing and early Republican period and became popular in Yunnan. The most flourishing period of Yunnan hua lantern opera was from the 1950s to the 1960s of the 20th century. In that period not only did a batch of famous hua lantern opera actors such as Shi Baofeng, Xiong Jiechen and Yuan Liu'an emerge, but works renowned on the Yunnan opera stage also appeared, such as Tan Gan Mei (Visiting the Sworn Sister), Nao Du (Making Trouble at the Ferry), Liu Cheng Kan Cai (Liu Cheng Inspecting the Vegetables) and San Fang Qin (Three Marriage-proposal Visits).

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Hua lantern opera is a form of operatic art widely popular among the Han people. Its most prominent characteristic is that the hand never leaves the fan or the silk handkerchief, that singing and dancing are combined, and that singing and acting are closely joined together. In the course of its spread it was influenced by the speech sounds and the folk songs and ditties of different localities, and so different styles of singing and performance took shape. Yunnan hua lantern opera has three main branches, the Kunming hua lantern, the Yuxi hua lantern and the Yao'an hua lantern. The Kunming hua lantern preserves the largest number of Ming and Qing small tunes and Ming and Qing repertoire works, and its principal accompanying instrument is the huqin; the Yao'an hua lantern has a strong folk-song colour and is accompanied mainly by the dizi and the bangzi; the Yuxi hua lantern was the first to reform, so it is called the "new lantern", and its repertoire works and performance forms are strongly influenced by Dian opera. Yunnan hua lantern originally performed hua lantern small plays with a very strong song-and-dance component; later, under the influence of large plays such as Dian opera, when hua lantern opera artists were improving repertoire works with comparatively intricate and complicated plots they also absorbed relevant tunes, modifying, extending and reworking them, and established the new tunes of hua lantern opera. The newly composed lantern tunes use a compositional method in which tunes are linked together; they have some of the characteristics of bantang music and are suitable for performing large traditional plays. Besides these, the tunes of Yunnan hua lantern opera also include various folk songs and ditties, which occupy an important position in the genre as a whole. Hua lantern opera attaches great importance to dancing. The basic characteristic of the dance in Yunnan hua lantern is the "wai" step, and among the people there is the saying that "without the wai there is no hua lantern". The wai step is always accompanied by movements of the hands, whose concrete expression is the various transformations of the props in the hand and of the "flower in the hand" and "fan flower" of the fan. The song-and-dance in hua lantern opera helps to set off the plot and to enrich the characters' personalities. Xiong Jiechen was one of the earlier artists who first brought the "winnowing-basket lantern" performed on the threshing ground of the countryside onto the stage. He was skilled in the xiaosheng role and became famous for playing Liang Shanbo in Shan Bo Fang You (Mountainsome Visits His Friend) and Xu Xian in Bai She Zhuan (The White Snake), and his performance carries a strong local flavour of Yuxi, Yunnan.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

In the course of its spread it was influenced by the local dialects, folk songs and customs of each place, and so different styles of singing and performance took shape.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Hua Lantern Opera · Hua Lantern Opera · Hua Lantern Opera · Hua Lantern Opera · Hua Lantern Opera · Hua Lantern Opera · Hua Lantern Opera.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

In recent years hua lantern opera in each locality has faced the same difficulties as other traditional operatic arts: theatre performances are steadily decreasing, troupes are short of funds, new repertoire works are difficult to create and stage, and among the younger generation there is a dearth of authors, directors and performers able to carry the art on. Urgent measures are needed to rescue and protect hua lantern opera as a genre with distinctive local features. Li Hongyuan (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in 1937, a native of Yuxi, Yunnan. After entering the Yuxi City hua lantern opera troupe in 1955, Li Hongyuan was taught by such masters as Xue Guoxing, Yang Jiongming and Ouyang Zhang, and served in turn as an instrumentalist and as an actor. From the 1960s of the 20th century he began to work on hua lantern music composition, and from the 1970s he worked full-time as a composer and conductor. His compositions, while inheriting the style of Yuxi hua lantern music, absorb and fuse other musical materials to reform and develop it; the melodies he creates are full of the flavour of hua lantern and at the same time conform to the thoughts and feelings of the characters. His representative works include Mo Chou Nü (The Woman Who Has No Worries) and Jin Yin Hua · Zhu Li Ba (Honeysuckle and Bamboo Fence). Representative inheritor of hua lantern opera (Yuxi hua lantern opera) of the second national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects, and a national first-grade composer. Chen Keqin (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in 1935, a native of Yuxi, Yunnan. Chen Keqin joined the Yuxi People's Experimental Theatre in 1951, studying hua lantern vocal styles, script literature and instrumental accompaniment, and was taught by the old artists Xue Guoxing, Yang Jiongming and Wu Jiashun. He formed his own distinctive style of singing in hua lantern performance, especially in the hua lantern vocal style. At the same time he served as director, actor and orchestra accompanist of the troupe's hua lantern group (later renamed the hua lantern troupe), and afterwards in turn became head of the art troupe of the farm, head of the tutorial group of the mass art centre, and section chief of the mass literature section of the cultural bureau of the Yuxi regional administrative office. He retired in March 1995 and continued to be employed at the cultural bureau. Chen Keqin combines the abilities of playwright, performer and instrumentalist in one person; his representative works include Hui Sheng Bang (The Club That Brings Back to Life). Representative inheritor of hua lantern opera (Yuxi hua lantern opera) of the second national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Qin Zhifeng 02-0621
• Liu Fang 02-0622
• Li Hongyuan 02-0623
• Chen Keqin 02-0624
• Liu Shengyang 04-1657
• Shao Zhiqing 05-2389
• Chen Shenhua 05-2390

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Hua Lantern Opera (Yuxi, Yunnan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Li Hongyuan · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Chen Keqin · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗