Yigougou
01 · Historical Records
From 1962 to 1965 it staged several modern plays in succession. Drawing on the Shandong volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu, “yigougou” evolved from the drum yangge of the Gaotang area and takes its name from the yiyou or yihou cry in its singing; in the 1950s amateur troupes performed around Linyi, and from 1962 to 1965 several modern plays were staged.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Gaotang drum yangge is a folk singing art in which the singer carried a flower drum at the waist, beating and singing it himself, later developing into stage performance and adopting the sihu as accompaniment and becoming an operatic form, known as “four strings”. Its roles include qingyi, huadan, husheng, xiaosheng and painted-face chou. “Yigougou” opera is archaic in form; its actors are mostly scattered folk artists, generally organising performances in the slack farming seasons of spring and winter. The actors farm by day—hired labour, hoeing weeds—and sing at night, so villagers often call them the “hoeing troupe”, and they frequently perform at village markets and festivals. Yigougou comes from “yi’ouhou”: because its singing carries a yiyou or yihou, over time people came to say “yigougou”. “Yigougou” has more than seventy traditional plays, mainly Dong Qin, Xi Qin, Zuo Lou Sha Xi, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, Hu Lin Qiang Qin, San Jinshi and Nü Fuma. Its singing, building on the drum yangge, adds four-string accompaniment and forms a drum-opera character that is strongly narrative and brisk in rhythm; its traditional plays are mostly drawn from folk story and family life, and among the seventy or more are long story plays such as Dong Qin and Xi Qin and life sketches.
Dong Qin (Eastern Qin)
A long story play among yigougou's more than seventy traditional plays.
Xi Qin (Western Qin)
A long story play among yigougou's more than seventy traditional plays.
Zuo Lou Sha Xi (Sitting in the Chamber, Killing Xijiao)
A traditional yigougou play.
Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai
A traditional yigougou play on the well-known lovers' legend.
Hu Lin Qiang Qin (Hu Lin Seizes a Bride)
A traditional yigougou play.
San Jinshi (The Three Graduates)
A traditional yigougou play.
Nü Fuma (The Female Bridegroom)
A traditional yigougou play.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
“Yigougou” is a local genre evolved from the drum yangge of the Gaotang area. It centres on Linyi, Gaotang and Yucheng and is a representative genre of the Shandong drum-opera system; local differences of dialect and lineage give slight variations in melody and filler words, but the archaic manner of the drum yangge is preserved throughout.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
“Yigougou” has a broad popular base, a distinctive musical style and strongly local-coloured repertory, and is a fairly typical genre of the drum-opera system with aesthetic and academic value among others; facing a lack of transmitters, the Linyi county cultural centre sustains the genre through recording and collation, amateur troupe performance and opera-in-schools.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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