Tibetan Opera

01 · Historical Records

Tibetan opera in the Tibet Autonomous Region is the parent body of the art, and it was carried far and wide to the Tibetan-speaking areas of the four provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan by monks who came to study in the great monasteries of central Tibet and by pilgrims; this produced branches such as Huangnan Tibetan opera in Qinghai, Gannan Tibetan opera in Gansu and Seda Tibetan opera in Sichuan. Tibetan opera originated in the religious art of the Tibetans in the 8th century. After the 1980s the Qinghai Tibetan Opera Troupe was established at Huangnan, where it created and performed outstanding plays such as Yile Xiannu, The Envoy of the Tibetan King and The Golden Dawn, which had a considerable influence at home and abroad.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Tibetan opera is also performed in the Tibetan settlements of countries such as India, Bhutan and Sikkim. The Tibetan name of the art is Lhamo, meaning 'celestial maiden'. According to legend, Tibetan opera was first performed by the Seven Sisters, and because the content of its repertoire is largely made up of mythological stories drawn from Buddhist scriptures, the name Lhamo came to be used. In the 17th century it separated from monastic religious ritual and gradually formed a naturalistic performance based mainly on singing, combining the basic formulae of singing (chang), chanting (song), dancing (wu), acting (biao), speech (bai) and technique (ji). The vocal style of Tibetan opera is high-pitched and sonorous; basically the tune is set for each individual performer, and every line of song is supported by accompanying human voices. Tibetan opera was originally a plaza (open-air) drama, accompanied by nothing but a drum and a pair of cymbals, with no other instruments. The traditional repertoire of Tibetan opera is said to comprise 'thirteen great plays'. Those most frequently performed are Princess Wencheng, King Nuosang, Langsa Wenbang, Zhuowa Sangmu, Sujinima, Baima Wenba, Dunyue Danzhu, Zhimei Gengdeng and the other works grouped under the name 'the Eight Great Tibetan Operas'. Besides these there are Reqiong Wa (Riqiong Wa), Prince Yuncheng, Jingba Qinbao, Deba Dengba, Suibai Wangqu and the like; most of these plays contain Buddhist content. Costumes in Tibetan opera consist of a single set from beginning to end; performers do not wear makeup and perform mainly in masks. Tibetan opera is divided into white-mask opera and blue-mask opera. The annual Shoton Festival is the time when opera troupes flock to perform, so the Shoton is also called the 'Tibetan opera festival'. New repertoire brought fresh vitality to Huangnan Tibetan opera. In the accompaniment to Yile Xiannu, for example, Tibetan traditional instruments such as the six-stringed lute are combined with a large modern mixed orchestra based mainly on folk instruments; while providing atmospheric music for the interludes, it can also accompany the vocal lines directly, changing the situation in which, in Tibetan opera in Tibet, the drum and cymbals served only to keep the rhythm of dancing and stage movement and very rarely accompanied the singing. The improved sets and stage art of Huangnan Tibetan opera are magnificent and splendid, full of wonder and elegance, and refreshing to the eye and ear. Tibetan opera has a long history and a meticulous set of performing formulae, and it occupies an irreplaceable position in the spiritual life of the Tibetan people. Because it is bound by strict religious and divine rules, Tibetan opera received little influence from Han culture in the course of its development, and both its performing content and its form preserve more of their original appearance; it therefore has extremely high academic value in fields such as the genesis of drama. At the same time, the scripts of Tibetan opera represent a peak of Tibetan literature: they lay weight both on musical cadence and on artistic conception, make extensive use of maxims, proverbs and idioms, and even interweave allegorical stories into the plot, preserving the essence of the language of ancient Tibetan literature. The renowned Yalong Zhaxi Xueba is an outstanding representative of white-mask Tibetan opera in Tibet. In the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Yalong Zhaxi Xueba was required to go to Lhasa every year to take part in the Tibetan opera performances of the 'Drepung Shoton' and to serve out its Tibetan opera term of service. During this period it also had to perform at the various monasteries of Lhasa and at the residences of some officials of the Tibetan local government. Every year on the fourth day of the first Tibetan month (during the Tibetan New Year) it performed at Gyasang Monastery. The drum and cymbal accompaniment, vocal style and costume of Yalong Zhaxi Xueba differ from those of other Tibetan opera in Tibet. In the course of the performance the cry 'Ai ha ha ha' represents the scene in which Thangtong Gyalpo, the founder of Tibetan opera, laughed with satisfaction on seeing the Tibetan opera he had created himself.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Tibetan opera is a very large system of theatrical genres. Because the various parts of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau differ in natural conditions, living customs, cultural traditions and dialect pronunciation, it possesses numerous artistic varieties and schools. A performance is generally divided into three parts: the first, called 'dun', is chiefly the opening presentation of song and dance in honour of the deities; the second, 'xiong', mainly presents the main story of the play; the third is called 'zhaxi', meaning to bless and to welcome auspiciousness. In the course of its transmission, blue-mask opera formed four major schools according to region: Jumelong Tibetan opera, Jongba Tibetan opera, Xiangba Tibetan opera and Jianggar Tibetan opera. Its name is made up of five highly auspicious local names, namely: Zhaxi Xueba (village name), Zhaxi Tuomen (village name), Zhaxi Sangba (bridge name), Zhaxi Zi (district name) and Zhaxi Qudeng (monastery name).

Other submitting regions for the same item: Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera · Tibetan Opera.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

After the peaceful liberation of Tibet, the autonomous region government established the Tibet Autonomous Region Tibetan Opera Troupe on the basis of the former Jumelong troupe, taking on the task of inheriting and developing Tibetan opera. It first collated and performed traditional plays such as Langsa Wenbang, Princess Wencheng and Prince Nuosang, and also created and performed a number of plays on modern subjects; keeping the original open-air character of Tibetan opera as its base, the troupe went on to experiment with theatre and stage art, moving the art from the plaza onto the proscenium stage with lighting, scenery and makeup, and beginning to use orchestral accompaniment. In recent years, however, Tibetan opera, like the opera genres of the inland, has in the midst of change found itself in competition with modern art and forms of entertainment for audiences and for the performance market. The problems are lack of funding, the hard survival of troupes, a break in the succession of artistic talent, the loss of traditional performing skills and weak theoretical research. The crisis facing the development of Tibetan opera in each locality urgently calls for a plan to be drawn up to protect this ancient ethnic-minority genre. Danda (official archival record of the associated inheritor): male, Tibetan, born in 1944, a native of Deqing in Tibet. In Tibetan opera he has played such different roles as monk, deity and Buddha, boatman, demon and spirit; his representative works include Sujinima, Boma Wenba, Zhuowa Sangmu and others. He is a representative inheritor of Tibetan opera (Lhasa Jumelong), inscribed in the second national-level batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. Cidanduoji (official archival record of the associated inheritor): male, Tibetan, born in 1938, a native of Lhasa, Tibet. He has thoroughly and systematically mastered the various skills of Tibetan opera, with singing, directing and acting methods of a style all his own, and he has directed a number of newly composed Tibetan operas, such as Thangtong Gyalpo. He is a representative inheritor of Tibetan opera (Lhasa Jumelong), inscribed in the second national-level batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Danda 02-0625
• Cidanduoji 02-0626
• Langjieciren 02-0627
• Ciduo 02-0628
• Ciren 02-0629
• Cirenwangdui 02-0630
• Nimaciren 02-0631
• Gamaciren 02-0632
• Baimei 02-0633
• Renqingjia 02-0634
• Duojietai 02-0635
• Ouluxueba 04-1658
• Lixianjia 04-1659
• Taluo 05-2391
• Cairanghuadan 05-2392
• Duodan
• Biandianwangjiu
• Luosangzhaxi

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Tibetan Opera (Tibet) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Danda · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Cidanduoji · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗