Buyi Opera

01 · Historical Records

Bouyei opera is called 'guyi' in the Bouyei language. It grew out of the eight-tone seated-singing (bayan zoutan) and bench-drama (bandeng xi) traditions, shaped by the influence of Han, Zhuang and Miao opera, and is performed by singing Bouyei tunes in the Bouyei language. It is distributed mainly over Ceheng County, Anlong County, Xingyi and other counties of southern and southwestern Guizhou where the Bouyei people live in compact settlements. A troupe generally numbers more than thirty people and is based on a natural village; the master actor (xishi) serves as its head (bantou). Every year during the Spring Festival each troupe is obliged to perform for its own village, or for villages that have no troupe of their own, to avert calamity and pray for blessing and to drive away ghosts and pestilence; this performance obligation is the village institution by which Bouyei opera has been handed down.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Bouyei opera grew out of the eight-tone seated-singing (bayan zoutan) and bench-drama (bandeng xi) traditions, shaped by the influence of Han, Zhuang and Miao opera, and is performed by singing Bouyei tunes in the Bouyei language. The musical tunes of Bouyei opera include Jingdiao (Capital Tune), Qiluodiao (Rise-and-Fall Tune), Fanyandiao (Re-enacting Tune), Madaoling (Harness-Bell Tune), Zhengdiao (Correct Tune), Changdiao (Long Tune), Bapudiao (Eight-Register Tune), Fandiao (Contrary Tune), Wudashengguan Diao (Martial Ranking Tune), Guochangdiao (Scene-Change Tune), Daochadiao (Pouring-Tea Tune) and Chijiudiao (Drinking-Wine Tune), and so on. The accompanying instruments mainly include the jianzi huqin, the puzi huqin, the flute, the short xiao, the wooden leaf, the sanxian, the pipa, the yueqin, together with the large gong, the large cymbals, the drum, the wooden fish, the baobao gong and the small horse gong. Bouyei opera follows a fixed procedure in performance, generally made up of the sacrifice, inviting the patron saint to open the chest, lowering the Three Stars, striking the gong of official promotion, the main play, sweeping the stage and sealing the chest, of which the main play is the central part. The repertoire of the main play falls into two categories: plays of the ethnic group itself and transferred plays. Plays of the ethnic group itself mainly tell Bouyei legends and stories, such as the Third Day of the Third Month (Sanyuesan), the Sixth Day of the Sixth Month (Liuyueliu), Luo Xixing and Empty of Both Family and Wealth (Rencai Liangkong); both singing and spoken dialogue are in the Bouyei language, and the ethnic character is very rich. Transferred plays are taken mainly from Han folk stories, including Yutangchun (Spring in the Jade Hall), Mangshe Ji (The Python Record), Qin Xianglian and Zhu Yingtai (The Butterfly Lovers). They are performed bilingually: when a character comes on stage and recites the 'introduction' (yinzi), the 'settling-scene verse' (dingchangshi) or the 'self-introduction of family' (zibaojiamen), the speech is in Mandarin, while singing, dialogue and comic interlude (chake dahuan) are in the Bouyei language. Bouyei opera has a division into sheng, dan and chou roles as well as roles such as the great king and the great general; the stage movement of every role type turns on the spot after three or five steps, and the performers move in and out past one another during singing, so that the form is lively and the style plain and unadorned. A troupe generally numbers more than thirty people and is based on a natural village; the master actor serves as its head. Every year during the Spring Festival each troupe must perform for its own village, or for villages that have no troupe of their own, to avert calamity and pray for blessing and to drive away ghosts and pestilence.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Bouyei opera is called 'guyi' in the Bouyei language and is distributed mainly over Ceheng County, Anlong County, Xingyi and other counties where the Bouyei people live in compact settlements in southern and southwestern Guizhou Province.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Bouyei opera is handed down mainly by the amateur village troupes of the villages themselves. Bouyei opera has research value for historical studies, folklore studies, religious studies and operatic studies, and it once played an important part in enriching and perfecting Chinese culture. Today, however, Bouyei opera is seldom to be seen, because many Bouyei performers are already advanced in years and suitable successors are hard to find, so those able to perform it are growing fewer. Luo Guozong (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): male, Bouyei, born in 1926, native of Ceheng County, Guizhou Province. The dozen-odd modern plays such as The Prosperity of the Luo Family (Luoshi Sheng) and Li Buchang the Blacksmith (Li Buchang Datie) that he created, directed and performed were deeply loved and warmly praised by the common people. Representative inheritor of Bouyei opera, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second batch. He was the first old artist in Bouyei opera to absorb and apply the caitiao vocal styles in directing and staging plays, and he trained in turn such Bouyei 'guyi' artists as Wang Anxiu, Qin Songfang and Qin Zhonghai. Huang Chaobin (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Huang Chaobin began in 1934 to learn his craft as a disciple of a master actor of the eighth generation; he was proficient in such roles as 'young female', 'young male', 'civil official' and 'martial fighter', and was skilled in playing the erhu, an accompanying instrument of Bouyei opera. Male, Bouyei, born in 1926, died in 2008, native of Ceheng County, Guizhou Province. Representative inheritor of Bouyei opera, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second batch. He headed a troupe, and the dozen-odd plays he directed and rehearsed, such as King Wuxian Makes Merry at the Lantern Festival (Wuxianwang Naohua Deng) and The Turning-the-Road Tune (Zhuanlu Diao), took part many times in artistic exchanges held by the state, the province and the cities; he also trained the successors to the ninth- and tenth-generation Bouyei costume-drama 'guyi' master actors.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Luo Guozong 02-0642
• Huang Chaobin 02-0643
• Huang Chengzhen 05-2395

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Buyi Opera (Ceheng, Guizhou) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Luo Guozong · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Huang Chaobin · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗