Mulian Opera
01 · Historical Records
It flourished mainly in spring and autumn, with such occasions as the “rice-abundance play” (autumn harvest), the “hall play” (organised by the clan, once every five or ten years), the “temple-fair play” (for pilgrimage to Mount Jiuhua), peace plays and incense plays (for vow fulfilment). Drawing on local materials, Huizhou Mulian opera flourished in spring and autumn with such occasions as the rice-abundance, hall, temple-fair, peace and incense plays, performed in Qimen, Huining, Shitai, Wuyuan and Shexian.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Mulian opera is an operatic performance preserved within folk activities, named for its main portrayal of the story of Mulian saving his mother. The story first appears in Buddhist scripture, its content roughly as follows: Fu Xiang spent his life relieving the orphaned and poor and giving alms to monks and Daoists, and after ascending to heaven was ennobled. His wife Liu Qingti (also called Liu Siniang) disrespected the gods, broke the precepts and slaughtered animals, and after death was cast into the underworld. Her son Fu Luobo went west to seek the Buddha's deliverance for his mother; moved by him, the Buddha allowed him to enter the monastic order, renamed him Mahamaudgalyayana and gave him the Ullambana Sutra and a tin staff. Mulian endured every danger in hell and finally found his mother, the family being reunited and ascending. Over several centuries, tempered by countless artists, Mulian opera, with its vast and varied dramatic forms, all-embracing performance means, deeply accumulated musical material and its staging blending scene and feeling with audience interaction, was performed without cease among the people and once spread widely across Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Shanxi, Fujian and Henan. In the Wanli reign of the Ming, Zheng Zhizhen of Qingxi, Qimen, Anhui, wrote the Newly Compiled Mulian Saving His Mother Exhortation-to-Virtue Playscript on the basis of earlier zaju, transformed texts and legend. Once produced, Zheng's Mulian opera spread widely in Qimen, Xiuning, Shitai, Wuyuan and Shexian. Qimen Mulian opera originally had no fixed venue; it marked the beat with a drum and was accompanied by gongs and cymbals without wind or string instruments, using suona only for birthday celebrations. Its basic singing is archaic, being the “Huizhou–Chizhou elegant tune” popular around Huizhou in the mid-Ming, that is, Huizhou qiang and Qingyang qiang, retaining the “rolling tune” feature. Roles are divided into sheng, dan, mo, jing, za and jin, with such facial designs as ghost face, marked face and painted face. Its performance absorbs techniques of folk martial arts and acrobatics—walking the rope, jumping through hoops, leaping through fire, leaping through swords, kicking the table and tumbling—skilfully woven into the plot as special martial-play moves and laying the foundation for the martial performance of the later Hui troupes. Performing troupes were mostly organised by clan, a troupe composed entirely of people of the same clan, outsiders not admitted. It has two forms of performance: actors performing directly, called “great Mulian”, and actors manipulating puppets while singing, called “entrusted Mulian”. Performance lasted one, four, seven or ten days. Qimen Mulian opera marks the beat with a drum and is accompanied by gongs and cymbals without wind or string instruments, its singing retaining the “rolling tune” of Huizhou and Qingyang qiang, and its rope-walking, hoop-jumping and fire-leaping feats laid the foundation for the martial plays of the later Hui troupes.
Newly Compiled Mulian Saving His Mother Exhortation-to-Virtue Playscript (Zheng Zhizhen's version)
The Mulian playscript written by Zheng Zhizhen of Qingxi, Qimen, in the Wanli reign of the Ming; once produced it spread widely in Qimen, Xiuning, Shitai, Wuyuan and Shexian.
Great Mulian (Actors Perform Directly)
One of the two forms of Mulian opera performance, in which actors perform the characters directly.
Entrusted Mulian (Puppet Performance with Singing)
One of the two forms of Mulian opera performance, in which actors manipulate puppets while singing.
Rice-Abundance, Hall, Temple-Fair, Peace and Incense Plays
The occasions of Huizhou Mulian opera performance, flourishing mainly in spring and autumn and corresponding to the autumn harvest, clan halls, pilgrimage to Mount Jiuhua and vow fulfilment.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Huizhou Mulian opera is popular in Qimen, Xiuning, Shitai, Wuyuan and Shexian; its performances are mostly bound up with clan sacrifice, temple fairs and vow fulfilment, and troupes are mostly organised by clan, outsiders not admitted, with the Qimen county cultural centre as the project's protection body.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Wang Changsong (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in 1956 in Qimen, Anhui. He is a representative inheritor of Mulian opera (Huizhou Mulian opera) in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. Wang Changsong studied under his father Wang Sanyi and has performed Mulian opera for more than twenty years, familiar with all the roles and the most respected transmitter locally; he has long worked at transmitting Mulian opera and has disciples including Wang Hanmin and Chen Heli. Ye Yangzi (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in 1939 in Qimen, Anhui. He is a representative inheritor of Mulian opera (Huizhou Mulian opera) in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. In 1958 Ye Yangzi followed his master Ye Ancheng in the Mashan Mulian troupe to learn the “Jinnu” role and to this day mainly teaches the roles of Fu Luobo, Liu-shi, Guanyin and Jinnu; he is one of the more prestigious transmitters of the Mashan Mulian troupe and plays a bridging role in the development of Qimen Mulian opera. Qimen Mulian opera marks the beat with a drum and is accompanied by gongs and cymbals without wind or string instruments, its singing retaining the “rolling tune” of Huizhou and Qingyang qiang, and its rope-walking, hoop-jumping and fire-leaping feats laid the foundation for the martial plays of the later Hui troupes, giving it important value for operatic history.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wangzhangsong 02-0647
- Ye Yangzi 02-0648
- Zhou Jianbin 02-0649
- Xie Yaowen 02-0650
- Zhang Zhanliang 02-0651
- He Shuge 02-0652
- Wang Qiulai 05-2396
- Zou Lili 05-2397
- Tian Min
- Wang Shilong
- Ye Zhengchu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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