Mulian Opera · Chinese Craft Stories

01 · Historical Records

Throughout the more than five hundred years of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the performance of the great mulian play was always the most magnificent entertainment for the whole populace of the Chenhe area. Mulian opera is traditionally said to have been transmitted from Kaifeng to Nanle, Henan, in the Song dynasty. There is an orally transmitted mulian opera script in the folk of Nanle which, judging from its plot, ideological content and principal characters, carries on the direct line of the Tang-dynasty transformation text on mulian. Its vocal style was originally the huagu tune and was changed in the Qing dynasty to the daping tune.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Mulian opera is an operatic performance preserved within folk-custom activities; it takes its name from the fact that it mainly enacts the story of mulian rescuing his mother. The story of mulian rescuing his mother is first recorded in Buddhist scriptures, and its main content is roughly as follows: in his lifetime Fu Xiang gave wide relief to the poor and the destitute and provided alms and clothing to monks and Taoists, and after ascending to heaven he was granted a title. His wife, Liu Shi Qingti (also called Liu Siniang), did not honour the gods, broke the monastic precepts by killing living creatures, and after death was cast into the netherworld. Her son Fu Luobo, in order to save his mother, travelled to the Western Heaven to implore the Buddha to redeem her; the Buddha was moved by him, allowed him to take refuge in the Buddhist monastic order, renamed him Damujian (Great Mulian), and bestowed on him the Yulanpen Sutra and a monk's staff. Mulian endured all manner of hardships in hell and at last found his mother; the whole family was reunited and lifted up to the higher realm. Over several hundred years, refined by countless artists, mulian opera has kept flourishing in the folk thanks to its rich and varied dramatic forms, its all-inclusive range of performance means, its deeply accumulated musical materials and its staging that fuses scene and feeling and brings spectators and performers into interaction; for a time it circulated widely in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Shanxi, Fujian, Henan and other places. The principal repertoire work of Chenhe mulian opera is Mu Lian Zhuan (The Biography of Mulian). In long years of artistic practice the artists continually enlarged the range of repertoire works, drawing in Qian Mu Lian (Mulian Before), Liang Zhuan (The Biography of the Recluse), Xiang Shan (Xiangshan) and a series of works collectively called "hua mulian", thus forming a huge repertoire combination known as the "forty-eight mulian plays". Puyang mulian opera consists mainly of folk acrobatics and combines opera, martial arts, fireworks and magic; it has coloured stunts such as sawing a man in two, grinding, opening the belly and disembowelling, as well as dance movements such as pancha, guncha, the golden hook hanging the jade vase, playing with the water snake and digging at the four gates, and numerous boxing sets such as the vajra fists, the Wusong flower-gathering fists and the five-dragon fists; its costumes, props, makeup and performance are all distinctive. Because it is deeply hidden in the folk, it has even now preserved a rough and primitive aspect. However, mulian opera is now retained only in a few villages, the folk artists are growing old day by day, and very few people are willing to study it under them.

The Biography of Mulian

The principal repertoire work of Chenhe mulian opera is Mu Lian Zhuan (The Biography of Mulian).

Mulian Before

In long years of artistic practice the artists continually enlarged the range of repertoire works, drawing in Qian Mu Lian (Mulian Before), Liang Zhuan (The Biography of the Recluse), Xiang Shan (Xiangshan) and a series of works collectively called "hua mulian", thus forming a huge repertoire combination known as the "forty-eight mulian plays".

The Biography of the Recluse

In long years of artistic practice the artists continually enlarged the range of repertoire works, drawing in Qian Mu Lian (Mulian Before), Liang Zhuan (The Biography of the Recluse), Xiang Shan (Xiangshan) and a series of works collectively called "hua mulian", thus forming a huge repertoire combination known as the "forty-eight mulian plays".

Xiangshan

In long years of artistic practice the artists continually enlarged the range of repertoire works, drawing in Qian Mu Lian (Mulian Before), Liang Zhuan (The Biography of the Recluse), Xiang Shan (Xiangshan) and a series of works collectively called "hua mulian", thus forming a huge repertoire combination known as the "forty-eight mulian plays".

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Chenhe mulian opera is transmitted in the Chenhe area in the middle and upper reaches of the Yuanshui River in Hunan, with Xupu County as its centre; it is the complete form in which mulian opera has been preserved within the Chenhe gaoqiang system. Throughout the more than five hundred years of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the performance of the great mulian play was always the most magnificent entertainment for the whole populace of the Chenhe area, and it was performed mostly on folk-custom festivals such as the Ullambana (Yulanpen) assembly; the local troupes performed it in Chenhe gaoqiang, incorporating The Biography of Mulian together with Qian Mu Lian, Liang Zhuan, Xiang Shan and a series of works called "hua mulian", forming a huge combination of "forty-eight mulian plays".

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

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Mulian opera is known as the "living fossil of Chinese drama", and it has provided extremely valuable material for the study of the origins, evolution, development and transmission of Chinese drama. In the professional troupes the best young actors have almost all been lost; because funds for protection and research are lacking, large quantities of precious written, audio and video materials have gradually been scattered and destroyed, and some have even been collected by foreign scholars and experts. In addition, mulian opera is listed as a tourist spectacle in some places; driven by commercial interest, traditional performance is being split apart and distorted, and immediate measures must be taken to rescue and protect it. Zhou Jianbin (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in 1963, a native of Xupu, Hunan. In 1976 Zhou Jianbin was admitted to the Xupu County arts study class (the opera training class), and studied under the famous Chenhe opera xiaosheng actor Yang Zongdao, inheriting his rich, delicate, vivid and flexible performance technique and his vocal and musical style that combines boldness with mellowness. His performances of traditional martial plays and civil plays such as Feng Yi Ting, You Hui Fang Pei, Bai Hua Zeng Jian, Mi Feng Tou and Mu Lian Xi were all personally taught to him by elder artists. Representative inheritor of mulian opera (Chenhe mulian opera) of the second national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. Xie Yaowen (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in 1941, a native of Xupu, Hunan. He is skilled in singing; his vocal style is deeply influenced by Shu Luocheng, and he is good at bringing out the characteristics of gaoqiang music in order to portray tragic characters, which has won high praise from audiences. In the plays he has performed, such as Mu Lian, Huang Jin Yin, Jing Chai Ji and Pi Pa Ji, his voice and melody are beautiful and rich in meaning, leaving a deep impression on the audience. Representative inheritor of mulian opera (Chenhe mulian 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:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗