Mulian Opera
01 · Historical Records
Six manuscript versions of Mulian opera have been copied in the Shaoxing area from the Ming to the present, among them the Shaoxing Jiumu Ji, the Xinchang Hubu Mulian Jiumu Ji and the Shengzhou Qianliang Mulian Xi as Qing copies, besides three copied between 1912 and 1949. In content it is an exhortation-to-virtue play preaching karmic retribution; in purpose it is to entertain the gods and respect the ghosts and to avert disaster and plague, and in Shaoxing it has now become a peace play to avert disaster and secure safety. Drawing on Shaoxing local materials, six manuscripts have been copied there since the Ming, and it has now become a peace play for averting disaster and evil.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Mulian opera is an operatic performance circulating within folk activities, named for its main portrayal of the story of Mulian saving his mother. The story first appears in Buddhist scripture; over several centuries, tempered by countless artists, Mulian opera, with its vast dramatic forms, rich and varied means, deeply accumulated music and interactive staging, was performed without cease among the people and once spread widely across Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Shanxi, Fujian and Henan. Shaoxing Mulian opera refers to the plays on the theme of Mulian saving his mother circulating in Shaoxing city, Zhejiang, and its counties, and is one of the principal genres of the “community opera” and folk opera of the Shaoxing water country. Beyond the main line of Mulian saving his mother, it inserts much else: Baishen, Nan Diao and Nü Diao are peculiar to Shaoxing Mulian opera, while such short plays as Wang Po Ma Ji and Nishui Zuo Da Qiang satirise and expose social ugliness in comic form. Its performance forms are varied: full-length plays, performances combined with Shaoju and Diaoqiang items, the Wuchang and Yabei Feng figures of temple processions, and silent Mulian opera, popularly “silent Mulian” or “silent ghost play”. Its performance inherits the tradition of Song zaju, including farce, puppet imitation, human pyramids, martial arts and acrobatics, and is a ritual opera combined with religious ceremony. Its singing includes gaoqiang, luantan qiang, chan-juan tune, nianfo tune, lianhualuo and yangge tune, collectively called “Mulian tune”. The back stage is accompanied by gong, drum and cymbals and a special instrument called the “Mulian horn”. Roles are divided into sanhualian, sibailian and wudantang. Shaoxing has several professional and amateur groups often performing Mulian opera; the “Mulian troupe” is a specialised troupe for it, devoted to one Mulian-saving-his-mother story and organised spontaneously by the people, called in some places the “peace society”. Shaoxing Mulian opera is transmitted in Shaoxing and its counties, performed together with community opera and temple fairs, its recitation mostly in the Shaoxing dialect, with the Shaoxing city cultural centre and the Shaoxing Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Centre responsible for its protection.
Shaoxing Jiumu Ji, Xinchang Hubu Mulian Jiumu Ji and Shengzhou Qianliang Mulian Xi
Six manuscript versions of Mulian opera have been copied in Shaoxing from the Ming to the present, of which the above three are Qing copies.
Baishen, Nan Diao and Nü Diao
Pieces peculiar to Shaoxing Mulian opera, inserted beyond the main line of Mulian saving his mother and absent from Mulian opera elsewhere.
Wang Po Ma Ji and Nishui Zuo Da Qiang
Short plays within Shaoxing Mulian opera that satirise and expose social ugliness in comic form.
Silent Mulian (Silent Ghost Play)
A mode of Shaoxing Mulian opera without spoken or sung passages, popularly called “silent Mulian” or “silent ghost play”.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Its recitation is mostly in the dialect and local speech of the Shaoxing area. Its recitation is mostly in the dialect and local speech of the Shaoxing area. Shaoxing Mulian opera is transmitted in Shaoxing city and its counties, its performance bound up with community opera and temple fairs, with the Shaoxing city cultural centre and the Shaoxing Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Centre responsible for the project's protection.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera · Mulian Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Shaoxing Mulian opera is a vivid presentation and vehicle of Shaoxing folk custom and the people's ideas, value judgments and ideals, with a function of moral edification, and its recognition in China has been raised by Lu Xun's participation and his descriptions in such essays as Men Wai Wen Tan, Wuchang and Nü Diao. It has deeply influenced Shaoxing's literature and art, popular life and spiritual belief, and has relatively high social, cultural and academic research value.
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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