Mulian Opera

01 · Historical Records

The earliest written record of Mulian opera is in Meng Yuanlao's Dongjing Menghua Lu (Zhongyuan Festival) of the Song: “The musicians of the theatres, after the seventh of the seventh month, performed the zaju Mulian Saves His Mother until the fifteenth day, the audience doubling.” From the late Qing to the Republic, Nanle Mulian opera troupes such as Wanfu and Yulin were active, and such famous actors as Li Delu and Ren Puqi emerged in numbers, sweeping southern Anhui and reaching Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi. Drawing on local materials, written records begin with the Song Dongjing Menghua Lu, and from the late Qing to the Republic troupes such as Wanfu and Yulin swept southern Anhui and reached neighbouring provinces.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Mulian opera is one of the traditional dramatic forms of China and, with a long history, has given birth to many genres and vocal styles; it is a living fossil of Chinese xiqu. As an organic part of Mulian opera, Nanling Mulian opera is distributed mainly across the southern Anhui areas centred on Nanling—Jingxian, Jingde, Xuancheng, Wuhu, Fanchang, Qingyang and Taiping—reaching Liyang and Yixing in Jiangsu, Shaoxing, Xinchang and Kaihua in Zhejiang and Wuyuan in Jiangxi. Its vocal style is complete and elegant, influencing the development of Mulian opera across southern Anhui and the neighbouring provinces. It passed through the long development from drum-circle sitting-singing to folk straw stage to flower stage to the single-leg lotus stage, with a full range of roles, preserving vestiges of Song and Yuan opera. Entering the late Qing, drum-beat marking gave way to board-beat marking, and music, dance, staging, costume, make-up, props and scenery grew more standardised and the spectacle more prominent. While keeping the tradition of performance on the fifteenth of the seventh month, it also extended performance into the spring-ploughing, autumn-harvest and winter-slack seasons, performing flexibly and sweeping southern Anhui. The Nanling County Gazetteer (Customs) records: “The people of Nanling, in repaying the gods and thanking them, perform Mulian opera exclusively.” From the rich vestiges of Yiyang qiang in its music it may be inferred that it was current at latest before the birth of Qingyang qiang in the Jiajing reign of the Ming. Its script narrates completely, innovatively developing the banqiang form and achieving high narrative literary attainment. Nanling Mulian opera is led by the transmission of tunes by old artists of the Republican period, focusing on polishing classic passages, reviving fine plays and restoring stage performance; the Nanling County Mulian Opera Culture Media Co. Ltd (formerly the county troupe) bears the main task of living transmission, a transmission group having formed around its actors, band and stage staff, who all year round promote the project's protection through showcase performances and intangible-heritage-in-schools and in-villages activities.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Nanling Mulian opera's artistic character of “clear clapper, slow board”, “Yiyang-style broad tune” and two-part singing stands alone: in singing it uses both broad and small voice, with excellent use of filler words, dialect pronunciation and a plain, primitive manner of singing, preserving and developing the echo of early gaoqiang. By geographical position, dialect and performing style it divides into upper, middle and lower routes. The upper route is active at Xitan and Songqiao at the junction of Nanling, Xuancheng and Jingxian, with the Yulin troupe at its core, using the local dialect, with simple tunes and archaic singing close to the “flower clapper” style; the middle route is mainly the Menfang Xu “family troupe”, based in Nanling county town and attentive to spectacle; the lower route centres on Xihe, Donghe and Mayuan, mainly the old and new Wanfu troupes, with broad tunes and profuse singing in the “clear clapper” style.

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

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Nanling Mulian opera is primitive and ancient, having passed through four stages—early sprouting, development and定型, leading the fashion, and protection and transmission. At present its protection and transmission take the transmission of tunes by old artists of the Republican period as their guide and lay stress on polishing classic passages, reviving fine plays and restoring stage performance; the Nanling County Mulian Opera Culture Media Co. Ltd (formerly the county troupe) bears the main task of living transmission, a transmission group having formed around its actors, band and stage staff, who all year round promote the project through showcase performances and intangible-heritage-in-schools and in-villages activities. It carries on the Chinese operatic view of superb craft, and its core of filial-kindness culture accords with the socialist core value system, with relatively high historical, cultural and social 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

1. Mulian Opera (Wuhushinanling, Anhui) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗