Luoguza Opera

01 · Historical Records

There are several accounts of its origin. According to the stele of Longyan Temple in Linyi County dating from the second year of Zhenyuan in the Tang dynasty, zaji play existed as soon as Longyan Temple did; by an old custom, every first lunar month Longyan Temple in Linyi County performed luogu zaxi to honour the gods and worship the Buddha, and so luogu zaxi is also called "Longyan zaji". The "dabaozhe" (announcer) is also responsible for drawing on the first part of the programme, passing on orders and making reports, explaining the plot to the audience and doubling as props such as trees and stones, much like the "zhuganzi" of the Song-dynasty zaju. The repertoire of luogu zaxi consists mainly of military subjects, with "Three Kingdoms plays" especially numerous; more than a hundred survive to the present day, such as the Campaign on Xiqi, Leyi's Conquest of Qi and Three Summons to Zhuge Liang.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The singing of luogu zaxi takes the form of chanting and recitation, with a small number of tune patterns such as Yuediao, Guandiao and Youhulu. There is no string accompaniment; the band consists of drums, gongs and the suona, with the large drum leading and at the same time acting as conductor of the band. Eight basic drum patterns include the rolling drum, the battle drum, the walking drum, the halting drum, the file-of-men drum, the stage-fall drum and the marching-camp drum. The performance of luogu zaxi is formulaic, and its movements and stage steps also follow fixed patterns. The roles played by the actors are fixed and are handed down within families. All the roles are male, and each play involves several dozen performers. In performance, an "announcer" in a long robe and a formal hat leads the various roles on to the stage and seats them at the left corner. Entering roles announce their own identity in a recited formula, and the raising of hands, the stepping and the singing, chanting, recitation and speech are all accompanied by gong and drum. More than ten handwritten copies of luogu zaxi plays survive, among them the Bronze Sparrow Terrace; the Meeting at Luoyang among them is a copy made in the twelfth year of the Qianlong reign (1747). The music, vocal style, performance, instrumental set-up and presentation formula of luogu zaxi preserve the form of the zaju of the Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties, and are of great significance for understanding the primordial form of Chinese drama, the history of drama and the laws of its development.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Luogu zaxi is also called "naogu zaxi"; it circulates mainly in the Hedong area of southern Shanxi and shares a common lineage with the jumping play of Heyang.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Fewer and fewer people can now perform luogu zaxi; under the influence of the diversification of forms of entertainment, the traditional mode of transmission by succeeding to the father's craft has gradually been broken off, and the younger generation no longer likes to sit through the great plays. These circumstances leave luogu zaxi in a precarious position, and it urgently needs rescue and protection. Li Zhengqin (official archival record of the associated inheritor): He took an active interest in all kinds of folk-custom activities as a child, and heard elders of his own village describe the ritual performances of luogu zaxi. From 1962 he sang zaxi and bangzi in the amateur troupe organised by the villagers, receiving the fullest transmission from the seniors Sun Futang and Wang Zuoming, and specialising in the second painted-face role. His voice is high and resonant, his chanting vigorous and unrestrained, and he is skilled in the "liegui" sequence (mainly a set of body movements) and the "baitao" set pattern for matched combat. Keeping the earliest performance style of zaxi, he broke new ground both in the appearance of his roles and in his martial technique, becoming the leading actor of the Linyi County luogu zaxi troupe and being praised by the people of southern Shanxi as the "Little Yang Hushan". His representative works include the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, the Jiaolong Colt and Three Summons to Zhuge Liang. Before his death he had passed on all his skills to his son and selected disciples to take part in zaxi performances, so that his art would continue to be handed down. Male, Han nationality, born in December 1935, died in July 2016, native of Linyi County, Shanxi Province. Representative inheritor of luogu zaxi in the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. Zhang Jun (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han nationality, born in September 1937, native of Linyi County, Shanxi Province. He took an active interest in all kinds of folk-custom activities as a child, and was especially devoted to luogu zaxi. At 18, after finishing high school, he studied the vocal rhythm and performance techniques of zaxi under Yaojitang of his own village, and organised and restored a number of zaju performance scripts. He blended stage elements from genres such as Qinqiang and Puju and made skilful use of guttural voice, gradually forming a distinctive performance style of his own; he has a particularly deep understanding of the function of the "baozi" announcer, often acting in performance as the "lead-in man" who can rescue a scene in time and improvise. He holds six handwritten performance scripts, including the Rebellion in Xiliang, Three Summons to Zhuge Liang, the Bronze Sparrow Terrace and the Fire Attack Stratagem. Representative inheritor of luogu zaxi in the fourth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. Over the years he has actively taken on disciples and taught them, training close on twenty performers of the roles of Cao Cao, Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Li Zhengqin 03-1073
• Zhang Jun 04-1660
• Ding Shougen

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Luoguza Opera (Linyi, Shanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Li Zhengqin · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Zhang Jun · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗