Nuo Opera

01 · Historical Records

Nuo opera originates in remote antiquity; as early as the pre-Qin period there were shamanic songs and nuo dances that both amused the gods and amused the people.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Nuo opera, also called nuotang opera or duangong opera, is a form of drama formed by drawing on folk theatre on the basis of folk sacrificial rites; it is widely popular in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Hebei and other provinces. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the various local operatic genres flourished, and the nuo dance absorbed operatic forms and developed into nuotang opera and duangong opera. The nuotang opera of Hunan and Hubei absorbed the performance art of huagu (flower drum) opera; the nuo opera of Sichuan and Guizhou absorbed artistic elements of huadeng (flower lantern) song-and-dance; the nuo opera of Jiangxi and Anhui drew nourishment from huiju (Anhui opera) and Mulian opera. The repertoire performed in nuo opera includes Meng Jiangnu (The Lady Meng Jiang), Lady Pang (Mrs Pang), The Dragon King's Daughter, The God of Taoyuan Cave and The Earth God of Liangshan, together with plays drawn from the stories of The Story of Mulian, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West. The scripts contain much more singing than spoken dialogue; they are skilful at expounding events, unfolding conflict and shaping character through long stretches of narrative lyrics. Except in a few areas such as Yuanling in Hunan, where a suona accompanies the ends of lines, most nuo opera uses only percussion instruments such as gong, drum and cymbals. The role types of nuo opera are divided into sheng (male), dan (female), jing (painted face) and chou (clown), and most of them are performed in masks. The masks are carved and colour-painted from timbers that do not split easily, such as camphor, lilac and poplar. According to their form they fall into two kinds: the full face, which carves and paints the hat worn by the character together with the whole face; and the half face, which is carved only from the nose upward, with neither mouth nor chin. The basic step patterns of performance are zhengbu (measured step) and gangbu (gang step) for male roles, and suibu (short quick steps) and yunbu (flowing step) for female roles. Because nuo opera is performed in masks, its movements are broad in amplitude and its style plain, ancient and rugged. Dixi, or earth opera, is a form of nuo opera performed by the tunbao people — descendants of the soldiers who, in the early Ming under the order to “transfer troops from the north to campaign in the south” (tiaobei zhengnan), were left behind in Yunnan and Guizhou to farm and garrison the frontier — for the purpose of worshipping their ancestors. It has no plays of ordinary folk life and none of gifted scholars and fair maidens; all that is performed is martial drama reflecting historical events. Yangxi, or sun opera, is exactly the opposite. Performed by the duangong ritual master for the living once the rites have been completed, it consists mainly of short plays reflecting ordinary folk life, and the tunes it sings are largely absorbed from folk minor opera such as huagu and huadeng. Nuo culture occupies an important position within the Wuxi (Five Creeks) culture. Wang Yi wrote in the preface to the Nine Songs in his Zhangju commentary on the Songs of Chu: “In the southern settlements of the State of Chu, between the Yuan and the Xiang rivers, the custom was to believe in ghosts and to be fond of sacrifice. Their sacrifices must be accompanied by songs and dances to delight the various gods. ” This ancient custom of the Wuxi culture survives to this day in Yuanling, especially in Qijiaping Township. The Yuanling “Chenzhou nuo” (also called Tujia nuo) is recorded in very many historical texts. The Yuanling County Gazetteer of the forty-fourth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty (1705) states: “Among the customs of Chenzhou, shamans perform plays to the gods, staging the story of Meng Jiangnu. Whether the whole or only half of the play is performed depends on how much money is offered in reward; a complete performance lasts several days, is absurd beyond belief, and the people of the locality are accustomed to it as a matter of course. ” The Yongshun County Gazetteer of the tenth year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty (1745) also records the influence of Chenzhou nuo opera: “Among the Yongshun people, when repaying the gods, one must always invite the ritual masters and shamans of Chenzhou commandery to sing and perform nuo opera. “… till late into the evening, performing nuo opera. Gongs and drums are struck, and each person wears a paper face: those who dress as women are called Meng Jiangnu; those who play men are called Fan Qilang. ” At present only seventeen principal transmitters of Chenzhou nuo remain in Qijiaping Town of Yuanling County. Chenzhou nuo has its roots in the Jingchu region and radiated to Bashu, Wuyue, Qin and other places; for a time it even exerted an influence on the Central Plains. According to their content and form, nuo opera is divided into formal nuotang plays, minor plays and full-length plays. The formal plays evolved out of the ritual master's summoning of deities and their plots are simple; the minor plays already possess the features of small-scale opera; the large plays are highly operatic in treatment. Their principal repertoire includes Meng Jiangnu (The Lady Meng Jiang), The Dragon King's Daughter, The Seven Fairies, Third Lady Bao and so on. Nuo skills are displays of rare stunt skills, chiefly climbing the ladder of blades, passing over the fire trough and treading on ploughshares.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

After nuo opera had taken shape in western Hunan during the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, it passed from the Yuan River into the Yangtze and spread rapidly in every direction, giving rise to different schools and artistic styles. Singing uses the local dialect; apart from the first category of plays, which use the duangong tune, all the rest are sung in the operatic vocal styles familiar to the local populace. Characters are classified by their station in life — civil officials, military generals, old men, young wives, gods and immortals, and so forth. Because their historical backgrounds and the artistic influences they received differ, nuo opera is divided into three kinds: nuotang opera, dixi (earth opera) and yangxi (sun opera).

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Nuo opera is a synthesis of history, folk custom, folk religion and primordial drama; it harbours rich cultural genes and is of considerable research value. Nuo opera is transmitted mainly in the countryside in each locality; as society develops and leisure activities grow ever richer, ever fewer people are willing to watch nuo opera performances, and its transmission has become difficult. Chenzhou nuo is not only a living fossil of drama; more importantly it embraces the fields of politics, history, ethnicity, religion, archaeology, literature and art, which makes it a rare research text for academic study in all of these fields. Li Fuguo (as recorded in the official file of associated inheritors): Li Fuguo learned Han opera as a child and later took up nuo opera; he is the fourth-generation head altar master (zhangtan shi) of the Xiahe school of Chenzhou nuo opera. In 1998 he performed Jiang Nu Xia Chi (The Lady Meng Descending to the Pond) together with his wife Nie Man’e at the Yuan-Xiang Nuo Opera Culture Academic Research Conference; his fame rose sharply thereafter, and he became a leading performer of nuo opera in the three counties of Taoyuan, Dayong and Yuanling. He organized and adapted plays such as Jiang Nu Xia Chi (The Lady Meng Descending to the Pond) and Guan Hua Jiao Zi (Viewing the Flowers and Teaching the Child), and gave more than a thousand performances; all his family are followers of nuo culture, and the people call them “one family troupe of nuo opera, their skills surpassing the three counties”. Male, Tujia, born in 1963, died in 2011, native of Yuanling, Hunan. Representative inheritor of the second national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Nuo opera (Yuanling Chenzhou Nuo Opera). Nie Man’e (as recorded in the official file of associated inheritors): Born in September 1966, female, Han, native of Yuanling County, Hunan Province. She has steadily raised her level of performance by taking part in nuo opera performance training and by exchanging ideas and studying with her peers. Her performances have many times been broadcast live by television stations at every level, and she has shown them as a cultural exchange item at the Huxiang Nuo Opera Culture Academic Symposium before numerous scholars from China and abroad. The nuo plays she has performed, Jiang Nu Xia Chi (The Lady Meng Descending to the Pond) and Mai Zhu (Buying the Pig), have been entered into works such as Chenzhou Nuo Songs and Chenzhou Nuo Opera in the Hunan Local Culture and History Series. Over many years her work has carried her to every part of the province and beyond; her representative works include Jiang Nu Xia Chi (The Lady Meng Descending to the Pond) and Guan Hua Jiao Zi (Viewing the Flowers and Teaching the Child), and she is praised as a “golden voice”. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Nuo opera (Yuanling Chenzhou Nuo Opera). She has taken more than ten disciples and is devoted to cultural transmission and talent training.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Li Zengwang 02-0653
• Liu Chenyu 02-0654
• Yao Jiawei 02-0655
• Long Ziming 02-0656
• Long Kaichun 02-0657
• Li Fuguo 02-0658
• Zhang Yuefu 02-0659
• An Yongbai 02-0660
• Jiang Pinsan 03-1074
• Guixunjin 04-1661
• Su Liwen 04-1662
• Ling Fengying 05-2398
• Tang Maohua 05-2399
• Deng Yushu 05-2400
• Long Jingchang 05-2401
• Nie Mane 05-2402
• Wang Taibao 05-2403
• Yang Chaozhong 05-2404

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Nuo Opera (Yuanling, Hunan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Li Fuguo · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Nie Mane · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗