Nuo Opera
01 · Historical Records
Nuo opera originated in remote antiquity; as early as the pre-Qin period there were shaman songs and nuo dances entertaining both gods and people. In the Kangxi reign of the Qing nuo opera appeared in western Hunan and at once, entering the Yangtze by the Yuan river, spread rapidly, blending with local folk art to form many schools and styles—the nuotang opera of Hunan and Hubei, for instance, formed by absorbing the performing techniques of huagu opera. The Gelao nuo opera was introduced into Daozhen Gelao and Miao Autonomous County, Guizhou, at latest in the Yuan and Ming, and has circulated there since. Drawing on local materials and Gelao cultural research, it entered Daozhen at latest in the Yuan and Ming and merged with local shaman culture and Gelao culture to form a special altar tradition combining Buddhist-shamanic, Daoist-shamanic, Qing-shamanic and Confucian-shamanic elements.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Nuo opera, also called “nuotang opera” and “duangong opera”, is a local operatic form developed by absorbing operatic elements on the basis of folk sacrificial rites, widely popular in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi and Hebei. In the late Ming and early Qing, as local operas flourished, nuo dance absorbed operatic elements and became nuotang and duangong opera. Daozhen Gelao nuo opera aims at seeking blessings and auspiciousness and is performed by troupes organised by artists popularly called “Daoist masters”; it has more than one hundred and thirty forms including chongnuo, dabao fu, yangxi and Zitong xi, accompanied by gong, drum, cymbals and suona, with song and dance, speech and singing, gravity and humour, civil and martial alike, the roles of Mountain King and Qintong requiring specially made nuo masks when performed. The number of performers ranges from one or two to more than ten, and the duration from one or two hours to several days and nights, the content differing with the worshipper's purpose and the altar's school, the whole performance showing the blending of entertaining gods and people and the fusion of sacrifice and art.
Chongnuo, Dabao Fu, Yangxi and Zitong Xi
Daozhen Gelao nuo opera aims at seeking blessings and has more than one hundred and thirty forms, of which chongnuo, dabao fu, yangxi and Zitong xi are the principal types.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
With shamanism at its core, it merged with Guizhou regional culture and Gelao culture to form a special altar tradition combining Buddhist-shamanic or Daoist-shamanic, Qing-shamanic and Confucian-shamanic elements; the Daozhen Gelao and Miao Autonomous County Cultural Inheritance and Protection Service Centre is responsible for the project's protection.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera · Nuo Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present more than fifty altar troupes and more than six hundred and thirty people engage in nuo ritual activity in Daozhen. About eight million characters of Daozhen Gelao nuo opera have been recorded in writing, and it is estimated that performing it all in full would take about two months. Gelao nuo opera is an important vehicle of Gelao culture and of Guizhou shamanic-nuo culture, with important research value in religion, history, folklore, music, literature and education. Yang Chaozhong (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in March 1953 in Daozhen Gelao and Miao Autonomous County, Guizhou. Since taking up nuo performance in 1986 he has diligently practised the nuo singing “nine boards and thirteen tunes” and steps the distinctive gangbu accurately. He is skilled in playing various nuo instruments and in using such nuo ritual implements as the master sword, ox horn, conch, moon axe, guandao and bamboo divination blocks, and in playing such roles as Mountain King, Erlang, general and Earth God. He attends to collecting the ritual texts and scripts handed down from antiquity and has compiled them into volumes, keeping several dozen nuo masks and various ritual implements and altar tables and other necessary props. He now holds thirty-two nuo performance scripts including Zao Peng Sha Zhang, Kaitan Qingshen, Shenwen, Can Zao, Ling Shen, Hui Shu, Zhi Guan Yi, Ying Qiao, Sha Cai, Duguan, Lingguan Zuotai and Chuantie Tudi. He is a representative inheritor of nuo opera (Gelao nuo opera) in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects.
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
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。