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 nuotangxi (hall nuo) or duangongxi (Duan gong opera), is a form of drama formed by absorbing folk theatre into the basis of folk sacrificial rites; it is widely popular in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Hebei and other places. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties local operatic genres flourished, and nuo dance absorbed operatic forms, developing into nuotangxi and duangongxi. After nuo opera had formed in western Hunan during the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, it travelled from the Yuan River into the Yangtze and spread rapidly in every direction, giving rise to different schools and artistic styles; singing uses local dialect, accompaniment is given by percussion instruments such as gong, drum and cymbals, and most performances are presented in masks. Linwu nuo opera is a religious ritual drama transmitted in the natural village of Youwan, Dachong Township, Linwu County, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, and is divided into inner-altar nuo and outer-altar nuo. Linwu inner-altar nuo has plays such as San Niang Guan (The Third Lady's Pass), Yacha Guan (The Yaksha Pass), Yunchang Guan (Lord Guan's Pass), Erlang Guan (Erlang's Pass) and Tudi Guan (The Earth God's Pass). Although there are five passes, they in fact make up one complete altar of plays, namely what the performers call San Niang Xun Fu (The Third Lady Seeking Her Husband). San Niang Xun Fu is the thread running through the whole play. The husband is Fan Shilang, and the Third Lady, like Meng Jiangnu, is a principal deity of the nuo altar; her chief function in coming to the nuo altar is to pray for blessings. The outer-altar play Da Shen Shi (Beating the Divine Lion), also called Wu Shen Shi Zi (Performing the Divine Lion), still preserves such items as Shi Ta Long Men (The Lion Treading the Dragon Gate), Yang Chuan Ba Mi (The Steamship Unloading Rice), Wu Gui Pa Sha (The Tortoise Crawling on Sand), Ji Gong Dou Dui (Cocks Fighting) and Hou Wang Qin Shi (The Monkey King Subduing the Lion). The nine surviving masks stand for nine nuo deities, namely the Third Lady, Lai Bao, the Yaksha, Lord Guan, Erlang, the Earth God, the Monkey King, the Small God and the Lion's Head. The great nuo sacrificial rite that gave rise to Linwu nuo opera, Wu Yue Nuo Shen (Performing the Mountain Nuo Deities), is still preserved intact. The music of Linwu nuo opera is primitive and rich, with folk religious music, mountain songs, minor tunes and labour songs interspersed among it, and transitions made naturally by percussion or by suona tune patterns. Its forms of singing are varied, including solo, unison, antiphonal, unaccompanied singing, accompanied singing and the pattern in which one voice begins and all join in; most distinctive of all is the male chorus singing from offstage, whose singers are neither the actors on the stage nor the backstage staff, a practice comparatively rarely seen. All the actors are men, the performance combines singing and dancing, and vocal styles, spoken lines and movements are all wrapped in dance. The masks are carved from camphor wood, with the eyes and the mouth-and-nose area left unperforated; in performance the mask is worn on the performer's forehead. The instruments commonly used are folk instruments such as hall drums, battle drums, small cymbals, large gongs, small gongs, large cymbals, small clash cymbals, suona, ox horn and bronze bells.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Linwu nuo opera is closely bound to the folk customs of southern Hunan and to the local arts of Chenzhou, and reflects the ideas and life aspirations of the local people. It provides a certain reference for the study of the ethnic history and culture of Hunan Province and of south China as a whole, and plays an important role in understanding the origins and the development history of traditional dance and traditional drama, including lion dance and nuo opera.

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

Wang Taibao (as recorded in the official dossier of the associated inheritor): male, Han, born in March 1961, from Linwu County, Hunan Province. Through several years of assiduous study and practice he comprehensively and precisely mastered the skills of Linwu nuo opera, including the arranging of the ritual ground, the portraying of deities and instrumental performance, and became a central figure of Linwu nuo opera. He has excavated, collected, collated and promoted Linwu nuo opera, and has devoted himself wholeheartedly to the work of applying for its inclusion on the county, municipal, provincial and national intangible cultural heritage protection lists. He is a representative inheritor of Nuo Opera (Linwu Nuo Opera) in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. In recent years he has run training classes and taught hand in hand the skills of nuo sacrifice, nuo drama, nuo dance and nuo rite, laying a solid foundation for the transmission and development of this heritage item.

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 (Linwu, Hunan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wang Taibao · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗