Laodiao
01 · Historical Records
Drawing on the Hebei volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local An'guo materials, western-road laodiao comes from the Baiyangdian area of Anxin county, Hebei, and was already current in central Hebei by the mid-Qing, splitting from the eastern road because of differences of dialect and lineage; in 1953 An'guo county founded the laodiao sixian troupe, purifying traditional items and creating and transplanting new ones with the help of the cultural authorities, and after 1964 turned to modern plays.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Western-road laodiao is noted for its high-pitched singing, rousing and stirring, hearty and plain, attending to the harmonious switching among the bright voice, the back-vocal voice and the second-tone voice, never cracking or wobbling whatever voice is used and always clear in enunciation and round in tune. Its traditional repertory is mostly drawn from historical romances and folk court cases, sharing an origin with eastern-road laodiao yet going its own way.
Driven to Join the Rebels
A traditional item revived by the An'guo laodiao troupe after the Cultural Revolution.
The Mute Girl Sues
A traditional item newly staged by the An'guo laodiao troupe after the Cultural Revolution.
Ode to the Long River
One of the representative works of the inheritor.
Hu Yanqing Fights on the Platform
One of the representative works of the inheritor.
Xiaochen Village (Seizing the Seal)
One of the representative works of the inheritor, a modern play staged after 1964.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
An'guo laodiao belongs to western-road laodiao, centring on An'guo city, Hebei, and popular through central and southern Hebei; because from 1964 An'guo mainly staged modern plays, its singing keeps the rousing western-road style while absorbing the performing methods of modern Peking opera and learning from such local arts as Dingxian yangge and sixian on the same stage.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Laodiao.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The inheritor has been in the art for more than fifty years and performed thousands of shows across central and southern Hebei, continuing to perform and coach with county laodiao groups after retiring in 1993. Handsome in appearance and skilled in the xiaosheng and laosheng roles, he also plays qingyi, huadan and caidan in reverse, with a broad range; his singing is high, rousing, full and plain, the bright voice, back-vocal voice and second-tone voice blending seamlessly, both broad and bright and pure in pitch, never cracking or wobbling in any voice and always clear in enunciation and round in tune, fully inheriting the singing style of the western-road master Liu Shouqian. His representative works include The Song of the Long River, Xiaochen Village (that is, Seizing the Seal), Fanning the Stove and Hu Yanqing Fights on the Platform.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Guanying 03-1093
- Xin Qiuhua 03-1094
- Jia Junxia 05-2424
- Du Zhenzhong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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