Ouju Opera
01 · Historical Records
Ou opera is the most influential operatic genre of the Wenzhou region, formerly called “Wenzhou luantan”; it formed about the early Qing and circulates mainly through the counties of Wenzhou and parts of Lishui and Taizhou in Zhejiang, its influence reaching northern Fujian and north-eastern Jiangxi. Its repertory numbers more than four hundred and fifty pieces, mostly from nanxi, Yuan-Ming zaju and Ming-Qing chuanqi.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Ou opera is a multi-vocal genre, mainly luantan and also singing Kun, high-pitched, Hui, tanhuang and shidiao. Its genuine traditional grand plays number eighty-four, known as “three Kun, four high, four Hui, four cold, five old”: the three Kun plays Lianhuan Ji, The Fisherman's Joy and Leifeng Pagoda; the four high-pitched plays Leigong Bao, Xunhuan Bao, Baoen Ting and Ziyang Guan; the four Hui plays Huilong Ge, Longfeng Ge, Shuangqiulian and Tianyuan Pei; and four cold plays seldom performed and five old plays. Its stage art is distinctive, its roles capable in both civil and martial parts: civil plays are fine and restrained, with such techniques as the “rubbing step”, “sparrow step” and “triple-jump step”; martial plays fuse “small southern boxing” staff and fist into the combat, fiery and vigorous with strong local character. Its make-up and facial designs use bold linear blocks to highlight colour contrast, while text-faces and animal-faces form a style of their own. The various vocal styles are sung with distinctive charm: Kun singing flowing and distant, luantan brilliant and vehement, Hui singing plain and level, tanhuang gentle and moving, shidiao plain and fluent, and high-pitched singing dry with choral support and drum-and-gong marking the beat, the ringing great gong, rich drum patterns and the unique striking of the ancient foot-drum giving Ou opera's music still greater character and displaying moving charm.
Lianhuan Ji
One of the “three Kun” of Ou opera, a traditional grand Kun-vocal play.
The Fisherman's Joy
One of the “three Kun” of Ou opera, a traditional grand Kun-vocal play.
Leifeng Pagoda
One of the “three Kun” of Ou opera, a traditional grand Kun-vocal play.
Leigong Bao, Xunhuan Bao, Baoen Ting, Ziyang Guan
The “four high” plays of Ou opera, traditional grand high-pitched-vocal plays.
Huilong Ge, Longfeng Ge, Shuangqiulian, Tianyuan Pei
The “four Hui” plays of Ou opera, traditional grand Hui-vocal plays.
Gaoji and Wu Sanchun
One of the principal Ou opera plays, for which the composer wrote the music.
Three Kun, Four High, Four Hui, Four Cold, Five Old
The overall classification names of Ou opera's eighty-four genuine traditional grand plays.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Ou opera centres on Wenzhou city, Zhejiang, and is popular in the counties of Wenzhou and parts of Lishui and Taizhou, its influence reaching northern Fujian and north-eastern Jiangxi; because it is mainly luantan and also sings Kun, high-pitched, Hui, tanhuang and shidiao it was formerly called “Wenzhou luantan”, the troupes and plays of the various vocal styles coexisting and cross-fertilising within one genre.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The inheritor, a national first-class actor (born March 1931 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, died January 2015), carried out musical innovation together with the composer Li Zimin, solving the problem of men and women performing together in Ou opera, and as long-serving head of the Wenzhou Ou opera troupe trained many successful disciples, among them Weng Moshan, Xie Feifei, Feng Caiqiu and Cai Xiaoqiu, who have become the mainstays of Ou opera. As an Ou opera composer he joined the PLA cultural troupe in 1948 and was transferred to the Wenzhou Ou opera troupe as composer in 1959; over fifty years he published or publicly performed more than a hundred musical works and composed for more than a hundred and thirty operas, the principal Ou opera ones including Gaoji and Wu Sanchun, Empress Zhongli, Diao Chan, The Butterfly Cup, The Jade Dragonfly, Three Fights with Tao Sanchun, Kindling in the Reeds, The Red Guards of Honghu and The Little Outpost of the East China Sea. In long practice with Chen Chahua and other actors he solved the Ou opera problem of male and female gong-mode singing and created such new tunes as the slow duoban, fast duoban and female dieban, and is the author of A History of Ou Opera, An Introduction to the Art of Ou Opera, Selected Common Tunes of Ou Opera and An Introduction to Zhejiang Operatic Music (co-author).
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Chahua 03-1113
- Li Zimin 03-1114
- Sun Lailai 05-2437
- Zhang Shijie
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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