Yao Opera
01 · Historical Records
Drawing on the Zhejiang volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local Yuyao materials, Yao opera's predecessor was “Yuyao tanhuang”, developed in the Qianlong reign out of such folk narrative arts of the Yuyao area as quedongdong and baihualao and such folk song-and-dance as the cart lantern, land boat and tea-picking basket, and locally called “parrot opera” for its Yuyao-accented, witty and lovely singing; in 1956 it was formally named “Yao opera”.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Yao opera was born in Yuyao city, Zhejiang, the birthplace of the “Yuyao qiang”, one of the “four great vocal styles” of nanxi, and circulates in eastern Zhejiang in Yuyao and western and central Cixi and in the area east of the Cao'e river in Shangyu. Its traditional repertory is rich and close to popular psychology, seventy-two kinds surviving such as Knocking the Window Lattice and Qiuxiang Serves Tea, mostly “duizi plays”, “three-small plays” and multi-role “same-scene plays” reflecting commoners' life and love between men and women. Its performance is plain and natural with a strong rustic flavour, unbound by operatic convention, attending to the portrayal of character and the expression of true feeling, with a humorous and witty interest running through its singing, recitation and acting. It early adopted the form of men and women performing together, the sheng and dan singing in the same gong with different parts. Its singing music is rich in folk-art flavour, noted for bright rhythm and lively fluency, mainly comprising the two basic tunes “pingsi” and “jinban” and dozens of auxiliary ditties and miscellaneous tunes, the two basic tunes being both lyrical and narrative and able both to stand alone and to switch between each other. Yao opera has a deep popular base and is much loved by the rural audiences of eastern Zhejiang. In its long development it deeply influenced such local genres as Shaoxing tanhuang, Tongxiang huaguxi and the xiaoge ban (the precursor of Yue opera), powerfully advancing their development.
Knocking the Window Lattice
One of the seventy-two surviving kinds of Yao opera's traditional repertory.
Qiuxiang Serves Tea
One of the seventy-two surviving kinds of Yao opera's traditional repertory.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Yao opera is a tanhuang-family Wu-dialect genre, its forerunner “Yuyao tanhuang” also called “parrot opera” or “yangge opera”, evolved from such local Yuyao folk narrative arts as quedongdong and baihualao and from such folk song-and-dance as the cart lantern, land boat and tea-picking basket, with a history of more than two hundred and fifty years.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The inheritor has successfully shaped such stage images as Zhou Bopi (The Midnight Cock Crow), Jiao Yulu (Jiao Yulu), Lu Xun (The Robber and the Nun), Zhang Zizhong (Tears on the Battlefield), Yang Fukang (Passing Down the Tower of Grandchildren), A Da (The Customs of Jigong Mountain) and Village Head Tao (The Daughter Grows Up, the Peach Blossoms Bloom). Having joined Yao opera's music composition in the late 1970s and long serving as its singing designer, he has taken part with others in many productions at provincial drama festivals, winning numerous awards, among them Mother winning the outstanding music award at the ninth China Drama Festival, and has carefully trained such outstanding young actors as Lou Lihui.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Shen Shouliang 03-1115
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。