Shaoju Opera
01 · Historical Records
In the 1960s Three Battles with the White Bone Demon toured the whole country and went abroad in Chinese-foreign cultural exchange.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shao opera, also called “Shaoxing luantan”, is popular in northern Shaoxing in Zhejiang and the adjoining provinces. Its sheng, dan, jing and chou roles are complete, mostly robed and tablet-holding performances of emperors, generals, ministers and battles; its troupe organisation and performance scale being larger than those of the “parrot troupes” that staged “dramatic fooling” pieces with one dan and one chou in Shaoxing in the Daoguang and Xianfeng reigns, it is called the “Shaoxing grand troupe”. Actors of every role are highly masterly, gathering in the troupe like a heap of jade, so that the Shaoxing grand troupe is often called “Yucheng”. Shao opera has always been the chief performance at Shaoxing village sacrifices, the luantan troupes singing loudly on temple grass stages and in village squares amid clanging drums and gongs before thousands of spectators, expressing such themes as punishing the wicked and wiping out shame in ringing, vehement singing and acting, their dense and stirring notes shaking the four quarters and rousing the crowd against greed and cruelty. Its music is plain and rough-hewn, its singing noted for being ringing and vehement with many soul-stirring long lyrical arias; its performance is bold and free, capable in both civil and martial parts, especially excelling in martial plays with steady posturing, masterly combat technique and fierce, spectacular fighting. Among these, Three Battles with the White Bone Demon, drawn from Journey to the West, perfectly shapes a Sun Wukong combining “man, god and monkey” and attains a very high artistic level, making Shao opera famous throughout the world and much favoured by audiences; the colour opera film made from the stage play has been shown in seventy-two countries and regions with unanimous praise.
Three Battles with the White Bone Demon
One of the representative plays of Shao opera, shaping a Sun Wukong combining “man, god and monkey”; the colour opera film made from the stage play was shown in seventy-two countries and regions.
Journey to the West (Thirty-Six Serial Volumes)
The serial plays performed in succession by Shao opera in the 1940s, in which the role of Sun Wukong created the southern school's “living and nimble” style of monkey play.
The Flaming Mountains
One of the representative works of Shao opera monkey play.
Sun Wukong Storms Heaven and Earth
One of the representative works of Shao opera monkey play.
The Real and Fake Wukong
One of the representative works of Shao opera monkey play.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Shao opera is popular in northern Shaoxing in Zhejiang and in Xiaoshan, Zhuji and Shangyu and the adjoining provinces; because its troupe scale is larger than the “parrot troupes” that staged “dramatic fooling” pieces with one dan and one chou in the Daoguang and Xianfeng reigns it is called the “Shaoxing grand troupe”, and it has always been the chief content of local village-sacrifice and temple-stage performance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the 1940s the inheritor performed thirty-six serial volumes of Journey to the West in succession, playing Sun Wukong and creating the southern school's “living and nimble” style of monkey play. His representative work Three Battles with the White Bone Demon was filmed and distributed to seventy-two countries and regions. A national first-class actor and expert enjoying the State Council special allowance, he entered the Shaoxing prefecture Shao opera training class as a boy, studying under such masters as Chen Hegao, Fu Machao and Dai Zutang, later joined the Zhejiang Shao opera troupe and took the six-year-old boy Zhang Zongyi as his master, and on the basis of inheriting the six-year-old boy's Shao opera monkey art drew on the features of dance and martial arts to give Shao opera monkey play a new development, his representative works including The Flaming Mountains, Sun Wukong Storms Heaven and Earth, Sun Wukong Fights the Red Boy and The Real and Fake Wukong. He has trained many students such as the little seven-year-old boy, Tu Shichong, Qian Xiaobao and Zhao Shuchun.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Zongyi 04-1679
- Liu Jianyang 04-1680
- Yao Baiqing 05-2438
- Shi Jiejing
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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