Wennanci
01 · Historical Records
Drawing on the Anhui volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local Susong materials, wennanci arose in the border region of Anhui, Hubei and Jiangxi, formed by combining the “wenci qiang” (also called “wenqu”) lantern songs and ditties popular around Susong with “nanci” narrative singing; it gradually became an operatic genre in the mid-Qing and, because it was often sung at lantern fairs and riverside village grounds, is locally also called “lantern opera” or “wenqu opera”.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Wennanci is a local operatic genre arising in the border region of Anhui, Hubei and Jiangxi, also called “wenci qiang” and “wenqu opera”, circulating mainly in Susong county in Anhui, Huangmei county in Hubei and Jiujiang in Jiangxi, with a history of nearly three hundred years. After entering its stage of development and prosperity its folk troupes increased rapidly, often staging full plays and complete grand plays. In performance it drew on the forms of traditional lantern song and lantern dance and added string accompaniment, forming its own distinctive character. Its music has a rich deposit and flexible forms of expression, and its subject matter is close to the life of the lower classes, much loved by audiences in its areas. In its development it deeply influenced the surrounding local genres, many of its artistic elements being absorbed by the later Huangmei opera and playing a part in promoting its reform and development.
Su Wenbiao Borrows Clothes
One of the representative plays of wennanci, in which the inheritor played the sister-in-law.
Chasing the Boat
One of the representative plays of wennanci, in which the inheritor played Miaochang.
Lantern Song and Lantern Dance
In performance wennanci draws on the forms of traditional lantern song and lantern dance and adds string accompaniment, forming its own distinctive character.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Wennanci centres on Susong county, Anhui, and circulates in the three-province border region of Susong, Huangmei in Hubei and Jiujiang in Jiangxi; by drawing on the forms of traditional lantern song and lantern dance and adding string accompaniment it formed its own character, and many of its artistic elements were absorbed by the later Huangmei opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Wennanci's subject matter is close to the life of the lower classes and its music has a rich deposit, of important reference value for studying the folk opera of the Anhui-Hubei-Jiangxi border and the formation of Huangmei opera; since the 1980s Susong county has restored wennanci performance and collated its traditional repertory, sustaining the genre through troupe performance, community singing and in-school teaching. The inheritor, a national second-class actor, has a broad, bright and characterful voice and a plain, vivid and expressive performing style in which form and spirit are present together, skilled at shaping artistic images of many different kinds; she has played the sister-in-law in Su Wenbiao Borrows Clothes and Miaochang in Chasing the Boat, her characters vivid and sharply individual.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yu Qimin 04-1683
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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