Huagu Opera
01 · Historical Records
Wannan huaguxi circulates in the Xuancheng, Langxi and Guangde area of southern Anhui; it formed gradually on the basis of local lantern-festival song and dance and folk ditties, absorbing the flower-drum singing brought by migrants from Hubei and Henan. It came out of folk song, first developed into the “two-small play” performed by one dan and one chou, then drew on the performing modes of local grand opera and became an independent genre; its singing has the four main arias “tao qiang”, “beiniuzi”, “siping” and “bei qiang”, with flower arias made up of lantern tunes and folk ditties besides.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Huaguxi is the general name for the “flower-drum” local short operas of various localities in China, circulating mainly in Hunan, Hubei, Anhui and Zhejiang. The chuanqi play of Fan Wenruo at the end of the Ming dynasty depicts a stage scene of flower-drum singing, showing the earliest appearance of this art form. Flower-drum singing came out of folk song and gradually developed into the “two-small play” performed by one dan and one chou. In the course of practice, it drew on the performing modes of local grand opera and absorbed various artistic elements, finally developing into an independent local operatic genre. The musical tunes of huaguxi belong basically to the qupai-linking form, while also being supplemented by some ban-style variation. Its performing means are rich and varied, lively and animated, with distinctive local characteristics and a folk song-and-dance style. Traditional plays mainly reflect folk-life content such as productive labour, love between men and women and family conflicts, and in later development some new works reflecting modern life also appeared. Its vocal music divides into the two great categories of “gong-qiang” and “qin-qiang”: gong-qiang has southern-road gong-qiang, northern-road gong-qiang and special gong-qiang sanqu, while qin-qiang has zhengdiao qin-qiang and qin-qiang xiaodiao. Shaoyang huaguxi has rich singing and many qupai, forming a musical system fusing the three vocal categories of chuan-diao, paizi and xiaodiao; its performance and music are divided into eastern, southern and western roads according to basic artistic style. The main tunes of Huaibei huaguxi include “Suzhou diao”, “Huibei diao”, “kouzi diao pingban” and “hanban”, among which “han diao” is especially individual in character. Its performance is also distinctive, and the “flower-drum great procession” is its most characteristic feature, regarded as the “consummate skill” of Huaibei huaguxi. Wannan huaguxi has the four main arias “tao qiang”, “beiniuzi”, “siping” and “bei qiang”, together with flower arias composed of lantern tunes and folk ditties. Its traditional plays include Saohua Tang, Daguayuan, Jiabaoxi, Dangchayuan and Dabuding. The singing of Suizhou huaguxi divides into the four modes “man diao”, “tai diao”, “Liangshan diao” and “cai diao”. Macheng huaguxi, also called “Dongluzi”, has singing such as “dong qiang”, “er gaoqiang”, “erhang”, “dui qiang”, “tan qiang” and “xiaodiao”, and plays such as Maihua Ji, The Pearl Tower, Suing the Dyke Tyrant and Storming the Court.
Saohua Tang
Saohua Tang (Sweeping the Flower Hall) is one of the traditional plays of huaguxi; the traditional repertory also includes Daguayuan (Beating the Melon Garden), Jiabaoxi (False Good News), Dangchayuan (The Tea Garden) and Dabuding (Mending Clothes), among others.
Daguayuan
Daguayuan (Beating the Melon Garden) is one of the traditional plays of huaguxi; the traditional repertory also includes Saohua Tang (Sweeping the Flower Hall), Jiabaoxi (False Good News), Dangchayuan (The Tea Garden) and Dabuding (Mending Clothes), among others.
Jiabaoxi (False Good News)
Jiabaoxi (False Good News) is one of the traditional plays of huaguxi; the traditional repertory also includes Saohua Tang (Sweeping the Flower Hall), Daguayuan (Beating the Melon Garden), Dangchayuan (The Tea Garden) and Dabuding (Mending Clothes), among others.
Dangchayuan
Dangchayuan (The Tea Garden) is one of the traditional plays of huaguxi; the traditional repertory also includes Saohua Tang (Sweeping the Flower Hall), Daguayuan (Beating the Melon Garden), Jiabaoxi (False Good News) and Dabuding (Mending Clothes), among others.
Dabuding (Mending Clothes)
Dabuding (Mending Clothes) is one of the traditional plays of huaguxi; the traditional repertory also includes Saohua Tang (Sweeping the Flower Hall), Daguayuan (Beating the Melon Garden), Jiabaoxi (False Good News) and Dangchayuan (The Tea Garden), among others.
Maihua Ji
Maihua Ji (Selling Flowers) is one of the repertory works of Macheng huaguxi, which is also called “Dongluzi”, the eastern road, and whose singing includes “dong qiang”, “er gaoqiang”, “erhang”, “dui qiang”, “tan qiang” and “xiaodiao”; its repertory also includes The Pearl Tower, Suing the Dyke Tyrant and Storming the Court, among others.
The Pearl Tower
The Pearl Tower is one of the repertory works of Macheng huaguxi, which is also called “Dongluzi”, the eastern road, and whose singing includes “dong qiang”, “er gaoqiang”, “erhang”, “dui qiang”, “tan qiang” and “xiaodiao”; its repertory also includes Maihua Ji (Selling Flowers), Suing the Dyke Tyrant and Storming the Court, among others.
Suing the Dyke Tyrant
Suing the Dyke Tyrant is one of the repertory works of Macheng huaguxi, which is also called “Dongluzi”, the eastern road, and whose singing includes “dong qiang”, “er gaoqiang”, “erhang”, “dui qiang”, “tan qiang” and “xiaodiao”; its repertory also includes Maihua Ji (Selling Flowers), The Pearl Tower and Storming the Court, among others.
Storming the Court
Storming the Court is one of the repertory works of Macheng huaguxi, which is also called “Dongluzi”, the eastern road, and whose singing includes “dong qiang”, “er gaoqiang”, “erhang”, “dui qiang”, “tan qiang” and “xiaodiao”; its repertory also includes Maihua Ji (Selling Flowers), The Pearl Tower and Suing the Dyke Tyrant, among others.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Yueyang huaguxi in Hunan is sung in the northern Hunan dialect and has 123 traditional plays in all.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera · Huagu Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Chi Xiuyun (as recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): Female, of Han ethnicity, born in September 1937, native of Guangde County, Anhui Province. A national second-grade actress. In 1954 she joined the Yifeng huaguxi theatre of Guangde County, specialising in the dan role type. In nearly fifty years on the stage she successfully created a group of brilliant artistic images and formed a distinctive vocal style. Her voice is bright and clear, her enunciation precise and her melodic line rounded; her performance is delicate, clean and brisk and rich in rhythm. Her representative works include The Little Nun Goes Down the Mountain and Three Battles with the White Bone Demon. Representative inheritor of huaguxi in the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. She went to Beijing to give performances and took part in touring performances in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Hunan, Hubei and other provinces and cities, winning the actor’s first prize in the opera performance section of the Anhui Province Art Festival. After retirement she still taught and coached Wannan huaguxi, serving as a judge and as director, and trained numerous disciples. Yang Yuping (as recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): Female, of Han ethnicity, born in December 1955, native of Langxi County, Anhui Province. Through constantly honing herself in portraying characters of different periods, she enriched the traditional vocal style and formed a performance style and vocal character of her own. Representative inheritor of huaguxi in the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. In 2004 she took part in the national small-play and sketch competition, the “Cao Yu Cup”, playing the part of Qiulian in the modern play Sending the Melon Seedlings, and won the national first prize. Since 2004 she has devoted herself to the transmission and dissemination of Wannan huaguxi, successively setting up interest classes and professional transmission classes in primary and secondary schools in Xuancheng City; in 2010 she founded the Wannan huaguxi school, which has to date trained more than ninety pupils.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Lvjinling 03-1119
- Zhou Qinquan 03-1120
- Chixiuyun 03-1121
- Yang Yuping 03-1122
- Yang Jiane 03-1123
- Pan Aifang 04-1684
- Yang Xiaolan 04-1685
- Ouyang Juewen 04-1686
- Zhou Yuling 05-2440
- Wei Guifeng 05-2441
- Wan Baoying 05-2442
- Cengmeiling 05-2443
- Hu Ruishi 05-2444
- Du Meishuang 05-2445
- Liao Hanmei 05-2446
- Li Xiaojia 05-2447
- Li Saijian
- Liu Liurong
- He Xiangan
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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