Luju Opera

01 · Historical Records

Lu opera was formerly called "zuqiang yangqin" (seated-tune yangqin) and "huazhuang yangqin" (painted-face yangqin). It evolved and developed out of Shandong qinshu by absorbing folk flower-drum, ditties and local tunes, and is popular in Shandong and in parts of Jiangsu and Anhui.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

It belongs to village art, playing out the affairs of farming households and singing out the feelings of farming households; its roles are centred on the "three small" of xiaosheng (young male), xiaodan (young woman) and xiaochou (comic), and its lyrics and spoken lines also draw largely on everyday folk usage. When it is sung, its principal accompanying instruments are the zhuihu, the erhu and the sanxian. The vocal music of Lu opera evolved from folk popular tunes and belongs to the typical banqiang (ban-style) structural system, being made up of such modes as "siping" and "erban" together with a certain number of tune patterns. Its melodies are simple and plain, beautiful and pleasing, natural and easy to render, easy to learn and easy to sing, and they are saturated with a strong flavour of everyday life and local character; among the people in the areas where it is popular it enjoys the reputation of a "post for tethering wives". Lu opera has close to three hundred plays in its repertory, among which Wang Xiao Drives the Cart, Sisters Swap Marriages and Li Ersao Remarries are representative works.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Lu opera was formerly called "zuqiang yangqin" and "huazhuang yangqin"; it evolved and developed out of Shandong qinshu by absorbing folk flower-drum, ditties and qinqiang, and is popular in Shandong and in parts of Jiangsu and Anhui. Its place of origin is the area of Huimin, Boxing, Guangrao and Dongying in northern Shandong, and the local qinshu performers are its direct source; the Shandong Province Lu Opera Theatre has, through the creative practice of such famous artists as Lang Xianfen and Li Daijiang, driven Lu opera in its transformation from a small village play into a city stage art, so that the genre is now circulated throughout Shandong province as well as in eastern Henan, northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Luju Opera · Luju Opera · Luju Opera · Luju Opera.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Lang Xianfen (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Female, Han nationality, born in August 1935, native of Shouguang County, Shandong Province. She entered the Shandong Province Lu Opera Troupe in 1952, and long years of practice shaped her distinctive artistic style. She attaches importance to starting from life, from a character's individuality and from a particular environment, and combines profound inner experience with a perfect and accurate realisation of the conventions, forming a performance style that is true and plain and full of passion. She fully exploits the penetrating and subtly varied character of her voice, making her singing deep and restrained, rich in feeling and full of resonance, with voice and emotion blending into one. Her representative works include Li Ersao Remarries, Mu Guiying, Cai Wenji, The Peony Pavilion, Mountains High and Waters Long and The Bitter Vegetable Flower. She is honorary president of the Shandong Province Lu Opera Theatre and a National Red-Banner Holder. Representative inheritor of Lu opera in the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. She received the eighth Wenhua Performance Award in 1998. She has been awarded lifetime achievement prizes by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and by the People's Government of Shandong Province respectively. Since the 1990s she has devoted her energies to the task of training successors to Lu opera. Li Daijiang (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han nationality, born in December 1933, native of Shen County, Shandong Province. He was admitted to the art and literature work team of the Liaocheng administrative region in 1951, and was transferred to the Shandong Province Lu Opera Troupe in 1953. After joining the troupe he received careful instruction from Tian Julin, Li Haiting, Shang Zhisi, Liu Meicun, Zhang Bin and others in such matters as basic skills, performance and vocal style. Artistically he drew widely on many sources, and by virtue of his pure voice, clear diction, smooth vocal line and free and steady performance, he established the distinctive character of the xiaosheng vocal style and performance of Lu opera. In the theoretical sphere he summed up such singing theories and methods as mastering the ban form, understanding the modes, knowing the rhythm, distinguishing the four tones, knowing the character rhymes and understanding the local dialect. His representative works include Wang Dingbao Borrows a Pawn, Li Ersao Remarries and The Worthy Sister-in-Law, all of them deeply loved by audiences. Representative inheritor of Lu opera in the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Lang Xianfen 03-1129
• Li Daijiang 03-1130
• Li Yu 03-1131
• Lin Jianhua 03-1132
• Wang Yongchang 04-1687
• Dong Yanping
• Luan Shengli
• Su Zhi

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Luju Opera (Lvjuyuan, Shandong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Lang Xianfen · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Li Daijiang · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗