Luju Opera
01 · Historical Records
Drawing on the Shandong volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local Binzhou materials, Binzhou city in Shandong adjoins the Bohai and was formerly called the “Huimin prefecture”, an important area of Lu opera circulation; around 1940, when the Bohai base area was established, the Bohai Daily published the Lu opera script The Two Seek Their Husbands, and the name “Lu opera” has spread widely to this day.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Binzhou city adjoins the Bohai and was formerly called the “Huimin prefecture”. Because in the earliest short play Wang Xiao Drives the Cart the “second maiden” rides a donkey-shaped prop, it was popularly called “donkey opera” and later “Lu opera”. Its music takes “erban” and “siping” as its basic ban styles, later creating “fan siping” and “kuaiban”, its melodic line simple, plain and unadorned. Lu opera's creation comes from life, performing people and things in life and even directly using life's raw movements, with a strong rustic flavour.
The Two Seek Their Husbands
The Lu opera script published in the Bohai Daily around 1940, which made the name “Lu opera” widely known.
Wang Xiao Drives the Cart
The earliest short play of Lu opera, whose donkey-shaped prop ridden by the “second maiden” gave it the nickname “donkey opera”.
Li Ersao Remarries
One of the representative plays of Lu opera.
Erban and Siping (The Basic Ban Styles)
The basic ban styles of Lu opera's music, later giving rise to “fan siping” and “kuaiban”, simple, plain and unadorned in melodic line.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Around 1870 natural disasters were frequent in the northern Shandong region, and some peasants acted out small stories of local custom and feeling with local alley ballads and countryside ditties to make a living.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Luju Opera · Luju Opera · Luju Opera · Luju Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Lu opera composer of the Binzhou area has been engaged in Lu opera creation for more than fifty years, insisting on visiting folk artists, drawing material from the people, learning the singing by mouth and notating it face to face, having composed for more than a hundred and fifty Lu opera productions; through long practice, performance, exchange and appraisal he has summed up the basic features and developmental laws of Lu opera's vocal music—“fast simple, slow complex, gradual minute change, one tune for many uses, change never departing from the source”. His works have repeatedly won awards within and beyond the province and he has published many articles in national forums, providing precious material for the development and study of Lu opera while promoting its spread.
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
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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