Xiangju Opera
01 · Historical Records
Xiang opera is one of the local operatic genres of Hunan with a history of nearly six hundred years, circulating mainly in Changsha, Xiangtan, Zhuzhou and Guiyang county. Its traditional repertory is rich, most of it from Song-Yuan nanxi, Yuan zaju and Ming-Qing chuanqi, a few created and adapted by artists.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xiang opera embraces the four great vocal styles of high-pitched, tan, Kun and dipaizi, with rich drum-and-gong scores and interlude music, strict conventions, and performance, costume and facial designs all bearing a distinctive Huxiang local style. Its large and small plays together number more than a thousand, over ninety-eight per cent being high-pitched and luantan items, its representative plays including The Moon-Worship Record, The Golden Seal Record, The Letter-Throwing Record, The Pipa Record and The White Rabbit Record, among which the high-pitched “four great serials” and “six great records” are the earliest performed and longest preserved representative works.
The Moon-Worship Record
One of the representative plays of Xiang opera, performed at the first Chinese local opera showcase in Hong Kong.
The Golden Seal Record
One of the representative plays of Xiang opera.
The Letter-Throwing Record
One of the representative plays of Xiang opera.
The Pipa Record
One of the representative plays of Xiang opera.
The White Rabbit Record
One of the representative plays of Xiang opera.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Xiang opera, with the Hunan provincial Xiang opera theatre as its provincial professional body, takes Changsha, Xiangtan and Zhuzhou as its centre of circulation; because of differing areas it divides into Changsha Xiang opera, Hengyang Xiang opera and others, and the Hunan provincial theatre bears the tasks of its creation, performance and transmission.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xiangju Opera · Xiangju Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The inheritor, a national first-class actor, entered the training class attached to the Hunan provincial Xiang opera troupe in 1954 and was assigned to the troupe after graduating; he has appeared in the films The Life-and-Death Tablet and The Song of the Gardener and in many television dramas, went to Hong Kong in 1986 for the first Chinese local opera showcase, leading such plays as The Moon-Worship Record, and his 2002 Taipei performances and 2013 Hong Kong China Opera Festival performances were all widely praised. He won the sixth Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award in 1989 and, attentive to the growth of young actors and working for Xiang opera's transmission, served as class teacher of the 2002 Xiang opera class jointly run by the Hunan provincial theatre and the Hunan vocational college of art, training a great many young professional backbones of the troupe, his disciples Zhu Mi and Deng Haiyan both being national first-class actors.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Tan Dongbo 02-0454
- Xia Chuanjin 02-0455
- Cengjingui 03-1139
- Cao Rulong 03-1140
- Xie Zhongyi 03-1141
- Zuo Dabin 05-2457
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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