Heyangtiao Opera
01 · Historical Records
Heyang tiaoxi (jumping drama), also called tiao diao, diao diao xi, diao xi or luogu za xi (gong-and-drum miscellaneous drama), is an ancient local operatic genre transmitted along the Yellow River; it belongs to the shexi (village operatic society) category. It has no vocal styles in performance and uses no string instruments; only the large gong, large drum, nao cymbals and suona accompany it from the side, and the performers use 'speech' and 'chanting' to accomplish the tasks of 'singing' and 'spoken lines', communicating with the audience through relatively mechanical movements of ancient ethnic dance. Performance is divided into wordless jumping (yamiao, plaza jumping) and stage jumping (shangtai tiao); differences in the environment in which it developed, in folk customs and in the inheritors have produced different schools of performance.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
It belongs to the shexi category: it has no vocal styles in performance and uses no string instruments; only the large gong, large drum, nao cymbals and suona accompany it from the side, and the performers use 'speech' and 'chanting' to accomplish the tasks of 'singing' and 'spoken lines', communicating with the audience through relatively mechanical movements of ancient ethnic dance. Tiaoxi performance is divided into wordless jumping (yamiao, plaza jumping) and stage jumping (shangtai tiao). Before a wordless jumping performance opens, gongs and drums first 'beat the danzi' (da danzi) to gather the audience. In a stage jumping performance the 'spring official' (chun guan) enters the stage first and improvises humorous and witty lines on the spot, describing local scenic sights, recounting the joys and sorrows of the farmers, complaining of the oppression of officials and gentry, or praising the assembled cast; this is followed by a martial combat act habitually called 'striking the stage platform' (da taizi). After the play begins, a martial character entering the stage first 'mounts his manner' (shang shi): he must tread out all four corners of the stage and step out 56 drum beats before sitting in the tent or taking the hall; a civil character entering the stage likewise has to 'tread the four corners' (cai chang, treading the stage). 'Mounting his manner', 'treading the stage' and 'running the stage' (pao chang) are all basic skills of tiaoxi, and there is a fixed set of performance formulae for them. The repertoire of tiaoxi is marked by martial combat; most of it draws on stories from the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, Investiture of the Gods and the Generals of the Yang Family, and there are also 'literary jumping' (wen tiao) plays of the Ma Nao Huan (The Agate Ring) type. The lines in the plays are concise, mostly in the form of four seven-character lines. Tiaoxi has distinctive facial patterns, original tune patterns and archaic performance, and differences in the environment in which it developed, in folk customs and in the inheritors have produced different schools of performance.
Ma Nao Huan (The Agate Ring)
The repertoire of tiaoxi is marked by martial combat; most of it draws on stories from the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, Investiture of the Gods and the Generals of the Yang Family, and besides such works there are also 'literary jumping' (wen tiao) plays of the Ma Nao Huan (The Agate Ring) type.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Heyang tiaoxi is also known as tiao diao, diao diao xi, diao xi or luogu za xi (gong-and-drum miscellaneous drama); it is an ancient local operatic genre that circulates in the belt along the Yellow River.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the study of the history of Chinese operatic development, of dance history and of the history of folk customs, tiaoxi has important reference value. Dang Zhongxin (as recorded in the official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han ethnicity, born in February 1946, a native of Heyang County, Shaanxi Province. He learned the art of tiaoxi performance from his elders as a child, and later became a disciple of the folk artist Dang Yunlong, studying the performance of the sheng, painted-face and dan roles. Through long artistic practice his performance skills improved greatly. His representative repertoire includes Da Yu Sha Jia (The Fisherman's Family Slain), Shou Hong Hai (Subduing the Red Boy), Zhan Pan He (Fighting at Pan River) and Shen Zhou Hui (The Assembly of the Gods). In 1984 the China Academy of Art recorded Da Gua Yuan (Beating the Melon Garden) in Heyang County, and he played Zheng En in it. In 1999 the noted director Deng Zaijun recorded Zi Gu Hua Shan (Since Hua Mountain Has Stood) in Weinan and Huai Du Guan (Huai Capital Pass) at Qia Chuan, and he played Zi Du in it. In 2003 the China Academy of Art recorded Hao Tian Ta (The Haotian Pagoda) at Xingjia Village, Heyang County, and he played Yang Yanjing in it. He is a representative inheritor of Heyang Tiaoxi in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. In 1957 he took part in the third Shaanxi Province folk music and dance festival and won the collective first prize. Over the years he has devoted a great deal of effort to the development and dissemination of Heyang tiaoxi, and has trained a new generation of talent.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Dangzhongxin 03-1146
- Li Minsheng
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。