Huaibeibangzi Opera
01 · Historical Records
Huai-bei bangzi opera comes from among the people and has extraordinary vitality. Drawing on the Anhui volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local Fuyang materials, it comes from Qin opera and, after flowing into the Fuyang area, absorbed such local folk songs and ditties as the zhuizi hum, the kitchen-god play, huai ci, bag puppetry and boatmen's chants; through the artists' long reform and creation and under the influence of northern Anhui local speech it gradually evolved into an independent genre with northern Anhui local character.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Huai-bei bangzi opera was originally called “bangzi opera”, shortened to “bangzi” and also “Shahe diao”, and is one of the fairly influential genres of Anhui, circulating mainly in more than twenty counties and cities including Fuyang, Huaibei, Suxian, Bozhou, Bengbu and Huainan in Anhui and Shenqiu, Shangqiu and Luohe in Henan and Xuzhou in Jiangsu. Its feature is ringing and vehement singing, plain and generous; this singing style is customarily called “high bangzi”. Its singing is in the banqiang system with the four main ban styles of “slow ban”, “erba”, “liushui” and “feiban”, its structural pattern close to Henan Yu opera but with the marked features of many coloratura and trailing phrases. Its rough and plain performing style and its recitation with rise and fall are deeply loved by local people, the male singing vehement and ringing and the female singing gentle and fine. Over several hundred years it has developed through continual inheritance and innovation and gradually become an independent genre with Anhui character.
The Four Main Ban Styles (Slow Ban, Erba, Liushui, Feiban)
Huai-bei bangzi opera's singing belongs to the banqiang system with four main ban styles, its structure close to Henan Yu opera but with many coloratura and trailing phrases.
The “High Bangzi” Singing
Huai-bei bangzi opera's singing is ringing and vehement, plain and generous, and the locality customarily calls this singing style “high bangzi”.
Traditional and Newly Written Plays
Its plays are mostly adapted or transplanted from historical subjects, the grand plays gripping in plot and the short plays rich in flavour of life.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Its source is Qin opera; after flowing into the Fuyang area it absorbed such local folk songs and ditties as the zhuizi hum, the kitchen-god play, huai ci, bag puppetry and boatmen's chants, and through the artists' long reform and creation and under the influence of northern Anhui local speech it gradually evolved into a genre with northern Anhui character. Its plays are mostly adapted or transplanted from historical subjects, the grand plays gripping in plot and the short plays rich in flavour of life, much favoured by the people of the Huang-Huai area; the deeply felt and moving articulation has a strong local character and gives off a rich rustic flavour, being most representative in the Huai river basin and worthy of the name of a living fossil of Huai-bei bangzi opera, with fairly high cultural and artistic value.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Huaibeibangzi Opera · Huaibeibangzi Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Huai-bei bangzi opera has distinctive value in both cultural connotation and artistic style. The inheritor, a national first-class actor, entered the Fuyang city bangzi troupe in 1978 and studied Huai-bei bangzi opera under the famous performers Guan Dabao, Guo Jinfeng and Zheng Lianxin, specialising in guimendan and also training in huadan, laodan and qingyi; on the basis of inheriting its performing conventions and singing technique he has strengthened his artistic cultivation by learning from other art forms and organically combining dance with traditional performing conventions. In singing he retains its ringing and plain features while adding gentle and fine elements to the trailing and drawn-out phrases, gradually forming an artistic style of his own; as deputy head of the Fuyang city bangzi troupe he trained students such as Bai Nan, Li Tingting, Zhang Yan and Wang Jingjing, who won gold awards at the Chinese children's opera Little Plum Blossom competition in 2002 and 2003, himself receiving a coaching teacher's award.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Xiaodong 04-1695
- Wang Yonglan 05-2471
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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