Bai Chuichuiqiang
01 · Historical Records
The chuichuiqiang genre formed in the Ming and Qing; the earliest surviving Sanyang chuichuiqiang old stage was first built in the first year of Tianqi in the Ming, nearly four hundred years ago.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Bai chuichuiqiang, also called “chui qiang”, “suona opera” and “bench opera”, is an ancient genre using the suona as its chief accompanying instrument together with gong, cymbal, luo, cha and bangzi percussion. Yunlong county lies in western Yunnan in the Lancang river valley of western Yunnan and has a history of more than two thousand years, being a famous well-salt producing area of the ancient south-west, with several salt-horse roads connecting in different directions with the famous “Shu-Shendu road” and “tea-horse road”. The Bai worship the ben-zhu gods and lodge their wishes for favourable weather, peace and thriving livestock in the deities, hence the saying “three fasts are worth no more than one tune, one play exempts three fasts”, embodying a folk culture of entertaining both people and gods. By artistic form Bai chuichuiqiang divides into robe-and-belt plays, martial plays, sheng-and-dan plays, clown plays, life plays and modern short plays, its roles sheng, dan, jing and chou, stressing hand, eye, body, method and step, with complete performing conventions, poses and fixed stage arrangement. Its stepwork accords with the suona melody and is strongly dance-like, every gesture following hand and foot. It mainly sings and blows, the suona being its characteristic instrument. Its arias have nine boards and thirteen tunes, its lyrics in the Bai's peculiar “mountain-flower form” and “three-seven-one-five” line pattern, both lyrics and dialogue using the Bai mother tongue and Chinese. Based on the opening quote, poem-chanting, couplet-making, self-introduction and doing, it has the saying “one blow, two sing, three strike”. Its singing is “dry singing” (unaccompanied), one singing and the many responding, joined by suona, gong and drum interludes, with the features “no blowing while singing, no singing while blowing, no dancing while singing”. The actors paint their facial designs themselves or for each other, the pigments taken locally. Among these, the Tangdeng chuichuiqiang troupe of Yunlong county was organised by the artist Li Shengxiang in the early Guangxu reign of the Qing.
Nine Boards and Thirteen Tunes
Bai chuichuiqiang's arias have nine boards and thirteen tunes, its lyrics in the Bai's peculiar “mountain-flower form” and “three-seven-one-five” line pattern, using both the Bai mother tongue and Chinese.
Robe-and-Belt Plays, Martial Plays, Sheng-and-Dan Plays, Clown Plays, Life Plays
By artistic form Bai chuichuiqiang divides into robe-and-belt plays, martial plays, sheng-and-dan plays, clown plays, life plays and modern short plays, with complete performing conventions, poses and fixed stage arrangement.
One Blow, Two Sing, Three Strike
Bai chuichuiqiang mainly sings and blows, the suona being its characteristic instrument, its singing being “dry singing” with one singing and the many responding, with the features “no blowing while singing, no singing while blowing, no dancing while singing”.
Old Stages and Repertory (More Than Three Hundred Plays)
Yunlong county has more than three hundred surviving plays, eleven old stages, eight rural amateur chuichuiqiang troupes and one professional chuichuiqiang art troupe.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It is distributed mainly in the Tangdeng, Xiawu, Tangjian, Dada, Qingganping, Sanyang, Danga and Shangdianwei areas of Yunlong county, Dali Bai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present Yunlong county has more than three hundred surviving plays, eleven old stages, eight rural amateur chuichuiqiang troupes and one professional chuichuiqiang art troupe. Bai chuichuiqiang is transmitted mainly within families and also by master-disciple, with a clear transmission lineage. It is one of the rarer minority traditional genres of south-western China, fairly completely preserving the Bai's operatic music, dance culture, painting art and carving technique, and is also a vivid witness to the fusion and development of multi-ethnic culture in a frontier region, providing a living example for studying the development of ethnic opera and cultural exchange, with fairly high historical, cultural and artistic value.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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