Shaoxing Lianhualuo
01 · Historical Records
Shaoxing Lianhualuo is a form of quyi storytelling popular in the Shaoxing area of Zhejiang; it took shape during the Daoguang and Xianfeng reigns of the Qing dynasty. From the 1920s onwards it began to be accompanied by the sihu, and gradually formed the "basic tune" that has been transmitted down to the present day.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In its early days, performers went from door to door singing, mostly delivering conventional formulas such as "may you prosper" and "may all be auspicious"; later there gradually emerged pieces with storylines, called "jie shi". Such jie shi include "The Brideside Jie Shi", "The Long Robe Jie Shi", "The Division of the Family Jie Shi", "The Great Coat Jie Shi" and others; most of them draw on everyday folk life or on folk legends, each narrating a story with a comparatively simple plot, and they are marked by the comic, the exaggerated, the satirical and the humorous. The representative traditional long-form programmes include "The Disturbance at Jishan", "The Ma Family Snatches the Bride" and "Heaven Sends a Son"; later, drawing on and absorbing scripts from drama and from other narrative arts, further titles appeared, such as "He Wenxiu", "Baihua Tai", "Gu Dingchen", "You Long Zhuan", "Long Deng Zhuan", "The Pearl Pagoda" and "Hou You'an". The early vocal styles and melodies of Shaoxing Lianhualuo were in the "li gong che" mode, with one person singing the main part and one or two others joining in on "gong che" syllables. Most Shaoxing Lianhualuo performers came to the art out of personal interest from other trades, and there is no strict master-disciple line of transmission. Professional actors later appeared, of whom Ni Qiquan, Pan Jiafu and Weng Renkang are representative transmitters of the present day.
Ligongche
The early tune, in which one sang while one or two others answered with sol-fa syllables, before the sihu fiddle set the basic tune.
Section poems
Story-bearing stanzas such as the Mother's Home and the Big Jacket, comic and exaggerated in tone.
The sihu fiddle and the basic tune
From the 1920s the sihu fiddle accompanied the singing and fixed the basic tune still in use.
Tumult on Mount Ji and the Ma Family Abduction
Representative long traditional titles, with later works borrowed from drama and other storytelling.
From door to door to the stage
Performers originally went from door to door with auspicious greetings; professional artists later emerged.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
From then on the performers also began to narrate long-form catalogues in the Shaoxing dialect; their spoken narration is plain and vivid, their lyrics smooth and fluent, humorous and lively, mixing speech with song and leaning mainly on singing.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present the development of Shaoxing Lianhualuo faces the question of how to adapt to the new situation, and the further protection and development of this art has become a formidable task. Hu Zhaohai (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1949, native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang. In 1963 he entered the third Shaoxing Municipal Opera Training Class to study the second-rank painted-face role of Shaoxing opera; after going to the countryside to support agriculture in 1965 he took part in performing Lianhualuo with the rural clubs, and in 1972 he became famous throughout Shaoxing with a single song, "Three Carrying Poles". In 1973 he entered the Shaoxing Quyi Troupe as a professional Lianhualuo performer; in 1984 he became a performer of the Zhejiang Provincial Quyi Lianhualuo Troupe; after 1997 he funded and ran the Shaoxing Municipal Local Quyi School out of his own pocket. His representative work "Returning to the Brideside" won first prizes both for creation and for performance at the national quyi gathering performance. Representative inheritor of Shaoxing Lianhualuo, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second national-level batch. Ni Qiquan (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1949, native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang. He sang Lianhualuo as an amateur in his youth, and from the 1970s onwards was engaged in professional performance of Lianhualuo and in creative research into it. His stage manner is composed and steady, his speaking and presenting clearly differentiated, and on the basis of traditional performance he strives for innovation, forming a distinctive singing style of his own. Representative works include "Clever Capture of Zhang Ru'an", "The Jade Linked Rings" and "The Contract Paper". Representative inheritor of Shaoxing Lianhualuo, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second national-level batch, director of the Zhejiang Provincial Shaoxing Lianhualuo Research Institute, and a first-class performer. He has repeatedly won professional awards at national level as well as at provincial and municipal level.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Hu Zhaohai 02-0736
- Ni Qiquan 02-0737
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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