Errenzhuan
01 · Historical Records
Liaoyang errenzhuan took shape during the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing dynasty, when society was stable, temple fairs were in vogue and folk arts such as diyangge (ground yangge) were rising, providing fertile soil for the emergence of Liaoyang errenzhuan. According to the History of Northeast Errenzhuan and the Liaoyang Opera Gazetteer, Liaoyang errenzhuan originated in the Liaoyang diyangge and has a history of about 200 years. By the late Qing, Liaoyang errenzhuan entered the stage of forming troupes and gathering in societies, and around 1912 commercial performance gradually flourished, producing a feverish scene in which every village and hamlet performed and the big teahouse stages were packed to overflowing.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Errenzhuan is a traditional folk performing art that originates in northeast China and combines multiple art forms — narrative singing and chanting, opera, song and dance, and acrobatics; it is a much-loved form of quyi performance in the northeast. Liaoyang City, Liaoning Province, is one of its important areas of circulation. The accompanying instruments of Liaoyang errenzhuan include the banhu, erhu, suona, bangzi clapper, wengzi, big clappers, yangqin and zhonghu. The banhu, erhu and suona are the “three great instruments” of errenzhuan, and the principal props are the folding fan, the handkerchief and the like. Frequently performed works include Shibali Xiangsong (Parting Eighteen Li Away), Daguan Deng (The Great Lantern Display), Xiaotiantai (The Little Heavenly Terrace), Xiaozhujia (The Small Household), Xiaobainian (Paying the New Year Call), Maqian Poshui (Splashing Water before the Horse) and Ma Guafu Kaidian (Widow Ma Opens Her Shop). Errenzhuan performance stresses the “five skills” of singing, speaking, acting, dancing and acrobatics, and its style varies sharply from place to place. Liaoyang errenzhuan is strongest in dance, is strongly yangge in character and is highly dramatic in performance. The distinguishing feature of Liaoyang errenzhuan is its regional character; it belongs to the “southern lang” style, whose dance performance is ardent and explosive, lively and amusing, light and nimble. For example, the “three lang stages” performed before the main text is sung stress the formula “judge the first stage by the hands, the second by the twists and turns, the third by the walking”, ingeniously weaving the dance elements of the great northeastern yangge into the act. Liaoyang errenzhuan narrates folk stories, play texts and the goings-on of everyday life; its language is plain, its sung lines concise, its tone satirical and teasing, and it is easy to understand, so it occupies a certain position in the history of errenzhuan’s development. It has absorbed the artistic classics of bangzi, stilt walking, shadow puppetry and lianhualuo, and it is a performing art heard with joy and seen with pleasure throughout the northeast, possessing high artistic, social and cultural value.
The three dance rounds
The dance passages performed before the main book: first the hands, then the twists, then the walk.
The three principal instruments
The banhu, erhu and suona form the trio at the core of the Liaoyang ensemble, rounded out by clappers, yangqin and zhonghu.
Chen Hailou and the handkerchief skill
The Liaoyang veteran Chen Hailou devised the handkerchief technique, transmitted through five generations of master-disciple teaching.
Frequently staged Liaoyang pieces
Regular items of the Liaoyang repertoire, plain in speech and concise in verse, mixing satire with everyday humour.
Liaoyang ground yangge and role-splitting
Formed in the Qianlong-Jiaqing era out of local ground yangge, it uses two actors who leap in and out of multiple roles without changing costume.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In performance the actors do not dress as characters; the whole art rests on two performers moving from one spot to another, jumping in and out and taking on the parts in turn — this is what distinguishes it from other operatic forms. Liaoyang errenzhuan circulates in the city and countryside of Liaoyang and in southern Liaoning; it belongs to the “southern lang” line of errenzhuan and is noted for explosive dancing and strong dramatic character. The handkerchief skill invented by the old artist Chen Hailou is passed from master to apprentice, and his disciples now spread throughout the three northeastern provinces and places such as Hebei, passing through five generations to this day.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Northeast Errenzhuan · Northeast Errenzhuan · Northeast Errenzhuan · Northeast Errenzhuan · Northeast Errenzhuan · Northeast Errenzhuan · Errenzhuan.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The old artist Chen Hailou devised the handkerchief skill, and his disciples have spread throughout the three northeastern provinces and regions such as Hebei; this technique has been handed down through the master-apprentice system and has gone through five generations. The errenzhuan artists of Liaoyang formed troupes and gathered in societies by the late Qing and entered a heyday of commercial performance around 1912, when every village and hamlet performed and the big teahouse stages were packed to overflowing; the accompaniment continues to use the “three great instruments” — the banhu, erhu and suona — supplemented by the bangzi clapper, the wengzi, big clappers, yangqin and zhonghu, and the principal props are the folding fan and the handkerchief.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Xiuyuan 02-0751
- Zhao Benshan 02-0752
- Wang Zhongtang 02-0753
- Zhao Xiaobo 02-0754
- Shi Guiqin 02-0755
- Dong Xiaofang 04-1710
- Han Ziping 04-1711
- Wang Suzhen
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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