Dujiao Opera
01 · Historical Records
Dujiao opera, also called “huaji”, was founded in the late Qing dynasty, flourished in the early years of the Republic of China, and has been handed down and developed right up to the present. It originated in Hangzhou and became popular in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places; in the old city quarter of Huangpu District in Shanghai alone there once gathered a host of dujiao opera enthusiasts numbering in the thousands. In the Republican period Xu Zhuodai, known as a “pioneer”, wrote and performed works such as “Who Dies First” and “A Fu Goes into Business”, leaving dujiao opera a body of important works.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Dujiao opera is performed in the Shanghai dialect and in Hangzhou speech; it grew out of folk narrative-singing and the wenming xinxi (“new civilised drama”), and at first was performed by a single person alone, later gradually developing into performances by two or more people on the same stage. Dujiao opera generally has two types, one centred on speech and one centred on song. The former relies mainly on telling comic stories and jokes to produce its comic effect, and can also imitate and speak the local dialects of various places; the latter mainly imitates and sings the vocal styles of various local operas or folk tunes, thereby winning laughter from the audience. The performing techniques of dujiao opera are similar to those of xiangsheng and mainly comprise speaking, imitating, acting and singing; exaggeration, misunderstanding, coincidence, contrast, sophistry, error, sleight of substitution and homophony are all comic devices frequently used. There are three common performance forms of dujiao opera. The first is single-mouth dujiao opera, called in trade parlance “dan mai kou”, which is divided into the narrative and the free-recitation types and is performed by one person, who strings a series of “baofu” (comic set-pieces) together by means of “tickling the audience into laughter” and at the close deliberately arranges an unexpected joke, popularly called the “baofu di”, leaving the audience rolling with laughter. The second is two-person dujiao opera, called “shuang mai kou”, performed in dialogue by two people and close to the two-person form of xiangsheng. The third is shuo shi chuanyu, also called “cai zhuang”, in which the performer appears in character after simple stage make-up, often plays multiple roles, steps on and off the stage, and changes identity at any moment through quick alteration of costume, in a manner that is easy and free and strongly comic, and which developed a step further into the small comic play, or huaji xiaxi. Dujiao opera has a rich repertoire and content that embraces everything. Thereafter the “three masters of huaji”, Wang Yuanneng, Wang Xiaoxiao and Liu Chunshan, each formed their own representative works in performance: those written and staged by Wang Yuanneng, “Hall Attendants of Many Places”, “The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo” and “Crying for Master Miaogendu”; those performed by Wang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele, “The Fruit Joke”, “Burning the Tofu Shop” and “Making a Scene at Minglun Hall”; and those performed by Liu Chunshan, “Touring the Wharf” and “The Wang Family’s Great Harvest”. All of these won the audience with a high artistic standard and enriched the dujiao opera stage.
Hall Attendants of Many Places
Thereafter the “three masters of huaji”, Wang Yuanneng, Wang Xiaoxiao and Liu Chunshan, each formed their own representative works in performance: those written and staged by Wang Yuanneng, “Hall Attendants of Many Places”, “The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo” and “Crying for Master Miaogendu”; those performed by Wang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele, “The Fruit Joke”, “Burning the Tofu Shop” and “Making a Scene at Minglun Hall”; and those performed by Liu Chunshan, “Touring the Wharf” and “The Wang Family’s Great Harvest”. All of these won the audience with a high artistic standard and enriched the dujiao opera stage.
The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo
Thereafter the “three masters of huaji”, Wang Yuanneng, Wang Xiaoxiao and Liu Chunshan, each formed their own representative works in performance: those written and staged by Wang Yuanneng, “Hall Attendants of Many Places”, “The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo” and “Crying for Master Miaogendu”; those performed by Wang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele, “The Fruit Joke”, “Burning the Tofu Shop” and “Making a Scene at Minglun Hall”; and those performed by Liu Chunshan, “Touring the Wharf” and “The Wang Family’s Great Harvest”. All of these won the audience with a high artistic standard and enriched the dujiao opera stage.
Crying for Master Miaogendu
Thereafter the “three masters of huaji”, Wang Yuanneng, Wang Xiaoxiao and Liu Chunshan, each formed their own representative works in performance: those written and staged by Wang Yuanneng, “Hall Attendants of Many Places”, “The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo” and “Crying for Master Miaogendu”; those performed by Wang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele, “The Fruit Joke”, “Burning the Tofu Shop” and “Making a Scene at Minglun Hall”; and those performed by Liu Chunshan, “Touring the Wharf” and “The Wang Family’s Great Harvest”. All of these won the audience with a high artistic standard and enriched the dujiao opera stage.
The Fruit Joke
Thereafter the “three masters of huaji”, Wang Yuanneng, Wang Xiaoxiao and Liu Chunshan, each formed their own representative works in performance: those written and staged by Wang Yuanneng, “Hall Attendants of Many Places”, “The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo” and “Crying for Master Miaogendu”; those performed by Wang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele, “The Fruit Joke”, “Burning the Tofu Shop” and “Making a Scene at Minglun Hall”; and those performed by Liu Chunshan, “Touring the Wharf” and “The Wang Family’s Great Harvest”. All of these won the audience with a high artistic standard and enriched the dujiao opera stage.
Burning the Tofu Shop
Thereafter the “three masters of huaji”, Wang Yuanneng, Wang Xiaoxiao and Liu Chunshan, each formed their own representative works in performance: those written and staged by Wang Yuanneng, “Hall Attendants of Many Places”, “The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo” and “Crying for Master Miaogendu”; those performed by Wang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele, “The Fruit Joke”, “Burning the Tofu Shop” and “Making a Scene at Minglun Hall”; and those performed by Liu Chunshan, “Touring the Wharf” and “The Wang Family’s Great Harvest”. All of these won the audience with a high artistic standard and enriched the dujiao opera stage.
Making a Scene at Minglun Hall
Thereafter the “three masters of huaji”, Wang Yuanneng, Wang Xiaoxiao and Liu Chunshan, each formed their own representative works in performance: those written and staged by Wang Yuanneng, “Hall Attendants of Many Places”, “The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo” and “Crying for Master Miaogendu”; those performed by Wang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele, “The Fruit Joke”, “Burning the Tofu Shop” and “Making a Scene at Minglun Hall”; and those performed by Liu Chunshan, “Touring the Wharf” and “The Wang Family’s Great Harvest”. All of these won the audience with a high artistic standard and enriched the dujiao opera stage.
Touring the Wharf
Thereafter the “three masters of huaji”, Wang Yuanneng, Wang Xiaoxiao and Liu Chunshan, each formed their own representative works in performance: those written and staged by Wang Yuanneng, “Hall Attendants of Many Places”, “The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo” and “Crying for Master Miaogendu”; those performed by Wang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele, “The Fruit Joke”, “Burning the Tofu Shop” and “Making a Scene at Minglun Hall”; and those performed by Liu Chunshan, “Touring the Wharf” and “The Wang Family’s Great Harvest”. All of these won the audience with a high artistic standard and enriched the dujiao opera stage.
The Wang Family’s Great Harvest
Thereafter the “three masters of huaji”, Wang Yuanneng, Wang Xiaoxiao and Liu Chunshan, each formed their own representative works in performance: those written and staged by Wang Yuanneng, “Hall Attendants of Many Places”, “The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo” and “Crying for Master Miaogendu”; those performed by Wang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele, “The Fruit Joke”, “Burning the Tofu Shop” and “Making a Scene at Minglun Hall”; and those performed by Liu Chunshan, “Touring the Wharf” and “The Wang Family’s Great Harvest”. All of these won the audience with a high artistic standard and enriched the dujiao opera stage.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The transmission of dujiao opera in Shanghai centred on the old city quarter of Huangpu District and spread to the amusement grounds, radio stations and private stage shows of western and eastern Shanghai; in the Republican period a large concentration of keen audiences gathered in the old city quarter alone. The Shanghai Dujiao Opera Art Inheritance Centre (Shanghai People’s Comic Troupe) is the protecting unit of this project: Wang Rugang became head of the Shanghai People’s Comic Troupe in 1978, and in 2018 became Party secretary and director of the Inheritance Centre.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Dujiao Opera.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present the ranks of dujiao opera performers are seriously ageing, there is a dearth of successors, and urgent protection and revival are needed. Yang Huasheng (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): National first-class actor. In 1931 he joined the Huaguang Drama Troupe of the Shanghai Great World, and during the War of Resistance against Japan he took part in the anti-enemy drama troupe, performing in Hangzhou, Shanghai and other places in turn. After 1951 he formed the Dagong Comic Troupe, and in 1978 entered the Shanghai People’s Comic Troupe. His representative works include “The Empty City Ruse of Ningbo”, “The Peep Show” and “The Vegetable Market”. He published the book “Sixty Years in the Comic Career of Yang Huasheng” and wrote articles such as “Southern and Northern Melodies and the Nine Tunes and Eighteen Tunes” and “A Review of Comic Opera and Its Development”. Male, of Han nationality, born in August 1918, died in May 2012, native of Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province. Representative inheritor of dujiao opera among the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. In 2010 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the sixth China Quyi Peony Award, issued by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Quyi Artists Association. Wang Rugang (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han nationality, born in October 1952, native of Shanghai. National first-class actor, and chairman of the Shanghai Quyi Artists Association. He became head of the Shanghai People’s Comic Troupe in 1978, and in 2018 Party secretary and director of the Shanghai Dujiao Opera Art Inheritance Centre (Shanghai People’s Comic Troupe). His performance is natural and flowing, strongly rhythmic, and appealing to both refined and popular tastes. He has a command of many dialects and is good at using dialect to create comedy characters of various personalities. Representative inheritor of dujiao opera among the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. The comic play “Seventy-Three Households” in which he starred won the Outstanding Achievement Award of the Shanghai Art Festival, undertaken by the People’s Government of Shanghai Municipality. In 1992 he won the Leading Actor Award at the third Shanghai White Magnolia Theatre Performing Arts Award, sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles, for the comic play “Mingmei Zhengqu”. In 2002 he won the Performance Award of the second China Quyi Peony Award, issued by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Quyi Artists Association, for the dujiao opera “Love”. In 2007 he was named one of the second national middle-aged and young cultural workers of both virtue and art.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yang Huasheng 03-1183
- Wang Rugang 03-1184
- Liu Shugen 03-1185
- Yao Qier 04-1719
- Tong Shuangchun 05-2511
- Huang Xiangao
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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