After I wrote, I had a discussion with my friends about Chinese opera. Most of them said Chinese opera is “the quintessence of China,” while a small number said it is a product of culture and history. When I ask them which Chinese operas they know, many of them give Peking opera the first answer, followed by the famous Kunqu Opera and Huangmei Opera. But they know about it, they’ve heard about it, but they don’t know anything about it. I’m not surprised by this result. My generation was not exposed to a lot of opera culture growing up. I wouldn’t have spent time and energy studying Chinese opera if I hadn’t been involved in this project. But the more I did my research, the more I felt sad. It was as if I had witnessed a monster die before my eyes.
I’ve seen many videos about Chinese opera, but I still can’t imagine how popular they were at the time. When I was in kindergarten, my grandfather and I watched Chinese opera in front of the TV. But then the show slowly died out, replaced by other more exciting plays. How many people would take time to go to the theatre and listen to a tune in the fast-paced world? People like to go to the movies or play games on their phones. New media is undoubtedly a devastating blow to the art and culture of the old times.
Chinese culture had thousands of years, but much of its heritage has been lost in history. When people’s artistic pursuits fail to reach their original artistic level, the art form is dying.
There is no shortage of good opera artists in China, but they don’t have a stage. There are no shows — there’s no income — there’s a brain drain — there’s no way to bring in new talent. It’s like a vicious circle, and there are too few aware people to change it.
Compared to a few years ago, Chinese operas are better. But compared to ourselves we still need to do something to help the Chinese opera. (The Spring Festival has a significant influence on China, and every New Year’s Eve, there will be a Spring Festival Gala, the whole country will watch to celebrate the arrival of the Spring Festival.) In the 1985 Spring Festival Gala, there are five Peking Opera programs, each of which is very wonderful in its own right, and there are also children to perform Beijing Opera. But since 2005, Beijing Opera has been reduced to one or more shows a year. This year’s Peking Opera has been marked by a low-level problem of costume mistakes. I hope the government can pay more attention to Chinese opera. To make more performances just like Jing Hong. Also, the government can step up propaganda. Chinese opera is They have a lot of name recognition and now they just need a chance to make themselves better. They have a lot of name recognition and now they just need a chance to make themselves better.
The only way to change the dilemma of Chinese opera is to act these actions from ourselves. I don’t want to give up.