Category: Global Sonic Cultures

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.

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Chuan Opera and Hebei Clapper Opera, both local operas and were listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

After doing a lot of research, I found that local operas are the easiest to lose. They have strong regional characteristics, and because of the variety of Chinese dialects, the audience of local operas is much smaller than that of Peking Opera.

“Statistics show that there were 367 local operas in the 1950s, and more than 100 of them have died out. And many local plays are only written descriptions without audio-visual records.”

No successor, lack of money, no theatre became the most significant problem. But the good news is that the local government in Sichuan is taking it seriously.
The development of Chuan Opera (actively writing books, recording CDs, and preserving the traditional music of Sichuan Opera).

On the contrary, the subsequent development of the Hebei Clapper Opera is regrettable. It became one of the most influential traditional operas in northern China in the early Qing Dynasty and spread to Russia and Mongolia in its heyday.

But in the 1930s, Hebei Clapper Opera went into decline. After the Japanese invasion of China in 1931, the inheritors of opera in northeast China fled back to the countryside. Many opera troupes disbanded, or they rewrote Peking Opera or Pingju opera.

At that time, Tianjin was the most concentrated place of Hebei Clapper Opera with a large audience. But during the Japanese colonial period, there were almost no Hebei Clapper Opera in Tianjin.

In the 1940s, Hebei Clapper Opera was nowhere to be seen except at the temple fairs and the Spring Festival in the countryside.

Although the local government established the Hebei Opera School in 1955, there were signs of revival in the 1960s. However, due to the lack of government support and insufficient investment, its subsequent development is not as good as Sichuan Opera.

But in any case, the employment rate is so limited that few parents are willing to send their children there. The art form of opera is ancient, and it is challenging to sing and popularize. Young people don’t want to take the time to learn, resulting in an ageing audience as the biggest problem.

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Shanxi Opera is one of the oldest operas of the Han nationality in China. It originated from Shaanxi Province and was derived from the Zhou Dynasty. It is mainly based on the Guanzhong dialect of Shaanxi Province and mixed with the poetry of the Tang Dynasty. The singing pattern of Qinqiang Opera is divided into 12-character, seven-character, and five-character sentences, and there are two modes of performance. The first is the Chuan Qiang (expressing the mood of joy and joy), and the second is the bitter tone (expressing the spirit of sorrow, anger, and sorrow).

Since the 1980s, Shanxi Opera has been dramatically impacted by modern culture. Professional performing troupes are struggling to survive, and there is a shortage of outstanding performers. Traditional performing skills are in danger of being lost.

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Ping Opera, which is popular in northern China, is one of the five significant types of opera in China and is considered the “second-largest type of opera in China.” Unlike other operas, Ping Opera does not incorporate dialects. For this reason, Pingju is easy to understand, and its cheerful form mainly reflects the lives of the local people. So there are a lot of audiences in both urban and rural areas.

Ping Opera tended to be Peking Opera for a time, but it retained its lively and accessible character in the end.

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Instruments of Ping Opera: (The traditional instruments)
-Banhu, Erhu, Dihu, Sheng, Pipa, Bangdrum, Bangzi gong
Later added: (Ping Opera can also add those instruments now)
-Bass and cello

Similarities: – Both were listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritages in 2006.
-All have the same instrument: Banhu

Difference: – The regional colour of Shanxi Opera is robust, plus he has a lot of acrobatics to learn from childhood.

Ping Opera is very inclusive. It can learn from the experience of other operas to constantly improve itself.

Known as the “State Opera,” Peking Opera is the most influential opera in China. It was born in the Qing Dynasty (1790), centred in Beijing, and spread throughout the country. Like Kun Opera, Beijing Opera has two forms of performance: the Wen Style (singing), and the second is the Wu style ( fighting). Unlike Kun Opera, these two forms of Peking Opera have been well preserved.

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Huqin is the foremost musical instrument in Wen Style, and the drum board is the main musical instrument in Wu Style.
Compare to Kun Opera: – They have many similar instruments such as three-stringed, drums and gongs.

In contrast to the unique style of Kun Opera, Beijing Opera is an assortment of regional operas.

In 2006, Beijing Opera included it in the national intangible cultural heritage. Fortunately, Peking Opera has been valued by people, and the government has made a conscious effort to support it.

“The Case of Chen Shimei”: It’s a martial arts song. Compared to other Peking Opera pieces, this piece is not that famous. Its prototype is based on the author’s own experience.
This segment is the last one to appear in Jinghong. The background voice is the founder of Qiu Pai Peking Opera, which has a sense of time and space interleaving. It is lucky for us to hear the sound of that successful Chinese opera now.

Kun Opera was born in the 14th century and is one of the earliest developed operas in China. Many operas were conducted based on Kun Opera, so Kun Opera is also known as “the mother of Chinese opera” or “the master of all operas”. The rhythm of Kun opera is played by instruments such as the Ban and the Drum. And the melody is composed of instruments such as the Ban Di and the San Xuan.

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Kunqu Opera is divided into two styles of performance: the martial arts style, which has gradually been lost in the tradition, and the singing style, which is common today. The second style is more restrained, and songs are more about love, such as The Peony Pavilion, which has been described as one of the most outstanding works in the history of Chinese opera. Therefore, compared with other Chinese operas, Kun Opera mainly uses elegance as its primary performance style. Kunqu Opera is also one of the most challenging forms of Chinese opera, which combines ancient Chinese dialect with local dialects. It is difficult for the audience to understand the meaning of Kunqu opera if they do not often listen to it. Of course, this is also the reason why Kunqu is highly literary.
Kun Opera flourished until the 18th century, but it began to decline in the late 1800s as local theatrical interest moved from the aristocracy to the masses. Jing Opera was raised in the mid-19th century, accelerated Kun Opera’s decline. Kun Opera added intangible cultural heritage in 2008.
Kunqu Opera has gone from prosperity to decline, and it has lost a lot of heritage in history, but fortunately, it still retains the classic drama “The Peony Pavilion”.

I haven’t seen a New Year’s Eve concert in a long time, but I noticed this stage because one of my favourite bloggers posted a video of the tour. He recorded the rehearsals for the New Year’s Eve party and did some brief interviews. This video aroused my interest, so when I was writing an essay, the idea of this stage came into my mind.

https://b23.tv/5RvCOx

(Blogger’s vlog)

Beijing Opera is one of the most famous Chinese operas, and most people (myself included) have the impression of Chinese drama as Beijing Opera. My research on Chinese drama is only superficial because, in my opinion, their styles and costumes are all the same, and their lyrics are also archaic and difficult to understand. Compared with popular music styles around the world, Chinese opera is a piece of niche music.

Beijing Opera is one of the most famous Chinese operas, and most people (myself included) have the impression of Chinese drama as Beijing Opera. My research on Chinese drama is only superficial because, in my opinion, their styles and costumes are all the same, and their lyrics are also archaic and difficult to understand. Compared with popular music styles around the world, Chinese opera is a piece of niche music.

https://b23.tv/ep376278

(JINGHONG)

But when I saw Jinghong, I had a completely different feeling. I know it sounds crazy, but I felt like I wanted to cry the first time I heard it. It combines a lot of different kinds of drama and gives me a new experience. I found that I had a big misunderstanding about Chinese drama. The costumes of Chinese drama are different, and Chinese drama is not all difficult to understand. Put them on the same stage, and it will be obvious to find the differences and differences between different species.
The chief director of Jinghong is the fourth-generation heir of the Qiu School of Peking Opera. It is the particularity of his identity that brings me a different feeling of Chinese opera. On the stage, I saw the other side of each opera, such as Sichuan opera, changing faces, and the acrobatics and kung fu that they have practised for decades.
Finally, I saw some interviews with actors, which made me more determined to write essays about Chinese opera. One of the Sichuan Opera actors said that many people don’t want to learn Chinese opera because they don’t want to shave their heads. This sounds a little strange, but it makes sense when you think about it. Everyone’s pursuit is different, but the opera performers who dedicate themselves to the art are undoubtedly worthy of respec