Sichuan opera



Sichuan opera (Sichuanese Pinyin: Cuan1ju4; ) is a type of Chinese opera originating in China's Sichuan province around 1700. Today's Sichuan opera is a relatively recent synthesis of five historic melodic styles. Regionally Chengdu remains to be the main home of Sichuan opera, while other influential locales include Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hubei and Taiwan. Sichuan opera was listed in the first batch of 518 national intangible cultural heritage list announced on May 20, 2006.

Notable characteristics of Sichuan opera include quick changes of masks or personae (known as the face change) and the importance of the character of the fool.

History
Initially, there were five distinct opera styles. The history of each style varies greatly.

Before the Ming dynasty
The origin of Sichuan opera can be traced back to the pre-Qin period and even earlier, and the Jiaodian opera of the later Han dynasty laid the foundation for the early Sichuan opera. "Song Yu Asks the King of Chu", a famous poem of the Warring States states that "they are Xialiba people, and there are thousands of people in the country who belong to harmony". The so-called "Xialiba people" is the name of Sichuan folk songs and dances or singers and dancers. According to the records of the Taiping Guang Ji and Tares History Compilation, there was a play of Bullfighting since Li Bing, the governor of Shu County. In the Three Kingdoms period, the first satirical comedy appeared in Sichuan, which can be regarded as the originator of Sichuan opera comedy.

From the Tang dynasty to the Five Dynasties, the popular drama of Sichuan reached its peak, and there appeared the situation of "Shu skills leading the world". Frequently performed plays in this period included Liu Bijimai, Maixiu Liangqi and Guankou God. And appeared the earliest troupe in the history of Chinese opera so far, namely Qian Manchuan, Bai Jia, Ye Si, Zhang Mei and Zhang Ao in "Youyang Zazu".

In the Song and Yuan dynasties, Southern opera and Szechuan Zaju were popular in Sichuan, and the famous song was "Jiu Se Cai Qi".

Ming and Qing dynasties
Jin Guanger's class of "Sichuan Opera" in the Ming dynasty once went to Jiangsu and caused a stir in Nanjing, forming a competitive situation with the Southern Opera.

At the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing dynasty, the population of Sichuan dropped sharply, and immigrants from all over the country moved into Sichuan, which is known as Huguang-filling Sichuan. Immigrants brought a variety of operas from their hometown, which made a variety of operas of northern and southern dialects spread throughout Sichuan successively. In the long-term development and evolution, based on Sichuan Lantern Opera, Sichuan Opera has integrated with other dialects, such as Gaoqiang Opera, Kunqu Opera, Huqin, and Tanqiang Opera,   and merged with Sichuan dialect, folk customs, folk music, and dance, gradually forming a formal form of Sichuan opera, which is a voice art with Sichuan characteristics.

Republic of China
Xuantong three years (1911), the 1911 revolution succeeded. In the revolutionary trend of thought, the lead singer Gaoqiang opera troupe banquet music, Changle, Binle, Cui Hua; Taihong, Shuyi, who mainly sings Kunqu opera, playing opera and Hu qin, voluntarily formed the "Sanqing Hui" after consultation, so that the five kinds of voice can be integrated into one. "Sanqinghui" has Kang Zilin, Xiao Kaicheng, Tang Guangti, Tang Deyi, Zhou Mingchao, Liu Zhimei, Lei Zhejiang, and other famous actors. It advocated the reform of opera. While inheriting and preserving the traditional Sichuan opera, it created fashion shows that cut to the heart of The Times, such as The Story of Qiu Jin, The Recovery of Wuchang, and the Queen of the West. The establishment of "Sanqing Hui" promoted the development of Sichuan opera from square art to theater art, and the artistic level and cultural taste of Sichuan opera rapidly improved, becoming the most influential local opera in southwest China.

The People's Republic of China


In 1952, the Sichuan Opera delegation organized a large performance group to attend the first National Opera Viewing and performance Conference in Beijing. Many excellent plays and performances, such as The Willow Shadow, Autumn River, Snow Review and Trace, Farewell, Brother Wutaihui, etc., won awards. In the aspect of voice cavity, the innovation mainly takes the high voice cavity as the main object. Female voice lead cavity, help cavity, choose good singing, beautiful tone actress as a lead cavity, help cavity personnel. On this basis, there were other experiments, such as female actors helping with female voices, male actors helping with male voices, and male and female voices helping with combined voices, etc. Each troupe also set up full-time female voices helping personnel, which became a system. At the same time, some troupes also made some innovations in singing and accompaniment.

Zhou Enlai's "Speech at the Symposium on Literary Work and the Conference on the Creation of Feature Films" (19 June 1961)I saw the material in Sichuan. A vice minister of culture went to Sichuan and said: Sichuan opera is backward. Offended the people of Sichuan. At that time, a comrade replied: Whether backward or not is up to the 70 million people in Sichuan to answer and decide. I think this comrade is very brave. Good answer! People like it. You don't like it. Who are you? Shanghai people love Pingtan, Huai Opera and Yue Opera. What do you want Beijing people to approve? Leaders may have preferences. Some love operas, some love paintings, and some love antiques. What does it matter? We saw the play say good, not necessarily good, our words are unreliable, everyone has their hobbies, how can as a standard? Art is to be approved by the people. As long as people like it, it has value.

During the "Cultural Revolution", more than 100 Sichuan opera troupes were disbanded, and a large number of famous actors, directors, writers, and artists were treated as "Devils, ghosts, snakes and gods|devils, ghosts, snakes and gods", or expelled, or transferred to "Reform through labor teams|reform through labor teams", and some were even persecuted to death. After the "Cultural Revolution", Sichuan opera was quickly revived. The Cultural Bureau of Sichuan Province announced the opening of traditional operas in batches while holding literary and artistic arrangements to promote the creation and performance. Sichuan Opera School was restored, Sichuan Opera Art Research Institute was established, and Sichuan Opera Theater and other units were rebuilt. Emei Film Studio produced a variety of TV series called Sichuan Plum Blossoms, which was shown throughout the province and the whole country. In 1979, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of National Day, Sichuan operas such as "Lying Tiger Order" and "Repair or Not Repair" were performed in Beijing and won awards. In 1980, the Art of Sichuan Opera, a quarterly opera magazine, was published.

School of thought
During the long-term development of Sichuan Opera, due to the differences in the regions where various voice styles were popular and the relationship between the artists and their teachers, several schools of Sichuan Opera were formed in terms of performance, such as Huanxian (Huaxian) school, Chouxing Fu (Sangan) School, and Cao (Junchen, Wusheng), and Wuzhou|Wuchou, praised as "King Cao") school, which were mainly called outstanding artists. At the same time, there are four schools, namely the Western Sichuan School, Ziyang River School, Northern Sichuan School|northern Sichuan School, and Eastern Sichuan School, which are the so-called "four rivers" in the circle of Sichuan Opera. There is no standard tone in Sichuan Opera and all kinds of folk arts, and each of the "four rivers" has its cultural center. Taking Sichuan Opera as an example, it can be divided into the western Sichuan Ba School (centered in Chengdu and Wenjiang County, and the actors use the Chinese Chengdu dialect without the Meihua sound), the Ziyang River School(centered in Zigong City and Neijiang County, and the standard tone is ZiChinese dialect), and the North Sichuan River School (centered in Nanchong County and Santai County). There is no specific standard tone, and based on the differentiation of and  in the Nanchong dialect, it is influenced more by the Qinqiang dialect, with Multi-lining characters and heavy nasal tones) and Xiachuandong School (centered in Chongqing, greatly influenced by Han Opera and Peking Opera, with diversified languages, usually mixed with Wuhan dialect and Peking Opera based on Chongqing dialect).


 * The Western Sichuan School| Western Sichuan School, including the Bazi counties in western Sichuan with Chengdu as the center, is dominated by Gaoqiang opera and lantern opera, forming a unique "Ba tune".
 * The Ziyang River School, including Zigong and Neijiang counties, is dominated by Gaoqiang and has the most careful artistic style.
 * The Northern Sichuan School, including parts of Nanchong, Mianyang, and Guangyuan, mainly focused on singing and playing opera and was mostly influenced by Qin Opera.
 * The Eastern Sichuan school, including the eastern Sichuan area with Chongqing as the center, is dominated by Huqin.

Characteristics
Sichuan opera is notable for its quick changes of masks and personae, referred to as the face change.

Makeup
Clown facial makeup is painted on the bridge of the nose white square, which people called the "Bridge of the nose", there are positive characters, there are Negative characters, Yu Zhuang in harmony; Pure Angle, also known as "Flower face", has a colorful facial makeup with clear loyalty and treachery. Black represents fortitude and integrity, white represents treachery and cruelty, red represents loyalty and courage, green represents chivalry and righteousness, blue represents firmness and determination, yellow represents cruelty and tyranny, and gold and silver face represents holiness and majesty.

Costumes
There are many kinds of costumes in Sichuan opera, including "anaconda", "Dependent child", " Official clothing", and "Pleated child." Depending on the style, face paint is also limited compared to other related forms. Jing characters do not appear, and the only painted face characters are those with a small white patch in the middle of the face, which indicates a slightly evil character. The face paint colors are traditionally limited to black, red, white, and grey.

Music
Sichuan opera music is unique. Its percussion music is very exciting. Sichuan opera gongs and drums are the best among all kinds of percussion music. It has a strong sound, clear and changeable rhythm, and unique timbre. The wind and percussion music of Sichuan opera is also the most important content in Sichuan opera, there are many suona tunes and gongs and drum sets; Sichuan opera silk and bamboo music is often played with huqin and flute tunes. In terms of use, Kunqiang uses Qudi and Huqin tunes The huqin is used, the cover board is used for playing, and the accompaniment of "minus" is used for the lantern show. The music styles are diverse and full of artistic characteristics.

Gaoqiang is the most distinctive and representative form of Sichuan opera. Its main characteristics are as follows: free line and free singing style. There is no accompaniment, and only a clapper and drum are used to adjust the rhythm of Gaoqiang. The percussion music uses big gongs and drums, which run through the Qupai all the time so that the help, playing, and singing are closely combined. In the singing process, the recitative and aria are used alternately, and the accompaniment and singing enhance each other. In addition, the accompaniment of gongs and drums can make the atmosphere of the stage change infinitely. The most distinctive feature of Gaoqiang music is its tone. In the past, Sichuan Opera was mainly assisted by drum masters and other musicians. In recent decades, it has been specially equipped with a female chorus with a better voice. It can set the tone, describe the environment, create the stage atmosphere, remind the inner feelings of the characters in the play, and represent the evaluation of the third party on the characters in the play. The language of Sichuan opera is lively, humorous, and full of vivid local colors and a strong life atmosphere. In the mass performances of Sichuan Opera, the most attractive thing is the content of the drama based on life, and the humorous words often attract the audience to cheer and laugh repeatedly. Gongs and drums play an important role in Sichuan opera music, which not only accompany the opera but also directly express the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the opera. Commonly used small drums, Canggu, large gong, large cymbals, and small gong are collectively called "five squares", together with strings and Suona, six squares are conducted by small drums. During singing, gongs and drums run through it, so that singing, acting, reading, and playing can be organically combined, forming a unique style of Sichuan Opera art. At the same time, the gongs and drums of Sichuan Opera play a special role in the whole stage art of Sichuan opera. There are about 300 gongs and music pieces alone. In Sichuan opera, gongs and drums are often used as sound effects. The sound of rowing, gurgling water, rushing beach, whispering wind and rain, as well as the thudding sound of moving heavy objects can all be vividly expressed.

Other aspects of performance
Overall the art form is well known for its singing, which is less constrained than that of the more popular Beijing opera form. Sichuan opera is more like a play than other forms of Chinese opera, and the acting is highly polished. The music accompanying Sichuan opera utilizes a small gong and an instrument called a Guqin, which is similar to the Erhu.

The traditional formula is quite systematic with a combination of stunts like Bian Lian, tihuiyan, sword-hiding, fire-spitting and beard-changing with the plot and different characters.

Character of the fool
The character of the fool, or uncouth bumpkin, is significantly more prominent in Sichuan opera than in other forms of Chinese opera. Fool characters appear in guises including Mangpao (the emperor's attendant), the fool in mandarin's clothes, the playboy fool, the dirty and disheveled fool, the old-fashioned fool, and the thief fool. The thief fool is one of the most popular character archetypes in Sichuan opera.

5 styles

 * Gaoqiang (高/高): Gaoqiang is the most distinctive and representative form of Sichuan opera. Its main characteristics are as follows: free line and free singing style. There is no accompaniment, and only a clapper and drum are used to adjust the rhythm of Gaoqiang. The percussion music uses big gongs and drums, which run through the Qupai all the time so that the help, playing, and singing are closely combined. In the singing process, the recitative and aria are used alternately, and the accompaniment and singing enhance each other. In addition, the accompaniment of gongs and drums can make the atmosphere of the stage change infinitely. Gaoqiang from Jiangxi Yiyang tune development, the Yongzheng Emperor two years (1724), Chengdu has Gaoqiang opera troupe "old Qinghua class". In the reign of the Qianlong Emperor in the Qing dynasty, it had been introduced to Sichuan and was called "Qing Opera ".Gaoqiang is a kind of folk singing style, which does not hold strings but sings colloquially. It has a large number of Qupai and is complemented by percussion music (accompaniment of gongs and drums). It has distinct characteristics and an outstanding personality and is deeply loved by the Sichuan people. It combines with the Sichuan dialect and local Yangko rap and other folk arts to enrich its expressive force and form its own unique style. In the first year of the Republic of China, the Gaoqiang Opera troupe, banquet, music troupe, and other opera groups formed the "Sanqinghui". Gaoqiang Opera gradually became the main voice of Sichuan Opera.
 * Kunqiang (崑/昆): Chuan Kun refers to the Kunqu opera of Sichuan Opera, which evolved from the Kunqu opera of Jiangsu Province. Jiangsu's Kunqu Opera(Sukun for short) from Jiangsu flowed into Sichuan in the late Ming dynasty. After the Qing dynasty, as a large number of government officials and celebrities immigrated to Sichuan, Kunqu became popular with their families, and Kunqu also entered Sichuan. When Kun Opera arrived in Sichuan, it retained its original tunes, but in order to meet the needs of Sichuan audiences, the opera changed to the Sichuan dialect, which became Sichuan Kun. Combined with Gaoqiang, Huqin, Tanxi, and other tones as well as Sichuan opera gongs and drums, it was performed in the form of group tunes of "two and three groans". Or "Kuntouzi" (Kunqiang Qupai and other voice cavity group way) into the opera. At the same time, it is customary to dissolve the blow tone into Kunqu's tone. Kunqu Opera is a long-term combination of Sichuan dialect, folk music, Sichuan opera gongs, and drums, gradually evolving into Sichuan singing characteristics of Kunqu - Sichuan Kun. In 1912, the Kunqu Opera troupe Shuyi Ban joined the Sanqing Association and Kunqu Opera became one of the five Sichuan opera tones.
 * Huqin voice (鬍/胡): also known as "Sixianzi", got its name because it is mainly played by "Xiao Hu Qin". It is developed from the Hui tune and Han tune and absorbs the components of Shaanxi Hanzhong Erhuang. It is also complete with Xipi and Erhuang, but it has its characteristics in tone, style, passing through the door, and so on, and is sung in the Sichuan dialect. Huqin tune became popular in Sichuan during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty. Later, it was gradually "Sichuan-style" by combining with Sichuan dialect, music, especially gongs and drums in Sichuan opera as well as other tones. First, it was performed in the form of "two cooking POTS" and "three cooking POTS". In the first year of the Republic of China, the Huqin Opera troupe officially joined the "Sanqing Association" and became the Sichuan opera of the five-tone Republic.
 * Tanxi (彈/弹): also known as "Chuan Bangzi" or "Gai Banzi", is a variation of Qinqiang in Sichuan. The Qinqiang Opera was introduced into Sichuan earlier. One theory is that Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong introduced it when they entered Sichuan in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Another theory is the reign of Kangxi in the Qing dynasty. During the evolution of Qin Opera in Sichuan, Shaanxi Opera was first changed into Sichuan Opera to adapt to the habits of Sichuan audiences. At the same time, it was gradually combined with Huqin, Gaoqiang, and other tones, as well as Sichuan opera gongs and drums, or performed in groups. Many Sichuan opera plays are mainly played by playing opera, which is also integrated into Huqin and Deng. After the establishment of the "Sanqing Hui", the opera troupe Taihong joined the league, and the opera became an integral part of the five tones of Sichuan Opera. Tanxi includes two kinds of tunes with very different emotions: one is called "Tian Ping", showing the feeling of joy and joy. One is called Kuping, which expresses sad and bitter feelings. The plate has "yizi", "erliu", "sanban", "duoban", "daoban" and so on.
 * Dengdiao / Dengxi / Lantern theatre (燈/灯): Dengdiao is derived from the folk Lantern Festival custom and folk song and dance and music in Sichuan. The main voice is the accompaniment of "pangtongtong" and folk ditties. Also known as "pangtongtong". In the process of its development, it absorbed the North and South ditties and developed from the custom of the Lantern Festival to be performed all year round. Dengdiao music is generally relatively short, with distinct rhythm, and bright melody, listen to have a relaxed and lively feeling, a long performance witty comedy scene. In the use of Dengdiao, Qu Pai is also used to connect the form, but because the music is relatively short, usually only four or six sentences or the next sentence, when singing, a piece of music (section) is mostly repeated with several different lyrics. Qupai (tune) more. The main accompaniment instrument is the "datongtong Huqin", which has a thick and short rod, a large tube, and a slight "om" sound. Later, string instruments such as the Sichuan Erhu were added

Repertoire
The repertoire of Sichuan opera is very rich. There is a saying that "three thousand in the Tang dynasty, eight hundred in the Song dynasty, and countless countries". There are more than 100 repertoires on the stage. Among them, there are many rich relics from Song and Yuan Southern Operas, Yuan Zaju, Ming Legends, and many classic operas of ancient vocal operas, as well as Bashu literati such as Zhao Xi, Huang Ji'an, Yin Zhongxi, Liu Huaixu, Ran Qiaozi, Zhao Xunbo, Xu Wenyao, Wu Boqi, Li Mingzhang, For the outstanding contributions of Wei Minglun, Xu Fen, and others, the representative repertoires in traditional operas include: After 1949, 321 repertoires were successively identified and 116 repertoires were compiled and published. Among them, "The Story of the Willow Shade", "The Story of the Caillou", "Yu Zan Ji", "La Lang Pei", "Mandarin Ducks", "The Royal River Bridge", "The Adventure of Master Qiao", "The Story of Burning Incense", "The Legend of Fu Nu" ", "Jinshan Temple" and so on, have been well received by audiences at home and abroad. There are also many historical story dramas and modern dramas compiled and performed, such as "Marriage", "Husband and Wife Bridge", "Wangniangtan", "Ding Youjun" compiled by the writer Li Mingzhang, and "Red Rhododendron" and "Yibin Baimao" written by other playwrights. Female", "Xu Yunfeng", "Jiang Jie", "Jiang Lang Da Xin", "Yi Bold", "Four Girls" and so on.
 * The legacy of the Gaoqiang part is the richest, and the artistic features are also the most prominent, such as the so-called "Five Robes", "Four Pillars", and "Jiang Hu Shi Ba Ben". "Five Robes" are "The Story of the Green Robe" (also known as "Wufutang", which describes the event of Liang Hao's 82-year-old champion), "The Story of the Yellow Robe" (also known as "The Volume of Buddha", which describes the event of Sakyamuni's becoming a Buddha), "The Story of the White Robe" (writing about Xue Rengui), "The Story of the Red Robe" (that is, "The Story of the White Rabbit"), "The Story of the Green Robe" (that is, "The Face of the Green Robe", "Kao Chuntao"). The "Four Pillars" are "Tiantian Pillar" (writing about Gonggong's anger and anger at the mountain), "Crystal Pillar" (writing about the story of Avalokitesvara and Wei Tuo collecting indiscriminate dragons and water dragons), and "Nine Dragon Pillars" (writing about the story of the grand master's ascension to heaven)., "Pillars of the Five Elements" (writing about Monkey King making troubles in the Heavenly Palace). The "Eighteen Books of Rivers and Lakes" are "Yougui Ji", "Cailou Ji", "Wooden Jingchai", "Jade Hairpin", "Bai Luopa", "Baihua Pavilion", "Sunflower Well", "Luanchai Ji" and The titles are "Release the White Snake", "White Parrot", "The Story of Three Filial Pieties", "The Story of Huaiyin", "Zhong Sanyuan", "Ju Gucheng", "Iron Crown Picture", "The Three Festivals", "Han Zhenlie", " "Five Nobility Lianfang", "Languan Walking in Snow" and so on. In addition, there are "Golden Seal", "The Story of the Pipa", "The Story of the Red Plum", and "Ban Chao" (that is, "Tou Notes") Gaoqiang 4 major books.
 * The repertoire of Tanxi is represented by the four major volumes of "Chun Qiu Pei", "Mei Jiang Xian", "Hua Tian Cuo" and "kujiezhuan".
 * Huqin repertoires mostly perform the stories of the Three Kingdoms and other countries. The "Huangben" written by Huang Ji'an, a writer in the late Qing dynasty, is the most famous, such as "Qing Ling Tai", "San Fa Song", "Shen Nong Jian", "Shen Ji Ping", "Chai Shi Jie", " San Jin Zhong", "Mian Zhu Guan", "Jiang You Guan" and so on.
 * There are not many repertoires of Kunqu opera, and the common ones are "Yi Jian Xian Jian", "Dong Chuang Xiu Ben", "Zui Zao", "Zui Da", "Zhui Ma", "He Fan", "Dao Hui" and so on.
 * The repertoire of lantern opera includes "Ping Zhang Nian", "Bai Xin Nian", "Da Mian Gang", "Wu Zi Gao Mu", "Cai Yi" and so on. Among the works of literati, Zhao Xi's "Qing Tan", Ran Qiaozi's "Dao Wu Bi" and Yin Zhongxi's "Li Yan Ai" are all good repertoires.

Profession
The roles in the drama are called trades in Sichuan Opera. Sichuan Opera is divided into six categories: sheng, dan, jing, mo, chou, and za.

Since the Qing dynasty, innumerable Sichuan opera performing artists have emerged, such as Wei Changsheng in the Qianlong period, Xiao Xiating and Yue Chun in the Xianfeng and Tongzhi years, Fu Sangan and Huang Jinfeng in the Guangxu and Xuantong years, Yang Sultan and Yang Sulan in the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic of China. Kang Zilin, Tang Guangti, Huanhuaxian, etc., Xiao Kaicheng, Tian Lai, Cao Junchen, Yan Bingzhang, etc. during the Republic of China. After the Republic, there was the older generation, such as Jia Peizhi, Zhang Decheng, Zhou Haibin, Zhou Mulan, Wu Xiaolei, etc.; The middle-aged generation includes Liu Chengji, Zhou Yuxiang, Zhou Qihe, Chen Quanbo, Yang Youhe, Xue Yanqiu, Jiang Shangfeng, Yuan Yukun, Zeng Ronghua, and so on. The young generation includes Chen Shufang, Jing Hua, Yang Shuying, Xu Qianyun, Situ Huicong, Li Xiaofei, Xie Ping 'an, etc.; Rising stars include Zhao Youyu, Lan Guang Lin, Zhang Qiaofeng, Liu Shiyu and so on.