Hunan Huagu Opera, also known as xiang opera, originated from Yiyang, Hunan, and later developed to Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and other places. It is the general name of local small drama Huagu and Lantern Opera in Hunan. Due to different popular areas, there are Changsha Huagu Opera, Hengyang Huagu Opera, Shaoyang Huagu Opera and so on, each with different styles. It originated from the development of southern Hunan folk songs, from once ugly singing to "three small" singing. There are more than 411 traditional repertoires and more than 311 musical tunes in various places. According to their different structures and musical styles, they can be divided into four categories: Sichuan tune, gong cavity, brand and minor, all of which have the characteristics of rough and hearty and strong local color. Music is accompanied by small suona, gongs and drums, and the tune is lively and light, which is suitable for song and dance. Famous actors include Liao Chunshan, Wang Yousheng and Zhang Shusheng. [Edit this paragraph] Hunan Huagu Opera originated from folk songs and gradually developed into a primary form of Huagu Opera that was once ugly. Liuyang County Records published in the 23rd year of Jiaqing, Qing Dynasty (1818) said: "The boy dressed up as an ugly Dan opera, and the golden drums were loud, from the tenth day to the end of the night". It shows that once an ugly flower drum opera-Dihuagu was sung, it was formed at the latest in the Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty. According to Yang Enshou's Tanyuan Diary (1862), in the first year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty, there were four roles in the "Huagu Ci" (namely Huagu Opera) that Yang Enshou watched in Yongxing, Hunan Province, and the plot and performance were more vivid, indicating that Huagu Opera at this time had not only developed into "three small" (Xiao Dan, clown and niche) From the perspective of voice and repertoire, in the early days, folk tunes and brand songs were used to sing life plays while dancing, such as "Bird Hunting", "Flower Dish", "Seeing My Cousin Off" and "Seeing the fortune". Later, with the introduction of "Gong-playing tune" and "Sichuan tune", folk legend plays with strong stories gradually appeared. The main repertoires of playing gongs are Qingfeng Pavilion, Lulin Club, Eight Hundred Li Dongting, Xuemei Jiaozi, etc. The main repertoires of Sichuan Tune are Liu Hai Xi Toad, Whipping Reed Flowers, Zhang Guang Da Shou, and Driving Children on the Road, etc. In this way, a relatively complete local drama has been formed.
In the early days of Huagu Opera, only semi-professional class clubs performed seasonal performances in rural areas, and they were busy with farming and engaged in arts in their spare time. Since Guangxu, this kind of class club has developed rapidly. There are dozens of "traveling boxes" in Ningxiang and Hengyang counties alone, with nearly 211 artists. Actors are trained to follow the teacher in class, and some are taught by apprentices, which are called "teaching fields" or "teaching halls". Each stage lasts for dozens of days, and three or four plays are taught. In the past, because Huagu Opera was often discriminated against and banned, all local Huagu Opera troupes used to perform local popular dramas as a cover, which was called "half-stage troupe" or "half-play and half-tune" and "yin and yang troupe". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, professional troupes were set up in various places to perform in city theaters. According to the statistics in 1981, there are 54 flower drum opera troupes in the province, and the Hunan Flower Drum Opera Theatre has been established. In 1957, Hunan Opera School was established, with a specialized department of Huagu Opera. Traditional Plays There are more than 411 traditional plays of Huagu Opera in all parts of the country, which mainly reflect folk life, and mostly focus on productive labor, love between men and women or family conflicts, with vivid language and strong local flavor. After 1949, the art of Huagu Opera developed greatly. It not only sorted out traditional operas such as Chopping firewood with Liu Hai and Shooting Birds, but also created many modern operas such as Double Food Delivery, Busy Sister-in-law and Sanliwan. Playing the Gong, Filling the Pot, On the Delivery Road and Wild Duck Island have been made into films. There are more than 311 musical tunes in Huagu Opera, which are basically composed of Qupai, supplemented by plate changes. According to the different tune structures, musical styles and expression techniques, they can be divided into four categories: Sichuan tunes. Or Zhenggong tune, that is, Killer tune, accompanied by drums and suona. The tune is composed of singing phrases and singing phrases, with varied modes and melodies, which is the main singing of Huagu Opera. Playing gongs. Also known as Gong tune, Qupai combination structure, the combination of "tune" and "flow" (several boards), without hosting strings, is like a high tune, which is one of the main vocals of Changsha, Yueyang and Changde Huagu Opera. [Editor's note] The roles of Huagu Opera are classified into two brands, namely, the walking brand and the gongs and drums brand. They originated from southern Hunan folk songs, accompanied by small suona and gongs and drums, which are lively and brisk, and are suitable for song and dance operas. They are one of the main vocals of various schools in southern Hunan. Minor. There are folk songs and stringed tunes. Although the latter belongs to the tune system of Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has been localized. All kinds of tunes are rough and hearty. Performance characteristics The performance art of Huagu Opera is simple, bright and lively, and the performances of clowns, Xiao Dan and Xiao Sheng are still the most distinctive. The clown is exaggerated and funny, Xiao Dan is cheerful and provocative, and Xiao Sheng is free and easy. He is rich in footwork and figure, and is good at using fans and towels. He has various programs to show rural life, such as rowing, carrying loads, smashing, chopping wood, striking while the iron is hot, grinding bean curd, touching loach, flying kites, catching butterflies and so on. In the later period, due to the development of the repertoire, the performing arts were also enriched, such as absorbing some blanket skills and handle skills of the brothers' dramas, which enriched the martial arts performance. The business division of Huagu Opera has also become more detailed, not only from the "three small" to the life, Dan, clean and ugly, but also has a more detailed division of labor in the "three small". Taking Changsha Huagu Opera as an example, clowns are divided into three types: ugly in folds, ugly in short bodies, ugly in official clothes, ugly in rotten cloth and ugly in milk. Xiao Dan is divided into Zhengdan, Erdan, Hua Dan and Boudoir. Xiaosheng is divided into zhengxiaosheng, romantic xiaosheng, wushxiaosheng, rag xiaosheng, suckling children and so on. In the long-term artistic practice, there are some famous actors in Huagu Opera in various places, such as He Dongbao (ugly) in Changsha, Liao Chunshan (Dan) in Xiangtan, Wang Yousheng (Lao Dan) in Shaoyang, Zhang Shusheng (born) in Taoyuan, Yang Bocheng (ugly) in Yueyang and Zhang Tingyu (young) in Hengyang.
Changsha Huagu Opera, which takes Changsha Mandarin as the stage language, is one of the most influential ones in Hunan Huagu Opera. It has been developed from rural folk songs, folk tunes and local flower drums (including playing flower drums and ground flower drums-flower drum lanterns) for more than 161 years.
Changsha Huagu Opera has developed from "two small" (clown, Xiao Dan) to "three small" (two small plus small students), and then from "three small" to a variety of roles. However, it is still an important feature of Changsha Huagu Opera. [Edit this paragraph] Plays and Music Among the traditional plays of Changsha Huagu Opera, there are a large number of small plays and passbook plays, which are the most distinctive and representative plays. Small plays include "pair play" and "three small plays". Most of the operas are developed on the basis of folk songs, fishing songs, minor tunes, flower drums and bamboo lanterns. Zhezi Opera is often performed as a solo performance in Big Ben Opera, and it is the most popular repertoire in Changsha Huagu Opera. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, relying on the cooperation of old artists and literary and art workers, the traditional repertoire of Changsha Huagu Opera was excavated and adapted. There are 51 scripts such as Chopping firewood with Liu Hai, Lulin Club, Fan of Yin and Yang, Rent Collection in Nanzhuang and Golden Frog in Liu Hai Opera.
in music, it belongs to the "Qupai couplet". The method of couplet is to connect many Qupai with the same tone according to the needs of shaping the image and keeping the vocal layout unified and coordinated, so as to achieve the purpose of depicting characters and showing the plot. However, in terms of expression techniques, it is supplemented by plate changes to make up for the lack of tunes.
The vocal cavity of Changsha Huagu Opera can be divided into three categories: Sichuan tune, gong tune and minor tune. The first two categories are called "positive tune", which have relatively fixed vocal cavity format and melody characteristics; The melody, rhythm and mode of the latter kind of tunes have changed greatly, and basically they keep their original folk song structures. The cut music of Changsha Huagu Opera, the tunes come from folk songs and classical qupai.
Changsha Huagu Opera has developed the roles of life, beauty, purity and ugliness on the basis of the "three primary schools". However, the clown, Xiao Dan and Xiao Sheng still represent the unique artistic style of this drama. Clowns can be divided into wrinkle ugliness, short body ugliness, official clothes ugliness, rotten cloth ugliness, milk ugliness and so on.
The accompaniment band of Changsha Huagu Opera is divided into civil and military scenes. There are big drums and suona in the literary field. Drum is the main musical instrument, shaped like erhu, made of bamboo snake skin, with clear and rich timbre, which is used to keep the tune in the accompaniment; Suona is divided into big suona and small suona, which is mainly used to play the door. There are drums, gongs (Su Gong), big notes (Han notes), small notes and small gongs in the martial arts field. The clapping is "Kezi" (that is, a rectangular bangzi).
Yueyang Flower Drum Opera is popular in Yueyang, Miluo, Linxiang and some towns in southern Hubei. Jiaqing's "Baling County Records" in the Qing Dynasty recorded the flourishing of flower drum opera in the countryside around Baling.
In terms of music, the main vocal cavity of Yueyang Huagu Opera is called "Qinqiang". The tunes of "Qinqiang" include [single sentence], [sandwiched sentence], [dreamy tone], [yin tone] and [sad tone]. Other folk songs such as [Sifu Tune], [Acacia Tune], [Noisy Wugeng], [Ten Embroideries], [Huimen Tune], [Ten Cups of Wine] and [Plum Blossom Introduction] are often used in between. It is obvious that "Qinqiang" is influenced by the Chinese tune. Many of Yueyang Huagu Opera's plays are also based on "Qin Opera", so when it was performed in southern and southeastern Hubei, it was easily accepted by the masses and liked to watch because of its homology of music and similar language, and it was called "Violin Opera".
The main plays are Sifu, Mending the Back, Lu Lin Ji, Double Stealing Flowers, Double Selling Wine, Cowherd and Weaving Girl, etc.
Changsha Huagu Opera is popular in Changsha, Xiangtan, Zhuzhou, Ningxiang, Liuyang and Pingjiang, and it is the most popular and influential one in Hunan. As early as the middle of Qing dynasty, it became popular in these places and flourished.
The main tune of Changsha Huagu Opera is "Sichuan tune", which is adopted by most plays. Folk call it "Killer Opera" because it is accompanied by silk and bamboo instruments. "Killer Opera" is also influenced by the naughty yellow of Han Dynasty, and gradually approaches the banqiang music, including [first-class], [second-class], [third-class], [guide board], [mourning son], [singing cavity] and [tip cavity]. The main plays are Panfu, Sacrifice Tower and Catch.
No matter "Qinqiang" or "Chuandiao", Killer is accompanied by strings such as drums, and his pronunciation is gloomy and honest.
Yueyang Huagu Opera and Changsha Huagu Opera are both called "Gong Opera". "Gong cavity" is also called "playing Gong cavity", that is, when singing, it is accompanied by gongs and drums, regardless of strings and vocals. Before liberation, Jingzhou Huagu Opera was also accompanied by gongs and drums, and the voices helped each other. It was only in the 1951s that the accompaniment of Wenchang was added. On the basis of local gongs and drums, such as [Mupi tune], [Trojan tune], [Cidian tune], [Siliu tune] and [Batong brand], Huagu Opera in Yueyang and Changsha has absorbed some banqiang music from the naughty Chinese, forming a combination structure of [guide board], [third-rate], [emergency board] and [scattered board].
Yueyang Huagu Opera and Changsha Huagu Opera have a third tune called "minor", which is local folk music with strong local flavor. For example, folk songs such as [Tea Picking Tune], [Looking at Mother Tune], [Inverted Tune], [Four Seasons Green], [Lotus Picking Boat Tune], [Vegetable Washing Heart] and so on. However, some gongs and drums classics of the Han Dynasty were also used as the music for passing the door and cutting the scene, such as [Wan Nianhuan], [A Flower], [Flying moth], [Victory Order], [Liu Yaojin] and [Beside the dressing table].
Yueyang Huagu Opera and Changsha Huagu Opera became independent operas. The earliest performances were the "Second Small" with less plot, that is, the "Three Small" song and dance operas that were once ugly for life, mostly used local minor, and then were influenced by Han Opera and other operas to perform plays with strong plot and more characters.
Due to the low degree of drama in minor tunes, they absorbed the Chinese tune music which is adjacent to it and similar in language and pronunciation, forming the later "Qin tune" or "Sichuan tune" and some "Gong tunes". And in the process of long-term stage performance, local music is integrated, and the melody characteristics are relatively fixed. Huagu Opera calls this "the right tune". The formation of "orthodox tune" makes up for the deficiency of minor and the combination of qupai, which makes Huagu Opera have the musical conditions to perform this play.
As for Changde Flower Drum Opera, it is mainly popular in Changde, Taoyuan, Hanshou, Linli, Dayong and Cili. It originated from folk "tea-picking lanterns" and "car lanterns" and flowed into cities in the late Qing Dynasty. During Xuantong's reign, Changsha Daily recorded that Changde banned "Lantern Prostitution", which forced Huagu Opera and Han Opera to co-perform, and was directly influenced by Changde Han Opera. Before liberation, many Huagu opera artists learned Chinese opera and joined the Han class. Their performances were often "two pots" of Huagu and Han tune, which was called "two LUN classes" locally. This situation continued until after liberation.
Changde's music is also "Sichuan tune", "gong cavity" and "minor". The main repertoires are Watching Flowers in Lin Ying, Jumping on the Pink Wall, Picking Mushrooms, Double Down the Mountain and The Death of Second Sister You, which was adapted after liberation. A new modern play "Village Veterinary".
In addition to vocal music, many traditional operas in Hunan Huagu Opera were moved from Han Opera. It is said that there are hundreds of them, such as Song Jiang Killing Xi, Mei Long Playing Phoenix, Burning Incense in Guanwang Temple, Seeing off the Son in Huaiyin, Qingfeng Pavilion, and Driving Pan. [Editor's paragraph] After the liberation of the famous dramas of modern Huagu Opera, under the guidance of the party's literary and artistic policy, Hunan Huagu Opera, with the concerted efforts of old artists and new literary and artistic workers, excavated, sorted out and adapted many traditional dramas, among which "Liu Hai Chops firewood" and "Liu Hai Play Jin Chan" have great influence in the whole country.
Hu Xiuying is heavily decorated by Xiao, Liu Hai is decorated by Zhao Juyun, and Liu Mu is decorated by Zhong Yichun. There are nine sisters of the fox in Qianshan. Hu Xiuying, the ninth sister, stopped Liu Hai on the road because she admired Liu Hai's diligence and simplicity, and proposed marriage. When Liu Hai knew that Xiuying really loved him, she agreed. So they used willow as a medium. Shan testified that he was married and both returned home. It turned out that Hu Xiuying, who was married by Liu Hai, was a fox fairy who had been practicing for more than 511 years before she got the body of a fortuneteller. She has a treasure, which enables her to become a person. There is also a stone arhat in Qianshan Mountain, whose original body is a bluestone golden toad. He also practiced in the mountain and wanted to be a fortuneteller. So he sneaked into the Liu family while shopping in Liu Hai Chang Street. When he saw that Hu Xiuying was drawing water next to Loofah Well, he led all the stones to rob the orb. Hu Xiuying was outnumbered, and he was knocked into the well. Shi Luohan used a thousand-pound brake, and Hu Xiuying was colic and exhausted. He had to spit out the orb from his mouth and was taken away by Shi Luohan. Hu Xiuying lost her orb, and she was about to show her true colors at dawn, so she told the truth to Liu Hai, who came home from shopping. After listening to Liu Hai, regardless of his life and death, he rushed to Qianshan, and with the help of an axe, he got the treasure back. The husband and wife were reunited and lived a happy life.
In the play, "Brother Liu Hai, I'll compare you ... I'll compare elder sister here ..." A duet between Hu Xiuying and Liu Hai is lively and cheerful, and the joy of getting married and returning home is funny and lovely. It is one of the most distinctive aria in Hunan Huagu Opera, and it has been sung for a long time.
In addition to the arrangement and adaptation of traditional operas, Hunan Huagu Opera pays special attention to the creation and performance of modern operas, which has great influence in this province and the whole country. According to the statistics of Hunan Huagu Theater in 1965, among the 94 plays, 69 are modern plays, such as Sanliwan, Playing Gong, Toning Pots, Double Delivery of Grain, Red Salesman, Guo Liang's Troops to Catch Guo Liang, My Family, Returning Cattle and On the Delivery Road.