Why is it called "Lu Opera"?
There are many opinions about the origin of the name of Lu Opera, which are roughly as follows:
1, 19 15 or so, Shi Dianyuan, an old artist in Shijia Village, Niuzhuang, Guangrao County, Huimin District (now classified as Dongying District), once sang "Wang Xiao Catch Feet" with a paper donkey in disguise, which was welcomed by the masses, so people called it donkey play. Because it is not elegant enough, it is transliterated by some scholars.
2. 1923, this donkey show entered Jinan, and its main play was "Dayao in Lv Dongbin". The local people don't know the origin of this play, but they only hear that it is called "donkey play", and because the main play begins with the word "Lu", the audience calls it "Lu play".
3. The word "Lu" in Lu Opera was originally the word "Lu" of 25 families. It means neighborhood drama, hometown drama. Later, in the process of tossing and turning, "Lu" was simplified to "Lu".
4. In the past, the piano books were mostly two couples or a family partner, and the content of singing reflected the love between men and women. Both of them are called "Lu", so they are called Lu Opera.
5. The original name of Lu Opera is Drama. There are two reasons: first, because the piano is the main accompaniment instrument when singing, and the fingers playing the piano move up and down, so it is called playing; Because there are six rhythms in the Twelve Laws of China's music, which are collectively called "Six Laws", it was renamed "Lu". There is also a legend that when this drama was named, an old artist said that when it was sung, it was called a stroke. Music is homophonic with Lu, hence the name Lu Opera.
How did Lu Opera come into being?
Shandong Qin Shu, the source of Lu Opera, was originally called Xiaoqu, but later it was called Yangqin by the masses because its accompaniment instrument was mainly Yangqin (called Yangqin in the early days). Shandong Shu Qin is deeply loved by the working people for its beautiful tunes and rich rural life. It was first popular in the southwest of Shandong Province, and gradually extended to the north (Jinan and Huimin areas) and the east (Qingdao and Yantai), with a history of more than 2,000 years. In the process of development, influenced by languages and customs in different regions, three major schools have gradually formed: South Road, North Road and East Road.
When Qin Shu was singing, they cooperated tacitly, focusing on singing and reading, supplemented by performance, and combining singing and reading closely; When singing, dulcimer and pendant are the main accompaniment instruments. The singer is also an accompanist, which typically embodies the artistic characteristics of Quyi form. This kind of folk quyi singing form, which integrates singing, speaking and acting, is the basic condition for the development of Shandong Qin Shu from rap art form to opera art
In the early years of Guangxu, farmers in the north of Le 'an (now Guangrao County) often took musical instruments such as playing the piano and playing the festival board with them in order to survive. Start by singing a short piece of piano book, or make up some interesting stories smoothly and sing while playing. Later, they constantly absorbed opera aria and folk tunes to enrich the content and form of their performances. Some artists who are good at singing have gradually formed their own singing characteristics in the long-term performance process. Artists who are good at character performance are committed to creating new forms of expression to attract audiences.
/kloc-in the winter of 0/900 (the 26th year of Guangxu reign), a class headed by Shi Dianyuan, a calligrapher of Donglu Qin Dynasty, tried to change "Catching Feet" into a cosmetic performance, and tied bamboo, paper and cloth into the shape of a donkey and painted it in color. Another actor tied a colorful donkey to make it look like riding a donkey. An actor drives a donkey with a whip; Another artist played piano, dulcimer, bamboo board and other musical instruments, and the actors sang and danced in the music. This kind of performance is unique and lively, and it was a success the first time. In the early spring of one year, Shi Dianyuan and others changed many piano books from the form of sitting in a chamber to making-up performances, and led students to travel around Boxing, Guangrao, wei county, Zhucheng, Yexian and Huangxian. Wherever he went, he was deeply loved by the masses. Because "Donkey" was used as a prop in the performance of "Wang Xiao Catch the Foot", the masses called Le Tong Class "Donkey Troupe". Dianyuan thought the name was indecent, so he first declared that he was singing "playing dulcimer with makeup" everywhere.
19 17 (in the sixth year of the Republic of China), a train class composed of Zhang Fenghui, a makeup dulcimer from Guangrao County, first entered Jinan. Since then, many drama classes have also entered Jinan to perform. Some class clubs often perform in Yantai, Qingdao and even Dalian, Changchun, Harbin and other northeastern cities, further expanding the influence of the play. At that time, the more influential teams were Huangjiaban, Father-Son Class, Fun Class, Qinghe Class, Republican Class and so on.
After the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the play got into trouble. The troupe that once performed in Jinan has also gone from bad to worse, resulting in the shrinking of the class club and the unsustainable life of artists. Most of the artists returned to their hometowns, and the rest formed the "Yihe Class" to maintain their performances and make ends meet. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the performance did not improve, but became more and more depressed. "Yihe Class" also ended its dissolution on 1946, and the artists were forced to change careers and find another way out.
After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the makeup dulcimer drama gained a new life. 65438-0950, Shandong Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles Local Opera Research Office organized the excavation, arrangement, experiment and popularization of local opera art in this province. Duan Tao, vice chairman of the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles, suggested naming it "Lu Opera", but Mr. Wang Tongzhao disagreed. After research, it was determined to be Lu Opera.
During this period, Ji 'nan Makeup dulcimer Troupe, composed of Ban Gai of the Boxer, also created and performed plays such as "Zhang Dayou Being Cheated" and "Wang Xiuluan", which opened the door to modern plays of Lu Opera. 195 1 the first Lu theatre company, Jinan Lushengqin Theatre Company (Jinan Lu Theatre), was established. 1953, the first provincial academy group-Shandong Lu Theatre was established.
Since then, many dramas have been staged one after another, and the social influence has been expanding day by day. The provincial Shandong Opera Troupe has also compiled and processed traditional plays such as Sisters Easy to Marry (Forced Marriage) and modern plays such as Guangming Avenue. 1954 "Li Er's wife remarried", "Guangming Avenue", "Wang's loan" and "Xiao Guxian" won prizes in East China Drama Exhibition respectively. Li Er's wife remarried and was made into a black-and-white movie by changchun film studio 1957 the following year. Two Long Lands was made into a black-and-white film by Shanghai Haiyan Film Studio, 1965.