Chu Opera, formerly known as Ou Yue Opera, Huang Xiao Ancient Painting Opera and Xilu Ancient Painting Opera, was merged with folk songs, Taoist feelings, bamboo horses, stilts and folk rap in huangpi district and Xiaogan in Wuhan, Hubei Province in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, forming an independent local traditional vocal drama. 1926 was renamed as Chu Opera more than 50 years ago. It is a widely influential local opera in Hubei. So what are the artistic features of Chu Opera? Next, let's learn more about the artistic characteristics and historical origins of Chu Opera! Chu Opera, formerly known as Wu Yu Opera, Huang Xiao Ancient Painting Opera and West Road Ancient Painting Opera. During the Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty, the "Oh-Oh" tune, which was popular in eastern Hubei, merged with the folk songs, Taoist feelings, bamboo horses, stilts, folk rap and so on in huangpi district and Xiaogan, Wuhan, Hubei Province, forming one of the independent Han local tune operas. 1926 was renamed "Chu Opera", which has a history of more than 50 years. Chu Opera is mainly popular in more than 50 districts and counties in Wuhan, Xiaogan, Ezhou, Huanggang, Jingzhou, Xianning, Jingmen, Yichang, Huangshi and Suizhou. It is a widely influential local opera in Hubei. On May 20th, 2006, Chu Opera was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. Representative plays: The Son Who Saved My Life, Cockfighting Crow by Cai Feng, Hugh by Mu, You are a River, etc.

I. Historical origin

According to the relationship between artists and teachers, the history of Huang Xiao's ancient paintings can be traced back to 1850 years ago. In the thirty years of Daoguang Qing Dynasty (1850), Ye wrote "Hankou Ci", volume 5, saying that "laity is partial to self-love and loves oily cavity most; The earth swings around to see the description of Huagu Opera, which always starts in two or three nights. The ancient painting drama mentioned in this article is Huang Xiao's ancient painting.

Chu Opera is a kind of drama that combines the "Oh Oh" in eastern Hubei with the language and music of Huang Bei and Xiaogan. In the early days of its formation, it was only sung during the Lantern Festival in rural areas, so it was also commonly known as "Lantern Festival". Later, the off-season performances of Maihuang Class and Four Seasons Class gradually appeared.

The earliest troupes were two troupes formed by Huang Bei's Ai Jiu Dad and Huang Bei Hengdian's Zhang Mian. At that time, the only vocals were Oh, Oh, Sadness, Siping and minor tunes like "Missing Children" and "Visiting Family". There are seven or eight people in a troupe, and there are not many plays. In the 26th year of Guangxu (1900), the troupe originally performing in the countryside began to enter Shakou Town and Shuikou Town near Hankou to sing in the tea garden. Two years later (1902), it entered the Zheng Qing tea garden in the German Concession in Hankou for the first time, creating the history of Chu opera entering the city. After the Revolution of 1911, theaters began to appear in the concession. Huang Xiao's Flower Drum Opera was first staged in concession theaters such as Sihai Shengpinglou, Gonghe Shengpinglou and Yuhuchun. , with more than 1000 seats. The most popular actors are (Hua Dan, later renamed Jiang), Xiao (Dan Jiao, later renamed Li Baichuan) and Xiao Shuanghong (Hua Dan and). The repertoire includes Cai Mingfeng's Ci Shop, Zhang Dehe's Ci Shop, Hu Yanchang's Ci Shop, Yunlouhui, Hualouhui, East Louhui and West Louhui.

The performance of Huang Xiao's ancient painting drama from rural to urban is a major turning point in its development history. In order to meet the needs of urban audiences, Huang Xiao's ancient paintings and operas have extensively absorbed and transplanted plays from other local operas to enrich themselves. From one-sided drama, short drama and broken drama, I have turned to this story-coherent drama, such as contracts, selling flowers, robes and butterfly cups. 1923, Yan, a blind violinist in China drama, changed the original singing to accompaniment and achieved success. This move is of pioneering significance to the development of gongs and drums and has a far-reaching impact on its future development. In the next twenty years, the performance of Huang Xiao's ancient painting drama gradually expanded to some counties around Wuhan and gradually replaced the original popular ancient painting drama.

2. Artistic features

1. Sound cavity

(1) Singing

There are three kinds of banqiang aria: strip, sadness, first cavity, Yingshan, Siping and the beauty of stone. Sudden cavity is the main cavity of Chu opera, which can be divided into four types: male sudden cavity, female sudden cavity, sad sudden cavity and Xipi sudden cavity. Among them, the male cavity is rough and simple, the female cavity is euphemistic and soft, the sad cavity is deep and sad, and the Xipi cavity is simple and strong. The rhythm of the tune is flexible and changeable, which can be both narrative and lyrical, widely used and expressive. Sad cavity is only female cavity, which is an alternative mode of palace sign. Its melody is sad and euphemistic, and it is good at expressing sadness. The first tune is a mode of alternating solicitation and business, and the tune is either euphemistic or violent, and it is good at expressing passionate and angry emotions. Yingshan tune, originally a tune of Huabu in North Road, has now become one of the main vocals of Chu Opera. Its tunes are lively, fresh, sweet and smooth. Siping tunes are bright and gorgeous, and are good at expressing cheerful emotions. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Siping Opera developed and derived from Xipi Siping. Its melody is gorgeous and euphemistic, which is suitable for fairies, princesses and noble women to sing. Ten Branches of Plum was originally the special tune of Tian Mian's ancient painting dramas "One-sided Ci" and "Ten Branches of Plum", and later became an integral part of the singing of Chu Opera. Its melody is cheerful and soft, and it is good at expressing cheerful or worried emotions.

(2) Minors

According to statistics, there are more than 60 kinds of tunes with different styles in Chu Opera, some of which come from various flower drums in Hubei. It turned out to be a drama and a song, which was specially used to sing special songs. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the reform of minors has enhanced their expressive power and made them more widely used. Minor can be roughly divided into two categories. One is to fill in the lyrics according to the melody, and the number and length of each lyric must be filled in according to the melody format, such as Ten Embroidery Tone, selling groceries Tone and Macheng Tone. The other is the newspaper cavity, where the beginning and end tunes are relatively fixed, and the middle can be divided into two sentences according to the length of the lyrics. The report is flexible and similar to oral English, such as begging for money, selling cotton yarn and carving cattle silk.

(3) High cavity

High-pitched opera was once a kind of high-pitched opera in Xiangyang, Huanggang, Jingzhou, Xiaogan and other places in Hubei, but it has long been famous on the stage. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Wuhan Chu Opera Troupe excavated and sorted out high-pitched operas and qupai in Macheng and Zhongxiang in 1956, and applied them to the singing of newly-edited historical dramas and modern dramas, making them an integral part of Chu Opera singing. High-pitched tunes are very rich, including 100 songs, such as Hong Heng Coat, Sonam Branch, Yichun Order, Wu Tongyu and Mountain Sheep. Its melody is beautiful, the rhythm is gentle, the lyrics are elegant, and the lyrical narrative is acceptable.

Step 2: Function

(1) classification

The performing arts of Chu Opera are based on dual operas, absorbing the performing arts of Peking Opera and Han Opera, and gradually developing through a long-term singing process, without strict distinction between roles and occupations. The early performance was ugly only once, and then there were Xiao Sheng and Hu Zisheng. After entering Hankou, the role of the industry began to increase, and Zheng Dan, Xiao Dan, Hua Dan, Lao Dan, Yao Dan, Xiao Sheng, Laosheng, Ugly and Fan Hua appeared.

Over the past hundred years, the continuous development and innovation of Chu Opera has produced a large number of famous actors, exceeding 160, with great influence. There were Zou Quanshun, Qiu Dongyuan, Zhan Chunlin, Zhan Tuozi, Xiong Sanyuan and Yang Dean in the early stage. Among them, the most famous are "Four Happiness", namely Xu, Li, Cao Jianxi, Zhang Sixi and later Zhang Bing.

(1) angle

Shengjiao pays attention to the use of China traditional opera performances, with a wide range of performances, which can not only perform small plays of folk life, but also perform with robes. Zhang, a young student of Chu Opera, is sincere and pragmatic. In the pursuit of art, he learned from others, was brave in innovation and performed beautifully. In appearance, he borrowed the makeup features of Beijing, Han, Yue and Sichuan operas, integrated the traditional whitewashing of Chu operas, and adopted modern drama techniques, which gave people a beautiful feeling. In singing, his vocal cords are well controlled, his voice lines are freely retracted, and he pays attention to the vocal cords moving with the words, and the words are connected with the vocal cords, and the strength is clear and fast, and the cadence is flexible. For example, the bridal chamber of "Yu Han Ji" has a lot of lyrics, and his timbre is beautiful and quite charming. In the duet with Li Baichuan, the timbre is harmonious, ups and downs, and tacit cooperation can be described as "perfect match". In doing things, he pays attention to body movements, making his figure beautiful and natural, and his opponents, eyes, body and footsteps are not negligent. His plays cover a wide range, focusing on portraying characters and accurately revealing their inner activities. For example, in the play "Lv Mengzheng Drive Fast", Lv Mengzheng, played by him, is simple and plump, portraying a lofty and conceited scholar image, which is vivid and reasonable.

1960, Zhang's play "Driving Fast" was well received by central leading comrades such as Zhu De, Fujian, etc. The play was recorded by Chinese record companies and sold well all over the country. His representative plays include: Lv Mengzheng Driving Fast, Selling Oil Lang, Hosta, Sending Fragrant Tea, Sending Friends, Parting Yong Dong, Death of a Mountain Man, The Story of Bean Juice, Zuo Weiming's Clever Broken Embroidered Shoes and so on.

(2) Egg dumplings

Dandan pays attention to the family life drama with strong human feelings, and his singing is simple, delicate and cordial. The famous actress Hu Guixiang, whose stage name is Bai Lianhua, is from Xihe Street in Xiaogan. She is the first real actress in Xiaogan Chu Opera. Her representative works include Zhang in Send Sweet Tea and Miao Laosan's Car. She is handsome in appearance, mellow in singing, sweet in voice and excellent in performance, which is deeply loved by the audience. So there is a ballad: "You don't watch the play well, and Bai Lianhua is like a chicken in his heart." At a performance in Xinfucheng, the local landlord Wang Qingnan asked her to help burn opium in an attempt to insult her. She left on the pretext that she had nowhere to go. People say that she is virtuous and artistic, which is why she is called Bai Lianhua.

(3) Theme

Chu opera has the characteristics of wide subject matter, easy to understand, lively and strong local flavor, and is quite inclusive. It can absorb the repertoire of Beijing Opera and Han Opera, and can not only perform life dramas and modern dramas, but also perform court dramas and martial arts dramas, with various means of expression. Chu opera is closely related to life and times. In different historical periods, it created and performed new dramas praising justice and attacking evil. Therefore, it is deeply loved by the broad masses.

(4) Drama

There are about 500 existing plays of Chu Opera, of which more than 200 are often performed. Among them, the more important ones are Qin Xuemei's mourning, Princess Silverscreen, Running around Zhai, Killing Dogs and Wife, Enemy of the Three Kingdoms, Killing Wife by Wu Han, Cai Mingfeng's Ci Shop, Gema, Hundred Days' Fate, Nine Clothes, Wu Jinji and Selling Cotton Yarn. The tunes of Chu Opera are divided into three parts: banqiang, minor and high notes. Board cavity includes tone cavity, chord cavity, Yingshan cavity, Siping cavity, Stone Beauty cavity and so on. In minor, there are ten embroideries, Macheng, begging for money, selling cotton yarn, etc., and in high notes, there are Suonanzhi, Shanpo sheep, etc. The accompaniment instruments of Chu Opera mainly include Huqin, Jing Erhu, Erhu, Sanxian, cymbals and gongs. The roles of Chu opera are mainly divided into three categories: life, Dan and ugliness, and other professions are also played by life, Dan and ugliness actors. Chu opera performance pays attention to propriety and naturalness, and it is eclectic in the use of procedural means, with a strong local flavor. Famous actors include Gao Yuelou, Guan, Li Yaqiao and Xiong.

Modern historical drama, such as blood out, Liu, Shuangjiaozi, Zhui Bao, Enemy of the Three Kingdoms, Peach Blossom Fan, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Unhappy Son-in-law, Justice of Prison Guards, Mu Xiuxiu, Youyou River, Oriental Taxation, etc. Jiang Cuilan,,, Rong,,,, and a number of outstanding actors who are deeply loved by the people have appeared in succession.

Three. Inherit meaning

When it comes to the inheritance of Chu Opera, an intangible cultural heritage, Wuhan Chu Theatre plays an important role. Wuhan Chu Theatre, formerly known as Wuhan Chu Theatre Company, was founded in 195 1 and renamed Wuhan Chu Theatre in 2005. It is the most representative theater of Chu Opera and consists of three performing entities: a performing group, a youth performing group and a Chu Music Theater. Song Tao, director of Wuhan Chu Theater, said that the theater began to write its own plays from 1985, and this creative achievement is not small. In the national opera performance since 1985, the injustice of prison guards won ten awards, including performance, director, script design, beautiful dance design, first prize for leading role and supporting role performance, second prize for music design and special prize for costume design.

In addition, there are other masterpieces, such as The Son of Yangshengtang, Cai Fengbao's Cry, Mu Xiu, You are a River, Third Daughter-in-law's Birthday, Tea in March, Going Home for the New Year and so on. , and also won the Selected Works Award, Wenhua New Drama Award and Wenhua Performance Award from the Ministry of Culture.

Four. Songs of Chu Opera

The representative plays of Chu Opera include Four Places in Henan, Searching for Children, Qiao Mai Mo Ben, Civet Cat for Prince, Nine Clothes, White Fan (Wu Jinji), Qin Xianglian, Tiger General and so on.

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