''Errentai'', also known as ''Errenban'', ''Dawanyi'er'', ''Shuangwanyi'er'', and ''Bengbeng'', is a genre of

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

performed by two singers. It is popular in

Fugu County Fugu () is a county of Yulin, in the north of Shaanxi province, China. It is the northernmost county-level division of the province, bordering Inner Mongolia (banners of Jungar, Ejin Horo) to the north, Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal r ...

and

Shenmu County Shenmu () is a county-level city in the north of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest and Shanxi province, across the Yellow River, to the southeast. Under the administration of Yulin City, Shenmu is endowed with pl ...

northern Shaanxi Northern Shaanxi or Shaanbei () is the portion of China's Shaanxi province north of the Huanglong Mountain and the Meridian Ridge (the so-called "Guanzhong north mountains"), and is both a geographic as well as a cultural area. It makes up the so ...

Hequ County Hequ () is a county in the northwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west and Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of C ...

in northwestern

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

Kangbao County Kangbao County () is a county in the northwest of Hebei province, China. It is under the administration of Zhangjiakou City and is its northernmost county-level division, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north, east, and west. Administrative divisi ...

in northwestern

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

, and areas near

Baotou Baotou; is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is home to 2,261,089 people with a total po ...

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the Capital (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...

, and the

Ordos Plateau The Ordos Plateau, also known as the Ordos Basin or simply the Ordos, is a highland sedimentary basin in parts of most Northern China with an elevation of , and consisting mostly of land enclosed by the Ordos Loop, a large northerly rectangular ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

. In 2006, ''errentai'' was listed as a national-level

intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. In ...

by the government of China.

History

''Errentai'' traces its history back to the 18th century during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. It originated in

and later spread to western

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

, and

. The songs are derived from folk songs; as such, different styles are developed in different areas.

Performance

''Errentai'' is performed by two singers, one acting in the ''

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa ** Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivo ...

'' (female) role and another in the '' chou'' (male clown) role. Traditionally both roles were portrayed by men, but the ''dan'' role is typically portrayed by actresses today. The performers would sing back and forth. Stage props include handkerchiefs, folding fans, rattle sticks and paper or silk stripes. The musical instruments used include the ''

dizi Dizi may refer to: *Dizi (instrument), a Chinese transverse flute * Dizi (woreda), a district of Ethiopia *Dizi people, an ethnic group in southern Ethiopia **Dizi language * Dizi, Iran *Abgoosht, a Persian dish *Turkish television drama series ('' ...

'' (transverse flute), '' sihu'' (four-stringed fiddle), and ''

yangqin The trapezoidal yangqin () is a Chinese hammered dulcimer, likely derived from the Iranian santur or the European dulcimer. It used to be written with the characters 洋琴 (lit. "foreign zither"), but over time the first character changed to ...

'' (hammered dulcimer). The wood block (梆子; ''bangzi'') and ''sikuaiwa'' (四块瓦, a percussion instrument) are also sometimes used.

References

Chinese opera Culture in Inner Mongolia Culture in Shanxi Culture in Hebei Culture in Shaanxi {{China-music-stub

History

Performance

See also

References