Henan Opera
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Yu opera (), or Yuju opera, sometimes known as Henan bangzi"Bangzi" meaning wooden clappers with bars of unequal length (), is one of China's famous national opera forms, alongside
Peking opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became ...
,
Yue opera Yue opera (), also known as Shaoxing opera, is a popular Chinese opera genre, with only Peking opera considered to be more popular nationwide. Originating in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1906, Yue opera features actresses in male r ...
, Huangmei opera and Pingju.
Henan province Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Luo ...
is the origin of Yu opera. Henan's one- character abbreviation is "" (yù), and thus the opera style was officially named "" (Yùjù) after the founding of
the People's Republic of China ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...
. The area where Yu opera is most commonly performed is in the region surrounding the
Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
and
Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...
. According to statistical figures, Yu opera was the leading opera genre in terms of the number of performers and troupes. While Yu opera is often called "Henan opera" in English, within Henan it is considered to be just one of the province's three most important forms of opera, the other two being Quju (曲剧) and Yuediao (越调). Outside Henan, provinces and areas such as
Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...
,
Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
,
Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...
,
Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
,
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 ...
,
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
,
Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...
, and
Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
all have professional Yu opera troupes. There is also a troupe in Kaohsiung,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. The history of Henan opera dates back to more than 200 years ago. The opera was widely spread in Henan province during the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911) and faced new development opportunities after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The opera spread across China and was ahead of the other 300 local operas in China before the mid-1980s. On May 20, 2006, Henan Opera was included in the first national intangible cultural heritage list batch.


History

Yu opera came into being during the late Ming and early
Qing 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 ...
dynasties. At the beginning, it was mainly song arias without make-up, which was loved by the ordinary people. As a result, it developed rapidly. The origin of Yu opera is hard to trace, and the accounts about its origin differ. With regard to the origin and formation of Henan opera, there is a shortage of records in ancient books, and few scholars have sought to engage in in-depth and comprehensive exploration and research. Since the 1920s and 1930s there have been multiple theories and viewpoints on the origin of the opera. There is no one theory that is generally agreed upon by researchers as there is not enough evidence to convince all people, so there are multiple similar and completely opposite arguments. Four major representative opinions concerning the origin of the opera are that they originate from Shanxi opera, from the folk society of Henan, from the operatic tune that is popular in the Central Plains area of China, and from the predecessor of Henan bangzi.


Henan Opera Art


Artistic characteristics

The art of Henan Opera is both ancient and modern, reconciliation hardness and softness, open-minded and generous, and has the beauty of "neutralization". Henan Opera is famous for singing. First of all, the Henan Opera singing is sonorous and powerful, magnificent, restrained, full of passionate and unrestrained masculinity, with strong emotional strength. Secondly, Henan Opera is sound, clear, natural, flesh and blood, and good at expressing the inner feelings of the characters. Moreover, the rhythm of Henan opera is distinct and strong, conflicts are sharp, and the story has a beginning and an end, coupled with humorous and cheerful tunes, which makes Henan opera not only suitable for performing easy comedy, it is also magnificent and suitable for playing emperors and generals of the big scene, western Henan euphemism, singing the sad is very suitable for playing sad drama. Henan Opera in the key plot is generally arranged with large plate singing, singing smooth, distinct rhythm, very challenging, generally clear words, easy to be heard by the audience, showing the unique charm of the Central Plains art.


Role

The role of Henan opera is composed of "Sheng Dan Jing Chou". Generally known as four sheng, four dan, and four painted faces. The organization's troupe is also four sheng, four dan, four painted faces, four soldiers, four generals, four maids, eight scenes, two boxes of officials, plus four handymen. The four are Zhengsheng, Ersheng, Xiao Sheng and Wu Sheng. Zhengsheng is also known as Hongsheng, Dasheng, and Dahongface; Ersheng is also known as two red faces, immediately red faces; Small born and then separated the baby born; Wu Sheng is also called Bian Sheng.


Tune types

There are four major types of Yu opera. Xiangfu tune opera is heard around
Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...
; Yudong tune in the
Shangqiu Shangqiu ( zh, ), Postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shangkiu, is a city in eastern Henan province, Central China. It borders Kaifeng to the northwest, Zhoukou to the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Anhui to the northeast ...
area. Yuxi tune is heard around
Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...
, and the Shahe tune around
Luohe Luohe ( zh, s= , p=Luòhé; Postal romanization, postal: Loho) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province of China, province, China. It is surrounded by the cities of Xuchang, Zhoukou, Zhumadian and Pingdingshan on its north, east, sout ...
. Yudong and Yuxi are the main forms, with Yudong expressing comedy and Yuxi expressing tragedy. During the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Henan bangzi greatly expanded in Henan. Owing to different living habits, language characteristics, natural environment, cultural psychology, and aesthetic tastes, Henan bangzi changed from the repertoire to operatic tune in different regions of Henan. Therefore, four main tune types of Henan opera formed. The four types are centered on different regions in Henan province.


Famous people

The most famous Henan opera actors and actresses are Chang Xiangyu, Chen Suzhen, Cui Lantian, and Ma Jinfeng. Besides the four actresses mentioned, there are also some well-known actors such as Zhao Yiting, Tang Xicheng, and Li Sizhong. Zhao Yiting (1995–1992), a member of the Chinese Theatre Association and director of the Henan Theatre Association. His artistic career spans more than 60 years and has made outstanding contributions to the theatrical career. He is an important figure in the history of Henan opera. Tang Xicheng (1924–1993), a member of the Chinese Theatre Association, director of the Henan Theatre Association. The achievements of his artistic achievements contributed to the highest peak of the male character in Henan opera and Mr. Tang is a master of Henan opera. Li Sizhong (1921–1996), a famous master of the Henan opera, the representative of the Heilian performer ("male character with darkish painted face") of Henan Opera.


Status quo and suggested solutions

As an important local opera genre among the numerous non-material cultural heritage related Chinese operas, however, Henan opera are facing a hard situation on the protection and development. As many other local operas, the future of Henan Opera is worrying due to the influence of commodity economy and the impact of modern lifestyles. The number of plays and urban audience has reduced, and the rural audience is dominated by the elderly. As for suggestions to improve the hard situation, Henan opera can establish a mutual benefit with tourism resource to appeal more audience. At the same time, the exploration and research of Henan opera materials can be enriched, the investment in the development of Henan opera can be increased, and the productization of Henan Opera tourism meets the need of the times. There are some specific strategies such as strengthening the tourism propaganda of Henan opera, building the characteristic brand of Henan opera culture, developing the Henan opera tourism experience project, holding the Henan opera festival, Cultivating the new force of Henan opera tourism, and exploring various development model of Henan opera tourism.


Footnotes


References

{{Chinese opera