Luju or Lu opera (, formerly known as daoqixi (), is a variety 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 ...

from the east-central province of

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 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Luju's name came from the former name of Hefei, Lu Zhou. In 2006, Luju was regarded as

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 ...

in China.

Artistic characteristics

The aria of Luju consists of two main types, homophony and coloratura. Homophony is for narrating and coloratura is for operetta. A lot of falsetto is used in the aria. In some occasion, artists on the stage or backstage would sing together to exaggerate the atmosphere. The instruments played in Luju are gongs, drums and

Gaohu The ''gaohu'' ( 高胡; pinyin: ''gāohú'', ; Cantonese: gou1 wu4; also called ''yuehu'' 粤胡) is a Chinese bowed string instrument developed from the ''erhu'' in the 1920s by the musician and composer Lü Wencheng (1898–1981) and u ...

, etc. The performing approaches of Luju draw on the experience of other Chinese operas, such as

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 ...

and Huiju.

Genres

Because of regional characteristics, Luju can be divided into three genres: West Road Genre, Middle Road Genre and East Road Genre. Lu'an is the center of West Road Genre. This genre has a more resounding music.

Hefei Hefei is the Capital city, capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four u ...

is the center of Middle Road Genre. It's a combination of the west and east genre.

Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province of China, province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei City to the n ...

is the center of East Road Genre which is exquisite and sweet.

History

The birth year of Luju is inconclusive yet, but it can date back to the middle of

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 ...

.庐剧走过两百年衰荣时光
/ref> In early years, artists in Luju were less professional, and their actings were simpler. Singing was the most important way to portray characters. From 1920, Luju has been absorbing advantages of other Chinese operas and becoming more mature.
/ref>

Famous people

Famous Luju players are 黄冰, 武克英, and 丁玉兰, etc.

Organization

Active Luju organizations are 合肥市庐剧院 and 皖西庐剧团."西路庐剧"大旗不倒

References

{{Chinese opera Culture in Anhui Chinese opera Hefei