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What local operas are there in Xiangfan?

Xiangfan, located in the Central Plains, has an ancient and excellent cultural tradition, and many colorful cultures and arts have been passed down to this day.

I. Xiangfan Opera

A hundred years ago, there were performances in Xiangfan. At that time, there was no special theater in Xiangfan, and most of them performed in the hall. Foreign businessmen living in Xiangfan have their own hometown halls, and there is a stage in the halls. Every holiday season, these foreigners who have been away for a long time always want to listen to their hometown dramas to comfort their homesickness. For example, Wuchang Pavilion sings Han Opera, Huizhou Pavilion invites Anqing Class to perform Anhui Opera, Henan Pavilion loves to watch Henan Opera, and Shanxi and Shaanxi Pavilions sing Shanxi Opera and Bangzi Opera. At that time, all kinds of operas gathered, and the ancient city of Xiangfan was a prosperous commercial port. At that time, some market towns around Xiangfan often sang operas in spring and autumn every year, such as the exchange meeting of agricultural tools in villages and towns in spring. Most of the troupes are Yuediao, Backer Huang, Bangzi and other troupes invited by Henan. A team sang in a market town for three days. The traditional singing method is to sing Qing Ji Opera on the first day, industrial opera on the second day and martial arts opera on the third day. Farmers in the surrounding ten miles and eight townships all went to see the annual drama. But there are also many poor farmers who don't go to see it, even if the stage is not far from home. Some people don't want to see it for fear of delaying production, and advise their families and neighbors not to watch it; Some people have no leisure to go to the theatre, but they have no leisure. Because spring is the season when green and yellow are out of touch, and you are too poor to eat enough. How can you have leisure to go to the theatre? By the mid-1920s, soldiers and bandits were everywhere in the countryside, the society was very unstable, people's lives were increasingly poor, and the guild hall plays in the city were stopped one after another.

After entering the 1920s, with the opening of Xianghua (Garden) and Xianglao (Laohekou) highways, Xiangfan market flourished again. Fan Cheng began to stage Peking Opera and performed a series of plays such as "Civet cats for princes". At that time, a "Shengping Theater" was opened in Huizhou Pavilion under Chen Lao Lane, next to Fan Chuan Hotel. After the Chinese Peking Opera team came to Xiangfan, they performed in Shengping Theater. They play Beijing Opera, Kunqu Opera and Hebei Bangzi. The main actors: Sheng Jiaoqiao, Wu Shenglou, Hua Dan Huayufeng, and other famous actors such as Zhi Heqing, Tong Ziyun, Hong and Xian. Their performances are very popular with the people of Xiangfan, with a high attendance rate, and they have been performing in Fancheng for a long time.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the drama activities in Xiangfan were the most prosperous. Besides Beijing opera, there are also Chinese operas. Fancheng has established two theaters, one is Le Tong Theater, which is located in Siguan Hall (now People's Theater), and the other is Jule Theater (now Fancheng Cinema). At that time, there were two China drama teams performing in these two theaters. In contrast, the role of China's drama team performing in Le Tong Theatre is more difficult and the business is better. At that time, the famous characters of Han opera were Yuan, Cheng Jinkui, Luo Shengkui, Hu Youxi, Cheng Chungui and so on. Yuan, Cheng Chungui and Hu Youxi came to the famous Wuhan People's Paradise to perform. Yolanda is a famous actor in Wuhan Han Theatre after liberation. At that time, an entertainment area was initially formed around the Siguan Hall. In addition to the theater, there is also a shadow play theater on the east side of Siguan Hall, which is also very popular with the masses. There are some teahouses on the west side of Siguan Hall, and there are often some rappers performing in the teahouses. In this way, the area around Siguandian is very lively from afternoon to night every day, and many dignitaries and wealthy businessmen come here for recreation by rickshaw. At that time, the traditions of Chinese opera included Cuiping Mountain, Curtain Picking and Clothes Cutting, Song Wu Killing Sister-in-law, Meilong Town, Monks and nuns Meeting and so on. Because some traditional plays have some dross, which caters to the vulgar tastes of the leisure class, some wives, young ladies and young ladies often listen to these vulgar performances, which leads to many boudoir scandals. Later, the Huajia class was dissolved, most of the actors moved away from home, Shengping Theatre closed, and the operas of Le Tong Theatre and Jule Theatre stopped performing. At this time, there was a Peking Opera White House class. Baijiaban is a team with a good foundation. Compared with Huajia, Huajia class mainly performs traditional Chinese opera and mainly sings. The White House team sings, does things and fights. Famous actors include Innocent Lanfang, Qingyi Hua Dan Bai Qiulan, and Ugly Li Chengtai. In particular, Wu Sheng Bai Liankun's plays are very popular with the masses. In the1940s, local Beijing opera lovers in Xiangfan formed a Beijing opera club, which stopped performing for several years. After liberation, the people's government began to pay attention to cultivating new people and transforming old plays. First, the Peking Opera Society was established, and then the Peking Opera Troupe was established until today.

Besides Beijing Opera, Quju Opera and Ancient Painting Opera are also very popular in Xiangfan. Quju is a young local opera, which evolved from Henan Sixian and Quzi. It is said that it originated in Ruzhou, Henan. At first, I just sang some folk stories, such as The Legend of the White Snake, The Romance of the West Chamber, Confucius lamenting Yan Hui and so on. Later, Quju absorbed the repertoire of other local operas and compiled new dramas, which were more suitable for stage performances. Musical instruments such as gongs, drums, sheng and cymbals have also been added, forming an independent and complete local opera. The lyrics of the opera are unpretentious and the singing is changeable. Some actors can use a variety of tunes such as "Niu Yi IV", "Manchuria", "Hanjiang River" and "upper class" in a lyric, which is beyond the reach of other local operas. Xiangfan dialect is close to Zhongzhou language family and easy to sing Quju. Since its spread in Xiangfan in the 1920s, Quju has been welcomed by many opera fans. After half a century of transplantation, it is now deeply rooted. Nowadays, there are not only theatrical troupes in Xiangfan, but also some municipal counties and towns. Every festival, some amateur singers also like to bring their own operas to perform on stage. Among local operas, the latter tends to catch up.

Ancient painting drama, also known as Xiangyang ancient painting, is a local specialty. It has a long history of its own, and its performances are basically the same as other ancient paintings, but Xiangyang ancient paintings have their own characteristics in singing and instrumental accompaniment. During the performance of the Ancient Painting Opera House, an actor sang while performing at the front desk. When the last two words of each sentence are sung, the band accompaniment chorus, commonly known as chime, is extended to three or four beats, which is equivalent to the door of the Hu Qin, so that the actors can take this opportunity to catch their breath. Xiangyang Flower Drum Opera is equipped with percussion instruments such as gongs, drums, cymbals and small gongs. Ancient paintings and operas are performed with high-pitched songs and loud gongs and drums. If performed in the dead of night, it can shock miles away. There are also some ancient paintings and plays that don't need help, such as the four or six sentences in Lanqiao Club and the duet in Wang Xiaoguan's lantern, which have elegant singing and cheerful music and are very popular among the masses.

In the past, the actors in the Ancient Painting Opera House were all amateurs, so if they wanted to perform, they would temporarily form a performance team. In the old society, dramatists were looked down upon, and grassroots teams like ancient paintings and operas were the targets of official attacks. The government often bans the performance of ancient paintings and operas on the grounds of "misconduct". The masses like the Flower Drum Opera very much. They often tie a sorghum foil to a big tree at night, light a big oil lamp and set up a temporary stage to perform. Therefore, there is a saying of "gathering the flower drum at night", which shows that the vitality of the flower drum opera is very strong. In the 1930s, the reactionary government often went to the Flower Drum Theater to arrest Ding, and various reactionary forces often robbed and fought in the theater, which made people afraid to perform the Flower Drum Theater, so that they didn't see it for a long time before liberation. After liberation, people put the ancient paintings that they had not sung for many years on the stage.

Drama appeared late in Xiangfan and began to be performed on the stage in the form of civilized drama. And it often becomes a propaganda weapon with the rise of revolution. Students from Xiangyang Second Division performed a drama in which North Korean soldier An Zhonggen assassinated Japanese Governor Ito Bowen, and also wrote and performed plays such as Five Minutes to publicize patriotism and educate the masses. When the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cooperated in the Northern Expedition for the first time, the progressives in Xiangfan performed the drama "Three Yang Kaitai" in the school yard outside the east gate of Xiangcheng, exposing the crimes of three local strongmen bullying the people and arousing the people to overthrow the local tyrants and evil gentry. After the September 18th Incident, students from many schools in Xiangfan performed civilized dramas to expose Japanese atrocities. Around 1930, students from Xianbei Middle School and Shangzhi Primary School successively performed Zhuo Wenjun by Guo Moruo and Lifelong Event by Hu Shi, which can be said to be the beginning of Xiangfan drama performance. In the early days of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Guang William. J and Hong Shen led the 7th and 2nd teams of Shanghai National Salvation Drama to perform in Xiangfan, which made the masses see the street drama "Put Down Your Whip" for the first time, and saw one-act dramas such as Poisoning, Surviving from Death and so on. Since then, the anti-Japanese national salvation activities have flourished, and many plays such as Thunderstorm, Hell on Earth, Spring Thunder, Blood and Tears have appeared on the Xiangfan stage. After the liberation of Xiangfan, many art troupes of the People's Liberation Army successively performed White-haired Girl, Liu Hulan and Revenge with Blood and Tears, and the troupe of Xiangfan Education Federation also performed Wang Xiuluan. Since then, new operas accompanied by musical instruments have flourished.

Second, colorful folk art activities.

In addition to Peking Opera and Henan Opera performed on the theater stage, Xiangfan's folk cultural activities have been very colorful since ancient times. There are puppet shows, shadow puppetry, rap, folk art and juggling.

Puppet puppetry comes from Henan province, and there are two kinds of puppet shows: lifting puppets and elbow puppets. One end of the six silk threads is connected to the puppet's limbs and head back, and the other end is connected to a small bamboo ring. Artists move puppets behind the scenes to perform various actions. Elbow puppet is a puppet show that uses elbows to adjust the height of 50 cm. Puppet artists all sing Henan local operas, such as Bangzi and Yuediao, mainly singing. Generally, there are five actors, more than ten elbows, and the troupe must have two hard roles to attract the audience. Every spring and autumn, puppet shows go from village to village and are deeply loved by the masses. After the 1920s, there was a famine in Xiangfan, and all the puppet artists returned to their hometown. After half a century, puppet shows have rarely been seen in Xiangfan.

Shadow play is a kind of local play, in which characters are carved out of leather and projected on white sheets with lights. There are five kinds of local dramas, such as Bangzi, Yuediao, Huang Er, Han Opera and Banbanqiang. The first three are mainly singing skills, and each singing skill has its own full-time job. The accents are Qinqiang, Qinqiang and Wan Wan. The timbre of Hu Qin also has the euphemistic tone of Jin Yin Hu Qin and the loudness of Qin Hu. Therefore, people call it Shan Shan School. These three kinds of dramas are deeply loved by the masses. Han opera and banqiang are sung and read at the same time, which is similar to storytelling. Shadow play is deeply loved by ordinary people because of its lively scenes on the screen and low performance costs. In the old society, when there were activities such as village rules and regulations, praying and wishing, and having children for birthdays, shadow puppetry classes were invited to perform one or two performances in the village, and relatives and friends of the whole village and neighbors could get together to enjoy them. Some shadow play teams also went to the mountains and forests to perform, and didn't go home until it was freezing, which also brought a little fun to the mountain people.

The common forms of rap in this area are storytelling, drum lyrics, Sanxian, Henan pendant, big drum, Beijing dialect, Taoist sentiment, silk string, tune, cross talk, "having sex" and "playing ten thousand words". The earliest activity place for rappers is Fancheng River Beach from Guangongmen to Xuyingmen, where merchant ships gather and crowds are bustling, and all kinds of rappers set up stalls to perform in the crowd on the river beach. Some open-air teahouses and various food stalls have also opened up markets here, as well as stalls for quack doctors selling medicines and divining fortune. Passers-by stop by the rap book stand to watch, often forming a human wall. As soon as the rapper stopped singing, the strings stopped, the audience applauded, and the actor took a small basket and asked the audience for three or five coppers. In the 1920s, an amusement park was built in the downtown area (near the present Peking Opera Theatre), and all the rappers in Xiangfan lived in the teahouse to perform their skills. Although the pain of performing arts in the wind and rain on the river beach was relieved, I still begged a little money from the audience to make a living by the same means.

When it comes to the types of rap, we must first tell stories. It first hits the chopping board with a "mallet" during the performance, in order to attract the attention of the audience; Then the artist told some stories, mostly case-solving novels and martial arts novels. Famous artists such as Xu Gouzi and Huan Chao often perform in the Four Pavilions, which are very popular with the masses.

Drum lyrics: During the performance, the artist jingled with two stubborn iron blocks in one hand and a stick in the other. After singing for a while, he knocked out several drums as an interval. Its performance content is similar to storytelling, but the singing requires rhyme. In the past, storytellers and drum artists often walked from villages to towns, performed in one place for a few days, and then performed in a new place.

Sanxian, pendant, drum and Peking Opera are all played with stringed instruments, and the singing procedures are basically the same, but the singing methods are different.

When Taoist artists perform, they hold fishing drums and simple wooden boards, and sing folk stories from village to village for a little reward, which is actually a kind of begging.

Sixian tune, also known as major, is composed of erhu, zither and zither. In the countryside, we sing several tunes and play some bantou songs at night, such as Liushan and Pingsha Goose. Listeners are also very happy to hear this fresh and elegant tune, and often give two tablets to the artist in a bowl, which is the reward for the artist's performance.

Crosstalk, a group of actors who performed in Xiangfan before the Anti-Japanese War, is also very popular with the masses. But it is impossible to promote cross talk in some areas, because Mandarin is needed. After the actors left, no one could perform this kind of art before liberation.

Cannon, the oratorio of ancient opera, is very popular in rural areas. Many rural areas have gongs and drums. During the slack season, young singers get together to beat gongs and drums, sing Xiangfan Flower Drum and shout a few words of Flower Drum to release their depression. This is also a form for farmers to get happiness in the hardships of the old society.

"Big Bowl" is another name for Chinese opera oratorio. Most of the actors are amateurs of Han Opera, performing traditional plays of Han Opera, and singing in teahouses or citizens' homes. Because Xiangfan City is located in the middle reaches of Hanshui River, merchant ships from Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi travel to and from Xiangfan, among which there are many opera lovers. These people who have left their homes feel very cordial when they hear the song "Type10,000 words". Therefore, China opera oratorio teahouse is often packed. In the mid-1920s, warlords scuffled with each other, merchant shipping decreased greatly, and the audience became scarce, so the oratorio stopped performing. With the passage of time, the old oratorio artists died one after another, and there was no successor to this oratorio-style China opera performance. In addition to China opera chorus, there are also high-pitched chorus. In terms of musical instruments, there is the long-lost instrumental ensemble "Ten Turn". (from)