The Development Course of Taikang Taoist Drama

At the end of the Qing Dynasty 1860, Taoism was introduced into Taikang from Shenqiu and Dancheng. At the beginning of the 20th century, influenced by local operas such as Henan Bangzi and Yuediao, Taoist artists began to try duet and group singing. The theme broke through the original Taoist story and expanded to short parents, talented people and beautiful women. Actors are generally divided into roles, but they don't wear makeup and have no obvious business. They are called "sharing Taoist feelings", which is the gestation stage of Taoist drama.

1905, Zhang Cun artist Zhang Guangzhi (about 1875- 1930) established the first Taoist drama class. He is the earliest pioneer of Taikang Taoist drama. In his early years, he was engaged in rap and Taoism, and he could sing Henan Bangzi opera. Later, he tried to "stand up and clear the way." 1922 or so, he started a Taoist class with 20 students. 1In July, 924, Zhang Guangzhi's Taoist drama class began to perform in Hongshansi Village and Wulikou Village in Taikang County, putting Taoist drama on the stage for the first time. At the same time, strings and percussion instruments were added to the accompaniment of the performance, and the sound cavity board and performance form of Henan Bangzi were adopted. Daoqing has since jumped from the form of Quyi to a brand-new independent drama on the stage-Taikang Daoqing.

At that time, besides Zhang's adopted daughter Zhang Dani (Zhang Wenxiu), she was trained. She is the first actress in Taoist drama. There is also Li Jiguang (1905- 1972), a well-trained student and Zhang's favorite pupil, whose stage name is "big white shoes", specializing in Dan Jiao. Their singing is fresh, the lyrics are popular, the performance is full of local flavor, the performance is sensational, and the villagers run around telling each other. However, because of its simple costume props, it did not perform in the city, but was active in the border villages of Taikang, Huaiyang and Xihua counties. 1930 The Central Plains War broke out and the Taoist drama broke up. But after that, the fire of Taoism did not go out, and it was likely to start a prairie fire. Some Taoist artists, such as (Fan Bingcheng), Li Jiguang, Gong (Fan Maoji), Guo Dalian, Zhang Liushun, Zhou Chuanjiang, etc., set up Taoist classes in Li, Xihuaying (formerly Xihua County), Guo Lou and other places, and Guo Dalian and Gong also set up professional classes. By the middle and late 1930s, Taoist classes and science classes in Matouji, Changhe Street, Siliushu and Pengzhuang had mushroomed and developed to more than a dozen. These Taoist classes were intermittent because of war and famine, and some of them persisted until the early liberation. Taikang County is a veritable "hometown of Taoism".