Kunqu
Kunqu, also known as Kunju, K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from a music style local to Kunshan, part of the Wu cultural area, and later came to dominate Chinese theater from the 16th to the 18th centuries. refined the musical style of kunqu, and it gained widespread popularity when Liang Chenyu used the style in his drama Huansha ji. Well-known pieces of Kunqu opera included The Peony Pavilion from the Ming dynasty.
The melody or tune of Kunqu is one of the Four Great Characteristic Melodies in Chinese opera. It is known for its elegant lyrics, graceful style and delicate performance. It is one of the operas grouped under Southern Opera, and it is known as the "ancestor of a hundred operas". Kunqu uses drum and board to provide rhythm to the tunes, with flute, sanxian and so on as the main accompanying instrument. The opera is sung in "Zhongzhou rhyme". In 2001, Kunqu was proclaimed one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. and it was inscribed on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.
History
Kunqu refers to Kunshan tune, a repertory of songs and performances from Kunshan in Suzhou. The Kunshan tune is generally believed to have been developed during the Ming dynasty by , who was from the port of Taicang. A more recent discovery, however, suggests that Kunshan tune was introduced in the late Yuan dynasty by Gu Jian, who developed an early form of Kunqu with a group of musicians in Kunshan. Nevertheless, it was Wei who modified Kunshan tune with songs of Haiyan near Hangzhou and Yiyang of Jiangxi; he also combined nanxi rhythms, which often used flute, with the northern zaju style, where plucked string instruments were preferred. The resultant elegant Kunshan tunes are often called "water mill" tunes.Kunqu operas are chuanqi-style operas but incorporating Kunshan tune throughout. An opera, Washing Silken Gauze written by a Kunshan native Liang Chenyu, has been described as the first Kunqu opera. The story of Washing Silken Gauze was based on Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, and the use of elegant "water mill" tunes in the opera earned it wide praise from scholars. Kunqu operas then became popular throughout China, and the emergence of Kunqu is said to have ushered in a "second Golden Era of Chinese drama".
The most famous Kunqu opera is The Peony Pavilion written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming dynasty. Other important works include The Palace of Eternal Life written by Hong Sheng, and The Peach Blossom Fan by Kong Shangren written in the early Qing period. The operas were not necessarily performed in full, but may be performed as excerpts or highlights called zhézixì, which became the norm by 1760s and over 400 pieces of these were known.
Kunqu performance influenced the performance of many other styles of Chinese musical theater, including Peking opera, which contains much of the Kunqu repertoire. Kunqu was referred to as Yabu, and it came under competition from a variety of operas termed Huabu, and as a result, Kunqu troupes experienced a commercial decline in the 19th century.
In the early 20th century, the cultural elite tried to re-establish Kunqu, and the Academy was founded in 1921 to train performers. In 1919 Mei Lanfang and Han Shichang, renowned performers of Kunqu, traveled to Japan to give performances. In the 1930s, Mei performed Kunqu in the United States and the Soviet Union and was well received. It was later subsidized by the Communist state, but like most traditional forms of Chinese opera, Kunqu was banned during the Cultural Revolution. Kunqu began to revive by the mid-1990s, and it was then declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2001, and received generous support by the government, and experienced a great increase in popularity by 2004.
Today, Kunqu is professionally performed in seven major mainland Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Chenzhou, Yongjia County/Wenzhou and Hangzhou, as well as in Taipei. Non-professional opera societies are active in many other cities in China and abroad, and opera companies occasionally tour. In 2006, Zhou Bing acted as a producer and art director for Kunqu of sexcentenary. It won Outstanding Documentary Award of 24th China TV Golden Eagle Awards; it won Award of TV Art Features of 21st Starlight Award for 2006.
Recognition
Kunqu Opera was listed as a masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2001, and was included in the Masterpiece of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.In December 2018, the General Office of the Ministry of Education announced support and protection of Kunqu as an Intangible Heritage of Chinese culture.
Kunqu opera was showcased in the 2019 Chinese Opera Culture Week on Oct 2, 2019.
Characteristics
Kunqu opera performance is characterized by strong lyricism, delicate movements, and the harmonious combination of singing and dancing. Kunqu opera is a comprehensive art of song, dance, mediation, and white performance, and the performance characteristics of singing and dancing have been formed in the long-term performance history, especially reflected in the performance body of each character, and its dance body can be roughly divided into two types: one is the auxiliary posture when speaking and the dance of rewriting the intention developed by gestures; one is a lyrical dance with singing lyrics, which is not only a superb dance move, but also an effective means to express the character's character and the meaning of the lyrics. Singing, unlike other operas, can be given free play according to the individual conditions of the actors.The opera dance of Kunqu opera has absorbed and inherited the traditions of ancient folk dance and court dance, and has accumulated rich experience in the close integration of rap and dance through long-term stage performance practice. To meet the needs of the performance venue of narrative writing, many dance performances that focus on description are created, and cooperate with "drama" to become a folding drama with a strong story. Adapted to the needs of the performance venue with strong lyricism and movement, many lyrical dance performances have been created, which have become the main performance means of many single-fold lyric song and dance.
The nianbai of Kunqu opera is also very characteristic, because Kunqu opera was developed from Wuzhong area, so its voice has the characteristics of Wu Nong soft language. Among them, there are also local nianbai based on the Wu dialect, such as Su Bai, Yangzhou Bai, etc. The language in the Wuzhong area has a strong sense of life, and often uses allegro -style rhyme scheme, which is very distinctive. In addition, the singing of Kunqu opera has extremely strict specifications for the sound of words, lines, rhythm, etc., forming a complete singing theory.
The main difference between Nankun and Beikun is not the geographical location of the troupe, but whether the music is southern or northern. Kunqu qupai music can be divided into vocal qupai and instrumental qupai according to its different uses.
Industry
Kunqu opera roles are divided into three broad categories: Dan, Sheng and Jing or Chou.Because the early Kun opera belongs to the Southern opera system, it inherits the role industry system of the Southern opera, and simultaneously absorbs that of the Northern Zaju, taking the basic roles of Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mei, Chou, outer and paste seven acts.
Huan Sha Ji, an early work, reflects the character branch method in the early stage of Kun opera. In addition to following the seven lines of Southern opera, it also borrowed the setting method of Xiao Mei and Xiao Dan in Yuan Zaju, and added five lines of Xiao Sheng, Xiao Dan, Xiao Mei, Xiao Wai and Xiao Jing, a total of twelve lines.
During the boom of Kun opera in the late Ming dynasty, in the Ming edition of the legend of Mohan Zhai, the original "tie" was changed to "Old Dan", which also absorbed the branch method of Zaju in the Yuan dynasty. Other roles are basically the same as Kun opera in the early period. During the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty, Kun opera maintained the system of "twelve characters in rivers and lakes".
With the development of performing arts in the Qianlong period, the division of roles in Kun opera became detailed. Between Jia and Dao, the role industry of Kun opera combines the original "twelve roles in rivers and lakes" with the later more detailed division of roles. Under the five lines of "Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo and Chou", there are twenty smaller lines, called "twenty doors". Traditional Kun opera professional troupes usually only have 18 actors, while only a few large troupes have 27 actors. As long as ten roles are complete, other roles can be replaced by other actors in close roles. The ten basic roles are: Jing, Zhengsheng, Jinsheng, Laosheng, Mo, Zhengdan, five Dan, six Dan, Fu, Chou.
Each line of Kun opera has developed its own set of procedures and techniques in performance. These stylized action language has formed a complete and unique performance system of Kunqu Opera in terms of characterizing characters, expressing characters' psychological states, rendering drama and enhancing appeal.
Stage art
It includes three aspects: rich clothing styles, exquisite colors and decorations, and.In addition to inheriting the costume styles of opera characters since the Yuan and Ming dynasties, some costumes of Kunqu opera are very similar to the clothes that were popular in society at that time. Reflected in the play, military generals have their own uniforms, and civil officials also have a variety of clothes according to the class hierarchy of feudal society. Lian Pu is used for Jing and Chou roles. Very few characters belonging to Sheng and Dan are also used, such as Monkey King and Zhong Wuyan, and the colors are basically red, white, and black.
Kunqu opera art has formed a fairly perfect system, and this system has long occupied a dominant position in Chinese opera, so Kunqu opera art is revered as the "ancestor of a hundred operas", which has a profound impact on the development of the entire opera genre. Many local operas have absorbed its artistic nutrients to varying degrees, among which there are still some Kunqu operas.