Sichuan opera
Sichuan opera is a type of Chinese opera originating in Sichuan province, China, around 1700. Today's Sichuan opera is a relatively recent synthesis of five historic melodic styles. Chengdu is the main home of Sichuan opera, while other influential locales include Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hubei, and Taiwan. Sichuan opera was listed among the first batch of the Chinese Ministry of Culture's "Intangible Cultural Heritage List", announced on 20 May 2006.
Notable characteristics of Sichuan opera include quick changes of masks or personae and the importance of the character of the fool.
History
Initially, there were five distinct opera styles. The history of each style varies greatly.Before the Ming dynasty
The origins of Sichuan opera can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. The Jiaodian opera of the later Han dynasty laid the foundation for early Sichuan opera. A famous poem from the Warring States period, "Song Yu Asks the King of Chu", states: "they are Xialiba people, and there are thousands of people in the country who belong to harmony". The term "Xialiba people" here refers to Sichuan folk songs and dances, as well as singers and dancers. According to the records of the Taiping Guangji and Tares History Compilation, there was a play of bullfighting since Li Bing was the governor of Shu County in the 3rd century BC. During the Three Kingdoms period, the first satirical comedy appeared in Sichuan. This can be regarded as the originator of Sichuan opera comedy.Between the Tang dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the popular drama of Sichuan reached its peak. This was sometimes referred to as an example of "Shu skills leading the world". Frequently performed plays in this period included Liu Bijimai, Maixiu Liangqi, and Guankou God. During this period, the earliest troupe in the history of Chinese opera, consisting of Qian Manchuan, Bai Jia, Ye Si, Zhang Mei, and Zhang Ao in Youyang Zazu, was formed.
In the Song and Yuan dynasties, Southern opera and Sichuan Zaju were popular in Sichuan. The most famous song from this period was "Jiu Se Cai Qi".
Ming and Qing dynasties
Jin Guanger's class of "Sichuan Opera" in the Ming dynasty once went to Jiangsu and caused a stir in Nanjing, which formed a competitive situation with the Southern opera.At the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing dynasty, the population of Sichuan dropped sharply. Immigrants from various parts of China moved into Sichuan, which is known as Huguang filling Sichuan. Immigrants brought many different styles of opera from their hometowns. This resulted in styles of opera from both northern and southern dialects spreading throughout Sichuan successively. In its long-term development and evolution, based on the Sichuan Lantern opera, Sichuan opera integrated with other dialects, such as Gaoqiang opera, Kunqu opera, huqin, and Tanqiang opera. Sichuan opera also merged with the Sichuan dialect, folk customs, folk music, and dance. This gradually established a formal style of Sichuan opera, a voice art with Sichuan characteristics.
Republic of China
Following the Xuantong era, the 1911 Revolution led to the proclamation of the Republic of China and the dissolution of the monarchy. Inspired by these revolutionary trends of thought, the lead singer Gaoqiang opera troupe banquet music, as well as Changle, Binle, Cui Hua, Taihong, and Shuyi—who mainly sang Kunqu opera, playing opera and huqin—voluntarily formed the "Sanqing Hui" after consultation, so that the five kinds of voice could be integrated into one. "Sanqing Hui" had notable actors such as Kang Zilin, Xiao Kaicheng, Tang Guangti, Tang Deyi, Zhou Mingchao, Liu Zhimei, and Lei Zhejiang. It also advocated for the reform of opera. While inheriting and preserving the traditional Sichuan opera, it created fashion shows that were more relevant to the contemporary era, such as The Story of Qiu Jin, The Recovery of Wuchang, and The Queen of the West. The establishment of "Sanqing Hui" promoted the development of Sichuan opera from square art to theater art, and the artistic level and cultural taste of Sichuan opera rapidly evolved, becoming the most influential local opera in Southwest China.The People's Republic of China
In 1952, the Sichuan opera delegation organized a large performance group to attend the first National Opera Viewing and Performance Conference in Beijing. Several plays and performances, including The Willow Shadow, Autumn River, Snow Review, and Trace, Farewell, Brother Wutaihui, won awards.Innovations were made in the aspect of voice cavity, especially in regards to the high voice cavity. Female voices would lead vocals, help vocals, choose a beautiful tone actress who was good at singing as a lead vocal, and help personnel. Along these lines, there were other experiments—such as female actors helping with female voices, male actors helping with male voices, and male and female voices helping with combined voices. Each troupe also set up a system of full-time female backing vocals personnel. At the same time, troupes also made innovations in singing and accompaniment.
In Zhou Enlai's "Speech at the Symposium on Literary Work and the Conference on the Creation of Feature Films", he said: "I saw the material in Sichuan. A vice minister of culture went to Sichuan and said: 'Sichuan opera is backward'. Offended the people of Sichuan. At that time, a comrade replied: 'Whether backward or not is up to the 70 million people in Sichuan to answer and decide.' I think this comrade is very brave. Good answer! People like it. You don't like it. Who are you? Shanghai people love Pingtan, Huai Opera and Yue opera. What do you want Beijing people to approve? Leaders may have preferences. Some love operas, some love paintings, and some love antiques. What does it matter? We saw the play say good, not necessarily good, our words are unreliable, everyone has their hobbies, how can as a standard? Art is to be approved by the people. As long as people like it, it has value."
During the "Cultural Revolution", more than 100 Sichuan opera troupes were disbanded, and a large number of famous actors, directors, writers, and artists were treated as "devils, ghosts, snakes, and gods", expelled, or transferred to "reform-through-labor teams". Some were even persecuted to death. After the "Cultural Revolution", Sichuan opera was quickly revived. The Cultural Bureau of Sichuan Province announced the opening of traditional operas in batches while holding literary and artistic arrangements to promote creation and performance. Sichuan Opera School was restored, Sichuan Opera Art Research Institute was established, and Sichuan Opera Theater and other units were rebuilt. Emei Film Studio produced a TV series called Sichuan Plum Blossoms, which was shown throughout the province and all of China. In 1979, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of National Day, Sichuan operas such as Lying Tiger Order and Repair or Not Repair were performed in Beijing and won awards. In 1980, the Art of Sichuan Opera, a quarterly opera magazine, was published.