The historical origin of opera culture

The historical origin of opera culture

The formation of opera can be traced back to the Qin and Han Dynasties. However, the formation process was quite long, and it was not until the Song and Yuan Dynasties that it took shape. Below is an introduction to the historical origins of opera culture that I shared. Let’s take a look.

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Drama

Chinese drama only has a history of a hundred years. Introduced to China from the West, from the early 20th century to the May 4th Movement, it was called "Wenming New Drama". This early drama still has some characteristics of opera. After the "May 4th Movement", Western dramas were introduced again as they were, in the form of realist dramas, called "new dramas". It was called "drama" in 1928 and is still used today.

Southern Opera of the Song and Yuan Dynasties

Southern Opera of the Song and Yuan Dynasties probably occurred in the late Northern Song Dynasty and the early Southern Song Dynasty. Wenzhou in Zhejiang and Quanzhou and Fuzhou in Fujian were the formative period of the opera.

Yuan Dynasty Zaju

Yuan Dynasty Zaju is also called Beiqu Zaju. Yuan Zaju was first produced in Zhending, Hebei and Pingyang, Shanxi in the late Jin Dynasty. Popular in the Yuan Dynasty, Yuan Zaju was the first golden age of Chinese opera. It has reached a very high literary level, so much so that in terms of poetic style alone, the ancients had long referred to Tang poetry, Song lyrics, and Yuan opera together.

Legends of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Legends of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are a form of opera developed from the Southern Opera of the Song and Yuan Dynasties. It was produced in the late Yuan Dynasty, spread in the early Ming Dynasty, flourished in the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, reached its peak in Wanli, and extended to the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. The number of works is known as "Ci Shan Qu Hai".

Qing Dynasty local opera

Qing Dynasty local opera is the third stage of classical opera. It has the same art form as modern and modern opera. In the late Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, local operas from various places flourished and were called Huabu. In the Qianlong period, they began to compete with Kun Opera called Yabu. By the end of Qianlong's reign, Huabu overwhelmed Yabu and occupied the dominant position on the stage until the end of Daoguang's reign. These more than 150 years were the era of local opera in the Qing Dynasty. The operas from 1840 to 1919 are called modern operas, which include Peking Opera formed during the Tongzhi and Guangxu years and a period of opera reform movement that emerged in the early 20th century.

During the "May 4th" New Culture Movement, traditional opera was fiercely criticized, and then opera entered the era of modern opera. The formation of Peking Opera was the result of the development of local operas in the Qing Dynasty, and after Peking Opera became a national representative opera, it did not suppress the development of local operas at all. From local opera in the Qing Dynasty to Peking opera, Chinese opera was an era of extreme prosperity.

The founder of Chinese drama - Guan Hanqing

Guan Hanqing is the greatest writer in the history of Chinese drama, the founder of Zaju in the Yuan Dynasty and the leader of the early drama circle. Guan Hanqing created more than 60 kinds of dramas in his life, and 18 kinds have been preserved to this day. According to the subject matter and content, it can be roughly divided into three categories: the first category is social dramas that expose the darkness of society and praise the people's spirit of resistance and struggle, such as "The Injustice of Dou E", "Lu Zhailang", "Butterfly Dream", etc.; the second category is social dramas that expose the darkness of society and praise the people's spirit of resistance and struggle. The first category is romantic romantic dramas that reflect the tragic fate of women and vigorously praise women's wisdom and courage in struggle, such as "Saving Feng Chen", "Wangjiang Pavilion", "Xie Tianxiang", etc.; the third category uses historical themes to express Historical dramas about the author's understanding of real society include "Single Sword Club", "Dream of Western Shu", etc. Our country's drama culture is diverse and has its own merits. Due to different regions, each opera type has also formed its own unique style

China's famous Peking Opera master - Mei Lanfang

Peking Opera: Mei Lanfang Mei Lanfang, also known as Lan, also known as Heming, with the courtesy names Wanhua and Huanhua, was also signed as the owner of Yuxuan, and her stage name was Lanfang. A native of Taizhou, Jiangsu, he was born in Beijing in 1894. He was born into a family of Peking Opera. He began to learn opera at the age of 8. At the age of 10, he performed on the stage in "The Fairy Pair" at Guanghe Tower in Beijing. People from all walks of life held Peking Opera actor selection activities and posted a chrysanthemum list. Mei Lanfang ranked third and the most beautiful. In 1913, he performed in Shanghai for the first time. He performed "Colorful Houses", "Yu Tang Chun", "Muke Village" and other plays at Dangui No. 1 at the intersection of Sima Road and Daxin Road. When he first came to Shanghai, he became popular throughout Jiangnan. There is a saying in the alley: "When looking for a wife, you should be like Mei Lanfang, and when you have a son, you should be like Zhou Xinfang."

He absorbed the innovative elements of Shanghai's civilized drama, new stage, lighting, makeup, and costume design. After returning to Beijing, he created a new fashion drama "The Waves in the Sea". He came to Shanghai again the next year and performed in "Five Flower Cave" and "Zhen Hai". Fake Pan Jinlian", "The Drunken Concubine" and other specialties were performed for 34 days in a row.

After returning to Beijing, Mei Lanfang continued to rehearse new plays such as "Chang'e Flying to the Moon", "Chunxiang Makes School", "Daiyu Buries Flowers", etc. He came to Shanghai for the third time in 1916 and sang for 45 days in a row. After 1918, he moved to Shanghai. This was the peak period of his dramatic art and he performed on the Tianchan stage many times. It combines the performance methods of Qingyi, Huadan and Daomadan to create a mellow and fluent singing style, forming a unique Mei School. In 1915, Mei Lanfang rehearsed a large number of new plays and made unique artistic innovations in Peking Opera singing, dialogue, dance, music, and costumes, and was known as the master of the Mei School. In April 1919, Mei Lanfang was invited by the Imperial Theater in Tokyo to perform in Japan, where she performed in plays such as "The Goddess Scattered Flowers" and "The Story of the Hosta". Return to China in a month. In 1921, he wrote and performed a new play "Farewell My Concubine". In 1922, he presided over Chenghua Society. In 1927, Beijing's "Shuntian Times" held China's first selection of famous female actors. Mei Lanfang, along with Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, Xun Huisheng and others, was selected as one of the four famous female actors in Peking Opera because of her profound skills, smooth voice and beautiful appearance.

The Four Famous Peking Opera Dancing Players

Among the Peking Opera artists of that era, Mei Lanfang was the one who traveled the most and received the most foreign artists in China. He combined the Chinese Peking Opera performing arts and artists His good qualities of humility and simplicity were introduced to people from all over the world, so people called him the cultural envoy of Chinese Peking Opera art from the 1920s to the 1950s. ;