What are the characteristics of the repertoire of Yunnan Opera?

Dian Opera is widely popular among the people in Yunnan, and there are many Yunnan Opera fans. Due to their participation, they played a great role in the creation and processing of Yunnan opera scripts, as well as the improvement of the vocals and performing arts.

The Bai and Yi ethnic groups, which have the largest number of indigenous residents in Yunnan, have the custom of worshiping the original owner and the local owner. Each village has a local owner temple or a local owner temple, and there are stages in the temples. Many of the opera repertoires sung are adapted from local ethnic stories and legends, such as "Butterfly Spring", "Wangfuyun", "Princess Nanmuhan", etc.

"Butterfly Spring" comes from a beautiful legend of the Bai people. A Bai girl picked up a deer with arrows in the bamboo forest, and a ferocious eagle chased after her. Seeing that the girl and the fawn were about to be overtaken by the eagle, the young man from the Bai ethnic group rushed over on horseback, kicked the eagle away, and saved the girl and the fawn.

The girl and the young man took off the arrow for the deer. They found that the arrow was marked with the word "王", and it turned out that the deer was the prey of King Yu. King Yu looked at his half-dead eagle and was very depressed. The dogleg found the girl and the young man, so King Yu's cavalry chased them closely. The girl and the young man escaped by hiding in a cave under the cliff. The girl took the young man to her home. Under the moonlight, the young man put red flowers on the girl's head and rode away.

The next morning, the girl played with deer and birds in the bamboo forest. Suddenly, King Yu came forward with a lewd smile, and the girl hurriedly threw herself into her father's arms. At night, the father was killed and the girl was snatched away by King Yu's servants. In Prince Yu's palace, the girl refused to obey, which angered Prince Yu, and the girl was put into a cell. The deer and bird told the young man the girl's misfortune.

The young man came to rescue the girl late at night, and the two escaped on horseback. But their mounts were shot by an arrow from King Yu's pursuers, and they both fell off their horses. They fled to the edge of the cliff and hid in a cave under the cliff, but were discovered by King Yu and arrested. King Yu asked the girl to agree to marry him in order to avoid death. Unyielding with grief and anger, they both jumped into the spring and turned into two butterflies and flew out of the spring. Then, thousands of butterflies flew on the spring.

The story of "Wangfu Cloud" is a famous folklore of the Bai people. In Dali, during cloudless autumn and winter, a magical and beautiful flower called "Wangfu Cloud" often rises from the top of Cangshan Mountain. White clouds. Whenever this white cloud appears, there will be strong winds and white waves billowing in Erhai Lake, Cangshan Mountain.

According to legend, there was a smart and beautiful princess in Nanzhao. When she was picking flowers and playing in Cangshan Mountain, she met a young and handsome hunter. The two fell in love at first sight and fell deeply in love. The princess confided her true feelings to her father and asked for permission to marry. After hearing this, the king was very angry and locked the princess in the palace. The prince was so sad that he was depressed all day long, not thinking about food and tea, and looking forward to the hunter coming to rescue her. The princess asked her personal maid to go to Cangshan Mountain to find the hunter and tell her about her situation and longing for him.

When the hunter learned about it, he was very anxious, but the princess was imprisoned in the palace and he could not get close to her. The princess missed the hunter, and the hunter missed the princess even more. He ran wildly on Cangshan Mountain, calling the princess's name loudly. Their pure love moved the mountain god, who gave the hunter a pair of wings. The hunter had wings and flew quietly into the palace, taking the princess with him and flying out from the palace wall.

The king soon discovered it and immediately sent troops to chase him. The two of them ran and ran until they reached the top of Cangshan Mountain and hid in a cave. The king sent troops to garrison Cangshan Mountain and did not allow them to come down. The king believed that the princess could not bear the cold of Cangshan Mountain and would give up her love and return to the palace. But the princess insisted on following her lover, and the two of them lived a free and poor life in the cave.

Winter is here, and the top of Cangshan Mountain is covered with ice and snow. The hunter is afraid that the princess will be frozen, so he goes to steal the warm-in-winter and cool-in-summer clothes of Master Luo Quan of Luosheng Temple on the east bank of Erhai Lake to protect the princess from the cold. Master Luo Quan discovered it and used it The spell drove the hunter into the Erhai Lake and turned him into a stone mule. When the princess found out that the hunter had been killed, she died of grief. Her essence turned into a white cloud and rose to the top of the mountain to look at her husband. This is the cloud looking at her husband.

Every autumn and winter, when the husband-watching cloud rises to the top of the mountain, strong winds will blow. This is because the princess wants to blow away the water of Erhai Lake to see her husband who sleeps on the bottom of the sea and turns into a stone mule. This folk tale, full of magnificent folk colors and tragic connotations, not only expresses people's praise and remembrance of the lovers who both died, but also embodies the great spirit of the Bai people who do not succumb to autocratic rule and yearn for happiness and freedom.

"Princess Nanmuhan" is based on the famous Dai narrative poem "The Calabash Letter". The costumes of the play are gorgeous, the stage design is dazzling, and the storyline is intricate and exciting.

The plot of "Princess Nanmuhan" officially begins with the words "Blow the golden trumpet to display the guard of honor, and the messenger of marriage proposal in the palace" sounds.

Mengzhe and Jingzhen are two kingdoms separated by a strip of water. King Mengzhe is ambitious and wants to annex Jingzhen. King Jingzhen decided to marry his beautiful and intelligent daughter Princess Nanmuhan and form an alliance to fight against the enemy. However, Princess Nanmuhan fell in love with Zhaohanla, the son of King Mengzhe. Just when King Jingzhen made the decision to choose a son-in-law, Zhao Hanla risked his life and came to the palace of Jingzhen to propose marriage, hoping that Mengzhe and Jingzhen would get married and the war would subside.

However, King Mengzhe had ulterior motives and repeatedly tried to annex Jingzhen. Nan Muhan used his cleverness to avoid danger. In the final crisis, Nan Muhan exchanged his life for peace and tranquility, and was hailed as the "Eternal Golden Peacock" by the Dai people.

These plays are loved and welcomed by people. Every year from the Spring Festival to the third month of the lunar calendar, it is the time when farming is light. At this time, it becomes the concentrated period of temple fairs, and almost every village takes turns singing operas. All theater troupes are doing a prosperous business.

Most of the opera singers are amateurs among the general public. A few weeks before the opera starts, opera masters are invited to the village to teach opera. As soon as the Spring Festival is over, the peak performance season of various theater troupes begins, and the main actors who can teach opera are especially busy.

The poem "Social Opera" by Zhao Shicheng, a scholar from Jianchuan, has a vivid description of rural operas performed after the Spring Festival in Yunnan:

Nancun and Beicun are the same as the gods of competition, and the big boys are fans of boys. Mo Xin.

The older man pretends to be Xiang Yu, and the middle-aged man pretends to be a poppy.

When you step down, you will not remove the purple scarf, and when you end, you will not wash away your green eyebrows.

But when we meet each other, it’s a good time to be fat and drink.

I will harvest ten more bushels of wheat next year, and I will spread the powder evenly for you.

It can be seen that Yunnan opera has a broad mass base. There are rural opera troupes organized spontaneously by the masses in many places in Yunnan. Usually, several people gather together to play the erhu, open the gongs and drums, sing a cappella and play drums. Among them, teahouse is the main place to carry out this activity. This custom is especially common in cities and towns, and teahouses in Kunming and other places have constant gongs and drums almost all year round.

Some unique repertoires of Yunnan opera have a strong local flavor of Yunnan in art, and also strongly reflect the social conditions of Yunnan in content. There are approximately more than 1,000 repertoires of Yunnan Opera, which can be divided into Qinqiang Opera, Sichuan Opera, Jingluzi and Dian Opera. Qinqiang style was introduced together with Silixian tune, such as "Chunqiu Pairing", "Huatiancuo", "Gaopingguan", etc.

Chuan Luzi comes from Sichuan Opera. Famous plays include Five Robes, Four Pillars, etc. The "Five Robes" include "Yellow Robe", "Green Robe", "White Robe", "Green Robe", and "Red Robe"; the "Four Pillars" include "Cannon Pillar", "Crystal Pillar", " "Five Elements Pillar", "Touching Tianzhu", etc.

Jingluzi comes from Pihuang Opera, which is Hui Opera, Han Opera, and Peking Opera. The famous plays include "Fishing and Killing the Family", "Sitting in the Palace", etc.

There are two types of Dianluzi. One is local historical story plays written by Yunnan authors or artists, such as "Xue Erwang Tou Tan", "Forced Death Slope", "Ning Beifei", "Chen Yuanyuan became a monk" , the other is repertoire transplanted from other places, such as parts of "Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Red Mansions", etc. In addition, there are also miscellaneous small plays such as "The Noodle Vat" and "The Great Tailor".

Later, Yunnan opera artists compiled a large number of traditional repertoires. More than half of the traditional Yunnan opera repertoire is composed of silk string singing, including "Spring and Autumn Parts", "Plum Falling Snow", "Hua Tian Cuo" and "Brahma Palace" 》is known as the Four Great Silk String Books.

"Spring and Autumn Match" comes from a legend of the Qing Dynasty, also known as "Gathering Luchai" and "Gathering Firewood in a Stream". It tells the love experience of scholar Li Chunfa and two women, Jiang Qiulian and Zhang Qiulian.

Qiulian, the daughter of Jiang Shao, a businessman in the Ming Dynasty, was abused by her stepmother Jia and was forced to go to the countryside with her wet nurse to collect reed wood. Qiulian was very ill and sat sadly by the roadside crying. Li Chunfa, a scholar, was on his way home from his friend Zhang Yan. When he saw this scene, he dismounted and asked. After the wet nurse narrated these things, Chunfa expressed deep sympathy and left as a gift of silver.

Qiu Lian returned home with the gold, but Jia falsely accused Qiu Lian of being unfaithful and wanted to report it to the official. The nurse ran away with Qiu Lian at night. On the way, they encountered the bandit Hou Shangguan. Hou Shangguan killed the wet nurse and robbed Qiulian. Qiulian used a trick to push Hou down a mountain stream before he could escape. In the future, there will be many plots in which Li Chunfa was framed by Jia, and Zhang Yanxing's sister Qiu Luan separated from Chun Fa and Qiu Lian.

"Plum Blossoms Snow" is also known as "Plum Plum Blossoms". The story goes that in the Song Dynasty, the scholar Lin Xiao went to Beijing to take the exam. On the way, he met Gongsun Jian tying up a Lushan fox. With tears in his eyes, he begged for mercy.

Lin Xiaoxian felt compassion and asked Gongsun Jian to release the fox back to the mountain. The two struck up a conversation and became brothers. Gongsun Jian presented him with a treasured garment called "Plum Falling Snow".

After Lin Xiao went to his uncle's house first, he studied hard day and night. In order to repay Lin Xiaoxian's life-saving grace, Lushan Fox transformed into Hua Yanfang, Lin Xiaoxian's cousin, and went to the library to get married. Unexpectedly, Hua Yanfang's brother Hua Chun discovered this and reported it to his father. His father was furious and drove Lin Xiaoxian out of the house. Hua Yanfang was also forced to flee to her wet nurse's home with her treasured clothes.

Lushan Fox also helped Lin Xiaoxian win the first prize in the exam, and left a letter explaining the reason. At this time, Hua Yanfang gave Bao Yi Mei Xue to the wet nurse's son Lu Bao. Lu Bao went to Beijing to enter the treasure house and was awarded the title of No. 1 Scholar. He had to meet Lin Xiaoxian and came to Hua Mansion together to explain his past relationship. Hua's father then took Hua Yanfang back and married Lin Xiaoxian. Lu Bao also married Lian'er, the maid of Hua Mansion.

The story of "Hua Tian Cuo" originated from "Water Margin". Hua Tian originally meant farmland where flowers were grown. Hua Tian Cuo is a series of stories about a series of mistakes that took place in a flower-growing town at the Flower Field Festival. During the Song Dynasty, Liu Deming, a wealthy man in Taohua Village, had a daughter named Yuyan who was not yet married when she was of marriageable age. Just in time for the flower field event, Liu Deming asked his maid Chunlan to accompany Liu Yuyan on a tour and secretly visit her lover.

Bian Ji, a scholar from Xiangyang, went to Beijing to take the exam. Due to financial constraints on the way, he set up a stall at the Flower Field Fair to sell paintings. Chunlan saw that Bian Ji had extraordinary talent and appearance, so she went home to report to Liu Deming. Liu Deming then ordered his family to invite him, not wanting to invite the little bully Zhou Tong by mistake. Zhou Tong ordered Liu Yuyan to be married within three days.

Chunlan designed Bian Jinan to disguise herself as a woman to meet Liu Yuyan. When the two were concluding their love, Zhou Tong suddenly came to snatch the bride and snatched Bian Ji away by mistake. At this time, Zhou Tong was summoned to court for being suspected of robbing the birthday card. Zhou Tong's sister Yulou discovered that Bian Ji was disguised. After asking for the truth, he released Bian Ji and gave him silver coins as a traveling expense for the exam.

Because his daughter was robbed, Liu Deming went to the Yamen to file a complaint. He followed Dutou Lei Heng to Zhou Tong's home and snatched Zhou Yulou back. At this time, Chunlan mistakenly thought that the person who had been robbed was Bian Ji, so she explained to Liu Deming that the person who was robbed last time was actually Bian Ji, and asked Zhou Yulou to change into men's clothing and marry Liu Yuyan.

On the night of flowers and candles, Zhou Yulou told the whole story. Chunlan was afraid that Zhou Tong would come to bother him again in the future, so she still kept Zhou Yulou living in the village to deal with her brother. After Zhou Tong was released, he informed Liu Deming that he would go to the village to get married that night.

When Liu Deming was at a loss, he caught up with Ruda and came to stay. When Ruda heard about this, he was furious. He pretended to be a bride and hid in the tent. When Zhou Tong entered the bridal chamber at night, he was beaten severely by Ruda and fled.

On the way to the pursuit, Lu Da happened to meet tiger general Li Zhong, who persuaded him and ordered Zhou Tong to return to the village to plead guilty to Liu Deming. By this time, Bian Ji had passed the exam and came to Taohua Village. When everyone meets, the truth comes out. Finally, Bian Ji married Liu Yuyan, and Zhou Yulou became a couple with Li Zhong with the help of Chunlan.

"Brahma Palace" is also known as "Ye Hanyan" or "Luoyang Bridge". The script vividly shapes Ye Hanyan's artistic image, with a strong folk color.

The plot is like this. During the Zhizheng period of the Yuan Dynasty, the younger sister of Yelvsu, a hereditary householder, was named Hanyan. During the Qingming Festival, after her brother left for Beijing, she went to the countryside with her sister-in-law. I saw a goose flying in the air being pounced upon by a large eagle. Suddenly, I met a handsome young man who stretched his bow to shoot at the bird. He shot out an arrow and shot down an eagle. Hanyan praised him endlessly. When he asked his sister-in-law, she learned that the strong man's name was Hua Yun. She fell in love with him at first sight and was deeply in love with him. She secretly threw the handkerchief on the ground and gave it to the young man.

Hanyan's love deeply moved Hua Yun's heart, secretly thinking that the beautiful girl who took the initiative to court was the daughter of that family. The love suddenly arose, and it was hard to find. From then on, we missed each other and treasured the handkerchief secretly given by the lady.

In the feudal dynasty, men and women could not help but marry. Hanyan is a Mongolian. Her parents passed away and she relies on her brother and sister-in-law to survive. Hanyan's brother Yelvsu was promoted to an official position. During his stay in Beijing, he betrothed her to the nearly 50-year-old Du Yushi, the adopted son of the prime minister, and they chose a date to get married.

When Han Yan learned about the marriage proposal, she refused to obey her orders and was not greedy for wealth. She only thought about Hua Yun, a handsome young man of about the same age who was highly skilled in martial arts. Yelvsu was very angry at his sister's resistance to marriage and tried to force her to get married. He ordered the gates of the house to be guarded to prevent her from going out, and the marriage was completed immediately.

Yelvsu went to Beijing to ask for a promotion to the third level, and was promoted to the official in charge of regulating the Yellow River. The more powerful he became, the greater his lust for pleasure. Although he already had a wife, he still wanted to marry Na'mei. concubine.

One day when I was playing in a mulberry garden with my guard Samutuo, I saw a beautiful woman named Xuemei. I suddenly became lustful, flirted with her arbitrarily, and wildly professed my desire to marry and take concubines.

During the fight between the official thief Hu Wei and the women of the common people, Xuemei's husband and nephew Hua Yun arrived. They were so angry that they fought with the officials, and Xuemei took the opportunity to escape. After Xuemei escaped, her husband Han Mei and Hua Yun were captured and worked as hard laborers in the anti-pornography industry.

Although Xuemei escaped, Yelvsu, a powerful official, was unwilling to give up and insisted on getting married. He ordered a state official named Hu Congshan to handle it. When Hu Congshan, Shamutuo and others went to the countryside to capture Xuemei, they were escorted by Hua Yun's mother, Hua Po, but failed and had no choice but to go back and report to their master.

Yelüsu was extremely angry and killed Shamutuo on the spot. He then waved his sword to kill the state official Hu Congshan. After Hu repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy, he did not kill him and strictly ordered him to find a way to serve. They also conspired to devise a poisonous plan: on the one hand, they sent people to kill Han Mei and Hua Yun, and on the other hand, they sent people to force Xuemei to come over to the house to get married.

Unexpectedly, they agreed on a time to commit adultery and were eavesdropped by his wife and sister Hanyan. The wife is afraid of marrying back a beautiful woman, her husband likes the new and dislikes the old, and she will fall out of love; Hanyan is afraid that her beloved husband will be harmed and cannot get her wish. Therefore, the maid Xingye was quickly sent to send a message to the Hua family, asking them to take urgent measures.

After receiving the secret message, Hua Po hurriedly sent her younger brother who was superb in martial arts to lead warriors to rescue Han Mei and Hua Yun. When Hu Congshan and others came home again to force Xuemei to marry him, they quickly devised a clever plan to get the best of both worlds: Hua Yun would disguise herself as a woman and go to the government to marry Xuemei, and steal Han Yan out unprepared to achieve a good relationship with Hua Yun.

Hua Po, who is both wise and courageous, went to the government as an intermediary to secretly communicate the good news to Hanyan, so that she could calmly and proactively cooperate to achieve good things. On the agreed date, the government made preparations with great grandeur. The wedding room was decorated very colorfully, with many famous paintings hanging on the walls. Hanyan decorated it herself, and she was overjoyed.

On the night of the wedding, the so-called bride Hua Yun arranged to be accompanied by Han Yan. It was a long-awaited reunion and a God-given opportunity. The two expressed their love for each other and couldn't help but express their admiration. Taking advantage of someone's unpreparedness, the two protected each other and rushed out of the house, achieving a happy marriage.

This opera has many movements and is called "Hanging Painting" when performed alone.

The repertoire of Yunnan opera, whether it is adapted from ethnic minority stories or traditional repertoire, is very popular among people. The reason why people like Yunnan opera is not only because the dramas have strong storytelling, but also because of the characteristic of Yunnan opera itself.

Nian Bai is also called Nian, which means speaking. The reciting of Yunnan Opera can be divided into rhyme reciting and loose reciting. The rhyme reciting has clear cadences and stylized drama, which is more poetic than reciting poetry; The use of voice. Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou have different ages and social status, and use different narration and accents. The richness of the form is far beyond that of ordinary dramas.

People in the circle often say: "Seven points of chanting are spent in vain and three points of singing", which shows the difficulty of chanting. The difficulty lies in the fact that speaking in daily life must not only be sublimated into art, but also beautiful and contagious, truly achieving the state of "speaking better than singing".

For example, in the Yunnan drama "Three Halls of Trial", the dialogue between the chief judge Wang Jinlong and the convict's wife Su San is full of humor and ups and downs. The two jurors also sensed their relationship, so they deliberately teased them, but they were afraid of offending their superiors. There was a tacit understanding between the four of them, and the audience never tired of hearing the dialogue between them, which shows the charm of "Nian".

For example, in the Yunnan opera "Poetry on Hengshu", Cao Cao said:

I think back then, I held this gong, broke the Yellow Turban, captured Lu Bu, destroyed Yuan Shu, and captured Yuan Shao. , go deep into the northern part of the Great Wall, reach Liaodong, and dominate the world. It is quite worthy of the ambition of a man!

This ups and downs monologue by the protagonist Cao Cao in the play conveys the tragic spirit of the army and the fleeting time, which makes people feel understanding, sympathy and admiration.

There is also the part where Xue Pinggui bids farewell to his wife in "To the Army Farewell". Although there are not many words, the long dragging sound, the hoarse vibrato, the sudden pause and the sudden flip into the clouds The high note expresses the parting feeling of wanting to talk but not giving up.

In addition, Yunnan opera not only has audible dialogue, but also inaudible language. The character raises his hand and uses his sleeve to shield the interlocutor. What he says at this time expresses his inner thoughts. Come to the role of voice-over in the movie.

The idea of ??Yunnan opera is not only to enter the character, but also to leave the character. It is obviously the characters in the play who are talking, but occasionally a non-character sentence will pop up, which is the actor's words.

For example, in the scene of the complaint in "Bird Basin", Bao Zheng said: "Speak boldly."

The complainer said: "We who sing clowns have no voices." Your colorful faces are so loud.”

This kind of off-character narration may be a gag, or it may use ancient words to satirize the present, or it may introduce contemporary words from real life into ancient dramas. Although it has nothing to do with the plot, it has a unique sense of drama. .

In short, the off-character narration in Yunnan opera is full of humor, unexpected and reasonable, making the audience enjoy it. The artistic art of Yunnan Opera is a drama art that is based on life and is higher than life.