A Brief History of Yihuang Opera

Generally speaking, more than 300 kinds of operas in China belong to five different vocal systems, namely Kunshan, Yiyang, Liu Zi, Bangzi and Pi Huang Tiao. Yihuang Opera belongs to Pi Huang Tiao. According to Gao, Yihuang Opera was formerly known as Peking Opera, Gan Opera, Hui Opera, Han Opera and xiang opera Opera. Yihuang is the birthplace of Huang Er Opera, which mainly sings Yihuang Opera. Yihuang Opera is named after its production in Yihuang County. Yihuang, also known as the "hometown of drama", became the center of Jiangxi local opera as early as the middle of Ming Dynasty. At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Yihuang Opera evolved from "two criminals in Xiqin Opera" in Gansu Province, which spread in the south. The early "flat-plate blowing cavity" accompanied by flute and the "suona two criminals" accompanied by three kinds of plates. In the early years of Qianlong in Qing Dynasty, the tune of Yihuang abandoned suona, and the huqin was used as the main instrument, which unified the two tunes of "Blowing Tune" and "Ergong". There are four kinds of "Ergong", and the blowing tune has become Fan Er's flat tune, forming a widely circulated "Huqin tune". Yihuang Opera spread all over Jiangxi after its appearance, and was absorbed by the remaining Jiangxi local operas such as Henan Opera, Donghe Opera, Xu He Opera and Ninghe Opera, and retained the title of "Fan Er". Old artists called it Yihuang Tune, because its basic tune was similar to Huang Er Tune of Pihuang operas all over the world, so the locals later called it Laoer Huang Tiao. After the rise of Yihuang Opera, it spread to other provinces. There are records of Yihuang Opera in Shaoxing, Beijing, Guangzhou, Zhejiang and other places, which have far-reaching influence. This is just like Li's "Rain Village Play" in the forty-ninth year of Qing Qianlong: "Huqin tune originated in Jiangyou, and its sound is widely known in this world ...". In the early Qing Dynasty, Xiong Wen, a newcomer to Jiangxi, wrote a poem: "A sad feather adjusts the throat, and the pen is in short supply. I know that leaving a song is Qingyuan and singing soup on the stage. " In other words, all the plays in the Tang Dynasty were performed by children of Yihuang, so there is a saying that "Linchuan gifted scholar, Yihuang disciple". However, the Yihuang tune sung at that time was a combination of Haiyan tune and the local popular Yiyang local tune, instead of the Huang Er tune sung now. This fully shows that Yihuang Opera is active and talented, and it is a "play nest". It has the foundation and conditions to produce a new opera cavity.

Yihuang Opera is one of the existing local operas in Jiangxi, and it is also one of the ancient traitor operas in Jiangxi. Originated in Yihuang County, Jiangxi Province, it began in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties (1644) and has a history of nearly 400 years. It was formed and developed in the early Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (1786), flourished from Jiaqing to Guangxu (1880 or so), and declined from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China War (1920- 1948).

Formerly known as Yihuang Class, he began to sing "Yihuang Tune" in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. After the end of the Qing Dynasty, it absorbed other chaotic tunes and dramas (such as Xipi, Zhelong, Chuiqiang, Paizi, Nanbei Ci, etc.). ) and become a kind of Yihuang opera composed of a variety of tunes. The main epidemic areas are Yihuang, Cheng Nan, Nanfeng and Guangchang counties in Jiangxi, as far away as northeast Jiangxi, south Jiangxi and west Fujian.

Yihuang Opera Troupe was very famous in Ming Dynasty. The drama Four Dreams in Linchuan by Tang Xianzu, an outstanding dramatist in China, was originally performed by Yihuang Troupe, so it was called Yiling and Children of Crystal. But the Yihuang class at that time sang Yiyang tune first. Yiyang Tune is popular in Huizhou and Qingyang. Soon, Haiyan opera was introduced, and then occupied the stage of Jiangxi opera, which was very popular.

During the Republic of China, there were no professional class clubs in Yihuang. After the founding of New China, Yihuang County named it Yihuang Opera on 1956, and formally established a professional state-owned Yihuang Opera Troupe (revoked on 1989).

During the Cultural Revolution (1966- 1976), cast members were criticized, and costumes and headdresses were set on fire.

1978.

In June 2006, it was officially listed as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. Included in the first batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage list in Jiangxi Province.

Yihuang Opera in Jiangxi Province has been officially listed in the national intangible cultural heritage list. Yihuang Opera and Yihuang Opera still show dazzling brilliance and radiant charm in the history of China opera. In fact, Yihuang Opera, with its distinctive performance style, beautiful voice, popular language and constantly updated repertoire, has been active on various stages in China for hundreds of years. Yihuang Opera, with its distinctive local color in script, performance, music and dance beauty (including facial makeup), has won its historical position in traditional Chinese opera and the love of audiences and fans.