The Present Situation and Future Trend of China Traditional Opera

As one of the most abundant and national art forms in China's traditional culture, China Opera is unique in the world art world. However, with the development of the times, there has been an unprecedented crisis in China's traditional opera art, and many operas are gradually disappearing. According to the Chinese Academy of Art, the number of traditional operas in China has dropped sharply from 367 in the early 1960s to 267 at present.

In recent years, when it comes to China traditional operas, we can always hear a sigh. China is a big country of traditional Chinese opera, and generations have drawn nutrition from the art of traditional Chinese opera. The brilliance of China's traditional drama is unforgettable. In the long history, China's traditional operas have continued to prosper and develop, enriching the artistic treasure house of national culture.

Nowadays, the scenery of Chinese opera is no longer there, and the status of urban and rural cultural and entertainment leaders is gone. Accompanied by this, the situation of traditional operas in China is becoming more and more worrying. Some local operas, especially small operas and rare operas, are on the verge of extinction or have died out, which has aroused widespread concern.

In 20 years, hundreds of operas have disappeared.

According to the latest survey data provided by the National Center of China National Folk Culture Protection Project, 1982 there are 394 kinds of dramas recorded and performed in China. Up to now, there are only more than 100 kinds of operas that are still performed on the stage, and less than 50 kinds of operas are familiar to everyone. Take Shanxi Province, which is rich in traditional Chinese opera resources, as an example. At the beginning of the founding of New China, there were still 54 local operas in this province, but at present, only Qiang, Daoqing, Wuxiang Yangko, Shangdang Bangzi, Datong Kidnapper, Hequ Errentai, etc. 10 have professional troupes, and the rest only have folk clubs. On holidays, locals play by themselves. Some even folk class clubs have disappeared. Local operas such as Qingyang Opera, Mulian Opera, Cisse Opera, Pingyang Ancient Painting Opera and Heizi Opera have left the stage forever and become historical materials written on paper.

Liu Wenfeng, who has been investigating the current situation of China's operas in Fujian, Shaanxi and Hubei this year, is an expert in opera research at the Chinese Academy of Art. Recently, he said in an interview with reporters that the rate of loss of China's operas is alarming, and in some areas, one opera disappears on average in 2-3 years. In many places, especially cities, it is difficult to hear and see local opera performances, and some can only see beauty from temple fairs. In Xi 'an, the Shaanxi Opera nourished by the 800-mile Qinchuan is the main drama in Shaanxi, which is hard to hear now. "Diao Han Du" was once one of the nine major operas in Shaanxi. It was first popular in Hanzhong, Ankang, northern Sichuan and Longdong. Nowadays, young people under the age of 20 here don't know that there is such a local opera. In Taiyuan, it is also difficult to see the performance of Jin Opera. Liu Wenfeng said that at present, there is only one troupe left in many operas, and the team of "the first troupe in the world" has gradually expanded, and it has not been engaged in commercial performances for many years, and some have not performed completely for 10 years. The grand opera is still faltering, and the small opera is even more difficult. The "Liyuan Opera" has dried up, the "success" is unsustainable, and the "Nuo Opera" is rarely heard.

In a few years or decades, many operas may only be remembered as a kind of history, a kind of paper art in museums, but the original ecological art form is hard to find.

Where is the Way of China Opera?

Recently, there are more and more news about traditional drama in China media. First, the new version of Kunqu Opera Peach Blossom Fan 1699 appeared in Beijing, which was adapted from a traditional drama 300 years ago and caused a sensation with its moving plot and modern stage design. Then, in its birthplace-Zhejiang, Yue Opera celebrated its centenary birthday, and wonderful performances set off a lot of "Yue Opera fever" in the local area. However, while seeing the revival of traditional operas in some areas, China opera circles are more concerned about how to develop traditional operas to meet the aesthetic needs of more modern people. Now, let's listen to what Chinese opera experts say.

Both Kunqu Opera and Yue Opera originated in the south of China, while Peking Opera, the most influential traditional drama in China, was born in the north. Beijing opera has a history of more than 200 years. In the process of its formation and development, it constantly absorbs the essence of other art categories, so it is widely circulated all over the country and is known as "national drama".

Undeniably, "National Opera" is still facing the grim situation of lack of audience, especially the young audience is not interested, which also affects the career choice of young artists, and the problem of lack of successors of Peking Opera talents inevitably appears. Ms. Wang Yuzhen, the president of Beijing Peking Opera Theatre, believes that traditional operas must learn and try new artistic skills if they want to get a new life in modern society. She said:

"As an art of Peking Opera, it should keep pace with the times. We in Beijing Peking Opera Theatre are (also) considering how to make the ancient traditional art keep up with the pulse of today's times, which is also a more important topic for us Peking Opera people to explore. "

And Mr. Yu Kuizhi, head of the second troupe of China Peking Opera Theatre, thinks that the problem of cultivating young audiences is particularly important:

"If art wants to develop and spread, the successor of the actor team is very important, and the successor of the audience is actually more important. Specifically, many people under the age of 35 don't know Peking Opera. How to publicize, popularize and promote it so that they can't say they are interested in Peking Opera, at least let them have some interest. This is what our generation of Peking Opera actors should do. "

The Kunqu Opera "1699 Peach Blossom Fan" that we just mentioned in Beijing can be regarded as an example of the innovation of traditional opera. Peach Blossom Fan is the work of Kong, a dramatist in Qing Dynasty, and "1699" is its creation year. The drama Peach Blossom Fan reflects the joys and sorrows of young men and women in the era of regime change. Such a plot can easily impress the contemporary audience.

Last year, Mr. Bai Xianyong, a writer from Taiwan Province Province, created a "youth version" of the Kunqu Opera Peony Pavilion for college students, which took the soft melody of Kunqu Opera and the love clues in the plot as the main line and was deeply loved by young people when it was staged in Beijing. Last month, an updated version of "Peach Blossom Fan+1699" was staged. The drama is more exquisite in stage vision and costume design, and the stage design gives people a refreshing feeling.

Ms. Tian Qinxin, the director of the drama, said that the creation of traditional operas should be innovated in the integration of tradition and modernity, especially in the treatment of stage space. The new edition of Peach Blossom Fan (1699) keeps the tradition in singing, but it has taken another step in exploring the visual image and stage modeling. She said:

"I still hope to make a breakthrough in stage vision, including a breakthrough in the spatial structure of the stage. At the same time, in terms of content, what we are more likely to do is to help Peach Blossom Fans find and excavate their scattered or lost ancient aria, and strive to supplement them, and strive to achieve a proper measure. "

Kunqu Opera has a history of more than 600 years, and is called "the ancestor of hundreds of operas" by China people. The formation and development of many traditional dramas in China have been influenced by it. Kunqu opera has gorgeous lyrics, elegant singing and strong performance. /kloc-After the 0/9th century, it developed into an "elegant opera" loved by southern literati, but Kunqu opera also broke away from the civic class and gradually declined. In May, 20001year, Kunqu Opera was listed in the first batch of "Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.

When talking about the innovative attempt made by Peach Blossom Fan (1699), Mr. Chen, an expert in Kunqu Opera, fully affirmed it. He believes that the innovation of Kunqu Opera today will become "the tradition of tomorrow".

"We will keep Kunqu Opera in some troupes. On the other hand, we will keep pace with the times. We should also absorb the excellent things from our new modern operas and even foreign operas. (Otherwise, once Kunqu loses the favor of the masses, the art will be elegant and lifeless. "

Contrary to the elegant tradition of Kunqu Opera, Yue Opera, which was also born in the south, has always taken the "civilian line". This is no exception even today-when Kunqu opera pays more attention to urban audiences, Yue opera places more hopes on rural audiences.

Hangzhou Yue Theatre is a vibrant Yue Opera Troupe. At the end of last century, when the development of Yue Opera was once in a downturn, the troupe tried to develop "civilian drama", paying special attention to cultivating the audience of grassroots towns and villages. Mr. Dean of Hangyue Theatre said:

"The foundation of our legislature is to start the brand of' civilian drama', insist on acting for the audience, and let the (grassroots) audience see the satisfactory drama. The artistic path we choose is to face the performance market, strive to meet the needs of audiences at different levels, respect the appreciation habits of old audiences, and strive for new audiences. "

One hundred years ago, Yue Opera was born in the rural areas of Zhejiang Province, and later it developed unprecedentedly in metropolis Shanghai. But now, few people care about the performances of Yue Opera in many big cities, but the performances in rural areas are very popular. This has also led to the thinking of the opera circle: should the revival of opera art be located in the city? Or should it be located in the countryside?

Mr. Zhou Huabin, a critic of traditional Chinese opera and a professor at China Communication University, believes that traditional Chinese opera is a popular art, and there should be no distinction between elegance and vulgarity. Each kind of drama can find its way out according to its own characteristics. He said:

"Chinese opera is the whole nation, and the whole nation is oriented to all the people. Farmers have farmers' needs, and cities have urban needs. Today, (traditional opera) is geared to the public, and different approaches can be adopted according to the needs of different audiences. Because the current culture, including opera, is a pluralistic era, then opera can also develop in a pluralistic direction. "