The Origin of Hunan Ancient Painting Opera

Hunan ancient painting drama, also known as xiang opera, originated in Yiyang, Hunan, and later developed to Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and other places. It is a general term for local operas, such as ancient paintings and lantern plays. Due to different popular areas, there are Changsha ancient painting drama, Hengyang ancient painting drama, Shaoyang ancient painting drama and so on, each with its own style. It originated from the development of folk songs in southern Hunan, from once ugly singing to "three small" singing. There are more than 400 traditional plays and more than 300 musical tunes in various places. According to the different structure and musical style, it can be divided into four categories: Sichuan tune, Gong cavity, brand and minor, all of which have the characteristics of rough and bold and strong local color. Music with small suona, gongs and drums, lively and light tunes, suitable for singing and dancing. Famous actors include Liao Chunshan, Wang Yousheng and Zhang Shusheng.

Ancient painting drama originated from folk songs and gradually developed into the main form of once ugly ancient painting drama. Liuyang County Records, published in the 23rd year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (18 18), talked about the situation of playing dragon lanterns in the local Lantern Festival, saying: "Boys play ugly plays and sing golden drums from the 10th day to the end of the night". It shows that an ugly flower drum play, Dihuagu, was once sung, which was formed at the latest in Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty. According to the Yuan Tan Diary (1862) written by Yang Enshou in the first year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty, the "Flower Drum Ci" that Yang Enshou saw in Yongxing, Hunan Province (that is, Flower Drum Opera) had four roles: scholar, bookworm and Claudia's daughter-in-law. The plot and performance were vivid, indicating that the Flower Drum Opera at this time had not only developed into "three times" (Xiao Dan started from the voice and repertoire. Later, with the introduction of "Gong tune" and "Chuan tune", folk legendary dramas with strong stories gradually appeared. The main repertoires are Qingfeng Pavilion, Lulin Club, Eight Hundred Li Dongting and Xue Mei Jiaozi. The main repertoires of Sichuan Opera include Liu Hai Xi Toad, Whip Reed Flower, Zhang Guang's Big Hand, and Driving Children on the Road. In this way, a relatively complete local opera was formed.