Poems Related to Gannan Tea-Picking Opera

According to legend, the tea-picking opera sprouted very early. In the past, generally old artists said that there was a tea-picking opera in the Tang Dynasty. According to the tea-picking opera class enshrined in the ancestor of Master Tian, is the Tang Ming Huang court musician, originally surnamed Lei, called Lei Guanghua, because of love with the songstress, violating the palace ban, so they fled from the palace, living in Anyuan Jiulongshan tea planting, farming, not forgetting the good, teaching farmers to sing tea songs, play tea lights, compiled "Jiulongshan picking tea". This is the origin of Gannan Tea Picking Opera. Of course, tea-picking opera cannot be invented by someone. It is generally believed that the tea-picking opera became popular among the people in the middle of Ming Dynasty. On this point, the poems and writings of the literati in Ming Dynasty are reflected. For example, Tang Xianzu, a master of theater in the Ming Dynasty, in one of his incidental poems, there is "the spring breeze in the remote dock singing tea picking" chant. It can be seen that at that time, in the remote countryside, there was already "tea-picking" singing. He also has a poem for others, which better illustrates the development of "tea-picking" at that time:

"The pink building looks to the west with tears in its eyes, fearing to see the riverboat moving the sunset; in April, tea is made in Xiangzhong, and in front of the garden, I remember the heather flowers."

The title of the poem is "Seeing the Tea-picking People", and from the scene recited in the poem, the "tea-picking people" are not those who are engaged in the labor of tea-picking, but those who are engaged in the singing of the "tea-picking" professional entertainers. This artist in the "tea-picking" singing art may have considerable attainments, it is possible to be contemporary celebrities such as Tang Xianzu's affectionate attention. Visible tea-picking, has a deep foundation in the folk at that time, otherwise, it is impossible to have such a professional entertainer. In addition to the above quoted poems, Tang Xianzu "Peony Pavilion" in the "persuade the farmers" a play, which has a section of the play is the performance of tea-picking songs and dances:

......

[Menzi endowed by: and a pair of women sang to come also.

[Old Dan, ugly holding baskets of tea picking on, singing:

[Filial piety song]: riding the rain, picking new tea, a flag and a half gun of gold teeth.

(White): Ya, what kind of official is here?

(Singing): Bachelor snow cooking him, the scholar sleepy want him, bamboo smoke new tile.

(Outside white): the song is good, said with him, not the Post Pavilion Bachelor, not the Yang Xian scholar, is this house master to persuade the farmers to see you women pick mulberry tea, better than the cauliflower, there is a poem for proof: "only because the sky less tea star, the underground first open a hundred grasses essence, bored death of the girl greedy fight grass, the scenery is not like the fight tea clear." Ikebana to go.

[Pure, ugly flower drinking intermediary] singing:

Official drunk in the flow of Xia, the wind before the smile of the flower, picking tea not to kill handsome.

......

This play is written in the Nan'an prefecture governor Du Bao out of the city on a spring trip, came to Nan'an (now Dayu County) on the outskirts of the city of Qingle Township to advise farmers, Qingle Township fathers and mothers, leading the townspeople to meet the official pavilion. This ceremony of "advising farmers" is a kind of routine for local officials of successive dynasties to show their concern for farmers; it is also a means for officials to understand people's situation and collect people's opinions. The people of Qingle Township prepared songs and dances reflecting the local folkways and customs to present to the governor. The song and dance quoted above is a pair of tea picking women performing tea picking. Tang Xianzu was a native of Wanli in Ming Dynasty. Before he wrote The Peony Pavilion, he had traveled to Nan'an twice, stayed there and wrote poems, so he had a good understanding of the local folkways and customs. The story of The Peony Pavilion is set in Nan'an Province, and the songs and dances chosen to reflect the local folklore had to be popular in order to express the local characteristics of the play. From this, it can be seen that this kind of tea-picking song and dance chosen by Tang had long been popular among the local folk at that time. It has songs and dances, sections and items, as well as characters and stories, and it has already possessed the elements of a theater that uses songs and dances to act out stories. This is enough to prove that in the middle of Ming Dynasty, Gannan tea-picking opera was popular among the people. Gannan tea-picking opera development of the most prosperous years, is in the Qing Dynasty, Kang, Qian years, the Qing Dynasty Chen Wenrui (Qianlong time) has a "Nanan Bamboo Branch Lyrics", reflecting the folk performance of tea-picking at that time:

Ballad wow singing a number of camps in front of the fur dressed as a beautiful young man of the wind flow; long days of performance to the triangular theater, tea-picking songs to test tea days.

Yingqian, in today's Shangyu County, at that time belonged to Nan'an Province, is a mountainous town. A triangular class, can be in such a small pike town from the start of tea, long days to perform, performed to the end of the test tea, which in today's professional troupe, it is also very difficult to do, it shows that when the tea triangular class, there has been a considerable basis for such a great attraction. Otherwise, it is impossible to maintain the performance in one place for so long.

About the degree of fervor of the masses in watching the tea-picking at that time, there is a song in Xinfeng County Records, "Nan'an Ging", which describes it in great detail:

"Tea-picking song, the village children dressed up as a demon. Zhou Guixiang countryside to find Yao, looking back at a look at the clever smile luster. The playboys are fighting for color, holding cups of banter wantonly rubbing. Poor iron stone Yan sob mouth, Chi people livelihood under the coal nest. Face full of soot ten fingers black, out to see tea picking also into the devil. Hard to get money joy sprinkle, sac empty return, learn to 'a sister' a sound?"

This "Nan'an Yin", is a county named Xie Zhaozhen oracle wrote. The oracle is a school official, his point of view, on behalf of the ruling class of feudal society on the tea-picking opera, although full of derogatory, but the other way around, it just shows that the masses at that time on the tea-picking opera of the intoxication, especially those who live at the bottom of the society of the coal digging workers (Ironstone mouth out of the coal), on the "tea-picking" is to see "! Even if they spilled all their hard-earned money, they went home with the joyful mood of "Learning 'A-Mei'". Even if they spilled all their hard-earned money, they returned with a joyful mood. Gannan Tea Picking Opera was honored by the society in the Ming Dynasty when it was performed by the "Self-Leveling Class" for self-entertainment. Because at that time, the performance of "Nine Dragons Mountain tea picking" this kind of light opera, the content is mostly a celebration of peace, such as the play of the pendulum lamp, there is "peace in the world" pendulum word performance, so it can be appreciated by the feudal rulers. By the time of the triangular class of the miscellaneous sets of plays, the content of the plays is mostly based on the theme of love between men and women, and the expression of the views and ways of love, and often contrary to the feudal ethics and morals. For example, "Anti-love" and "睄同年". Some also in a comedic manner, from the opposite side of the real life of society for satire, expose, criticize, such as the "big persuasion of the husband", "full sister Hexi" and so on, which is not allowed for the feudal rulers, that it is obscene and indecent, have a bad influence on morals. From the Qianlong, successive dynasties, has repeatedly ordered the ban. Such as the Daoguang four years, "Ningdu Zhizhi - Customs Zhi" contains:

"Cha Caicha also known as the triangular class, demonic and obscene sound, the introduction of the evil, the most local harm. ...... Recently, there are even listening to the move of the performers, should be detained in the pipe about the protection of heavy punishment, in order to quell this wind."

Similar records, in Gannan counties in the county records have. The ban is not only written in official notices, but also engraved monuments, standing in the township market town. For example, before 1949, in Xinfeng's Xiaojiang Zhenjun Temple, there are still such a ban on the sign, the tea picking and smoking, gambling, whoring, theft are prohibited.

The Gannan tea-picking opera was banned after the handing over of bad luck, and then not allowed to enter the village workshops and ancestral halls, can only be in the Weiwei Temple corner of the open-air performances on the stage, in the winds and rains in the tenacity to survive.

The Gannan tea-picking opera at its peak, the development of more than thirty classes, and then gradually declined to the eve of liberation, the whole of Gannan only five or six classes left, hiding in the corners of the mountains, sneakily performed from time to time, is really moribund, a breath of life. In addition to the music, the most expressive characteristics of Gannan Tea Casting Opera is its performance, which is characterized by song, dance and drama. Its performance characteristics can be summarized as "three wonders and three greats". Three strange is: the traditional tea-picking opera show all the lower working people's love and labor salivation, there is no court dance and talent dance, this is a strange; a large number of performances body imitation of animal movements, and named after animal movements, this is a two strange; song and dance play with each other, so that some people think it is a local song and dance drama, this is a three strange.

The three masterpieces are: the short step, the single sleeve tube, and the fan flower.

The basic steps of the short step are short step, high step, short step cross step, rocking step, shock step, slide step, shovel step. The short step is also divided into short stakes, medium stakes and high stakes. This is the only short step in the world of opera.　　The single sleeve is another masterpiece. In general, the water sleeves in the theater are all in pairs, and the Gannan Tea Casting Dance is the only one with a single left sleeve. However, it has created numerous dance terms. Such as grasping sleeve, hitching sleeve, back sleeve, shading sleeve, sleeve around the fan, armpit sleeve, phoenix-tailed sleeve, threading sleeve, flower basket sleeve, upward throwing, downward flinging, wrapping the waist, around the knee, side scrolling and flipping ......

Beauty is a kind of symmetry, and a single sleeve cylinder seems to be a neglect of the laws of beauty, but, no, the reward is on the stage with a fan flower of the other hand and its Symmetry, one hand flaps the sleeve, one hand dances with the fan, stepping with the characteristic short steps, seems unusually unique and interesting.

Fan flower movement is very much, a variety of complex, which have thrown the fluttering fan, loaded folding fan, wind fan, fan, sun fan, looking at the fan, smell the flowers fan, cover the face of the fan and so on dozens of kinds of expressive, which there are old artists left about the fan flower of the art of know-how, such as:

five-fingered flower head toward the sky, four-fingered flower head toward the front.　　The three-finger flower hits the four sides, and the two-finger flower shakes the chest.　　Cultivate, press, grab, shake by the belly.

The characteristics of the three wonders and three extremes are the products of the severe ecological environment in which the Hakka people of Gannan have long survived in the mountains and forests.

For example, the short step, the Hakka people live in the mountains, go out and climb the mountain, stooping and bending, tall people have become "short". The clever Hakka people have made the short step into a unique basic dance step in the world. Full of clouds and mist, full of clouds and mist tea, the girls carry tea baskets, singing tea songs, while picking tea while dancing, the boys shoulder tea leaves stepped by the short step into the short pile, medium pile, high pile. They dance with single sleeves and fan flowers, creating a unique Gannan Hakka Tea Picking Dance.

Another example is the many performing figures named after animals, that is because in the long mountain road, the Hakka people used to be with the birds and beasts, and the animal world's endless interest in life made the whimsical Hakka people gained a never-ending inspiration for artistic creation. Imitation of animal action, and simply with animal action to name, such as: monkey wash face, the bad wolf looking for food, the lion open mouth, painted eyebrows jump frame, tortoise climbing sand, dragon head phoenix tail, dragonflies play water, the dog bull swinging tail, lazy cats scratching, the fox over the adolescent, the butterfly honey, the rooster pecked rice, the monkey hair scared, son (frog) over the lack of crows sun wings, cats tanning, and so on, up to more than 300 names.

The movement of animal life consciousness was captured by the Hakka people. It is not difficult to imagine that without the mountains, there will be no birds and beasts, and without the observation and refinement from the life, how to create this many stage performances? There are two types of clowns: one is the "ugly line and handsome dress", known as the "positive clown"; the other is the "ugly line and ugly dress", known as the "anti-clown The first one is the "positive clown".

Positive clowns: mainly young and middle-aged men of the working people. They are characterized by hard work and simplicity, cheerfulness, optimism, fun and wit. When singing, the actor wears a "hand grasp (Luo hat)", wearing a "three-flower coat", a "white skirt", wearing "lantern pants", and dancing "with his right hand". "The right hand dances the "fan flower" and the left hand throws the "long sleeve tube". They sing and dance in a lively and relaxed manner. The performance is based on the "short step" and "fan flower", a combination of short and tall steps, fast-paced and quite distinctive.

The anti-clowns: mostly smokers and gamblers, rascals and ruffians, and prodigal gentlemen, etc., often expose each other or mock each other with some vivid, subtle, witty, and humorous language and actions. Their performances often simulate some animal images such as: "monkey washing face", "monkey peeing", "dragonfly pointing at water", "lazy cat scratching itch ", "cockerel pecking rice", "painted eyebrows jumping frame", "dog bull swinging tail" "tortoise climbing the sand The "Tortoise Climbing the Sand" and so on. The face of the white nose, footwork and fan flower movement and "Zheng Chou" performance is similar.

Small Dan: mainly hard-working, simple and intelligent rural girls and young women. The performance is robust, graceful and simple. Its "fan flower" is richer than that of the clown, and it can play the fan flower with one hand as well as with both hands. Its body movements include: combing and picking the curtain, picking tea with the garden hand, umbrella flower, opening and closing the door, etc. The basic steps include the eight steps, the eight steps, the eight steps and the eight steps. Its basic steps are eight steps, stilt step, tiptoe step, mill step, step, broken step, etc., can be described as a variety of styles.