How did Gui opera develop?

After Qin Shi Huang unified the world, he set up Guilin County and opened the Lingqu River to communicate with the Xiang and Li Rivers. Since then, Guilin has become a major town with a southern connection to the sea and a northern connection to the Central Plains. Since the Song Dynasty, Guilin has been the center of Guangxi's politics, economy and culture, and has been called the "capital of Southwest China".

The long history of Guilin has given birth to a rich culture and the unique art of Guilin Opera in this ancient and beautiful land.

After 1938, the famous dramatist Ouyang Yuqian was recruited to come to Guilin to engage in the reform of Guilin Opera, and established the Guangxi Drama Improvement Association; in 1939, the Experimental Troupe of Guilin Opera was set up, with Ouyang Yuqian as the leader, and established the system of directing, absorbing the new singing styles, compiling and performing the new repertoire, adopting the scenery, beautifying the stage, and opening the Guilin Opera School, so that Guilin Opera had a new upturn.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Ouyang Yuqian created, adapted and processed a large number of new plays for Gui Opera, such as "Liang Hongyu", "Playing the Golden Bough" and "The Broken Bridge", etc., and rehearsed them under his guidance, and took part in the Southwest Drama Exhibition of 1944, which had a very good effect and was widely acclaimed, and from then on Gui Opera has entered the top ten opera genres in China.

Guizhou Opera artists and playwrights*** created a large number of plays based on historical events in Guilin, such as "The Long Song of Lingqu", "The Legend of Yao Fei", "The Return of the Great Ruler", "He Xiangning", etc., which were widely acclaimed.

In the long-term artistic practice, Gui Opera artists have created many wonderful performance techniques. For example, "Beating Sticks Out of Boxes" is not only found in Gui Opera, but also in Peking Opera and other local operas. But the theater world recognized Guangxi Gui Opera's "beat the stick out of the box" outstanding skills, second to none.

Guangxi Opera famous performing artist Yin Xixi, Yu Opera famous performing artist Chang Xiangyu, Han Opera famous performing artist Chen Bohua, and Cantonese Opera famous performing artist Red Thread Nurse, they are known as the "four great dancers of the South", is known throughout the country as an opera artist for their respective types of theater has made outstanding contributions.

Yin Xi is a famous Gui Opera artist, who has successfully portrayed countless touching artistic images in her 72 years of stage career. Her Gui opera performances still represent the highest level of Gui opera art. The masterpiece of Gui opera she starred in back then, "The Jade Bangle", has long been a household name.

Yin Xi's nickname was Feng Feng, and her stage name was Little Golden Phoenix. She was born in Guilin to a family of dockworkers surnamed Yin, and at the age of eight, while working in the kitchen, she hummed a verse from the Gui Opera "Hong Ni Guan," which excited the Gui Opera master Yuan Runrong, and Fengfeng was recruited free of charge as a trainee. Since then, Yin Xi has had her own stage name, Little Golden Phoenix.

The clever Little Golden Phoenix progressed quickly and performed on stage in less than a year. She performed with the Wearing Mountain troupe in the northern part of Guizhou and the southern part of Hunan Province. Her acting skills were maturing, and her sincerity and kindness made the Gui Opera seniors happy to pass on their skills to her.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Xiao Jinfeng, under the advocacy of Chinese theater master Ouyang Yuqian, actively participated in anti-Japanese and anti-death cultural activities and reformed Gui Opera together with Tian Han, Ma Junwu and other progressive cultural figures.

The anti-Japanese beacon has honed Xiao Jinfeng's character. She not only acted in Gui dramas, but also in anti-Japanese dramas, blending patriotic content into Gui dramas to arouse the anti-Japanese passion of the people.

After the founding of New China, Xiao Jinfeng actively participated in the land reform work in Guangxi, and starred in a large number of excellent plays, such as "The White-haired Girl" and "A Sea of Vengeance". In the Central and Southern Opera Concert, Xiao Jinfeng starred in "Gathering Jade Bracelets", which was taken as the grand finale of Guangxi's Gui Opera.

In the first National Opera Observation Performance, Xiao Jinfeng was honored with the First Class Outstanding Actor Award for her starring role in Gathering Jade Bracelets. The play was performed for the leaders of the Party and the country at Huai Ren Tang.

During the anti-American war against North Korea, Xiao Jinfeng performed "Pick Up the Jade Bangle" for the Chinese and North Korean soldiers and civilians in the scorched-earth and smoky North Korea in the snow, which was the first time Gui Opera had ever been performed abroad. Later, the play was made into a movie, which was the first time a Gui opera was brought to the silver screen.

In the reform of Gui opera, Xiao Jinfeng paid attention to drawing on the performance strengths of other sister plays. Not only that, she was also involved in transplanting the Gui opera "Pick Up the Jade Bracelet" into a colorful drama.

Small Jinfeng in her old age in the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the National Women's Federation, and many leading positions in the literary and artistic circles of Guangxi, but also honored as honorary principal of the Guangxi Art School for life. Xiao Jinfeng is passionate about art education and has trained a large number of new talents in Guangxi opera.

Guizhou opera repertoire organization and creation, after the founding of new China, has achieved fruitful results. 1953, guangxi state guizhou opera art troupe was established, for the traditional repertoire excavation and organization and artistic reform has done a lot of work. For a period of time thereafter, Gui Opera generally set up professional troupes in the cities of Guilin and Liuzhou, as well as in the larger counties and towns in the north.

The 1950s was the golden age of Gui Opera, when the Guangxi Gui Opera Troupe brought plays such as The Story of the Western Chamber and The Legend of Chunxiang to perform in Hunan, Shanghai and Guangdong, etc. In addition to a large number of transplanted excellent plays from all over the world, there were also many collated and adapted traditional plays in the repertoire.

At the same time, a number of good plays appeared in Guangxi, such as "Pick up the Jade Bracelet", "Mu Guiying", "Taibai Ao Kao", "Trouble in the House of Yen", and "Playing the Stick out of the Box", etc., which became frequently staged in various places.

After 1976, Gui opera gradually recovered, learning and transplanting a number of costume plays, such as Fifteen Guan, The Story of the Western Chamber, and The Society of Daggers, as well as successively creating historical dramas, such as The Taiping Army, The City of Yong'an, and Justice for the King of Trespassers, and modern dramas, such as Children's Parenting, and A Fresh Flower.

Guizhou Opera is an art rooted in Guilin's folklore, which takes place and develops between the green mountains and beautiful waters of Guilin. Major events in Guilin's history, celebrities, scenic spots and even customs and folklore, dialects and colloquialisms are all the objects of Guilin Opera's stage performance and rendering, and the distinctive character traits of Guilin people, such as soldiers, peasants, industrialists and businessmen, peddlers and soldiers, have left unforgettable images for the art gallery of Guilin Opera.