The Drama Form of Spring Cattle Worship —— Niuniang Opera in Cenxi

China has a vast territory and abundant resources, and many nationalities. For thousands of years, the cultures of all ethnic groups have blended with each other, forming a new China. China's traditional drama originated from the people. Different national cultures have created different operas. What is the drama of Niuniang in Cenxi produced by the worship of spring cattle? Let's take a look at The Complete Works of China Opera.

Niuniang Opera is also called Niu Ge Opera. It is said that every time before and after the Spring Festival, local people spontaneously perform Niuniang opera and carry out Spring Festival activities, praying for a bumper harvest of grains and prosperity of six livestock.

Niu Ge Opera originated in southeastern Guangxi (mainly in Heping South, tengxian) and is one of the Han operas with folk characteristics popular in Guangdong and Guangxi. Niu Ge plays are popular in language, vivid and implicit in image, humorous and naughty; There are specific faces and appearances of different roles; There are lyrics and specific music structure. If Beijing Opera is the quintessence of China, then Niu Ge Opera is the "local quintessence" of Guangxi.

Niuniang Opera in Cenxi is the favorite local opera of Cenxi people. Its performance form is a bit like the "duet" in Northeast China. The lyrics are seven words each, which is a bit like seven rhymes, but it is not required to be as neat as seven rhymes. It can rhyme in vernacular Chinese, which is easy to hear, understand and remember, and is deeply loved by the people. As a kind of drama in the Complete Works of China Opera, Niuniang Opera, like other places, came into being with a beautiful legend.

At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, the custom of singing spring cattle was popular in Cenxi. In the early spring of each year, farmers bask in the grass at the head of the village and make spring cattle out of mud. The famous local elders whip the cattle, talk and sing, wishing the heavenly palace a good weather. Then the onlookers scrambled to whip the spring cattle, sing and dance, and pray for peace.

By more than 500 years ago, the singing of Spring Cattle had been enriched and developed through the inheritance and evolution of past dynasties, and a whole set of cattle dance movements had been added according to the plot of agricultural labor. There are two girls to accompany you when you jump the cow, the lyrics are greatly increased, and there is a simple Niuniang singing. Later, drums, gongs and other musical instruments were added, and some folk artists also sang things in life by jumping the spring bull, which was also an impromptu performance of singing whatever they wanted.

Later, folk artists wrote down the lyrics, collected and arranged them, and added some life plots to their performances, forming the original Niuniang drama. Based on word-of-mouth materials, artists Liang Litang and Li adapted and performed some Buddhist stories, Muyu and Nanyin songbooks imported from Guangdong during the Qing Dynasty, and established Liang Litang class. This is the earliest Niuniang Troupe. Later, there were many class clubs gradually.

In 1908, the Jiqingtang troupe founded by Mo is the most influential troupe. The famous artist Mo (called "Sister Yu") absorbed folk songs and enriched the music of Niuniang Opera. After the 1920s, Guangdong Cantonese Opera artists came to Cenxi, joined Jiqingtang class, and taught the performing arts of Cantonese Opera to Niuniang artists. Niuniang opera has absorbed the performance procedures and costumes of Cantonese opera and developed to a more mature stage. In the 1940s, due to the ban on gambling by the authorities, the performance of the troupe was greatly affected.

After liberation, Niuniang Opera was restored and developed. After the 1960s, a professional troupe was established, and some new dramas with modern themes were created, with increasing influence. 1982, Niu Niang drama was included in China Drama Dictionary, and in the same year, Niu Niang drama In-laws was broadcast on Guangxi TV and CCTV. In 1990s, Niuniang Opera was recorded in China Opera Records, and the former "Xialiba people" became "Chun Xue" and became an elegant hall. In 2002, Cenxi became "the hometown of Guangxi folk art (Niuniang Opera)".