The origin of ancient painting opera

The historical origin of Jingzhou ancient painting and drama is lack of literature records. Its origin was first recorded in Mianyang during Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty, that is, today's Xiantao, Tianmen and Qianjiang areas. Folk songs and dances such as Flower Drum, Lotus Picking Boat, Falling Lotus and Knocking on Vegetables, and mainstream folk rap such as Tian Ge, Sanbanggu, Fishing Drum, Daoqing, etc., have become the source of Jingzhou Flower Drum Opera. Light-years ago, it was the "pastoral period" of huaguzi. Pastoral, Tian Ye. In Jianghan Plain, villagers planted and mowed grass with songs. Among them, mowing the grass song is a special singing form popular with productive labor. The singing content of mowing songs is rich, and the qupai is also changeable. Except for you singing with me, most of them sing alone, all in groups.

"Flower Drum" is also called "Flower Drum Along the Door". "Along the door" is another name for begging. There is an article that says, "Wandering in the streets, wandering in cities, begging for life, singing flower drums along the street". During Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty, Huaguzi went out of the countryside and became a kind of drama of ancient painting, which was called "Caotai period" of ancient painting. Fu Zhuoran's Mao Jiang Night Talk in the Qing Dynasty said: "During the Daoguang period, Dai Jiachang gave a singing lesson, accompanied by a fishing drum board, and the audience sat around. The venue was full and famous. The villagers call it the platform flower drum. " During the reign of Xianfeng and Tongzhi, "Taiwan Flower Drum" developed into a wider stage of "Six Poles". Although the performance form is still "accompanied by gongs and drums, accompanied by voices", the flower drums here have been widely integrated into folk etiquette activities, and connected with folk rap arts such as three-stick drums, fishing drums and Taoist feelings, thus obtaining the gene of "drama".

According to the literature, there are four main themes and more than 200 kinds of minor in Jingzhou ancient painting drama. They sing with lively rhythm, beautiful melody, lyrical narration and full of the fragrance of earth. The percussion accompaniment of Jingzhou ancient painting drama comes from the folk gongs and drums in Jianghan Plain, and there are 76 traditional percussion brands recorded in the existing literature.

During Caotai's period, the repertoire of Jingzhou ancient paintings and operas was gradually enriched. From "one-man play" to "two-man play" and "three small plays" by Xiaosheng, Xiao Dan and the clown. The content of the drama is mostly a life drama that reflects marriage, love and family entanglements. During this period, the performances organized by artists have developed from three to five people to the scale of "seven panics, eight busy and nine stops".

During the period from Daoguang to Xianfeng and Tongzhi, Jingzhou ancient painting drama was very active in Mianyang. The prosperity of rural Wulisantai has created a generation of ancient painting celebrities. The most representative ones are Wang Chunbao, He and Huang Ersheng's "Four Gates" and "North Chenmen".

After the founding of New China, Jingzhou ancient painting and drama gained a new life. Ancient painting artists who changed from "hiding from the rain" to singing Chu opera played the banner of "the return of opera" and got the attention and support of local cultural authorities. Tianmen, Qianjiang, mian yang and other county-level flower drum troupes were established one after another. From 65438 to 0955, Jingzhou ancient painting drama took a step on the road of inheritance and reform. Its important symbol is to change the traditional performance mode of "singing with one voice, beating gongs and drums" into string accompaniment.

In 1950s, Jingzhou ancient paintings and operas tended to be stereotyped and mature. More than 200 traditional repertoires have been collected, selected and re-examined, and at the same time, the unique skills such as "picking flowers", "picking colors" and "biting bowls" have been inherited. Shen Shan is an outstanding representative of Jingzhou ancient painting and drama. His representative works include Canon of Porcelain, Visiting Friends, Lanqiao, Embroidering Pocket, Pinching Cabbage, etc. 1953, Shen Shan and Yang participated in the first folk art performance in New China with "Playing Lotus in Hunan", which reflected the poor life of Huagu artists and was received by central leaders such as Zhu De and others.

From the 1950s to the mid-1960s, the stage of Jingzhou ancient painting and drama was clean and beautiful. His plays, such as Double Skimming Bamboo Shoots, Cutting Sutra Hall, Sanguantang, Picking an Axe in Spring, Borrowing Cattle and Stopping the Sedan, won prizes in Hubei Province and Central and South China respectively. These achievements laid the foundation for Jingzhou ancient painting drama to be as famous as Hubei Han Opera and Chu Opera.

After the "Cultural Revolution" began, the county Huagu Opera Troupe was cancelled, and the performance of Huagu Opera gradually resumed after 1970. The eighties and nineties of the 20th century witnessed the all-round development of Jingzhou ancient painting and drama. From performance content to form, from script to stage, from music to dance beauty, there have been refreshing and unforgettable artistic creations.

1980, on the Flower Drum Stage, the Flower Wall, which has changed for nearly a hundred years, was adapted and renamed Flower Wall Society, and was made into a color opera film by Pearl River Film Studio. Eight ancient Jingzhou paintings, including Family Case-solving, went to Beijing to sing on the capital stage. Among them, Qianjiang Ancient Painting Troupe adapted the Jingzhou ancient painting drama from Cao Yu's masterpiece "Yuanye" and went to Beijing twice: 1990 participated in the "65th anniversary of Cao Yu's drama activities" and sang in Zhongnanhai; 1996, vilen was adapted as Love and Hate in vilen, and he went to Beijing to perform for the 6th National Congress of Literature and Art..

During this period, Hu Xinzhong, a national first-class actor of Qianjiang Ancient Painting Troupe, grew into an outstanding representative of Jingzhou Ancient Painting Opera. He starred in many plays and won awards frequently. During this period, the Jingzhou Huagu Troupe of Qianjiang City attracted the attention of all parties for its outstanding achievements in creation and performance. 1993 was upgraded to Hubei Experimental Jingzhou Ancient Painting Theatre. Vilen's Love and Hate, performed in the theater, highlights the integration of song, dance and drama, creates an artistic realm of "deja vu but nothing new" and gives people a brand-new aesthetic feeling. The play won 1995 gold medal in Hubei New Drama Exhibition, 1997 China Caoyu Drama Literature Award and Hubei "Five One Project" Award, 1998 China Wenhua New Drama Award.

The Jingzhou Ancient Painting Troupe of Qianjiang City has honed one successful cast member after another because of its drama and China drama master Cao Yu's "hometown meeting hometown, tears in eyes" in Beijing, and because of its performance of Cao Yu's famous drama. Hu Xinzhong, Li Chunhua and Sun Shi An, the national first-class actors of the troupe, won the 14, 15 Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Drama and the 8th China Wenhua Performance Award respectively for their successful performances in Yuan Ye.