What are the characteristics of Shaanxi Opera and Western Shaanxi Opera?

According to legend, on the 16th day of the first month of the Qing Dynasty, a Western Shaanxi Opera Troupe performed "Qin Xianglian Embracing the Pipa" in Hailufeng area, and many people watched the play. They thought the opera was too short to sing for a long time. The troupe had no choice but to add a short play "Putting Grain in Chen Zhou" before the main play.

At noon, Chen Shimei's family ordered Han Qi to kill Qin Xianglian and let Qin Xianglian go. Han Qi committed suicide, and Qin Xianglian fell in a pool of blood with her children ... This is another evil play.

The audience refused to leave, and everyone shouted in unison: "Kill Chen Shimei!" Bricks and tiles hit the stage together. I was anxious like a cat on hot bricks, running around, afraid to show up at the front desk, and quickly slipped to the background.

At this time, Bao Gong, who sang "Putting Grain in Chen Zhou", has not been placed. He asked, "What happened to the audience? What's the matter? "

At the sight of Bao Gong, the head teacher suddenly had a brainwave. He pushed him and said, "Come on, keep singing at the front desk."

"Bao Gong" said, "You are in a hurry! I was in the Song Dynasty. This is not Chen Shimei in the Song Dynasty, but Chen Shimei in the Qing Dynasty. How to sing on the same stage after hundreds of years? "

"Oh, at this point, anyway!"

Zhang Ban went on to say, "Chen Shimei is such a big Xu Guan, who dares to kill him? Only you, an impartial' Bao Heizi', can kill him and take it out on the people, even if it is a joke.

Finally, "Bao Gong" went on stage to kill Chen Shimei, and the audience was quiet. Since then, the reputation of this western Qin troupe has been extremely loud in Hailufeng area.

Xiqin Opera, also known as Random Opera, is popular in Haifeng, Lufeng, Chaoshan, Minnan and Taiwan Province provinces. In the late Ming Dynasty, Western Qin opera was combined with local folk art after it flowed into Hailufeng. By the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Xiqin Opera was gradually separated from Xiqin Opera and became independent, forming its own unique style and characteristics.

According to historical records, the east of Longshan in Gansu Province, that is, Longxian County in Shaanxi Province, was the territory of Qin Zhou in ancient times. Longdong County was established in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, followed by Longzhou. Because it is located in the west of Qin State, the folk custom of Qin State is called "Western Qin".

It can be seen that there is no doubt that Gansu Opera is called "Western Shaanxi Opera", which is due to its geographical location. In the Qing Dynasty, Wu Taichu recorded in Lan Yan Xiaopu:

Shaanxi Opera, namely Gansu Opera, is called West Shaanxi Opera.

Drama theorist Zhang Geng and drama critic Guo Hancheng think:

Far away in Chaoshan, Guangdong, on the southeast coast, there are still western Shaanxi operas handed down from the past, which have settled in the local area.

Later, the main theme of the Western Qin Opera was probably the tunes of the early Western Qin Opera, such as the main drama Durmei, Dahongpao, Gui Ren Returning to the Kiln, Liu Xixun's son, Li Dan Going to the Countryside and Playing with Guns in the Garden. These are all recorded in the history books of the Qin and Ming Dynasties. As for the traditional "four great biographies" and "eight small schools"

Xiqin opera originated from Qin opera and was introduced into Hailufeng. There are two opinions. One theory is that during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a Liu Tianyu in Longyou, Shaanxi Province, and Liu Tianyu and the contemporary dramatist Tang Xianzu were climbing friends. Liu Tianyu went to Guangzhou as an official, took three teams of Xiqin Opera, passed through eastern Guangdong, southern Fujian and Taipei in Jiangxi, and later took root in Hailufeng. Combining with the folk art and language of Hailufeng, he gradually drifted away from Xiqin Opera and became a family of his own, forming the present Xiqin Opera.

There is also a saying that during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, after the defeated army of Li Zicheng entered Guangdong along the border between Fujian and Jiangxi, some artists from Shaanxi and Gansu gathered in Hailufeng to perform.

After taking root in Hailufeng, Xiqin Opera was deeply loved by the masses. Although the singing and dialogue of Xiqin Opera follow the rhyme of Zhongzhou, the lyrics are simple and popular. In addition, artists continue to learn the advantages of brother operas such as orthography and dialogue, so as to enrich and improve themselves and gradually develop into local operas with unique styles and characteristics.

At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, Western Shaanxi Opera was popular in Guangzhou dialect area and Chaoshan Minnan dialect area. All the way from Hunan and Hubei, all the way from Jiangxi and Fujian. Therefore, the western Qin opera can be divided into two ways.

The main line is the main vocal cavity of West Qin Opera, which is divided into three types: two sides, flat plate and bangzi, with two sides as the basic tone, similar to Shaanxi Han tune and Erhuang tune; Flat tones are close to the four tones of Pihuang opera; Bangzi is similar to blowing a cavity. Therefore, some people think that Western Shaanxi Opera is related to Shaanxi Opera, Diao Han and Anhui Opera.

Except for the main line, Xiqin Opera Xipi is the same as Cantonese Opera Bangzi. Huang Er is close to the Cantonese opera Huang Er. Accompaniment instruments include the first string, the second string, the third string, Qin Yue, suona, French horn and so on. Big gongs and drums are commonly used in Wushu.

Traditional operas are divided into two categories: small money dramas and martial arts dramas. Their performance style is rough and bold, vigorous and passionate, and they are good at martial arts. Their martial arts skills are based on the southern French martial arts. The main repertoires of Wenxi are Four Bowed Horses, Thirty-six Horses and Seventy-two Outline.

Martial arts are mostly based on the romance novels of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, immortals, Sui and Tang Dynasties and Shuihu. After finishing, the more influential plays are "Back to Kiln" and "Cut Zheng En". Martial arts, belonging to the southern school, are good at interpreting generous and tragic historical stories.

Characters and scenes are divided into "five elements and ten pillars", that is, face dividends and black face ugliness; The first line is divided into Zheng Dan, Hua Dan, Blue Shirt and Slope Foot; Netting is divided into old students, literary students, martial students and public students; The flag army is divided into the Ukrainian army and the Red Army; Music is everywhere. Famous actors include Zeng Yuechu and Luo Zhenbiao.

Xiqin Opera has been deeply loved by the masses since it was formed in Hailufeng in the early Qing Dynasty. In addition, they continue to learn the advantages of brother operas and folk art such as orthographic drama Three Kingdoms Opera, Kunqu Opera brand and folk Nanquan, enrich themselves and gradually develop into local operas with unique styles and characteristics.

During the reign of Ganjia in the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 30 teams of Xiqin Opera, and the popular areas expanded from the original eastern Guangdong and southern Fujian to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and other places.

By the end of the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou and Shantou had become foreign trade cities with concentrated population and developed commerce. The emerging Cantonese Opera and Chaozhou Opera entered the provinces, ports and Shantou respectively, and each paid tribute to the performances of officials and businessmen.

Therefore, the Western Qin Opera, which was originally popular in Chaoshan, because of its long history and formal form, could not compete with the Chaozhou Opera sung in dialect and played in white accent, and gradually retreated to the south. On the other hand, Cantonese opera is also determined to improve, singing and speaking in Putonghua are changed into dialects, which effectively occupies the Cantonese area, making it impossible for the western Qin opera to enter the west, and then ending in the Minnan language area east of Huiyang.

At that time, because Hailufeng's feudal forces were still very stable and had superior natural conditions to maintain self-sufficiency, Xiqin opera was banned in the east and west. After concentrating on Hai Lufeng, it has been able to settle down, "cultivate and feed itself", and has little communication with the outside world, and has always maintained its inherent quaint style.

At this time, Guangdong Opera, Chaozhou Opera and Guangdong Hanju, which are rapidly changing and updating, continue to flow into Hailufeng to stimulate Xiqin Opera. The local people are not satisfied with its complacency and constantly put forward new demands; In addition, dozens of teams of Xiqin Opera, Zhengzi Opera and Bai Zixi are crowded in the long and narrow coastal zone of Hailufeng, competing with each other, which promotes the changes of Xiqin Opera.

In the process of this change, the Western Qin Opera has greatly developed and enriched the outline operas, that is, the plays sung by Pure White or Bai Ke. Because the outline drama is equipped with percussion instruments such as suona, drums, gongs and cymbals, it is magnificent, which not only adapts to the performances in urban and rural squares, but also caters to the requirements of the masses to enjoy the gods and celebrate and advocate excitement, thus opening up a road from development to prosperity for the drama in Western Qin Dynasty.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Western Qin operas were shaped and developed. During this period, teams rushed out of the sea and went to Chaoshan, Minnan, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Among these teams, Shuntaiyuan Class, Shuang Fu Co-class, Sailing Year Class and Qingtaichun Class also traveled overseas to perform in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and other foreign cities, sowed the seeds of Jisheng, Wusheng and Fupo, settled abroad, continued to engage in amateur singing of Xiqin Opera by overseas Chinese, and trained a number of actresses such as Yayu, Yasu, Yasan and Jingui to return home and created Xiqin Opera.

1922, under the leadership of China * * * Production Party, a vigorous peasant movement broke out in Hailufeng. Peng Pai, the leader of Hailufeng base area, is well aware of the special functions and functions of opera, so he can win over, unite, educate and reform opera artists in the stormy revolutionary movement, and call the actors regarded as "useless people" by the ruling class "good useless people" and hand them over.

At that time, the actors of Western Shaanxi Opera, such as Dai Jing, Yu Sheng and Fa Dan, were often invited by Peng Pai to the Dequ Library to discuss the improvement of traditional operas. By 1925, the red "Liyuan Trade Union" was finally established.

1927, the first Soviet government in China was born at the "Haifeng County Workers, Peasants and Soldiers Congress" held in the Red Palace, and all the delegates enthusiastically passed the resolution of "improving drama".

On New Year's Eve, in order to celebrate the first New Year's Day after seizing power, the Soviet Union of Haifeng County organized a grand drama activity, and invited the Shuntaiyuan class of Xiqin Opera to perform the programmatic play "Down Copper Flag of Qin Qiong", which was very popular.

During the six-year peasant movement in Hailufeng, Western Qin Opera, Orthography Opera and Harmony have been protected and developed. Artists who have always been regarded by the ruling class as "puppets", "feet" and humble artists have also stood up and started their rights as human beings. They have devoted themselves to the storm of revolution, fully played their roles and functions with operas, and written a glorious page in the history of modern revolution in China!

After the founding of New China, Xiqin Opera gained a new life. Zhang Hanbiao, Luo Zongman, Zeng Yuechu, Xu, Ma Fu, Zhang Mushun, Zeng Bao, Lin Dexiang, Cai Li, Zhou Shimei, Lin Baimei and other famous artists and Luo Zhenbiao, Sun Junde, Chen, Zhou and Tang Tuo all expressed their admiration for the new China.

They joined forces to imitate the practice during the Great Revolution, changing the monitor system into collective ownership and the birthday troupe into Haifeng County Workers' Troupe.

1956, Haifeng Culture Plate was formally established. We have effectively strengthened the leadership and management of the troupe, actively mobilized and organized old artists to rescue the artistic heritage, and excavated, recorded and sorted out Gui Yao, Chong Tai, Liu Xixun, Song Jiang's killing, judging, chopping, chessboard meeting, Hu Da and Gui Zhi's writing.

At the same time, a series of reforms and improvements have been made in singing, performing arts, stage art and facial makeup, which have made the Western Qin Opera flourish and take on a new look.

1979, Xiqin Opera Reconstruction Troupe of Haifeng County. 199 1, 1992 participated in the Guangdong Art Festival and the national "The First Troupe in the World" performance, and the plays "Qin Xianglian" and "Chop Zheng En" and the actors won prizes.

Over the years, he has been invited to perform in Hong Kong for seven times, spreading local accents and communicating local conditions. He has cooperated with record companies for many times and recorded 16 tapes of excellent traditional plays, such as Returning to the Kiln, Re-entering Taiwan Province, Son of Liu Xixun and Wutai Brothers, which are exported overseas.