Local operas in southeastern Shanxi

Shanxi opera art has a long history and a wide variety, which occupies an important position on the stage of China opera. Pu Opera, Jin Opera, Hokuriku Bangzi and Shangdang Bangzi are the four pillars of Shanxi local opera, which are collectively called the Four Bangzi. The four great bangzi have the same root and different branches, and come down in one continuous line, which is the authenticity of bangzi cavity. It accumulates and shows the historical and cultural value of China traditional opera art, and also reflects the folk customs in the circulating areas.

"The water board of the Shanxiang Temple Fair is endless all day long, and the bangzi cavity in the village theater is still knocking at night." This pair of old stage couplets from western Shanxi can be said to reflect the strong love of Shanxi people for drama. This hobby has a long history and has formed a traditional fashion from generation to generation.

Shanxi is one of the birthplaces of China opera art, which appeared in Zhou Pu Bangzi in Ming Dynasty and gradually developed into four major operas in Shanxi today: Shanxi Opera, Puju Opera, Beilu Bangzi and Shangdang Bangzi.

Shanxi drama

Shanxi Opera, also known as "Shanxi Middle Road Bangzi" and "Taiyuan Bangzi", was named after liberation and is the main local opera in Shanxi. Together with Zhou Pu Bangzi, Beiluo Bangzi and Shangdang Bangzi, it is called the "Four Bangzi" in Shaanxi. Spread in central Shanxi, northern Hebei, Inner Mongolia, northwestern Shaanxi and other vast areas. Jin Opera absorbed the musical elements of Pu Opera, Kunqu Opera and Hebei Bangzi on the basis of Jinzhong Yangko during Daoguang and Xianfeng years in Qing Dynasty, and formed its own artistic style, which gradually developed and prevailed. Its singing is both vigorous and rough, and mellow and meticulous. Drama plots are often expressed by big lyrics, and dialogues are replaced by duets. On the board, there are mainly four eyes: splint, sex and running water, as well as a board for expressing passion and a dialogue for expressing grief. Each of its professions has its own different singing methods; The vocals are varied; Rich and colorful. Many technical performances of Jin Opera are also famous, such as Zi Ling Gong, whip Gong and tip-swinging Gong. War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period; In the revolutionary base areas, many artists performed new historical dramas and modern dramas to serve War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. After liberation, many excellent traditional plays and new plays appeared in Jin Opera, such as "Playing Golden Branches", "Butterfly Cup" and "Liu Hulan".

Pu opera

Pu Opera is named after its birthplace in Zhou Pu (now Yongji County, Shaanxi Province), also known as "Lu Nan Bangzi" and "Zhou Pu Bangzi". People in southern Shanxi also call it "random bombs". It is the oldest opera among the "Four Bangzi" in Shanxi Province. Bangzi in Shanxi, Hebei, Henan and other places have also been affected by it. Pu Opera is a popular opera in southern Shanxi, which has a broad mass base in western Henan, eastern Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia. Tracing back to the source, it evolved from "drumming" and was basically formed in Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, which was divided into West Road and South Road: South Road was more elegant and exquisite; The west road is hot and unrestrained. The music of Pu Opera is powerful, clear, lively and infectious. There are many kinds of continental cavity plates, such as adagio, antithesis, flowing water, partition, rolling white and so on. The performance is very exaggerated, and there are many stunts such as "playing with feathers" and "playing with hat wings". Before liberation, this kind of drama was despised and destroyed by the ruling class, the troupe was scattered, and the artists changed jobs to make a living and were in a dying state. After liberation, under the care of the Party, the art of Pu Opera was restored and developed through excavation, arrangement and innovation. The drama Dou Eyuan was once made into a film and was welcomed by the audience.

Beilu bangzi

Beilu Bangzi is one of the "Four Big Bangzi" in Shanxi. Popular in the northwestern part of the mountain, Inner Mongolia and northwestern Hebei. Originated from Zhou Pu Bangzi, it flourished during Tongzhi and Guangxu periods in Qing Dynasty: after the July 7th Incident, due to the destruction of the Japanese invaders, the class club was dissolved, artists changed careers and almost disappeared. It was not until 1954 that the first opera performance in Shanxi resumed. The aria, melody and aria of Hokuriku Bangzi are similar to those of Pu Opera, but the tunes are louder and richer, rich in game from the mountains outside the Great Wall. In particular, its "tune (coloratura)" is ever-changing and melodious to sing. Mainly include: flexible board, splint, two-sex, three-sex, overlapping board, running water, arrow board, rolling white and so on. Hokuriku Bangzi is good at singing long paragraphs, and every sentence basically follows the law of "weak rise and strong fall", but because it is sung by word and emotion, it sounds varied and never monotonous.

Shangdang bangzi

Shangdang Bangzi, also known as "Southeast Shanxi Bangzi" and "Shangdang Palace Tune", is one of the "Four Big Bangzi" in Shanxi. According to legend, it originated in Zezhou (now Jincheng) in the late Ming Dynasty and was popular in the southeast of Shanxi. The word "Shangdang" was named after southeastern Shanxi was the ancient Shangdang County. The performance of Shangdang Bangzi, no matter the catwalk or the characters, has the artistic characteristics of rough mouth and simplicity. Singing is high and lively, and the qupai is quite rich, especially the tune of "coloratura", which is beautiful and unique. In addition to Bangzi Opera, he also performed some rollo and Kunqu Opera in the past.