Shanxi Jin Opera

Jin Opera, or Zhonglu Bangzi, is a representative type of opera in Shanxi Province, and is one of the four major operas in Shanxi Province. It is one of the four major operas of Shanxi Province. Because of its activities in central Shanxi, especially in the vicinity of Taiyuan and the Jinzhong area, and because this opera has always been welcomed and loved by the general public in central Shanxi, it is called Zhonglu Bangkas.

The characteristics of Zhonglu Bangkas are melodious, smooth, beautiful, mellow, friendly tunes, and clear speech, with the rich local flavor of the Jinzhong area and its own unique style.

The Zhonglu Opera originated from Puzhou Opera, which was popular during the Daoguang and Xianfeng periods of the Qing Dynasty. It absorbed many features of Pu Opera and was enriched and developed by many artists, gradually forming its own style. It can be said that it is a kind of unique opera formed on the basis of Pu Opera with bold breakthroughs and innovations.

Over the past hundred years, some of the predecessors and old artists of Zhonglu Opera have made positive contributions to the development of this opera, such as Meng Zhenqing (stage name "San'er Sheng"), Zhang Jingyun (stage name "Thirteen Reds"), Gao Wenhan (stage name "Speaking Reds"), and Zhang Jingyun (stage name "Thirteen Reds"). "Shuo Shu Hong"), Qiao Guorui (stage name "Lion Black"), Tian Guizi, Maomao Dan, Oil Woodcutter Dan, etc., in the singing and style, constantly innovating and improving, the road gets wider and broader, and the play gets more and more refined. Especially after the famous Jin Opera actress Ding Guoxian came on stage, due to her hard stage practice of opera, in the singing, dao bai, do style, etc., there are new improvements, the formation of today's Jin Opera style, played an important role.

The Zhonglu Opera was first active around Taiyuan, where it was easy to absorb the strengths of its brother operas and integrate them. As a result, the range of performances of this genre was gradually expanded. Before the Anti-Japanese War, it had already expanded to the western part of Hebei, the northern part of Shaanxi, and the Inner Mongolia area. In the above areas, fixed Zhonglu Bangzi troupes were established one after another to sing Jin opera. In the War of Resistance against Japan, many Zhonglu Opera artists participated in the heroic struggle to save the nation from peril under the leadership of the Chinese ****productivity party, and performed in the revolutionary bases of Jinchaji, Jinsui and Taihang. They not only performed traditional plays, but also modern plays and new repertoire. The public performances in the front and in the base areas were praised by the people and played a certain role in boosting the people's morale. The Jinsui July Drama Society (Zhonglu Bangzi) has accompanied the army to Xi'an, Chengdu, Tianshui in Gansu and other places for a longer period of performance activities.

After the liberation, there was a gradual increase in the number of troupes, especially in Jinzhong, Luliang, and Taiyuan areas, where there were professional troupes in almost all counties and amateur troupes in many villages and towns. The famous play "Playing the Golden Technique" has been made into a movie.

Shanxi Province Jin Theater is the main performance group of Jin opera in Shanxi Province. Founded in February 1959, the theater has a long history of performance. This troupe has a long history of performance, over the years, training a lot of young actors and actresses, accumulated a wealth of practical experience on the stage, many outstanding actors and actresses gathered here, by the Shanxi Province, Jin opera to the good people's embrace.

Shanxi Province Jin Theater is located in Taiyuan, the existing cast of two hundred and eighty-seven people. This theater, in the history of Shanxi Province, once gathered the old artists of Jin opera Ding Guoxian, Niu Guiying, Guo Fengying, Liang Qiaoyun, Ji Meilian and so on. These old artists, through the stage life of a thousand carving, formed their own set of unique performance style, singing, in the masses left a deep impression and high prestige.

Nowadays, the famous actors and actresses of this theater include Wang Ai Ai, Tian Guilan, Ji Ping, Ma Yulou, Liu Hanyin, Guo Fengying, Wang Baochai and so on. The representative repertoire of Shanxi Jin Theater includes the traditional plays "Playing the Golden Branch", "Hanyan", "Little Feast", "Killing the Palace" and "Counting Grain".

The origin and development of Zhonglu Bangkas

Jin Opera, formerly known as Zhonglu Bangkas, is a kind of opera produced under the nurturing of Puzhou Bangkas, and at first it was mainly active in the central area of Shanxi Province, i.e., the counties under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan Prefecture, Fenzhou Prefecture and Pingding Prefecture in the Qing Dynasty. Later, due to its rapid development, the area of circulation gradually expanded, and the social influence became greater and greater, until it became the representative theater of Shanxi Province today - Jin Opera.

Origin Discussion

The origin of Zhonglu Bangzi has been a matter of debate for many years among researchers of Jin opera history. From the information I have, the origin of the middle of the road should be in the Qing Dynasty during the reign of Xianfeng for proper. Because before that, from a large number of stage questions revealed by the urban and rural theater performances in central Shanxi, mainly for Puzhou Bang, Kyoto Huaqiang class (now Beijing Opera) and Jiangnan Silk and Bamboo class (South Kunqu) three, there is no trace of the "middle of the road in the bangkok" account. Just to the early years of the Daoguang, was then called the Shanxi opera Puzhou bang again revived, the so-called: "Daoguang emperor boarded the Dragon Court, Shanxi bang and the boom" period, Pu bang north, came to the Jinzhong, Taiyuan performances, not only stirred up the Taiyuan, but also shocked Beijing, which is also catering to the middle of the region's rise of a number of rich merchants and big businessmen This also catered to the entertainment requirements of a group of wealthy merchants who had risen up in the middle of the region, so they invited the Pudang troupe to perform in the middle of the road in the form of a contract. The representative classes were the Wanhe class of Pingyao County, the Xiaopingyao class, and the Jiqing class of Jiexiu County.

In the early years of Xianfeng, Pu Bang began to fall into disrepute, at a time when the Taiping Rebellion was taking place, and a part of the rebel army arrived in Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi Province (present-day Linfen City) in August of the third year of the Xianfeng reign, with the spearhead pointing directly at Beijing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty. In such a historical background, including Pu Opera and other foreign operas, rarely come to perform in the middle of the region, resulting in the middle of the region appeared in a relatively vacant period of theatrical activities, which is a great love of opera in the middle of the masses, especially the rich merchants were doubly disappointed, so a few people began to invite idle literati, ticket enthusiasts, as well as rice-planting songs, shadows, etc., to organize seminars, to be the creation of their own drama. To the middle and late Xianfeng, after many classes of efforts to discuss, finally in the inheritance of Pu Bang rhyme and gongs and drums on the basis of the points, combined with the characteristics of the singing of the middle of the road, such as Yangge, initially formed the prototype of the middle of the road in the Bangkok class society, and began to pilot performances. Which is representative of the Yuji Heidian class and Qixian Sanqing class, participating artists, in addition to the stranded Pu bang artists, rice-planting songs and shadow artists, there are drummers, shopkeepers, miners, ticket enthusiasts, and so on.

By the early years of Tongzhi, the social order in Shanxi improved. The emergence of the new Zhonglu Bangkas, but also by more rich merchants and property owners of the pro-favor. So the Qixian City City Jin Zaibao as the representative of the Taigu, Yuji Pingyao, Xiaoyi, Jiexiu and other places of wealth, has set up the upper and lower poly Pearly Garden class, four happy class, four Xing class, four Qing class class, etc., they are in the performance of the practice, learning from each other, and constantly improve, so that the singing and the cultural and military scenes are becoming more and more perfect; and learning from foreign plays to manage the experience of the class, so that the troupe has gradually moved towards the formalization of the. The troupe personnel, in addition to the cultural and military field to retain the Middle Kingdom artists, most of the other actors with high salaries hired from Puzhou, so the folk have: "Qi too lutetium, Puzhou pills," the proverb. Secondly, big businessmen also built theater houses, purchased embroidery lines from Suzhou and Hangzhou, added transportation vehicles, and made performance plans. If the troupe is responsible for its own transportation, most of the performances are held for three days in each stage, every day in the morning, afternoon and evening, and the troupe organizes its own food. Every year on the 15th day of the 10th month of the lunar calendar, the stacks of boxes to rest, artists on vacation, the next year in the first month to come back to form a class. The master of the troupe is a macro-leader, and the specific things are taken care of by the undertaker and the master of the troupe. The troupe is not commercial in nature, the profit and loss by the master of the class. Just every place, will be wooden, labeled with a certain county, a certain property owner by the name of the troupe of tiger sign in the foreground, to show boast, but also in the backstage powder wall inscription pen name. These stage title pen content is extensive, and has become our today's study of the history of the development of Jin opera goldstone evidence.

With the increasing stereotyping of the Zhonglu Opera, it aroused the interest of small and medium-sized tycoons and medium-sized merchants to take up the class. They also invited artists or recruited children from Puzhou to set up classes. To the end of the Tongzhi, the middle of the clappers in the middle of Shanxi, to the north of a few states and counties in the beginning of the scale. The more famous Xin Cheng theater classes are: Jiexiu's and Sheng class, Xu ditch of the five righteous garden, Tai Valley of the four Sheng and class, Qixian's double Qing garden, Taiyuan's Hao store class, Fenzhou House of the Yiqing class and so on. Famous actors are one thousand red, eight hundred black, Wang Caiyun, clouds cover the moon, the day bright, the rod and mortar red, as well as the drum master Yang Qing, Song Xing'er, zither master Peng Gen only, and so on. Frequently staged plays include: "He Shi Bi", "Chessboard Street", "Spring and Autumn Matching", "Poetry of Rescue", "Royal Orchard", "Fisherman's Joy", "Zhao Jia Lou", "Cannon Branding Pillar", "Front Arrowheads", "Jixing Diagrams", "Lake Lok Ma", "Northern Heavenly Gate", "Fiddler's Zither", "Stealing Chickens", "Sweeping the Snow" and the kunqu operas "Cao Poe", "Giving Vice", "Celebration of the Top Pearls", etc. The performers are very good at performing and they are very good at their jobs. Because of the superb performances of the artists, the audience was y impressed, and to this day there is still a saying in Jinzhong, "The Four Happiness Classes are good theater, Bald and Red, Spitting Ugly, and Covering Shaanxi. Ginseng dolls, big mouth ugly, followed by a flag ......" and other proverbs circulated. However, at this time in the middle of the road bangkok, in Shanxi theater is still a branch of the new talent, and the gold and class as the head of the Puzhou bangkok, three Qing class as the head of the Kyoto flower class, Ming Fu class as the head of the Jiangnan kunqu class, etc., is still active in the middle of the road area, the formation of a number of plays coexisting, competing for the age of Fenfen Duoyan.

Unfortunately, the above situation is maintained soon, an unprecedented disaster occurred. Guangxu Yuan to four years, Shanxi and neighboring provinces have suffered from natural disasters such as drought and insects, in this case, most of the troupe stopped performing, artists were separated or lost, even the rich merchants who had been funded also changed their minds. To the Guangxu six or seven years later, the middle of the road only began to restore the clappers, up class society has the original year-long package share system of recreational groups, into a famous old artists to undertake the class, or to the wealthy leader to undertake the class of the commercial business organization. At this time, a serious shortage of artists, had to take in the poor children of the Middle Kingdom to join the class training and use, they were taught 3-5 months, they were forced to go on stage, commonly known as "stubborn out of the nest". Some rely on scolding and physical punishment to force to learn the theater, then more famous class has Yuji Liu village and the Baohe class, Qingyuan Du village of Xi Liyuan, Meng Feng village of the small Liyuan and so on. Among them, Erbaohe class, training the most actors, almost all over the Middle Road.

Splendid period

After ten years of Guangxu, the Zhonglu Opera rose again, and there was a new phenomenon of Zhonglu artists acting in Zhonglu opera, which began to change the situation of the old kind of Pudang artists acting in Zhonglu opera. From the fifteenth year after the Guangxu to the end of the Qing Dynasty in the middle of the road into a glorious period. At this time, the middle of the road around the rich merchants, property owners, staff and so on, again support the development of the middle of the road in the bangkok, some of them undertake their own class, and some do artists to undertake the class of the backstage, so that the theater classes like a spring like the development of each province, state, county in the same year, the hosting of the class of the community no less than two or three, the most for the two counties of Taigu, Pingyao, the year-round class of no less than five. Performances include temple plays, marketplace plays, stage-stepping plays, light-opening plays, business plays, market-opening plays, God-seeking plays, wish-returning plays, sacrificial plays, wedding and birthday plays, and official plays. General villages, also sings a play every year; large towns, as many as 5-10 per year, in the middle of the road has become the main play in the middle of the road people enjoy, and it is also with the middle of the road merchants traveled to Zhangjiakou, Baotou, naturalization, etc., with the local drama competition to dedicate skills. In the development process, due to regional relations, absorbing folk art and other components of the different, in the performance program, singing style, before the scene on the spectrum of the formation of the three major schools, that is, the upper road class in Taiyuan Prefecture County; Fenzhou Prefecture County, the lower road class; Pingding, Liaozhou Prefecture, the county under the jurisdiction of the East four classes and the difference between the four classes. Until after the liberation of the above three smaller differences, merged into one.

This period, the middle of the road is famous for the class of Yuji's Sanbao and class, will sound class, Taigu's Kun Pear Park, Qixian's Rongsheng class, Yongsheng Park, Pingyao's Tongchunyuan, Zhu Fengyuan, Jiexiu's Quanfu class, Tongsheng Park, Fenzhou overlooking the Chunhe Park, Ruyi Class, Xiaoyi's Changsheng class, Cuili Park, Shouyang's small Wanshunyuan, Sanhong class, Yu County's Fushun class, Kui Pear Park, Jiao-cheng's Renyi Park, Pingding's SiXi The north road has Xinzhou's Xingxingyuan, Sanhongban, and Kui Liyuan. North Road has Xinzhou's Xingsheng Ban, Feng County's small King Cui Yuan, Datong Province's Wansheng Ban, Wutai County's Changsheng Yuan, Tiancheng (Town) County's Heyi Ban and so on. Famous artists are three lamps, two eight black, Fushengsheng, jade doll (Liu Yufu), ten miles of hemp, walnut red, glass Cui, Yu Changhong, Jin Dachu, dog Dan, Yu Yinli, night pot ugly, no bones, grass on the fly, fresh in June, fresh in May, yellow buds leeks, sun shoes Dan, Zidu Sheng, and the martial arts field masters Ren Ying only, Yang Jiacheng, Sun three barbarians, Ma Gongsan, Zhao Mao barbarians, Yang Qicheng, and so on. On behalf of the repertoire are "North Tour Palace", "Yanta Temple", "Huludayu", "Qiankun Belt", "Sun and Moon Map", "Muk Hu Guan", "Loyalty and Filial Piety", "Zan Wang Gong", "Luhua River", "Yellow River Formation", "Kwangwu Xing", "Nanyang Guan", "Yujianguang Bridge", "Wu Yu Belt", "Towards the Golden Tripod", "Tieguantu", "Xi Huangzhuang", "Table of Merit", "Theatre Uncle", "Eight Wax Temple", "Ningwuguan", "Yu Hu Fall", etc. The Jade Tiger Pendant, etc. The majority of the audience recognized on the three classes of good plays for the Taigu Kun Liyuan, Jin Liyuan and Qixian Rongsheng class. Kun Liyuan in the class under the leadership of the three lamps, acting very red, was crowned with the "name class" of the beauty of the name. Proverb: "three lamps, into the city, buyers and sellers, risked the soul ......." "Three lamps into the village, the long laborer goat herding rested. In the morning to see the Temple of the Seven Stars, and in the morning to see the Stool King's Palace." The performance of the situation can be seen.

The splendor of Zhonglu Bangkas, there is another symbol is, all over the city and countryside of the ticket child class, self-music class. The so-called ticket class, that is, by merchants, farmers, private pads, such as the spontaneous establishment of the entertainment organization, the participants called ticket friends, the art of the high so-called "HeWenJia", most of the spare time to gather together, self-singing, attracting a lot of the audience. This kind of organization has played the role of a bridge to promote drama to the masses and deepen their love for drama. Asphalt Fu Le Ban, is the rich and powerful family to take advantage of the opportunity to rest, will be famous artists and cultural celebrities invited to their homes while singing, entertainment, while discussing the revision of scripts, tunes, or to improve the performance of the tricks and so on. This activity is also called "going dark", to be mature, after the official performance on stage, which is called "going bright". This by the rich, intellectuals and famous old artists composed of three combinations of self-music class, is the development of the middle of the road in the history of the Bangkok a pioneering move. Among them, the outstanding results are Taiyuan County (now the town of Jinyuan) of the polyvinyl chloride, Taiya North indistinct village Cao family class, Qixian City, such as Drainage family class.

After the middle of the road bang bang to the flourishing, this time Jiangnan silk and bamboo class, Kyoto, such as the basic withdrawal of the middle of the road stage, only Pu bang occasionally still come, has been greatly reduced momentum.

After the Xinhai Revolution, the counties in the middle of the road were once in turmoil, and most of the rich and powerful people took a wait-and-see attitude. Therefore, the middle of the clapper's class more than changed to the former Qing government offices, dart boards, such as the remains of the old man to fill. At the same time the middle of the road artists team has grown, Pu bang artists in addition to the settlers, the rest no longer come to the middle of the road class. Republic of China 5-19 years (1916-1930), the situation in Shanxi is relatively stable, the middle of the clappers into a second period of glory. Characterized by:

(a) the establishment of the class society, genre expansion. At this time, the middle of the road in the bangkok, not only rooted in Yanbei, occupation of the mouth outside, and in the western Hebei Province, Shaanxi Province, as well as in the province of the former Pingyang Province, Lu'an Province, the northern counties under the jurisdiction of the development of the establishment of the class, the formation of a large-scale across the north of China's Shanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Suiyuan, Chahaer five provinces and regions of the play, and thus known as the Shanxi bangkok. In terms of the 30 counties in the Middle Road area alone, there were more than 120 opera groups at this stage, of which Shouyang was the most numerous, having hosted 21 of them one after another. The famous upper three classes of good theater for the Taigu County Yang Chengzai's Jinliyuan, Hu Wanyi's Wanfuyuan and Xugou County Chen Yu's Zichengyuan.

(2), the famous actors and actresses, fierce competition. Due to the establishment of class societies, they competed with each other. Republic of China 14 years later, Xu ditch from the sincere garden class master Chen Yu, the first time from Zhangjiakou back to the big cattle cattle, two women only Kunjiao artists, and the class of male artists on the same stage **** performance, causing a sensation, the viewers as a tide. Next is the Hebei opera martial arts artists to Jin class, their real swords and knives, real fighting martial arts play won the audience's praise. And then to Taigu Wanfuyuan as the representative of some of the class society, also not willing to lag behind, the second returned to Puzhou, selecting and hiring new talent. This makes the middle of the road in the formation of a talented, powerful, competing with each other in a good situation. At this time, the famous artists, in the middle of the road are: cover the sky red, book red, Li Zijian (after singing the Beijing opera), thirteen red, small twelve red, three children, Tian Gui Dan, Mao Mao Dan, lion black, seventeen students, Fuyi clowns, Yenzhang black, catching the heart of the Dan, Blessed Dan, Yulan Dan, Lingshidan, Li Yang black, Yan Xian Dan, intestines, red, Fazai Sheng, Chicken Feathers clowns, head of the black, and so on; the famous opera research workers are, Guo Weizhi, Pei Shichang and so on, the mouth outside the Kunjiao have Dazhong, Pei Shichang. Outside the mouth Kunjiao have Dazhong

Niu, two cow cow, two female only, extremely golden branch, orange gold plum, etc.; Wenwu field masters are Gao Xiyu, Yang Jiacheng, Cheng Yigong, Li Wanye, Wan Jin only, Wu Mancang, two Ding only, Ma Bulong and so on.

(3) The repertoire is extensive, and the arts and martial arts are complete. As a result of the talent, staged plays are mostly celebrity hand plays. Commonly, there are "June Snow", "Phoenix Pavilion", "Golden Beach", "on the roof", "White Snake", "Iron Bow", "Hundred Children's Figure", "Famen Temple", "Double Officials Harmony", "10,000 Buddhas Clothes", "Zhongliang Diagram", "Plum Drop Commendation", "Double Rousseau", "Thirteen Sisters", "Ta Zi Gully", "Jade Chess", "Blazing Flag", "A Handful of Snow", "The Money Leopard" and so on, **** more than 200 books, back, Out. It can be said that both literary and military, line line not blocked.

(4) excellent acting, blossomed. At this time, each class society to show the new tricks, the artists in singing, doing, reading, playing stunts and other performances. Such as the three children of the opening of the Xiao Sheng dashing cavity and sweat work, hairy Dan's ah ah cavity, Tian Gui Dan's cough cavity, Gai Puzhou's "ten shouldn't be", "ten furnace incense" pallet plate body, the lion black pith spectrum shaping, the plume plume of the plume of the work of the black Yen Zhang, the avalanche of black head wrinkles work, since the incense of stilt work, scratching The stilt work of Xiang, the step work of Grabbing Heart Dan, the folded clothes work of Oil Cake Dan, the water sleeve work of Wan Man Fan, the handrail stirrups of Shao Shao Zhen, the paper circulation work of Lu'er Hong, the snot work of Tian Gui Dan, the fire-breathing work of Red Plum Dan, the tea tray work of Shuo Shu Hong, the chair work of Yau Fook Dan, and so on, all of them make people applaud. Both to the audience to enjoy the beauty, but also for the province left a valuable legacy of opera art. Folk proverbs are, "I would rather squeeze the ripped waist of the pants, do not miss the sitting kiln of the three children born", "I would rather get a meal of the top door stick, do not miss the bloody handprints of the Tian Gui Dan", "see the ten thousand people, a lifetime of not having to eat (marrying) Auntie! " and so on.

From the 2Os, Shanxi opera due to some of the old artists alive, the stage pattern can maintain the male and female performances, so the emergence of Taigu Jinyi Park and other on the three classes of good theater. In the 24th year of the Republic of China (1935), the famous female artist Ding Guoxian headed the Buyun Drama Society, and the Tangfeng Drama Society headed by Gai Tianhong went to Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and other places for performances, which greatly enlarged the influence of Shanxi Opera, and also exchanged experiences with the artists of the brotherhood, enriching themselves. Later on, Shanxi Opera gradually transformed from a male actor to a female actor. Along with it also brought a potential problem: because of the influence of women's acting can attract more audience, can earn more money, set off a general specialized training of female artists around the boom. Such as Taigu Fuqingyuan Koban, Yuji Kun Pear Park Koban, Qixian Xiaotong Pear Park Koban, Yu County Chengqingyuan Koban, etc., are the collection of a clean female households, training. Even the old artists at the time, red, magnolia Dan, blessed Dan, May Fresh, two cow Dan, cover the sky red, Narcissus and celebrities Ding Fruit Fairy, Pi Jixian, Yi Wanshan, etc., have recruited female disciples, with the side of the class to teach and perform. So to the "seven-seventh Incident" before the stage of Shanxi opera actresses, the vast majority of Kun Jiao. Such as being Guitao, being Guijun, being Guiqin, Liu Guiying, Cheng Yuying, Liu Junying, Dong Cuihong, Dong Guihua, Huang Pilou, Radium Lotus, Shake Lotus Spring, Niu Guiying, Guo Fengying, Guo Lanying, Ji Meilian, Sun Fu'e, Hua Yanjun, Ding Yanxia, Qiao Yuxian, Zhang Meichen, Liang Xiaoyun, Liu Zhilan, Jilanxiang, Guo Hongmei, Ma Qiuxian, Ernu Nu, Ren Yuzhen, etc.; male role of the rookies only Wang Yinzhu, Zheng Yalou, Zhao Yuehou, Wang Zhengkui and a very few others.

Shanxi opera due to the actor "yin and yang decline", so that many excellent helmet by the play, hard play, martial arts play, as well as flower face, clown play. Gradually discontinued or lost, but also make this northern drama unique to the exciting and exuberant speech, singing, and the ups and downs of the performance program, gradually replaced by the melodious and melodious tunes and the style of sheep winding, so as to lose its former kind of masculinity and resonant features.

After the failure of Yan and Feng to defeat Chiang, Shanxi's economy was in the doldrums, and there was a shortage of Jin money. In some of the class societies of Shanxi Opera, they were held or undertaken by gamblers, drug dealers, and local gangsters. In order to make money, they often use the opportunity to perform, openly gambling, selling drugs: also abetting and luring artists to dip into hobbies, going astray, the corrupt atmosphere into the troupe, resulting in the Taiwan wind is not invigorated, the artists corrupted, the level of the arts declined, to many artists life has brought serious difficulties, and even a small number of kunjiao artists, repeatedly suffered misfortunes, into a predicament, can not be extricated, which in the vast number of the masses of the people has caused a very bad influence. Above is to make the Shanxi opera from the peak to the downside of the internal cause. However, the external cause of its destruction is the invasion of the Japanese invaders.

After the Lugou Bridge Incident, the Japanese army soon invaded Shanxi, wherever they went, burned, looted and plundered, no evil, forcing all the disintegration of the theater, artists scattered, some of them died abroad, some of them into the line of planting, some of them contracted to Taiyuan, Yuji theater, some people, such as the three children born in Gai Tianhong, etc. are subjected to all the Japanese army bullying, died of hatred. Only a few people into the Taihang, Jinsui, Jinchaji and other revolutionary bases, with a new look for the anti-Japanese military and civilian performance services. In the Japanese invasion of China in 8 years, the enemy occupied areas of the vast rural audience, but with the basic isolation of Shanxi opera, rural individuals to undertake the phenomenon of the class no longer exists. Until after the victory in the war, Yan Xishan returned to Taiyuan, the organization of the propaganda team and so on, only occasional performances, but the artists within the class were subjected to local bureaucrats, tycoons and other insults and oppression, which is the art of performance can be said.

Looking at the 10 years before and after the war, Shanxi opera suffered the disaster, resulting in the first low tide in the history of the development of Jin opera.

Renewal of splendor

The founding of New China created a third period of splendor for Shanxi opera. Firstly, the artists were liberated and became the masters of the country. Under the call of the people's government, many exiled or reformed artists returned to the team, either by the city theater, or by the county as a unit, formed a new performance troupes, and in the cultural departments at all levels of help, the establishment of rules and regulations, to get rid of all the vices left over from the old society. Secondly, following the Party's cultural policy, they adapted some of the old repertoires and created or transplanted some of the new ones. Then, with the development of electrification, stage equipment such as electric lights and sets were popularized. In addition, art schools and theater research offices at all levels were established to train up the reserve forces. In 1956-1958, most of the province's troupes above the county and city level were established one after another, with the best actors concentrated in the provincial city of Taiyuan. The best actors and actresses were concentrated in the provincial capital Taiyuan, so the Shanxi opera was officially named Jin opera, and the names of the troupes belonging to various counties were also changed to so-and-so Jin Opera Troupe.

At this time, in addition to Ding Guoxian, Niu Guiying, Guo Fengying, Ji Meilian, Cheng Yuying and other Jin Opera performing artists as the representative of the generation of artists, are still active in the theater stage, the famous rookies are Liu Xianling, Ji Ping, Cheng Lingxian, Fan Cuiping, An Dongmei, Ding Yuying, and so on, to the early 1960s, and then emerged Wang Ai Ai, Hau Yulan, Zhang Mingqin, Ma Yulou, Tian Guilan, Wuzhong, Liu Han Yin, Guo Caiping, Wang Wanmei, Yan Huizhen, Zheng Zhongxian, Ji Rongsheng, Gao Cuiying, Jin Yuan, Li Aimei, Du Yumei, Feng Jizhong and a number of other newcomers, as well as the famous drummer Jia Bingzheng, etc., which laid a certain foundation for the development of the Jin Opera. Again, the plays that are often staged include Playing the Golden Branch, Down to the East of the River, Qin Xianglian, Touring the West Lake, Pauline Lamp, Double Butterflies, Meng Jiangnu, Love Detective, Yang Bajie's Tour of Spring, Twelve Widows Conquering the West, Liu Hulan, A Volunteer's Fiancée ...... as well as Empty City in the traditional play, Three Forks", "Teaching Children", "Yellow Crane Tower", "Walking on Snowy Mountain", "Jinshui Bridge" and dozens of other plays. Various troupes often go to the grassroots to perform for the masses, so that the Jin Opera presents a flourishing scene.

Again in the doldrums

This period, along with the prosperity of the Jin opera, some problems, but also gradually revealed. First, the troupe was run by the government, and the artists lived in the city for a long time, so there were relatively few activities for them to perform at the grassroots level. Secondly, with the development of the situation and the different pursuits of the masses for cultural life, the audience for Jin Opera was getting smaller and smaller. Thirdly, in the implementation of the Party's cultural and artistic policies, the tendency to emphasize modern opera in the 1960s rendered a large number of veteran artists useless, and they retired early or changed their profession, resulting in the loss of many excellent traditional repertoires. Some writers and directors seldom study the history of Jin opera, and seldom digging and organizing the essence of tradition, but chasing the situation, catching up with the wave, and turning the script into a textbook. Fourthly, with regard to the channels for cultivating talents, the enrollment methods of art schools are not perfect, and many graduates change their profession. Some male actors lacked self-respect and self-love, and lived an uncontrolled life, failing to pass the "sound-altering barrier", and there was a decline of yin and yang on the stage of the Jin Opera; and there was a general lack of hard work in practicing the kung fu of the children. Fifthly, the number of urban and rural ticket classes was greatly reduced, while new types of movies, sports and other entertainment activities proliferated, which weakened the people's affection for Jin Opera and directly affected the development of Jin Opera. Sixthly, the Cultural Revolution made Jin Opera one of the first targets to be attacked, which was also one of the main reasons for Jin Opera's decline. "After the Cultural Revolution, many artists were criticized as living targets of "emperors, kings, generals, talents and beauties". In 1967, the troupe was transformed into a Mao Zedong Thought propaganda team. In 1967, the troupe was transformed into a Maoist propaganda team, and then it was unified into a model opera, and the artists had to pass a political examination before they were allowed to appear on stage. Then, in the "cleaning up of class ranks", many artists from the old society were retired, decentralized, removed from the list, and some of them were even hooded and reformed through labor. In this way, the Jin opera was greatly injured, resulting in the second low tide in the history of the development of Jin opera.

The current situation is worrisome

After 1977, Jin opera resumed the performance of costume plays, but there were only a few plays on stage, and the number of decent roles was also pitiful. Into the alcoholism era, the government called for the revitalization of the Jin opera, all levels of the theater cut the wind, one after another, adjusted the team, filled the actors, add a line, sorted out the old play, rush to arrange a new play, and some also boldly to the performance of the Jin opera and the popular light music, karaoke and other forms of literature and art combined to enhance the effect of the performance of the Jin opera. At the same time, there were also new talents such as Song Run Run, Shi Jiahua, Cui Jianhua, Li Tianxi, Wang Xiaoping, Wang Erqing, Li Guilian, Sun Hongli and so on. The repertoires of "Down to Hedong", "Fifteen Guan", "Tears of the Jade Cicada", "Crouching Tiger Order", "Falsehood", "Sword of the King of Wu", "Three Peach Gardens", etc. were restored and newly edited, and were brought to the provincial capital for evaluation and appraisal for many times, and some of them even went to Beijing to present their performances. In addition, there are a few people who have won the honorable title of performing artist of Jin Opera, some have won the Plum Blossom Prize of Chinese Drama, and some have been promoted to the first and second grade actors. All these are the main achievements of Jin Opera, which we should fully recognize.

But from the overall view of the development of Jin opera, we can't say that she has come out of the doldrums. On the contrary, I think that at present Jin opera is still wandering in the trough. For example, the province's government-run troupes, there are few that can support the troupes, half of them rely on financial allocations to maintain, and the other half are in a disorganized situation of stopping and starting performances. Again, such as artists, really practicing hard, not many performances, on the contrary, but some in the "commodity economy" under the influence of the cave, the sea, so that the reputation of some famous artists decline. Again, such as the repertoire, around and around or playing the Golden Bough and so on twenty or thirty popular theater, really fresh and touching not much. Some also arranged some low-level scripts, perfunctory coping, no wonder the audience of the Jin opera is getting less and less. At present, from the rural areas, the audience is still dominated by the elderly group, as for the urban audience is pathetic. This can not help but cause us to think y: Jin opera this recession, when to change.