Evaluation of Chinese Opera

In the contemporary Chinese theater stage on the performance of the repertoire of the title, relatively disordered, there are called opera, drama, opera, drama, musical, dance, opera, comedy drama, more pioneering theater, theater of the absurd, experimental theater, immersive theater, and so on, not only the professionals have a lot of people feel will be in the clouds, the audience is even more foggy cloudy. Behind so many titles, highlighting the stage is not the real prosperity and volume, but rather, for example, on a person of many names of malicious glorification, the truth behind it is the whole industry in the depression under the confusion of the show.

Opera, according to Wang Guowei's definition, is storytelling through song and dance. This is a false proposition: the American musical, too, uses song and dance to act out a story, but would anyone agree that that is opera? Given the limitations of the time, any definition reveals the weakness and paucity of the definition after a certain amount of time.

The earliest use of the word "opera" was by Liu Ocarina in the Southern Song Dynasty, and since no words can be found in the theater book of the Southern Opera, it is impossible to determine whether there is any recitation; however, the Yuan dynasty miscellaneous operas can be seen from Guan Hanqing's "Dou'e Grievance" script that there is recitation in operas, and even if the definition of opera is to act out a story with songs and dances -- it is still not accurate enough; because the definition of opera is to use songs and dances to play a story -- it is still not accurate enough. --However, even if the definition of opera is to play a story with songs and dances, it is still not accurate enough; because the four disciplines of comedy performance are: speaking, learning, playing and singing, in which learning is also an element of dance, and there are songs and dances in the performances, however, comedy is definitely not an opera.

What is the precise definition of opera? It can be said that opera is the expression of a story in five ways. The five skills are singing, reading, acting, and playing. Traditionally, the five methods are hand, eye, body, law and step; it is accurate to change "law" to "head"; in fact, the hand, eye, body, head and step are all implied in the five functions of doing. The five functions are the microcosmic side of the metaphysical so-called apparatus, the five methods are the macrocosmic side of the metaphysical so-called Tao, the correct five methods should be Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, King, live, commonly known as Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, King, live method. It has always been recognized that the five laws of opera are the hand, eye, body, law and step, however, the fourth of the five laws is also the law, such a way of speaking is very funny, it is obvious that this theory is relatively naive generalization.

The characteristics of opera performances are more commonly recognized as being threefold: programmatic, virtual, and rhythmic. These words are right, but and say that the characteristics of sugar is granular, sweet mimi, white as still stay in the intuitively superficial level. Anyone who enjoys opera will summarize several characteristics similar to the above three chemicalizations.

An in-depth dissection: opera is characterized by five performance skills, social practice is five methods. The stage and the surrounding space speak of Taoism; one Yin and one Yang, in the performance area for the Yin (playing the role of the people of the underworld), out of the performance area for the Yang; repertoire of the soul is steeped in Buddhism, the promotion of karma and blessings, universal sentient beings, the repair of the perfect; the repertoire of the ethical structure of the Confucian law, compliance with the Three Principles and Five Principles, patriarchal rites and rituals, virtues and righteousness; Liyuan opera troupe of the social behavior of the King's law, do not break the law and discipline, defamation of the regime, make fun of the emperor; troupe of artists must be convinced of the living law, the social practice is five laws. Artists must be convinced that the living law, pay attention to skill, mutual assistance and low-profile, play the audience.