Inheritance of Lu Opera

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Lu Opera underwent a great artistic reform. The music is accompanied by gongs and drums instead of stringed instruments, and some wind instruments and percussion instruments are added. In singing and performance, some mixed expressions of Beijing dialect and Shandong dialect are eliminated, which highlights the unique artistic style of the play. He has compiled a number of traditional plays such as The Promise, Double Ribbon, Double Locked Cabinet and Zhang Taihe's Divorced Wife, and created modern plays such as Suppanad Jittaleela and Cheng Hongmei, as well as folk story plays such as Trapped in the Nest. It has also trained a group of outstanding young actors. His more influential plays include Borrowing Luo Yi, Playing Lu Hua, Begging for Learning Money, Hugh Lilac, Xue Mei Viewing Paintings, Wearing a Gun in the Garden, etc. Early famous actors were Wang Benyin, Sun, Dong Shaoxuan and Liu. At present, folk artists active on the stage are Zhou Xiaowu, Liu Changfen, Wei Xiaobo, Sheng Xiaowu, Wang Li and Xia.

The main performing group of Lu Opera is Hefei Lu Opera Troupe, and the main actors are Ling, Li, Hu Yongjun and so on. Since its establishment 48 years ago, the Troupe has created and performed 147 modern dramas and 138 costume dramas, and published a large number of audio-visual tapes of Lu Opera. Representative plays include Double Ribbon, Lending Clothes, Learning Money, Playing Reed Flowers, Hugh Lilac, Qin Xuemei and so on.

With the change of production and life style, the diversified trend of cultural demand is becoming more and more obvious. The new cultural and entertainment methods have had a huge impact on traditional operas, making the living space of Lu operas shrinking, and only a handful of them can perform big dramas. The rescue and protection of Lu Opera should be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

On May 20th, 2006, Lu Opera was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.