Mulao Folk Opera: Color Tone

As one of the ethnic minorities in China, the Mulao nationality has a very long history of inheritance. One of the most well-known folk operas, Caidiao, also has its own unique charm. Many people may not know what kind of opera Caidiao is.

Then, come with me to see the Mulao culture!

Caidiao is a local opera popular in Guilin, Liuzhou, Yizhou and Hechi in northern Guangxi. The content of color tone includes questions and answers about farming, young people's love affairs, auspicious wishes, impromptu singing according to different situations, etc., which is deeply loved by the Mulao people.

1880 or so, Luocheng and other places where the Mulao people live in compact communities already have colorful tunes. There are many amateur color-coded teams in the Mulao cottage, and there are two small teams in Dawu Village, Siba Township around 1940. There used to be a color-coded stone platform in Jiyumen, but it is still preserved. During the Spring Festival every year, Wu Jiyang, a famous Mulao artist in Luocheng, created "Worship the Bodhisattva at Midnight" at the climax of performing colorful folk arts for the Mulao folks, which was deeply loved by the people.

1923 Wu Jinli, Siba Street, Luocheng County, returned to his hometown from Liuzhou to study opera and organize color-coded classes. At the same time, Guilin color code artists also came to Dongmen Township of Luocheng to teach art and set up color code classes. Since then, the Mulao village has organized amateur color-coded groups to rehearse during the slack season and perform in partnership during festivals. Among them, Wu Jiyang, from five villages in four townships, participated in the village's color matching class on 1940, and wrote, directed and performed the first day of worshipping Bodhisattva and Mother hurts me, which were well received by the masses. 1950- 1958, six amateur troupes and two clubs were established in Siba Township. Driven by two towns and villages, the county has established more than 50 amateur theatrical troupes and thousands of amateur farmers.

In 1980s, Lai Ruimin, a playwright of the Mulao nationality, collaborated with jiang bo, a timbre artist, to create "Pan Shui Man Chuan". This is the story of Panman, a witty figure in the oral literature of the Mulao nationality. It is a Mulao folk song and dance drama that combines the timbre art, folk music and dance and folk customs of Mulao. Performed by Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County Art Team.