Popular knowledge of Cantonese opera

Cantonese opera is a kind of drama formed by Guangdong artists absorbing the voices of other provinces' operas, singing in easy-to-understand language, and mixing with local ballads and minor tunes. The following is the popular science of Cantonese opera that I shared. Let's have a look.

Cantonese Opera (1), also known as "Cantonese Opera" or "Guangfu Opera", is one of the traditional operas of the Han nationality. Originated from southern opera, it is popular in Guangfu people's inhabited areas such as the Pearl River Delta. Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty began to appear in Guangdong and Guangxi. It is a performing art that combines singing, reading, playing, musicians' music, stage costumes and abstract forms.

Industry classification

The role in drama is called occupation in Cantonese opera and Chinese opera. The original business of Cantonese opera is "one end (old students), two cleanliness addicts (painted faces), three Zheng Sheng (middle-aged male roles), four Zheng Dan (Tsing Yi), five Zheng Dan (male and female leading roles), six members (painted villains), seven primary school students (small five), eight sticks (two Hua Gang Dan), nine husbands (Lao Dan) and ten.

Later, it was simplified to a six-column system, namely, Wen Wusheng, Xiao Sheng, Andrew Hua Dan, Erhua Gangdan, Ugly Student and Wusheng. These are all classified according to the characteristics of roles, such as age, gender, personality and appearance. "End" stands for an old role. "Life" stands for male role. "Dan" stands for female role. Jing is a strong and violent male character. Ugly is a funny character.

sing

The performing skills of Cantonese opera actors can be divided into four basic categories-singing, doing, reading and acting.

sing

Singing refers to singing, and different roles have different singing methods, including flat throat and split throat. Flat throat is a common tone of voice, and generally male characters are performed with flat throat. The infralarynx is eight octaves higher than the flat larynx, and often plays a female role in falsetto. In addition to classification by scale, it will also be classified by sound characteristics. Loud voice is the use of coarse voice. At the same time, Cantonese opera will also absorb the unique vocals from various places, such as Guangdong Nanyin and Muyu from Fujian, as well as local folk songs in Guangdong, such as Yuefu and Banyan.

do

Doing refers to doing work, also known as figure, that is, physical performance. Including gestures, catwalk, walking, closing eyes, making hands, drawing, sleeves, badminton, martial arts, water hair, abstract performance, traditional kung fu and so on.

read

Reading refers to reading white, that is, reading lines. Explain the plot, the thoughts and feelings of the characters in words.

beat

Fighting refers to martial arts, such as: dancing sleeves, water hair, playing with fans, using knives and guns, playing with sticks and waving flags, etc.

Performance mode

self-introduction

The self-introduction of the main characters in Chinese opera when they appear. It consists of quotations, poems and sitting on the floor.

Yin Da

That is, when the protagonist plays for the first time, he sings some rhyming words, which is called quotation. It simply describes a person's mood, situation, identity, experience and personality, and expresses a person's interests, ambitions and emotions.

(of China's traditional drama) a four-line poem recited by a character when he first appeared on the stage.

The four poems to be read after the character "quotes" are the final poems. Most of the content is to introduce the specific scenes and the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the play.

Zuo Changbai

A monologue read by the protagonist after reading the quotation and the scene. The content is to introduce the name, native place, life experience, experience and psychology of the characters.

Kung fu fighting

The martial arts field in Cantonese opera is called the martial arts field. Due to the gathering of martial artists in Lingnan area, there are many schools, such as Hongquan, Kongfu Boxing, Cai Boxing and Yue Family Education. Wing Chun Boxing, Cai Lifo Boxing and Hong Boxing are famous, so the traditional Lingnan Wushu used in the martial arts field pays attention to sitting, fighting, boxing, equipment fighting, high-altitude kung fu and stunts, pays attention to close combat and emphasizes strength. Because Xue Juexian introduced the northern school of kung fu from Beijing Opera, he emphasized the opening and closing, paid attention to long-distance sparring, and strengthened the aesthetics on the stage.

Play a minor role

A walk-on refers to an attendant who plays a soldier, husband, maid, etc. In China traditional opera, it is named after wearing a special form of walk-on costume. "Walk-on" is to play these roles.

Spoken part

Speaking plain English can be divided into monologues and dialogues, that is, actors read lines, which can be divided into rhyming and non-rhyming. Rhymes include Baishi, Kougu, Prynne and Bai Yun. What doesn't rhyme is Bai Kou, Bai Gong and Drum, Bai Yinzi and Bai Lang. Introductions, also known as quotations, are what actors say when they come out, and then they are sung one by one. For example, in "Three Mothers Teach Children", three mothers went on stage to recite: "Xiushui leaves no blank to earn land, and clouds cover no rain."

Cantonese Opera was later simplified to a six-column system, namely, the five tones of Wen, Xiao Sheng, Andrew Hua Dan, Erhua Gangdan, Ugly Tone and Five Tones. These are all classified according to the characteristics of roles, such as age, gender, personality and appearance. Next, I'll tell you about the classification of Cantonese opera. Come and have a look!

theatrical/stage costume

The costumes in the early stage of Cantonese opera mainly imitated the costume style of the Ming Dynasty and were improved into costumes. During the Qing Dynasty, Peking Opera became more and more popular, communication increased gradually, and the clothing system was gradually influenced by Peking Opera. At that time, the role of court officials was added to the new play, and some costumes also had the style of official uniforms in the Qing Dynasty.

Traditional Peking Opera costumes can be divided into: python, lying, pleating, squatting and clothing. However, traditional Cantonese opera costumes can be divided into: python, lying, pleating, opening, official costume, official costume and clothing.

The material is mainly cloth, and later, film or bronze mirror is added to decorate the clothing. In the 1950s and 1960s, beaded clothing became very popular. According to the description of costumes in A Brief History of Cantonese Opera: "Guangdong still pays attention to embroidery and is expensive, so it is resplendent and magnificent, which is better than Beijing and Shanghai.

European and American films are imported, and they shine like mirrors and flowers. Pear gardens are famous for their adoption, fancy clothes, extravagant talk about modernity, striving for beauty and drifting. "This is how crazy. By the end of 1960s, embroidered clothing became popular, and it is still the mainstream in the theater.

Different industries need different clothes. For example, he usually plays a gentle role and sometimes shakes his sleeves, so long sleeves are called Wen sleeves. Xiaowu needs fighting, and short sleeves are convenient for actors to move, so short sleeves are also called Wu sleeves. Therefore, Wen Wusheng (Xiao Wujia Xiao Sheng) will wear Wu Wen sleeves.

Make up/make up/make up/make up/make up/configure/make up/make up (a bed)

Thick powder was popular in the early days, but the cosmetics used were relatively simple. I don't wear rouge, but at most I paint my eyebrows black. Hua Dan just paints with powder. According to the custom in the industry, old men all make up themselves in front of the mirror.

Generally, the old-fashioned makeup is to pull up the skin of the face, tie up the hair with cloth, draw a manuscript with white paint to ensure that the lines are symmetrical and fair, and then formally make up other bright colors.

For clean makeup (such as Z Ryan), the industry calls it "face-opening". First, the manuscript is painted with white pigment, and the eyes and mouth are painted black. The eyebrows are painted long and upturned to demonstrate strictness, and other places are painted red to complete the whole "face opening" process. Of course, different industries have their own unique makeup methods. Clowns often have a big white spot in the center of their faces.

In fact, the makeup colors are mainly red, black, white, blue and yellow. Red represents blood and courage, black represents integrity, white represents evil and insidious, blue represents arrogance and fierceness, and yellow represents fierceness and competence.

In the 1920s, Xue Juexian combined Peking Opera, drama and film makeup with traditional makeup. Makeup tends to be low-key, simple and natural. The most common makeup is "red and white face". Apply white foundation to the whole face first, and then apply red rouge around the eyes and cheekbones. Sometimes I draw long eyebrows and use bright red lipstick.

Head ornament

Cantonese opera hair accessories are mainly pieces, hats, buns and ornaments, and there are systematic pieces, hats and ornaments. Different kinds of headwear, bun, braid and contract also have their own characteristics, usage, production methods, wearing and maintenance equipment.

Basically, all Hua Dan need headdresses, among which flaky is a must for Hua Dan. There are many kinds of headdresses and different materials. This is what the princess and the royal concubine wear. Headdresses can also be divided into positive phoenix and crown phoenix. Sticker needs special tools, basic techniques and skills. Use the stick to improve the face shape and make the stick firm.

In fact, there are headdresses worn by male horns, but not many, such as the prince's helmet. Jia Baoyu in A Dream of Red Mansions and Cao Zijian in Luo Shen both wear the helmet of the prince. According to "Xiangjiang Pear Garden: Luo Jiaying from Cantonese Opera", the prince's helmet is also called "Zijin Crown", which is used by princes or young generals. The crown is a pattern of dragon swallowing beads, plus a red tassel, and the pheasant tail is the commander-in-chief army.

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