In May 1949,
Wang Hanqing,
Zou Peng,
Wang Yuanyuan and others established the Red Star Tin Troupe in
Shanghai. This was the beginning of the folks' renaming of "ChangXi opera" as the "Wuxi opera" (Xiju).[14] In 1950, the Southern Jiangsu Administrative Office renamed the "Changxi Drama" as "ChangXi opera", referred to as "Wuxi opera".[15] Since 1955, it has been officially named as "Wuxi opera".[16] Wuxi opera was listed as the
intangible cultural heritage by Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou respectively. On June 7, 2008, Wuxi opera was selected as the "Second National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China".[17][18]
Origin
Historically, the Taihu Lake basin area was the location of the ancient
Wu Kingdom. Therefore, the local people living in the area have had the custom of singing folk songs since ancient times. This kind of art was called "Wu Yu" in the period of
Spring and Autumn Period and
Warring States.[19] By the middle of
Ming Dynasty, these folk songs had evolved into the art of folk rap and singing performances, such as folk tunes, a type of folk art called Tanhuang,[20][21] and storytelling, among others.[22][14]
During the reign of
Emperor Jiaqing, a craftsman named A Zeng's son,
Xu Jinqiao, accepted Wang Wenxiang as his apprentice, and they paired up to sing duets.[23] They also re-structured folk song minor tunes into a new form, with 18 and a half rhymes. Nowadays, this type of structure is called "Wuxi Tanhuang".[24][25][26]
Performance characteristics
Wuxi opera has a variation of upper and lower tunes.[27] First of all, Wuxi opera has a Huang Tune, the oldest tune of Wuxi opera. Huang Tune originated from long narrative folk songs in the southern region of the Yangtze River Delta, and as such, absorbed folk tune styles such as "Suzhou Tanci". Huang Tune includes old Huang Tune, Huang Tune Adagio, Anti-Bow Pantaloon's Tune, Allegro, Long Three-Tune and other different types of tunes. Huang Tune is a kind of melody with narrative feelings, rich melodies and cheerful rhythms.[28] Instrumental accompaniment is mainly performed on the
Erhu, while the
Pipa,
Sanxian and
Dulcimer are often played as subsidiary instruments;
Xiao,
Flute and
Zhonghu are also included in the music.[29]
Faction Yao was begun by
Yao Cheng (1926-).[33] (Yao Cheng is the mother of author
Ye Zhaoyan)
Traditional opera
There are more than 200 traditional Wuxi operas, including "The Magic Lotus Lantern", "Wu Song Kills Sister-in-Law", "Xue Gang in Lantern Show", "Jin Yunu","Zhaojun Departs for the Frontier", "Pearl Tower", "Drawing the Golden Phoenix", "Meng Lijun", "Butterfly Lovers", "The Emerald Hairpin", "Double Pearl Phoenix", "He Wenxiu", "Bean-Curd House" and "Two Degrees Plum".[34][35]
^Stock, Jonathan P. J. (2002-06-18). "Learning "Huju" in Shanghai, 1900-1950: Apprenticeship and the Acquisition of Expertise in a Chinese Local Opera Tradition". Asian Music. 33 (2).
JSTOR: 1–42.
JSTOR834344.