Taiwanese opera (pronounced Taiwanese opera, or the more popular Taiwanese opera in Taiwan Province Province) is a traditional opera that originated in Taiwan Province Province at the beginning of the 20th century, and is also called xiang opera in mainland Fujian. Gezi means ditty and ballad (Gezi means "ditty" when expressed in Mandarin). Taiwanese opera is mainly mixed with classical Chinese, which exposed the public to elegant words or stories of loyalty, filial piety and righteousness, and became one of the important entertainment activities in early Taiwan Province society. The embryonic form of Taiwanese opera is the floor sweeping in Yilan area, which absorbs elements such as cars and drums and gradually develops into a small drama. Then he studied Gaojia Opera, Beiguan Opera, Peking Opera and other major operas, and gradually gained a complete form of opera. The form and space of the performance were compressed and distorted after the Japanese occupation and the implementation of the Mandarin Movement after the National Government came to Taiwan. With the efforts of artists in previous dynasties and the help of Taiwan's localization movement, Taiwanese opera has regained its development momentum. Gezai Opera is the only traditional opera that originated in Taiwan Province Province. According to the Records of Taiwan Province Province and Yilan County, it is said that Taiwanese opera originated from the county magistrate of Yilan.
Taiwan Province Province's "Learning Arts and Provincial Records": "In the early years of the Republic of China, there was a man whose surname was unknown with the help of a singer, who was named after a good song. In my spare time, I often sing folk songs with big bass strings to cheer myself up. The lyrics are four sentences in each section, seven words in each sentence, and the feet of the sentences rhyme, but they are not related. Although it is no different from ordinary folk songs, it is full of songs and has a unique charm, that is, the seven-character tune. Later, Gezi helped to adapt the folk songs into lyrics with plots, taught them to others, tried to perform them, and got good reviews, so someone came out to organize a troupe called Gezi Opera. In addition, "Yilan County Records? What people want? "Etiquette and Custom" said: "Taiwanese opera was originally a folk tune in Yilan. Sixty years ago, a man in the troupe took his first name, Zhu, and passers-by forgot his last name. Zhu helps young people create good music. After farm work every day, he plays and sings, which won the appreciation of his neighbors. The busybody advised him to change folk songs into plays. At first, only one or two people dressed as casual clothes for men and women, accompanied by big shells, Qin Yue, flutes, etc., had a conversation. At that time it was called' Taiwanese opera'. "
However, Ge Zaizhu's statement is only a record of historical documents. In fact, the brewing and formation of a traditional Chinese opera should be the result of collective creation and accumulation. According to the investigation, there may be Mao Ziyuan and Chen before Ge Zibang. At the same time, there are at least Lin Zhuangtai, Chen Aru, Yang Shunzhi, Jane Yun Si and bass eel handsome. Ge Zaifu was just a famous local artist. The origin of Taiwanese opera has a history of more than one hundred years. According to legend, Gezi Opera is developed from the "Gezi" in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, which combines the image of car inspiration with local ballads. "Gezi" was originally a kind of rap art, which spread in Zhangzhou from the Ming Dynasty. Jin songs are four folk songs (seven or five are one sentence). At first, they were just songs describing daily life, but later they developed into local stories. "Car Drum" is a kind of song and dance drama, which is deeply loved by Fujian people. With the spread of immigrants, Gezi music and car drum play were introduced into Taiwan Province Province. At that time, the "Nanguan" sung in Quanzhou dialect was popular in Quanzhou immigrant areas such as Mengga, Lugang and Tainan, while about 93% of Lanyangping were Zhangzhou immigrants, so the "Gezi" and "Chegu" circulating in Zhangzhou merged into "local Gezi" in Yilan. At first, local singers may just sit in the form of oratorio, and then add foot color drama and car drum movements to form a small musical with a little embryonic form of drama.
The performance of local singers is performed in the temple open space or along the street, so it is called "sweeping the floor"; At that time, the actors were all amateur actors, with no clothes and costumes; Before the performance, an actor appeared on the stage, walked around the performance area and outlined the singing plot as the opening. At that time, only four repertoires were performed: Shan Bo Ying Tai, Xi Shi Ji, Lv Mengzheng and Chen Sanwu Niang. "Local Taiwanese opera" is the original performance form of Taiwanese opera. Later, it absorbed and merged the essence of other operas, and black powder appeared in ancient costumes, forming the so-called "Taiwanese opera".
The Development of Traditional Opera in China
Gezai Opera is a kind of performing art that combines various operas and music in Taiwan Province Province. In the process of development, Taiwanese opera has absorbed musical tunes such as Beiguan Opera, Nanguan Opera, Jiujia Opera and folk songs, introduced the gongs and drums and martial arts movements of Beijing Opera, used the Beiguan Qupai, costumes, makeup and software of Fuzhou Opera to describe the scenery, and used the drama codes, characters, props and musical instruments of various operas to develop into an inclusive new drama.
It turns out that "local songs" are just performances of amateur children of folk gods. According to legend, the first children's group of Taiwanese opera was He Qingyin, and later "He Qing Society" and "Children" were established. After the formation of Taiwanese opera, it is easy for the general audience to understand because the lyrics and vocals are in Minnan dialect, the music tunes are familiar to the people and the plot is also familiar to the people. So it soon spread from Yilan to Taipei, producing a professional troupe. Later, more Hakkas sang Taiwanese opera, which spread all over the province and became the most popular folk opera in Taiwan Province Province at that time.
1925, Xiamen "Double Everest" Troupe hired Taiwan Province artist Ai Zaibao to teach Taiwanese opera in Xiamen. The following year, "Mount Everest" was changed to Taiwanese opera, and then a "Taiwanese Opera House" was set up in Xiamen to sing Taiwanese opera. Opera troupes from Taiwan Province Province also performed in southern Fujian, and Taiwanese opera became popular in southern Fujian. In addition to Chinese mainland, Taiwanese opera is also very popular in areas where Minnan immigrants live, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. 1937 When the Sino-Japanese War broke out, the Japanese government strictly implemented the policy of "making the Japanese popular" and banned the performance of traditional operas in Taiwan Province Province. At that time, Taiwanese opera was fashionable in the name of "New Drama in Taiwan Province Province", "Drama Popular in Japan" or "Drama in Taiwan Province Province". The imperial court was changed to a company, the emperor to a chairman, the prime minister to a general manager, and civil and military officials to staff officers. The banned civil and military venues were replaced by phonographs, and the performance methods were also different.
At the same time, Minnan dialect was also banned by the National Government, so artists such as Qi and Lin Wenxiang in Longxi adapted the tunes of Minnan dialect into a "chop suey" tune, euphemistically called "improved tune", and Minnan dialect was renamed "improved drama". Because it was popular in Xiangjiang River Valley, it was renamed "xiang opera" after 1949, but it is still called "Taiwanese Opera" in Xiamen. Therefore, Chinese mainland's xiang opera is actually developed from Taiwanese opera.
After the national government moved to Taiwan, in view of the close relationship between traditional opera and folk life, it made great efforts to sort it out, hoping to turn it into a tool to publicize anti-* * policies. 1950, Taiwan Province Taiwanese Opera Reform Association was born. In the same year, Lu sued for writing the script "Female Bandits" and invited Taipei's "Yihualong Fengshe Opera Troupe" to rehearse. The following year, he put forward Wang Yanping Guo Fu, The Founding of the People's Republic of China and other plays. 1952, Taiwan Province provincial local drama promotion association was established, but the effect was limited. Taiwan Province Opera Troupe didn't use the scripts compiled by Taiwan Province Provincial Local Drama Promotion Association at all. In fact, traditional opera was born in the folk, and it is longer than the folk. It is regarded as a propaganda tool, which has caused great harm to the opera itself.
distribution range
Taiwanese opera is based on Taiwan Province singers. When Zheng Chenggong, a national hero, returned to Taiwan Province Province in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, he brought the popular folk song "Jin Ge" to Taiwan Province Province, and soon it was widely sung in Taiwan Province Province. The masses spontaneously organized "Song Concert" and "Gezi Array" to sing golden songs. At the beginning of the 20th century, Taiwanese opera flourished on the island of Taiwan Province Province, and soon spread to Xiamen, and quickly spread to places where overseas Chinese live in southern Fujian and Southeast Asia.
Taiwanese opera, also known as Taiwan Province Taiwanese opera, is a local opera cultivated and loved by compatriots in Taiwan Province Province and Fujian people. Popular in Taiwan Province Province, Fujian, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and other Minnan-speaking areas, as well as places where overseas Chinese live in Southeast Asia.
The formation of Taiwanese opera is closely related to the development of Taiwan Province Province by Minnan people and the introduction of folk words such as Quyi Jingge. The musical tunes of Taiwanese opera are very rich, including melodious and high-pitched [seven-character tune], [major tune], [recalling tune], storytelling [distracted tune of Taiwan Province], and various melancholy and sad crying tunes. In addition, it also absorbed local folk songs and some opera music in Taiwan Province Province as a supplement. Birth, illness, death, ugliness and ugliness are all sung with real voices. The main musical instruments are Shell String, Daguangxian, Taiwan Province Flute and Qin Yue. Its performances, roles, costumes, facial makeup and percussion music are basically taken from Beijing Opera.
trace the history (of)
Jin songs are unique in Minnan songs, with soft and lyrical tunes and extremely strong local flavor, which are deeply loved by the people. According to legend, a large number of Minnan people moved to Taiwan Province Province in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and at the same time brought folk art rap, such as Jin songs, car drum plays and tea-picking hymns, to Taiwan Province Province, which was very popular. The soldiers and civilians from southern Fujian who come to Taiwan Province are nostalgic for their hometown. After dinner, they often go up the mountain to chop wood, go fishing in the sea or sing a few songs to express their thoughts about their ancestors. Jin songs have gradually become an indispensable part of Minnan people's life in Taiwan Province. People call Jin songs "Gezi" to distinguish them from popular dramas in Taiwan Province Province. In order to appreciate the tunes of their hometown, Minnan people set up a pavilion for singing songs in Taiwan Province Province, which is also called "sitting singing". Others sing in temples and farmers' homes, called "Walking Singing". In this way, Jin songs (that is, songs) gradually became popular in all parts of Taiwan Province province. Folk "Music Club" and "Gezi Array" for singing Jin songs gradually appeared.
Gezi was popular in the northern part of Taiwan Province Province, and then it merged with other songs and folk songs to form a folk music, which was popular among fishermen and farmers. It is called "Yilan Gezi" and is mainly performed in the street. After more than 200 years' development, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, Gezi's tunes had absorbed Minnan folk songs and dances, such as "picking tea" and "Pinggu", and merged the folk tune of "Seven Sons and Four Words" in Taiwan Province Province, drawing lessons from the performance form of China's traditional drama, and gradually formed a costume singing opera that was sung in southern Fujian. In the 1920 s, it began to merge into a small drama performance. Later, influenced by Zhengzi Opera, Gaojia Opera, Chaozhou Opera and Peking Opera, it gradually enriched its stereotypes and put it on the stage.
After the development of Taiwanese opera in Taiwan Province Province, it has never forgotten its ancestral home. During the period of 1928, two troupes in Taiwan Province Province, Sanlexian and Shuangzhufeng, returned to Minnan and Xiamen to perform in the name of returning home to worship their ancestors, and Taiwanese opera returned to Minnan, Fujian, which was popular for a while. Its local accent and tunes deeply infected the audience in my hometown. They specially invited Taiwanese opera masters and coaches from Taiwan Province Province. The famous actors of Taiwanese opera emerged constantly, and their acting skills were greatly improved, which quickly became popular in southern Fujian. Because it is popular in Xiangjiang River valley in Fujian, it is also called "xiang opera" in southern Fujian.