Prose is a narrative literary genre that expresses the author's true feelings and has a flexible writing style. Below are the beautiful essays describing Peking Opera that I have collected for you (generally 5 articles). You are welcome to read them. I hope you will like them. A Beautiful Essay about Peking Opera Part 1
The National Peking Opera Troupe of China came to New York to perform, and thanks to a friend, I got two good and free tickets. I first lobbied the mother-in-law for half a day to persuade her to go with us; then I begged my mother-in-law to take care of the children as usual on weekends; and then I comforted the two boys who kept asking to go with us, and we were able to break the normal life of parents of three children. , stole a night of leisure, faced the wind and rain in the city, and went to watch a Peking Opera at the Lincoln Jazz Center in Manhattan.
On this night, the third troupe of the National Peking Opera Troupe performed the complete version of "The Female Generals of the Yang Family". When the curtain opened, the first thing I noticed was the band sitting on the side of the stage and the musical instruments of the band members. Some were holding erhus, some were holding dulcimer, some were playing gongs, some were playing drums, and some were blowing trumpets... …At the beginning of the performance, they moved from silence to movement, and the pure Chinese instruments produced pure Chinese sounds. It was really a “head start” that drew people into the atmosphere of China and Peking Opera.
In the first play, there are standard stage props in the center of the stage, red tablecloths and chair surfaces. The chairs are flat and high, and they don't look like they are for people to sit on. Four male servants and four maids filed past happily and placed birthday peaches on the table. Mu Guiying was equally happy when she appeared, because Tianbo Mansion was celebrating Yang Zongbao's 50th birthday. She recalled the time when she was a "female man" and lamented that now she was content with being a housewife laying out tables and arranging banquets. She sang elegantly and humorously: "It's ridiculous that I am a woman general with bows and horses, and I am busy passing cups and dishes inside and outside. I remember we had a good relationship in Muke Village, and our friendship lasted for decades. "Then Meng Huaiyuan and Jiao Tinggui came and reported the news that Yang Zongbao died on the battlefield...
Xu Shi was middle-aged. , such a dramatic opening actually made me almost cry. As someone who writes novels and has also written scripts, I suddenly seemed to realize: Such a protagonist, such psychological activities, such joy and sorrow, and such dramatic tension are presented to the audience in a short time and space, so why not What about the effects that other art forms and types of works strive for? This is where the drama begins. I found that I could roughly distinguish the various roles of Shengdanjingmochou based on their facial makeup and lyrics. I noticed the headgear and costumes of the female characters. I saw that the male characters could be black, white, red, gray, long or long. He has a short beard, appreciates all kinds of singing, reciting, and beating, joins the laughter of the audience for all kinds of humor and shaking off burdens, marvels at the delicate steps of the female actors, who are like clouds and flowing water, and is amazed by the martial arts students. She screamed while covering her mouth while dancing with spears, knives, and somersaults. She also seemed to understand the hidden thoughts in the trembling sleeves of the horns, and understood the emotions conveyed by the old student's trembling beard...
I read more What I like to ponder are the lyrics and dialogues, and perhaps my biggest emotion is that "singing is better than speaking", not only because these lyrics tell stories and express emotions, but also because they have rhythm, sonority, or catchiness, which makes us like Eardrums and ear drums made in China are a delight.
Sometimes, what makes me stare is just one word, a big Chinese character. For example, in the previous plays, there are words written on the stage curtain wall or on the flags, such as the character "Shou" and the character "Yang". The atmosphere depicted, the emotion expressed, and the history conveyed are so clear and so clear. Purely Chinese.
The first half of this play is a literary play, an emotional play, and most of the characters' stories are set in the courtyard of Tianbo Mansion. The second half of the show is dominated by martial arts, and the background curtain is replaced by the undulating mountains and steep mountains outside the Great Wall. The scenery is different and the scenes are very different. This not only avoids possible dullness, length and monotony, but also meets the needs of different audiences and different tastes. .
As soon as Na Wusheng appeared on the stage, he turned four or five somersaults from the back left to the front right of the stage. When he stood still, he immediately received applause from the audience. In the martial arts opera, the generals wear two pheasant feathers on their heads and a row of small flags on their shoulders, which is also traditional and characteristic. They grabbed the pheasant feathers on their heads, trembling like snakes on one side, and singing to move the heaven and earth on the other. There was a different kind of charm in their heroic appearance. I originally thought that Mu Guiying in the first half of the literary drama and Mu Guiying in the second half of the martial arts drama were both played by the same actor, and I was secretly surprised. Later, I found out that they were played by two actors separately, and it made more sense.
Perhaps more of the emotions generated by watching such a Peking opera are outside the theater.
The subject matter of "The Female General of the Yang Clan" not only reminds people of history and legends, but also of childhood, the stories passed down orally by grandfathers, the feelings conveyed by the little books, and the stories of parents. Occasionally, he takes us to see the old scenes of Huai opera in his hometown.
Ms. Moon, who was in the same box, was a young harp player who was more sensitive to music. When she saw the performance at Lincoln Center, which is usually a jazz performance venue, she sighed: "Watching a performance in a jazz atmosphere Peking Opera really makes people feel like they have traveled back in time!" I couldn't help but smile after hearing this. In today's era, whether you are in New York, USA, Beijing, China, or even anywhere in the world, watching Peking Opera or this ancient Chinese opera will give you a sense of time travel.
I'm not a fan. Speaking of which, I became interested in Peking Opera only after I went abroad. Rather than being interested in Peking Opera, I am more interested in everything about China; and if I had not gone abroad, I might have turned a blind eye to Peking Opera and everything else about China and had no interest in it. I remember that when I first returned to China, I asked my good friend from college, Lao Maozi, to buy tickets for an excerpt of the Beijing Poly Theater early in the morning. I thought smugly that the quintessence of Chinese culture was waiting for me, a wanderer, in China. I remember that I watched a martial arts drama such as "Havoc in Heaven", and the cheers and applause from the audience lingered in my heart and will not be forgotten for years to come. Distance may make us forget, or it may make us cherish. Humans are such complex and strange animals.
As the saying goes: "Life is like a play, and play is like life." In Peking Opera, there is the excitement of the gongs and drums, the humor of the gags, the mood of the silk and bamboo orchestra, and perhaps the pink, white and red joy. and sadness, for spectators like me, perhaps only when one reaches middle age, waits until one is in a foreign land, waits until pop songs become a kind of memory of youth, can one occasionally watch and see the emotions between the curtains and the curtains. A taste of life inside and outside the theater, lively and nostalgic. Aesthetic Prose Describing Peking Opera Part 2
In old operas such as Peking Opera and Peking Opera, before the performance, a gong and drum, called the "opening gong", will be beaten to create an atmosphere. After hearing this, people outside the venue can rush in and people inside the venue can stop talking and prepare to enjoy the play.
Peking Opera mostly performs "excerpts", which often have multiple scenes and multiple actors taking turns. You may think that the last act in a play is the "last act", but this is not the case. The second to last act is the finale. The last little martial arts scene is used to send the audience off, and is called the "guest-off scene."
As the saying goes: "It's easy to hit the gong in the opening scene, but it's difficult to sing the final act." If it is said that the good show is behind the opening gong, and everything will be fine after the lively gong is struck, then it is difficult to sing the final act. What is the difficulty?
The first is to be able to control your peers. There are many famous actors competing on the same stage in one night, each with their own specialties. If you want to be the "last", you have to be more skilled and able to control your peers. It is said that Mei Lanfang went to Shanghai to perform for the first time at the beginning of the last century. When the playlist came out, there were martial arts student Gai Jingtian, old student Xiao Yang Yuelou, painted face Liu Shoufeng, young student Zhu Suyun, etc. in the front row. They were all top names. The theater owner called Shi Shi It's just Mei Lanfang from Tsing Yi who is the second-ranked player, and Mei Lanfang's pressure can be imagined. Fortunately, Mei Lanfang performed in the sword and circus drama "Muke Village". He was excellent in both singing and acting, and won applause from the audience.
The second is to retain the audience. After watching the show all night, everyone felt a little sleepy. The reason why the audience did not leave was to appreciate your "high-stage performance". If your singing, reading, and acting skills are poor and full of flaws, the audience will either boo and boo or walk away, no matter how big the role is, it will collapse overnight. Although Mei Lanfang's performance in "Muke Village" was successful, there were still shortcomings. The four "flags" behind him were a bit too heavy, causing him to lower his head from time to time, which was detrimental to his appearance. Later, the accompanying friends came up with a plan. Whenever Mei Lanfang performed, several friends would sit in the box on the second floor. When Mei Lanfang lowered her head, they would high-five as a reminder. After several attempts, I finally helped Mei Lanfang change this habit.
It is difficult to sing the highlight of the show. The difficulty lies in being able to stand out and outshine others; to end perfectly and start well and end well. Aesthetic Prose Describing Peking Opera Part 3
Peking Opera is the quintessence of China. It has a history of 200 years. The name of Peking Opera first appeared in "Shen Shen" in the second year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1876). Historically, it has been called Pihuang, Erhuang, Huangqiang, Beijing Diao, Beijing Opera, Ping Opera, Chinese Opera, etc. In the Qing Dynasty In the 55th year of Qianlong's reign (1790), after the four major Anhui troupes came to Beijing, they merged with Kun Opera, Han Opera, Yiyang, Luantan and other operas in the Beijing theater circle. After 50 or 60 years, they evolved into Peking Opera, which is the largest opera type in China. .
According to the information: Peking Opera is a comprehensive performing art. It integrates singing (singing), reciting (reciting), acting (performing), fighting (martial arts), and dancing (dance). It uses programmed performance methods to tell stories, depict characters, and express "happiness, anger, sadness, and joy." , panic, fear, sadness" thoughts and feelings. The roles can be divided into four major professions: Sheng (men), Dan (women), Jing (men), and Chou (both men and women). Characters can be divided into loyal and traitorous, beautiful and ugly, good and evil. Each image is distinct and lifelike.
On the stage, Peking Opera is performed without physical objects. The single oar is swinging to catch fishermen and kill the family, the whip is mounted and the horse is shouted sweetly: What does it say about the lord and the clown? I can stop a million of your soldiers with one sword! Lifting up my clothes and gently raising my feet, we happily went up to the embroidery room and drank three hundred cups from the golden pot and empty bottle; we trembled and watched the ice wheel on the island begin to turn, what a drunken beauty! The red phoenix eyes are deep in the king's tent. He is sleeping peacefully in his clothes. I am here to go out of the tent and let go of my sorrow. When you look up suddenly, the clouds clear away, and the ice wheel suddenly surges, it is really a clear autumn scene. What's the point of being surrounded on all sides and having no choice? The eternal lamentation of Farewell My Concubine. A handsome young man, who relies on his short game to turn the world around.
Listen to the music of the huqin, the colorful sleeves dance in the sky; the red lips are lightly opened, the flowing waves are graceful, and the eyes are moving; it enchants the soul. Could it be that I am really in ecstasy, and my heart is drunk with dementia. Walking alone in the desert with a pipa in his arms, all the Han people were at peace; Zhaojun came out of the fortress in the wind and snow. Suddenly, the sound of gongs and drums shook the sky; looking at the two, hammers and hammers were staggering. Jijifeng breaks through the company camp, and the misunderstanding at Sanchakou resolves the third pass. In front of the cross slope, Wu Song opened his shop, and Lu Fengxian shot his halberd outside the camp gate. Feather clothes, silk towels, and harps on the gate tower of the city, no matter how many millions of troops trapped in the lonely city, my heart is as stable as the still water, as steady as the Mount Tai.
Bao Longtu meditated in Kaifeng Mansion, and his beautiful plans have been passed down through the ages. I knelt on the ground with my legs just to visit my mother for one night. Look at me, Sun Wukong, who despises divine authority and makes a fuss about the weak and weak Heavenly Palace. Wow, Jiang Qian from the Heroes Club was fooled into stealing books! The gentle and infatuated white lady, dressed in white and wearing snow, fought with her life to steal the fairy grass; to save me, Xu Lang returned to the earth. Ask Zhang Sheng to hide under the matchmaker's chessboard for a while and lead you to see my young lady Cui Yingying. In an auspicious play, dragons and phoenixes appear to be auspicious, and Uncle Liu Huang brings the beauty home in his arms. I just lament that Zhou Yu, the young governor of Soochow, lost his wife and lost his troops!
Peking Opera, the quintessence of Chinese culture, ranks first in the country in terms of its rich repertoire, the number of performing artists, the number of troupes, the number of audiences, and its profound influence. In 1919, Mei Lanfang led a troupe to perform in Japan, and the art of Peking Opera spread overseas for the first time. In 1924, he led a troupe to perform in Japan again. In 1930, Mei Lanfang led a troupe of 20 people to perform in the United States and achieved great success. Big success. In 1934, he was invited to visit Europe and performed in the Soviet Union, which attracted the attention of the European theater community. Since then, Peking Opera has been regarded as China’s drama school all over the world. This is genuine information.
I have loved Peking Opera since I was a child, just because its singing voice is beautiful and mellow; it is soul-stirring and intoxicating. The music accompaniment of Peking Opera is steady, and the actors' performances are serene; they sing without hesitation, slowness or deliberateness. It never emphasizes violent and bloody scenes and language, it always has a peaceful, stable and serene look. So she is the quintessence of the Chinese nation, and she is truly the king of the drama stage! Look at the singing, reciting and beating, look at the melancholy and sadness, look at the crying with the face covered, all interpret the gentle and delicate beauty unique to the ancient East.
Unfortunately, many friends don’t like Peking Opera, saying that the long sounds she makes are not pleasant to the ears. That's the refinement of sound. Who can reach that level? The humming sighs of pop music can never be compared with her, and the clamor of rock music is far less exciting than the Allegro of Xipi. And we must not abandon our national quintessence. She is the precious and outstanding cultural essence of our nation. Friends, please watch more Peking Opera and learn about our national quintessence! Don't let her die in our hands and become a sinner through the ages! She is really beautiful, beautiful and charming! Aesthetic Prose Describing Peking Opera Part 4
The first time I listened to Peking Opera was when I was a freshman in high school. At that time, an Austrian high school visiting group came to our middle school for academic exchanges. The foreign teachers wanted to enter the classroom and feel the atmosphere of Chinese students in class. Therefore, the school added a music class to our class, and the class was Peking Opera.
The music teacher who often secretly shows us movies in music class on weekdays taught us to learn to sing Mei Lanfang's "The Drunken Concubine" in front of the podium and explained it to us sentence by sentence.
Every time everyone opened their voices, the chubby music teacher would clap and stop: "You must sing with a small voice and pay attention to your breath regulation." Slowly, with the teacher's repeated guidance, we sang the first line of "Island Ice Wheel" Chu Zhuan Teng” finally reached a point where it was bearable. I secretly glanced at the foreigners behind me and found that they were also confused.
In order to ease the awkward atmosphere, the teacher played a piece of "The Drunken Concubine" by Mr. Jiu. Mr. Jiu's hand, eye, body and step were indeed in perfect order. He was proficient, vivid and expressive, and the sentences had a strong literary beauty, which made him feel As a person who is peering into the cave, I realize the beauty of art.
Later, every time I listened to music, I would listen to some Peking Opera intentionally or unintentionally.
Listening to Peking Opera is addictive. Once you listen to it, it seems that you are the protagonist in this opera. You will also make random gestures with the accompaniment of Beijing and Hu, and pass a corner. addiction.
Gradually, I fell in love with Peking Opera. This love is like the greenness of first love. For me, Peking Opera is an art that I want to get close to or accompany for a lifetime, but this art is like an independent and full-flavored girl, and a girl’s heart requires us to spend time and energy to figure it out, just like first love and ignorance. There is a feeling that there is only me and her in the world. We don’t need much, just stay together.
What I usually listen to the most is "The Drunken Concubine" by Li Shengsu. Li Shengsu's eyes are lively and can really speak. An ancient saying goes: "Beautiful things are enough to move people." Li Shengsu's appearance is really graceful and has a kind of flattering charm, just like the treasure of pearls, gold and silver. Although the singing is a little less melodious and less drunk than Master Mei's, it is still cute.
Whenever I feel bad, I lie quietly on the bed, close my eyes and listen to Peking Opera, with the water running down my body, and the blood all over my body seems to be swimming quickly, which gives me an inexplicable sense of comfort. Aesthetic Prose Describing Peking Opera Part 5
Using Peking Opera tunes to compose quotations and Chairman Mao's poems makes people feel that Peking Opera music scores are also very powerful. Some Peking Opera quotations and poems are relatively forced, with obvious traces of cutting the feet to fit the shoes. But some are very smooth, bold, emotional, and artistic, such as "The masses are the real heroes" sung by Qiu Shengrong and "Wind and rain bring spring back" sung by Li Weikang. Some comrades who design singing styles said: If you can sing these things, what else can’t you sing?
This brings up another question. Why does the rhythm of Peking Opera lyrics have to adhere to the framework of two, two, three, three, three, four, up and down sentences?
Does it make sense? It is said that this is determined by the singing rules of Peking Opera. Each line of Peking Opera singing is divided into three sections, and the number of beats in one section is relatively fixed, so the number of words in the lyrics cannot vary; for the upper and lower sentences, the oblique tone is used in the first sentence, and the flat tone is used in the second sentence, because the flat tone can be extended, which is convenient for "many singing". That is, "make a sound". However: the words of "The Drunken Concubine" are not neat. It is not in a straight tune, but in a Qupai tune. How can it be sung as well? Is it calm? The Yinping tone of Beijing dialect is a high-level tone, and the Yangping tone is a rising tone, which seems to be convenient for prolongation. However, Peking Opera originally used Huguang pronunciation, and the Yangping tone of Hubei dialect is a falling tone, so it is difficult to extend it. So how can we explain it? Moreover, everyone knows that the accent in Peking Opera is not always used in the next sentence, but more often in the upper sentence. Moreover, the "according to the word" of Peking Opera refers to the small tune. As for the big tune, except for the beginning part of the tune, After the word is spoken, the tone below has nothing to do with the pronunciation of the word. Therefore, these principles are not convincing.
It can only be said that the rhythm of Peking Opera is a historical and man-made phenomenon, a habit, a convention, and there is no certain reason. It probably comes from rap literature. This kind of rhythm has two shortcomings: first, it is suitable for narrative but not lyrical (old opera lyrics often have traces of the third person); second, it is rigid and has little change. The rudimentary and rigid rhythm of the lyrics has largely contributed to the solidification of Peking Opera art.
The older generation of Peking Opera artists have broken through the box consciously or unconsciously. "Changing Sons at the Execution Field" and "Farewell at Shaqiao" both contained several four-character sentences in the eyes of Erhuang and San. After the ending of "Up to the Rooftop", Sanyan adds another sentence: "You and I are the monarchs and ministers of common people", which is the so-called "matching sentence", that is, two sentences are sung. Cheng Yanqiu is so bold. He sang the fourteenth beat of "Hujie Eighteen Beats" word for word, and the pauses were just like the original poem! Mei Lanfang sang "Sanniang teaches her son": "Little Dong came back from school. I taught him to pick up the book and memorize it, but he couldn't recite a sentence.
I beat him with a family weapon, but he said that I was not his biological mother, ah, old boss! "What is this? It's prose, it doesn't rhyme at all! But it's very emotional.
I deeply feel that there is a need to break through and enrich the rhythm of Peking Opera. I think the style of the tune can be absorbed. The lyrics and music are in The writing is undoubtedly an improvement compared to the original regular ancient and modern poetry. I once wrote lyrics for Kun Opera according to the score, and found that this seemingly strict poetry style is actually much freer than 223, 334, and there is no need to stick to the upper and lower lines. . Several upper sentences or several lower sentences can be used in succession to suit the emotional needs of the play. The rhyme used in ancient poems often alternates between straight and oblique rhymes. Du Fu's ancient poems all have the same rhyme, as does Bai Juyi's. Ancient poems constantly change rhymes according to emotional needs. Why can a Peking opera libretto of twenty or thirty lines only have one rhyme? It has the advantage of saving layers and creating transitions. I even think that Peking opera can absorb some rhymes from Western poetry. Format, such as intermittent rhyme, ABAB; holding rhyme, ABBA...
It is not rhythm for the sake of rhythm, it is not to mess with the traditional rhythm of Peking Opera, it is not to be original, but to push Peking Opera a step forward. Content, new thoughts, and new emotions require a new rhythm.
Of course, the rhythm of Peking Opera is not to be overdone. The original rhythm should be abandoned entirely. 334, two sentences.
Are you worried that this will not sound like Peking Opera? Please listen to "Wind and Rain Bring Spring Back"
Bonus points if I'm particularly satisfied,