"The Story of Pipa" (the story of Cai Bozhe and Zhao Wuniang) is a story widely circulated among Chinese people. The Southern Opera of the Song Dynasty put it on the stage. The early drama "Zhao Zhennu Cai Erlang" recorded in Xu Wei's "Nan Ci Narrative" of the Ming Dynasty plays out the story of "the uncle abandoned his wife and abandoned his wife, and died in a thunderstorm". It is a pity that this early script, known as the "first of dramas", has not been handed down. I have seen "Pipa Ji", which was rewritten by Gao Zecheng (Gao Ming) from Zhejiang in the late Yuan Dynasty based on "Zhao Zhennu Cai Erlang". Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, "Pipa Chronicles" has been continuously revised during performances in various places. There are no fewer than dozens of printed editions in different publications. Among them, the one that has been preserved or is close to the original version by Gao Zecheng (i.e. the Yuan Edition) is the "New Edition Yuan Edition" by Lu Yidian. There are two types: Cai Bojie's Pipa Records (referred to as the Lu Chao version), and the Jiajing engraving version "Cai Bojie's Pipa Records in the Xinxian" (referred to as the Jinxiang version). The manuscript unearthed in Jieyang is considered by experts to be the third "Yuan version" after the Lu Chao version and the Jinxi version. It is an independent system and is also "the earliest surviving stage performance version of the Pipa Chronicles." It provides a large amount of evidence for the study of the development and evolution of the version, literature, singing, and performance of "Pipa Ji".
The unearthed "The Story of Liu Xibi's Golden Hairpin" (i.e. "Liu Wenlong", which tells the story of Liu Xibi and his wife Xiao) is a story that has been lost in historical books such as "Yongle Dadian" and "Nanci Xulu". Southern drama scripts of the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The last page of the manuscript has the words "The Liyuan of Sheng Temple was established on the morning of June 1, the seventh year of Xuande". Xuande is the reign name of Zhu Zhanji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty. The seventh year of Xuande, that is, 1432 AD. The full title of the final version is "Newly compiled holographic illustrations of North and South illustrations, Zhongxiao and Zhongxiao with the correct characters Liu Xibi's Golden Hairpin". "The Story of Liu Xibi's Golden Hairpin" is the full name of the script; "Newly edited holograms with North and South gags, Zhongxiao and Zhongzi" are advertising text in bookstores. This kind of advertising text is often published on the front page of Yuan and Ming novels and opera publications. The text of this bookstore advertisement is also copied on this manuscript, indicating that this manuscript comes from the publication version.
Although this is a manuscript, it is of great significance in terms of documentary value, because there was no published version of the Southern Drama scripts of the Song and Yuan Dynasties in my country during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The "Yongle Dadian" compiled in the early Ming Dynasty included thirty-three copies of southern operas from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, but they have been lost. The three Southern drama scripts of the Song and Yuan Dynasties that I have seen, "Zhang Xie Zhuangyuan", "The Eunuch's Children Wrong Standing", and "Little Sun Tu", were copied during the Jiajing period. The unearthed "The Story of Liu Xibi's Golden Hairpin" is the fourth Southern drama script of the Song and Yuan Dynasties after "Zhang Xie's Number One Scholar", "The Wrong Place of the Eunuch's Disciple" and "Little Sun Tu". This is from the perspective of documentary value. From the perspective of cultural relics, "among the opera scripts that have been discovered so far, whether they are printed or handwritten, they are the earliest ancient versions of the era" "White Rabbit" was published more than 30 years ago. It is a very precious and only domestic copy in the treasure house of Chinese opera literature.
In addition, classic plays include "The Story of Li Jing", "Speaking to the Husband", "Liu Mingzhu", "Su Liu Niang", "The Meeting by the Well", "The Lulin Meeting", "Yang Lingpo's Debate", "The Hairpin" and "Sweeping" "Window Party", "Ci Langzhou", etc.
Among them, "Yang Lingpo's Bianben", "Window Sweeping Party" and "Naochai" are called "the three gems in the garden".
"Mini Teochew Opera" Iron Branch Puppet Show
Chaozhou Iron Branch Puppet Show, commonly known as "Paper Shadow Show", is a rare species of puppet art in my country and also a flower of Chaozhou and Chaoshan folk drama art. Magnificent flowers. It evolved from the shadow puppetry introduced with immigrants from the Central Plains during the Southern Song Dynasty. After the Qing Dynasty, in order to meet the audience's visual appreciation needs, artists gradually removed the white paper covering the stage and changed the idols from flat to round. So "bundling straw for the body, tying paper for the hands, cutting wood for the feet, and shaping Clay head" was called "round body paper shadow" at that time.
By the beginning of the 20th century, iron stick puppet theater troupes in Chaozhou area all used embroidered curtains as curtains based on the drama stages at that time. Small tables and small props were placed on the stage for performances, and the puppets also Instead, they were made of wood and the tunes were changed to Teochew opera tunes. At this point, Teochew puppet show was initially formed.
The Teochew iron branch puppet idol is controlled by three iron branches connected at the back, retaining the characteristics of shadow puppet manipulation; the repertoire, performance movements, and music singing are the same as those of Teochew opera.
As people's art appreciation fashion changes, the performance market is shrinking day by day; most puppet troupes are half-agricultural and half-artistic, loose amateur art groups, and it is difficult to study and inherit puppetry, especially Some difficult performing skills are at risk of being lost, and effective measures must be taken to protect and pass them on.