The wind of tide custom sacrifice is very blazing. In the past, performance activities were mostly around sacrificial activities. The object of sacrifice is generally in two aspects: one is the surname clan ancestor; First, the village gods (commonly known as "land gods") and other gods. Chaozhou culture has its own characteristics, and it has always been a "social group", so ancestral halls and temples (commonly known as "Laoye Palace") are scattered all over the place, which is very different from other States, and the sacrificial activities are also very organized. Before the Song and Yuan Dynasties, every sacrifice had to "thank the gods". Probably after the Ming Dynasty, this kind of "drama sound" was mostly replaced by China traditional opera.
"Jieyang County Records and Customs" contains: "Sacrificing ancestors in mid-spring is a performance for more than a month; As the saying goes,' Lantern in the first month, drama in February'. " However, after the Revolution of 1911, the clan's acting activities of offering sacrifices to ancestors decreased day by day, and the acting custom of offering sacrifices to gods and thanking them was still very active. It was not until the early days of the Anti-Japanese War that Chaoshan fell, people's livelihood was poor, and the troupe was largely dispersed that this custom was greatly attenuated.
Wandering in the first month
In the past, farming was not busy in the first month of the month, and recreational activities were generally held in Chaoshan, with music, dance and drama being the most lively. But Chaoyang is a "lantern tour in the first month and a spiritual tour in February".
Mother was born in March
There are "Notre Dame de Tianhou" temples all over the coast of Chaoshan. March 23rd of the lunar calendar is the birthday of the Virgin Mary, which is called "the birth of mother", which is extremely grand. Thank God for his actions, especially in the fishing area.
"Dragon Boat Festival in May"
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, dragon boat races are usually held in Chaoshan water town. Some village clubs invite the drama to join in the fun, and some borrow dragon boats from neighboring villages, and they can return the gifts.
Master Guan gave birth to a play
The Chaoshan folk worship Guan Yu, and the temple established is called "Guandi Temple". May 13th of the lunar calendar is Guan Yu's birthday. At the end of Guangxu, Yang Lian Township in Chenghai hired 52 troupes on this day and gathered around Guandi Temple to celebrate. In Puningli Lake Township, I used to come here every year. As usual, the four societies performed 20 performances day and night (from the evening of May1KLOC-0 to the second day of June).
Shigu Opera in July
"Stone Drum" is a folk custom of Yulan Shengli Society. Sacrifice activities are generally held in towns and villages, but not limited to one day, but in various towns and villages, so the performing arts business is very prosperous this month. Jia Shan Township and Mei Feng Township in Puning paid special attention to this custom, and once hired twenty or thirty classes to perform at the same time.
"Thank God for playing in 1 1 month and February."
After the autumn harvest, it is customary to "thank God" and worship the community gods of the village community. In addition, farming is relatively idle at this time, so the performance activities of thanking God are active again. What is mentioned above is the performance of sacrifice, and there are also various performances with different functions and reasons.
"entertainment fund-raising"
The form of "entertainment" is similar to "washe" and "Goulan" in Song Dynasty. It is also similar to the playground of Beijing Tianqiao. It is mainly composed of many operas, including acrobatics, magic and musical oratorios. This form began in Shantou's "Datong Playground" (fixed operation), and was sponsored by Lin Zhupu, the boss of Rongshengtai Silk Satin Company (then president of Chaozhou Chamber of Commerce) in the early 1930s. More than ten kinds of Chaozhou Opera, Waijiang Opera, Bai Zixi, riddles, chess and black-and-white silent films were invited to perform. Except for the activity fee, all the ticket income is donated to Chaozhou poor house as a welfare fund. Since then, this kind of entertainment has been held every autumn and September, and it didn't stop until War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. After demobilization, it was also held. Because of the rise of drama at that time, "Chunmao" drama club also participated in entertainment performances. 193 1 year, a recreational activity was also held in Yang Lian Township, Chenghai, which was used by Feng Zhefu, the battalion commander of the Kuomintang cleanup team, to raise money for the construction of the Shaolou.
Gambling game
Play near the casino to attract gamblers, and the casino stall owner is responsible for the money. It is said that this custom comes from Nanyang. During the Anti-Japanese War, this kind of drama was often staged in Yinsha Township, Chenghai.
Penalty match
In civil litigation and disputes, the negative party was also punished and given to the play as a gift.
Jubilee drama
In the old society, dignitaries or wealthy families often hired theatrical troupes to show off their birthdays, promotions, marriages, children, profits and high schools. In addition, when the ancestral temple or temple is completed, it is usually performed to show grand celebration. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, so-called "scholar play" and "juren play" also appeared, which was an opportunity to make money through the senior high school entrance examination.
The habit of playing drama
There is a strong tendency of popular fighting. If the village square drama is performed in Taiwan Province or more than one station, it often forms a fighting drama. Fighting opera is an art competition. Sometimes, the owner of the troupe or the rich audience deliberately hangs a trophy to provoke competition between the troupes, which is generally based on the comments of the masses and the number of audience in front of the shed. The winner can take a flag embroidered with "King of Chaozhou Opera" or "Crown of Chaozhou Opera", and the red envelope (bonus) on the flag also belongs to him. Therefore, in addition to trying their best to throw out their best plays and wonderful skills, the troupe participating in fighting dramas should also try their best to come up with surprising ideas. Sometimes the two sides are evenly matched and don't admit defeat. Although they don't want to stop beating drums at dawn and sunrise, they won't give up until the owner makes an arbitration decision.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, although there was not much left, the wind of fighting drama still existed until the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC).
Take Opening a Stage as an Example —— Wandering Immortals
In the old days, when performing in villages and towns, auspicious plays were always added at the beginning, commonly known as "moving immortals" (also known as "pretending to be immortals"), or "four companies" and "Five Blessingg companies". "Four Out Companies" are four small productions: Eight Immortals for Spring Festival, Jumping for Crown, Fairy Birthday and Capital Fair. Because of the symbolic meaning of "fame and fortune, longevity"-"Five Blessingg", it is called "Five Blessingg Company". "Five Blessingg Company" is also named after the four exits and the "net shed". The "net shed" is not an independent small production. Originally, it was a legacy form of Southern Opera's "Deputy Opening at the End". Later, it evolved into a set of newspaper words: "There are thousands of children in the pear garden, and every sentence is written by Hanlin, singing parting joys and sorrows-the new couple will pass on forever!" Later, he described this "deputy end" (held by the class's "xianggong", who is a second-class old student, equivalent to the deputy end) as "Tang" or "Li Shimin" and gave it the role of "net shed". Therefore, even if a commercial performance is performed in a theater, a "clean shed" must be provided at the opening.
I don't know when the form of "wandering immortals" began. Chaozhou and Hailufeng's orthographic dramas all use this old rule.
"Play on tiptoe"
In previous years, most of the theatrical performances in towns and villages were held in the square. Because of their sacrificial and festive nature, they can be watched for free. However, because they have to stand on tiptoe to watch the play, the masses call it "stand on tiptoe to watch the play".
Where gods or ancestors are sacrificed, the stage must face the temple. The name of this drama is "For God", but the fact is the need of people's cultural life.
Women like watching the theatre best, but they dare not crowd together with men, so they have to get along, accompanied by elderly women, some standing on stools around the theater to watch the theatre, and the children of rich families have specially set up small stands.
This kind of "stand-on-tiptoe drama" has a long history, and it still existed in rural areas until modern times, but now there is a collective organization in rural areas, where seats can be allocated in an orderly manner and people can sit on the floor and watch the play.
Turn pale
Cheering when losing color is the custom of Chaozhou opera audience. "Competing to throw a frog's cymbal on the stage, the poor need to take a towel and a belt and throw it at the sachet. This is called losing color. The next day, it redeemed its value, and the actor was praised by the value and was proud of it. " This is a phenomenon recorded in Qianlong's Chaozhou Fu Zhi. In the late Qing dynasty, it was said that "the same shed, small people in groups of three or five, were friends with shakers;" The fruit-throwing coat, Gu Boxiao Dan, is called Xie Mujian. " (Wang Dinghao: Crocodile Zhu Tan) The custom of cheering continued until after the founding of the People's Republic of China.