The 4th Intangible Cultural Heritage Brand Conference (Guangzhou) 2021, hosted by the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism, officially kicked off at canton tower on December 18. As a famous historical and cultural city with extremely rich intangible cultural heritage resources, Guangzhou's intangible cultural heritage has been at the forefront of the country in terms of inheritance strength, innovation ability and communication level in recent years, and has repeatedly become the focus of the circle and beyond.
The Intangible Cultural Heritage Brand Conference (Guangzhou) is also an important platform for panoramic scanning of Guangdong's intangible cultural heritage, and is an excellent window to see the new appearance of Guangdong's intangible cultural heritage.
In this way, let us do a panoramic scan of Guangdong's representative intangible cultural heritage projects for the benefit of readers.
Today, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Brand Conference opened; today, let's listen to the melodious tunes of Cantonese opera.
"The Pear Garden Song and Dance Race is bustling, and there are red boats moored in the evening sand, but every year, thousands of people gather around to see Qionghua." This bamboo branch poem of the Qing Dynasty describes the prosperity of Cantonese opera at that time.
Cantonese opera, also known as Cantonese opera and Guangdong opera, is the largest genre of cantonese dialect in Guangdong and Guangxi dialect areas, and is widely circulated in Cantonese, Hong Kong and Macao and southeast Asian and American countries where There are Cantonese overseas Chinese living. Cantonese opera has a wide range of themes and gathers the strengths of many families. It originated from southern opera, with "梆" (西皮, 二梆), which is the basic tune, and the folk music of Gao Cavity, Kun Cavity and Pearl River Delta, and the early "Opera Studio Dialect" as the basic language, interspersed with Cantonese dialects.
(Cantonese opera master Red Line Female "Zhaojun Out of the Plug" stills Source: Red Line Women's Art Center)
Cantonese opera originally had ten major trades of end, life, dan, net, ugly, outer, small, fu, paste, and miscellaneous, and was later reduced to six categories: Wen WuSheng, Xiao Sheng, Zheng Yin Hua Dan, Erbang Hua Dan, Ugly Sheng, and Wu Sheng. Cantonese opera performances include one-legged, zip-rope, eye-moving, small jumps, waist twists and other stunts. Its martial arts are based on the Southern School of Martial Arts, and the target, hand bridge, Shaolin fist, and difficult chair and high platform skills are all excellent.
In the past hundred years, Cantonese opera has fully excavated the people's real life and thoughts, perfectly integrated the era, ideology and artistry on the stage, and has always maintained innovation. During the Xinhai Revolution, Cantonese opera was performed in the Guangzhou dialect, and plays with patriotic tendencies and reflecting real social life continued to emerge. In 1913, Hong Kong filmed its first Cantonese opera film, Zhuangzi's Wife Test. In the 1930s and 1940s, Cantonese opera made great innovations in terms of themes, choreography, costumes, makeup, etc., introduced Western musical instruments, and also formed five major genres: Xue Cavity, Horse Cavity, White Cavity, Liao Cavity, and Gui Cavity. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Cantonese opera artists used ancient metaphors to satirize current politics, criticize traitors, and praise heroes, which greatly stimulated the patriotic enthusiasm of the people and the strong feelings of resisting foreign insults.
(Cantonese opera origami drama "Flower Good Moon Round" Source: Guangdong Provincial Culture Center)
Since the 21st century, Cantonese opera has conformed to the trend of fashion, opened up a variety of communication channels, and continuously attracted young audiences. In 2005, Foshan Cantonese Opera Troupe launched the animation reality show Cantonese opera "Butterfly Princess"; in 2014, Guangdong Cantonese Theater launched "Decisive Battle TianceFu" based on the wuxia online game; in 2019, Guangdong Cantonese Opera cooperated with First Fu to develop Cantonese opera cultural and creative products. In 2021, after the release of the Cantonese opera movie "The Legend of the White Snake", it quickly topped the box office list of opera films in the history of Chinese cinema. Cantonese opera has entered the public life in a new way, showing the endless charm and vitality of Cantonese opera art.
At the same time, Cantonese opera people also soberly realize that innovation is important, and inheriting tradition is the foundation. When the Cantonese opera professional theater troupe innovates the repertoire, it also constantly rearranges the traditional repertoire. The "Cantonese Opera Art Performance Encyclopedia" published in recent years is a comprehensive and in-depth excavation of the valuable artistic heritage of Cantonese opera, which is collated and recorded in the form of graphics, texts and images, and provides a learning model.
The development of art is inseparable from the deep soil of the folk. Nowadays, there are still many private partnerships in the Pearl River Delta, and amateurs often gather together to sing Cantonese opera and perform Cantonese opera, and on and off the stage, Cantonese rhymes are melodious and harmonious.
Text/Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City reporter Bu Songzhu Correspondent: Wen Mu
Photo/Wenmu Culture courtesy
Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Wu Bo