On August 14-15, 2021, the 4th Academic Seminar on "Opera and Folk Literature" was held in Chinese Hall of the South Campus of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou Campus. Co-sponsored by the Chinese Folk Literature Society, the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University and the Institute of Ancient Chinese Literature of Sun Yat-sen University, the conference was held in a combination of online and offline methods, and more than 120 experts and scholars from nearly 50 universities and scientific research units at home and abroad were invited to participate.
It provides a very good communication platform for young scholars
The conference aims to provide a high-quality communication platform for young scholars at home and abroad, and the opening ceremony was presided over by Professor Huang Shizhong, director of the Institute of Ancient Chinese Literature of Sun Yat-sen University. Professor Huang Tianji, President of the Ancient Chinese Opera Society, said in his speech that Sun Yat-sen University's ability to hold two large-scale opera conferences in half a month is closely related to the sincere unity of the chinese opera research team. In ancient times, the Beggars Festival had the significance of asking for "more children and noble children", and this meeting was scheduled to be held on the Seventh Day of the First Month of July, which was of great significance, and encouraged young scholars to "give birth" more, write more papers, do more scientific research, and do more teaching.
Professor Huang Tianji, President of the Ancient Chinese Opera Society, delivered an opening speech.
Professor Liao Kebin, president of the Chinese Folk Literature Society and of the Department of Chinese of Peking University, said in his speech that this session has the characteristics of "three completes": first, from a spatial point of view, the representatives participating in the conference are very complete; second, from the perspective of time, the age structure and echelon are very complete, which can be described as a group of talents and a small number of long and salty sets; third, the fields involved in the selection of thesis topics are very complete, blooming everywhere, and wonderful. He believes that the opera research team of Sun Yat-sen University has insisted on holding academic seminars on "Opera and Folk Literature" for several years, providing a very good communication platform for young scholars and making important contributions to promoting academic prosperity.
Professor Liao Kebin, President of the Chinese Folk Literature Society and Department of Chinese of Peking University, delivered an opening speech.
Professor Huang Shizhong presided over and shared two sentences: the first sentence is "good shade under the big tree", Sun Yat-sen University, as an important town in domestic opera research, provides a good research environment for scholars, so that scholars can engage in their own research and do a good job in inheritance; the second sentence is "there is no grass under the tree", if young scholars only rely on their predecessors to shield the wind and rain, but do not actively explore, they will wither. In the 21st century, the study of opera should not only consider literature and stage, but also consider the expansion of opera as an "entertainment industry" in the performance market, and at the same time, opera and popular literature are subject to historical, political and other conditions, and are part of the social system, and cannot be separated for discussion. Scholars need to expand into the field of study, or apply concepts and methods from other fields to the study of opera and folk literature.
Form innovation: pre-conference review + exchange at the meeting
This year's "Opera and Folk Literature" academic seminar was grand in scale, with a large number of participating scholars, a total of 102 papers were submitted, and the topic selection was very extensive, including the re-sorting and investigation of important issues in the history of opera, the historical investigation of various elements of opera (such as theater, dance, singing, etc.), as well as the study of the life and thought of dramatists, as well as the theory of opera, opera literature (including the dissemination of literature at home and abroad), ethnic minority drama, rap literature, etc. This session added an innovative way of reviewing papers before the meeting, many of which were more than 1,000 words, and the delegates responded in their speeches, and experts discussed them in their comments, so that the meaning of "academic exchange" was fully demonstrated. Therefore, this pre-conference review mode has also been highly praised by the participating scholars.
During the 2-day workshop, two general assembly presentations and 16 breakout sessions were held. More than 90 delegates made speeches, and guo Yingde, Fu Jin, Zhou Weipei, Zheng Shangxian, Zhao Shanlin, Lin Heyi, Okazaki Yumi, Du Guiping, Liu Zhen, Chen Weizhao, Sun Shulei, Wang Tingxin, Ji Dejun, Bao Zhenpei, Li Shunhua, Dong Shangde, Cheng Yun, Xia Bo, Li Wei, Li Guotao, Ye Ye and other well-known scholars participated in the review of papers, giving positive suggestions and blunt comments to young scholars. The closing ceremony was presided over by Associate Professor Pan Peizhong of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, and the academic summary report was made by the group observers.
Professor Dong Shangde of the Department of Chinese Chinese And Speech of Sun Yat-sen University gave a keynote speech.
Professor Ji Dejun, Dean of the School of Humanities of Guangzhou University, delivered a keynote speech.
In their reports, four observers reviewed the topics of the cluster, respectively. The first group of topics focuses on the study of classical opera, focusing on the combination of examination and theory. Feng Xiansi of the College of Literature of Beijing Normal University, Fang Shenghan of the School of Humanities of Anqing Normal University, Peng Qiuxi of the Department of Chinese of Hangzhou Normal University, Xue Xue, Chen Jianning, Yue Junli, Tan Yibo of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, etc., based on the method of traditional literature research, based on documents or cultural relics to examine ancient opera performances and foot colors; Zhang Qianqian of the College of Literature of Shandong University, Li Jie of Guangling Book Club, Liu Jianxin of the College of Literature of Heilongjiang University, Fan Deyi of the College of Literature of Jimei University, and Li Wanying of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, etc., starting from common materials, Wang Xiaoyan of the College of Literature of Northeast Normal University, Ren Rong of the College of Literature of Jiangsu Normal University, Liu Ziqiu of the College of Literature of Chinese University, Pan Peizhong of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, and Zhou Hongxia of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University are combined with the perspectives of legal literature, western scholars, and modern newspapers and periodicals to carry out multi-angle interpretation of opera research.
The second group of issues focused on opera collation, composition and court opera research. Li Jiaqiao, Graduate School of Literature, Waseda University, Japan, and Du Xue, School of Humanities, Beijing Language and Culture University, revealed the significance of "Thirty Kinds of Yuanjian Miscellaneous Dramas" in the history of opera and the history of Sino-Japanese academic exchanges; Shen Zhenni of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhao Tiezin of the College of Chinese Literature of Jinan University, Huang Yishu and Rao Ying of the College of Literature of Zhejiang University of Communications discussed the problem of opera collation; Gu Mengzi of the Department of History of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhong Yuting of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, And Zhao Shujuan of the College of Literature of Nanjing University respectively discussed the study of song theory, composition, score, and music cards Ren Gang of the School of Philosophy of Beijing Normal University, Pan Peizhong, Jiang Siting, Zeng Qinglan of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, Wu Di of the College of Literature of Chinese University, and Li Hui of the College of Literature of Guangxi University conducted in-depth examinations on the case of Qu Jiaqu; Xu Rui of the School of Humanities and Communication of Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, Xia Xinyan of the College of Literature of Chinese University, Ke Zunbin of the College of Literature of Northwest University, and Wang Chunxiao of the Basic Teaching Department of the China Foreign Affairs College showed the rich aspects of Qing Dynasty court drama from different angles and focuses.
The third group of topics unfolded from the perspectives of the discovery of new documents, court performances and local operas, and the extraterritorial acceptance of Chinese opera. Liang Shuai of the College of Literature of Henan University examined the newly discovered manuscript of "Wang Jing'an's Handwritten Songwriting Bibliography"; Chen Yanlin of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University sorted out and examined the version of Tang Xianzu's legend of "Nanke Dream"; Du Huan of the College of Literature of Anhui University interpreted Kang Hai's "Wang Lanqing" miscellaneous drama from the perspective of rural sacrifice; Meng Kaiyuan of the College of Literature of Chinese University discussed the connection between the medical background of the Li Yu family and the "li main brain"; Qiu Jiexian of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University discussed Zhu Youyi's "Chen Hook Moon" from the concept and intention of "Chen Hook Moon" Hu Feixuan of the School of Literature of Luoyang Normal University, Luo Jing of the College of Literature of Huaqiao University, and Zhang Lei of the School of Humanities of Guangzhou University respectively focused on Peking Opera, Han Opera, Qin Cavity, and Liyuan Opera; Kong Qingfu of the School of Arts of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhong Huixian of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, and Luo Qi of the College of Literature of Nanjing University paid attention to the performance form of Cantonese opera; Xu Qiaoyue of the Department of History of Sun Yat-sen University, Tan Jing of the College of Literature of Wuhan University, and Shi Juan of the College of Literature of Shanghai University respectively discussed overseas drama and popular literature.
The fourth group of issues mainly involves new opera, folk music literature and ethnic drama. Ren Guangshi of the International Culture College of South China Normal University, Liu Rui of the College of Literature of Shanghai University, Li Jian of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, and Huang Jun of the Department of Chinese of Longyan College examined the newly seen opera and customary music literature, linking the new literature with the history of the development of opera and the study of the social and historical context at that time; Wang Jingbo wang Jingbo of the Xiqu Research Institute of the China Academy of Arts took his tea picking drama research as an entry to reflect on the problem of the current unclear division of the categories of song and dance in the academic circles; Li Jiming of the College of Literature of South China Normal University published it in Wuguitang, Hong Kong. The phenomenon of "inconsistency between the name and the real" embodied in the series of books on "Orthography nanyin" is cut into, and it is believed that the Cantonese songbook should not only refer to the labeling of publications in terms of classification and characterization, but should refer to more information in performance and dissemination; Feng Wangxi of the Institute of Ethnic Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences interprets the concept of ethnic minority drama, showing the historical context behind the naming of this concept, such as cultural policy and discipline division.
Finally, Professor Huang Shizhong delivered a closing speech. Professor Huang concluded: The most important thing in doing things is the "heart", and with the "heart" will we do things well, and then exchange it for the "heart" of others for us. He fondly reviewed the process of organizing the conference, and especially thanked the senior scholars for their support, as well as Associate Professor Pan Peizhong for leading the young scholars to complete the organization of the conference. Before the meeting, when Professor Huang issued an invitation to the experts, every senior expert who received the invitation did not hesitate to agree to attend. These experts are willing from the bottom of their hearts to provide some support for the growth of young scholars, so that our academic research will be followed by others and prosperous. The format of the online conference breaks the limitations of space, so that young scholars can be fortunate to meet many senior experts who were previously "only heard by name" and get the guidance of these experts. Professor Huang Shizhong also mentioned that some excellent papers will be selected from the participating papers and published in the academic journals compiled by Sun Yat-sen University.
Professor Huang Shizhong, Director of the Institute of Ancient Chinese Literature of Sun Yat-sen University, delivered a closing speech.
Professor Huang Shizhong said that the future of scholarship lies in young people, after the fourth "Opera and Folk Literature" academic seminar, the seminar centered on young scholars will be held one session at a time, and I believe that the research of opera and folk literature will be more prosperous.
Written by: Nandu reporter Zhou Peiwen intern Zhong Yonghong correspondent Pan Peizhong
Images courtesy of respondents