| |
A Brief
Introduction and history of Beijing Opera
Beijing opera is a purely
Chinese opera form, which dates back to the year 1790 during the
reign of the Qing Emperor Qianlong. On his frequent hunting
expeditions in south China, the emperor developed an interest in the
local operas.
In 1790, to celebrate his
80th birthday, he summoned opera troupes from different localities
to perform for him in the capital. That year four local opera
troupes of Anhui Province came to Beijing on a performance tour on
the order of the imperial court.
Late four famous troupes from
Anhui Province remained in Beijing. In 1828, a troupe from Hubei
Province came to Beijing and frequently performed together with the
Anhui troupes. The artists absorbed the tunes of the Hubei local
opera and drew on the best of Kun Qu, QinQiang and Bang Zi and other
local operas. The two singing styles later blended to form a new
genre, which came to be known as Beijing Opera.
Beijing opera underwent fast
development during the reign of Emperor Qianlong and the notorious
Empress Dowager Cixi under the imperial patron, and eventually
became more accessible to the common people.
 Beijing
opera is a synthesis of stylized action, singing, dialogue and mime,
acrobatic fighting and dancing to represent a story or depict
different characters and their feelings of gladness, anger, sorrow,
happiness, surprise, fear and sadness. In Beijing opera there are
four main types of roles: sheng (male) dan (young female), jing
(painted face,male), and chou (clown, male or female). The
characters may be loyal or treacherous, beautiful or ugly, good or
bad, their images being vividly manifested.
The repertoire of Beijing
opera is mainly engaged in fairy tales of preceding dynasties,
important historical events, emperors, ministers and generals,
geniuses and great beauties, from the ancient times to Yao, Shun,
Yu, the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and the
dynasties of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing.
It
was precisely this ornate and allusive language that brought on
Kunqu's demise. And perhaps it was never quite boisterous enough to
suit popular tastes. In the late eighteenth century, a new form of
opera was formed in Beijing. At the risk of oversimplifying a
complex set of circumstances, Beijing opera as it is known today
largely began on the occasion of the Qianlong emperor's (r. 1736-96)
seventieth birthday celebration in 1779 which brought, among the
throngs of people to the capital, an accomplished clapper opera
dramatist named Wei Changsheng from Sichuan, who introduced a number
of innovations into the opera of the capital that left an indelible
mark that lasts to the present. Clapper opera, came from the
province of Shaanxi and moved southward through Hunan into Sichuan.
The sound of the wooden clappers sets the rhythm of the music as
well as some of the actions of the performers. Clapper opera was one
of many local opera traditions, though not all influenced the
national opera. By the end of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) there
were several hundred local opera traditions, differing in the
dialects of the librettos, stage settings, acting techniques, and
music; most drew materials for stories from Kunqu or popular novels.
The
music of Beijing opera is that of the "plate and cavity style" Its
melody with harmonious rhythms is graceful and pleasing to the ears.
The melody may be classified into two groups: "Xipi" and "erhong",
guiding pattern, original pattern, slow pattern, quick pattern,
desultory pattern being their chief patterns. The performance is
accompanied by a tune played on wind instruments, percussion
instruments and stringed instruments, the chief musical instruments
being jinghu (a two-stringed bowed instrument with a high register),
yueqin (a four-stringed plucked instrument with a full-moon-shaped
sound box), Sanxian (a three-stringed plucked instrument), Suona
horn, flute drum, big-gong, cymbals, small-gong, etc.
The costumes in Beijing opera
are graceful, magnificent, elegant and brilliant, and mostly are
made in handicraft embroidery. As the traditional Chinese pattern
are adopted, the costumes are of a high aesthetic value.
 The
types of facial make-ups in Beijing opera are rich and various,
depicting different characters and remarkable images, therefore they
are highly appreciated. Moreover there are numerous fixed editions
of facial make-up.
Since Mei Lanfang, the grand
master of Beijing opera, visited Japan in 1919, Beijing opera has
become more and more popular with people all over the world, and it
has made an excellent contribution to cultural exchange between
China and the West, to friendly association and to improvement of
solidarity.
05/06/08 |
