After the formation of Southern Opera, it began to be widely popular among people of all ethnic groups in southwest Hubei, and gradually became the main local opera loved by people of all ethnic groups in Tujia inhabited areas in southwest Hubei. At the same time, it also spread to the surrounding areas such as western Hunan and eastern Sichuan, and became a local opera across Hunan, Hubei and Sichuan provinces.
According to the Records of Counties in Western Hubei Province, "People from Changde, Chenzhou, Taoyuan, Guizhou, Sinan, Anhua and other places in Hunan moved into the towns and villages of Xianfeng County during the Qianlong period to do business for the first time. Dongxiang Lipu Caotang Deng's ancestral home was in Chenzhou, Hunan. During the Qianlong period, he went from business to salt. When Daoguang started, he was rich. In the future, salt will be the same. People started with Wen Wei, and now he is a salty family. " It can be seen that Xianfeng played a very important role in the history of the development of southern opera from beginning to end.
After the reform, during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, the rural landlord economy developed rapidly, and temples, palaces and theaters increased one after another. The wealthy class in Xianfeng began to set up Southern Opera Troupe, and the professional and "Opera Friends" classes flourished.
At the end of Daoguang, Deng Xiaochi, the rich man of Pucaotang (now Longdongwan) in Xianfeng County, founded the "Tianyuan" class of Southern Opera. Later, Deng Xiaochi's younger brother Deng Xiaobi founded the "Liansheng" class of Nanxi Opera.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, southern operas spread all over Xianfeng urban and rural areas, and there were professional suitcase performances in the county town, Qingshuitang and Laoliba. It is more common to play with friends and sing around drums in southern operas. Nie Xuanjie, Nie Zulian, Li Dexing, Tang Huiyun, Yang Chunxuan and others in Xianfeng County struggled to start a business. Because there is no family, the masses call it the "poor class". After three ups and downs and hardships, the "poor class" has completely inherited the folk art form of Southern Opera.
By the early days of liberation, there were still more than 30 temples and terraces in Tangya Valley of Xianfeng. Each session has a Southern Opera troupe, and the reconstruction and maintenance of temples and terraces will also invite the troupe to "step on the stage". There are 350 households in the county, and 4 households have stage. The unique temple fair culture has played a very important role in the continuation and development of Southern Opera. "Tianyuan entered the city, Hanako made trouble on the stage, played a duet and showed a Deng Xiucai". This is the scene where Deng Xiaochi's "Tianyuan" South Troupe performed in the county town of Wanshou Palace.
After the founding of New China, Nie, Tang Huiyun and Yang Xing raised their own funds and made their own props to re-establish the Southern Opera Troupe. The members of the troupe work during the day and perform at night, which is totally amateur. Xiao Jihe, then the county magistrate of Xianfeng County, simply named it "Labor Troupe", which fully affirmed the development of Nanxi Opera.
During the period of 1957, Hubei Drama Research Office specially sent people to Enshi area to excavate and sort out the traditional plays of Southern Opera. Nie Xuanjie, an old artist of Nanxi Opera in Xianfeng County, has an amazing memory. After three years, he personally compiled more than 300 traditional plays, accounting for more than half of the traditional plays in southwest Hubei, of which 67 were published in Hubei local drama series. His series "Four Places in Henan" has been highly valued by the drama circles in the province and commended by the Provincial Department of Culture. Tian Han, chairman of the National Dramatists Association, Kyle, chairman of the National Musicians Association and president of the Central Conservatory of Music, spoke highly of the performance of Nanxi Opera.
In 2002, CCTV International Channel broadcasted a special program of Xianfeng South Opera.
In 2003, Xianfeng County upgraded Xiannan Troupe to a deputy-level institution; CCTV's Western Channel broadcasts "Yanbian, Enshi and Xiangxi Ethnic Literature and Art Programs" in prime time, and focuses on Xianfeng South Opera.
In September, 2005, Xianfeng County Nanxi Opera Troupe and the county adult secondary school jointly set up a secondary school class of Nanxi Art to cultivate talents of Nanxi, and selected 48 students from primary and secondary schools in the county for systematic training of Nanxi. In June 5438+10 of the same year, Xianfeng county established a leading group to revitalize the work of southern opera, and the county party secretary personally served as the leader of the leading group;
In July, 2006, Xianfeng county government decided to make a new large-scale Tujia folk story drama "daughter village" and turn it into another national cultural masterpiece in our state.
In 2007, Nanxi in Xianfeng County was listed in the second batch of intangible cultural heritage protection list in China.