Shaanxi Opera "was formed in Qin Dynasty, refined in Han Dynasty, flourished in Tang Dynasty, completed in Yuan Dynasty, matured in Ming Dynasty, broadcast in Qing Dynasty, and evolved into a grand view after several times". It is a very old drama, the originator of China opera, and a replica of the legendary Lotus in the Bowl during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1573- 1620).

Shaanxi Opera has a long history. According to legend, Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, opened a pear garden to train children to sing both court music and folk songs. Li Guinian, a musician in Liyuan, was originally a folk artist in Shaanxi. His "The Music of the King of Qin Breaking the Array" is called "Qiang Qin" for short. This may be the earliest Qin opera music. Later, influenced by the Song Ci, the Qin Opera became more and more perfect from content to form. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the Shaanxi opera in Gansu and Shaanxi gradually evolved into Bangzi opera. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the famous Shaanxi opera singer entered Beijing from Shu, and made a sensation in Beijing with his moving timbre, popular words and superb acting skills. Now Xipi Xingyun's singing in Beijing Opera comes from Qin Opera.

Three Characteristics of Shaanxi Opera Performance in Gansu Province

First, the singing is loud and exciting, full of feelings and strong changes. Many southerners don't like Shaanxi opera. They just think that Shaanxi Opera is screaming loudly, which sounds deafening, different from the slow and subtle sounds of South Vietnamese Opera and Shanghai Opera. This is the cultural difference between North and South. The rockeries, green ponds, winding paths and small bridges in Suzhou gardens give people a fresh and comfortable feeling, while the waves of the Yellow River in the northwest, the peaks of Huashan Mountain, the snow in Qilian Mountain and the flat sand are refreshing and extremely exciting. Climbing Huashan Mountain is completely different from visiting Jiangnan Garden. This difference in natural environment was not formed in recent hundreds of years, but thousands and tens of thousands of years ago. This has accumulated and formed different temperament and aesthetic habits of people in the North and South. As far as poetry is concerned, since ancient times, the south is famous for its graceful words, while the north has many generous and tragic works. Northerners seldom write lyrics with folk songs. The south wins with delicate songs, while the north is dominated by high-pitched folk songs.

Second, the dance movements are rough and powerful, with great changes and heavy workload. For example, take the train, duet, jump, somersault and so on. , all have the outstanding nature of martial arts performance. Of course, there are also some dance programs that show the interest of life and beautiful posture, but compared with other operas, they prominently reflect the characteristics of Qin Wushu.

Third, the traditional scripts of Shaanxi Opera mainly show wars and loyal ministers and good generals. It is not that there are no other themes, but that other themes do not occupy the main position. Moreover, there are many works mentioned above that show war, oppose aggression, praise loyal subjects and martyrs, and commend integrity. There are even series (such as Shen Feng, Wan Guo, Three Kingdoms and Yang Jiajiang). Others are smaller in number. Some plays are light-hearted and show the interest of life, but few show the joys and sorrows of the whole play.

History of Shaanxi Opera in Gansu Province

Since Shaanxi Opera exists as a spiritual wealth created by the northwest people, it naturally becomes a spiritual belief. From its incubation to its formation and development to its infinite extension to the future, it seems to bind itself like a net, making countless generations of northwest people consciously invest too much emotion to cultivate it and enjoy it. So are Shaanxi people and Gansu people. Liangzhou Annals, compiled during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, contains: "People in ancient Liangzhou have been studying Qin for a long time, and Ganzhou is also"; In the forty-four years of Qianlong (1780), Wang Zengyi wrote "Customs" in Volume 4 of Ganzhou County Records, which was also called "the most popular piano sound in the west". The word "Qin Opera", which is regarded by many scholars as the ancient name of Qin Opera, shows that Qin Opera not only spread in Gansu for a long time before Qing Qianlong, but also accumulated in the creation of drama, music, actors, class clubs and various performance skills and programs. For example, Wuyingban in Dunhuang was founded in the 25th year of Qingganlong (176 1), Zhongyiban in Shahe District in Linyi was founded in the 43rd year of Qingganlong (1779), Ningyuan (now Wushan) was in Jiaban, and Daoguang was cleared for ten years (1). In terms of repertoire, in 65,438+0,956, the "Excavation of Traditional Opera Heritage Competition" collected more than 3,000 ancient editions of various operas, including 54th year of Qing Qianlong (65,438+0,796,5438+0) and 21st year of Qing Jiaqing (65,438+0,866). Laojunmiao, Jingyuan County once had an iron clock cast during the Jiaqing period, and its face was engraved with 128 volumes of regular script, in order to present the first play to God every time the old gentleman was born.

During this period, the Qupai system of Gansu Qinqiang Opera was also unique, and its most prominent feature was that Qupai was also composed of Qupai, which was mixed with Buddhist music. This legacy continued until the late 1940s or even the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, so the audience in Gansu called it "Old Shaanxi Opera". At present, there are more than 100 Qupai and Buddhist songs that can be sung in "Old Qin Opera", all of which are orphans of "Gansu without Shaanxi". Even in banqiang singing, it has its own characteristics. As far as Class 26 is concerned, there is a very regular complement at the end of the upper sentence cavity and in the middle of the lower sentence cavity. Its format and techniques are quite similar to those of some small zaqu accents in Gansu, which shows that Gansu's "Old Shaanxi Opera" [Class 26] may come from local folk songs. This just confirms the statement in Ci Hai that Shaanxi Opera was formed on the basis of Shaanxi-Gansu folk songs before the middle of Ming Dynasty. The melody of Gansu Shaanxi Opera is also full of the characteristics of "misusing the local accent" as Wei Liangfu said in Ming Dynasty. The influence of the four tones of local dialect on its melody trend and the combination of words and songs is obvious. In particular, the performance methods of the early Gansu troupe are also very interesting. Generally speaking, most of them start with singing "Quzi" and then turn to singing Shaanxi opera. The local audience vividly called this mixed performance of music and Shaanxi Opera "stormy waves". Perhaps because of the above reasons, Tsui Hark, a dramatist in the late Qing Dynasty, named Gansu local Shaanxi Shaanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu as "Western" to show the difference between them.

During the Qing Dynasty and Xi 'an, there were many written records about the activities of Gansu Shaanxi opera artists. In the eighth year of the Republic of China (19 19), the chapter of "loyalty" in the original Qing Daoguang edition of Jingyuan County Annals was rebuilt, with the words "Zhang, a sage, can sing and dance well and be humorous for five years" (1867), and the city was trapped. The thief heard his voice, made a play and promised not to kill him. Reject it, quote the past and scold the thief, and the thief will kill it in a rage. During this period, Gansu Old Shaanxi Opera Troupe was very prosperous and active in all parts of Gansu with its two advantages: local actors as the main body, lively and refined ghost drama and chivalrous drama as the main body. For example, Yuda's monitor, Fubang, Zhangmazi, Wangbao, Wei Changsan, Du, Ga Baozi, Shen Zhengkui, Zhou Daner, etc. who are far away from home. , Li Jucai, Shi Wazi, Zi Wazi, Ci Wazi, etc. Li Jucai from Ning County, Master Liu from General Zhuang Lang's troupe. As well as Chen Desheng (ten wazi), Li Degui, Sang Dazui, Li Haiting (six fingers), Zhang Tianbao and Xue Baoyuan (Sanmu) of Lanzhou Dongsheng Class in the early Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, Zhang Fuqing, Mi (Ma Daner), Huang Maozi, (Tang Daizhao) and Liu Yanqing of Lanzhou Fuqing Class were all Shaanxi Opera Class Clubs composed of local actors. These actors are not only proficient in their major, but also omnipotent in their artistic skills. What is particularly commendable is that they are good at arranging series and performing live at any time with their profound knowledge. In the 20th year of Guangxu, Gangu artist Yang went to Lanzhou to perform. The head of the group asked him to sing the play for 72 days, but he couldn't repeat it. Moreover, there must be immortals such as Cang Jie and Guanyin Bodhisattva in the play. This is undoubtedly a harsh request, but Yang took the initiative to undertake it. According to the legendary Eight Immortals, he edited and performed 72 comic series Biography of the Jade Emperor. After singing for 72 days, he didn't embarrass the audience.

At the same time, Shaanxi artists began to take classes and sing operas, and even set up classes in Gansu. Such as the ternary view of Lanzhou Fuqing class, Yue Desheng of Dongsheng class, Wuwei Yonghe Society formed by Li Fugui, and Xiqin Hongsheng Society formed by Li Bingnan. Artists from Gansu and Shaanxi performed on the same stage, which not only showed the different styles and schools of Shaanxi Opera in the two provinces, but also promoted the mutual influence and exchange of Shaanxi Opera in the two provinces. During this period, although Runrunzi, Jin Gongzi, Li appeared in Shaanxi, and a large number of outstanding masters appeared in Gansu, such as Chen Desheng, etc., as far as Shaanxi Opera in the two provinces is concerned, it is still in a state of disorderly competition, or it is on the eve of gathering from rural areas to cities to seek progress and civilization. At the beginning of the 20th century, Lanzhou, Wuwei, Tianshui, Pingliang, Qingyang and other cities began to set up "local classes" to sell tickets. In order to adapt to the theater environment and the appreciation psychology of urban audience, the rough style of temple fair performance in the past has gradually changed into the delicate style of theater performance, and the strong sense of competition between work associations and actors has contributed to the situation that actors pay attention to personal vocal skills. From this, the East Road Singing School centered on Qingyang and Pingliang, the South Road Singing School centered on Tianshui and Longnan, and the Middle Road Singing School centered on Lanzhou and Wuwei were formed. Three-way singing school, also known as the three major schools, has formed a full-fledged trend in Gansu, pushing Gansu Shaanxi Opera to the peak of its heyday with its skillful repertoire, unique lines, makeup, stuntmen and even its own audience.

Before and after the Revolution of 1911, although Gansu Shaanxi Opera, as the main stage in Gansu, was still thriving, with the change of people's lifestyle, especially the increasingly frequent cultural exchanges between the East and the West, new ideas and new ideological trends had a great impact on people's psychology. Especially in the 1920s, because a large number of Shaanxi Shaanxi opera actors entered Gansu from the west, and Shaanxi "guest group classes" were increasing in Gansu, which had a great impact on Gansu Shaanxi opera invisibly. During this period, Wang Chengxi, Yang Gaimin, Zhao Fuhai, Wang Qi, Luo Shude, Xu De and Geng were active in all parts of the province, while xie Yutang, Cao Hongyou, Shi Yueqing, Wen, Ge Zhengxing, Zhu, Tian Denian, Li Duoshan and Xi Deyu were settled in Gansu to sing. The integration of the actors of Longqinqiang Opera promotes the integration of the art of Longqinqiang Opera, which is not only the necessity of the progress and development of ancient Longxi Opera, but also the necessity of conforming to the trend of the times. As a result, the improved "Folk Tune" (Li Zhengmin's singing style) and "Yi Sushe" (Xi 'an's and Yi Sushe's improved singing style) have become popular in Gansu, even showing a tendency of "usurping the role of host". This improved new accent has spread rapidly in China with the trend of training students in Daxing, Gansu, such as running schools, running classes, and replacing classes by mass organizations. For example, Lanzhou Juemin Society, Pingliang Pingle Society, Dunhuang Optical Society, Jiuquan Guangxin Society, Ningxian Revitalization Social Science Class, Lanzhou Emerging Social Science Class, Pingliang Juyi Social Science Class, Xifeng Su Tong Social Science Class, Lanzhou Northwest Drama School, etc., almost all employ Shaanxi actors as coaches, and use Shaanxi's improved singing method as teaching materials, plus, He, Yue Zhonghua, Shen Jing. Although a group of Shaanxi-born Gansu people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, Shaanxi-born Shaanxi people, there are He Caifeng, Zhou Zhengsu, Li Yihua and Yuan Tiantian.

After the founding of New China, Gansu's singing of Shaanxi Opera basically followed the Shaanxi way, and at the same time, it attached great importance to the reform and innovation of content and form with new ideas. Especially, while performing excellent traditional plays, a large number of new historical plays and modern plays have been created, which makes the ancient Shaanxi opera art closer to reality and serve it. Dozens of masterpieces, such as Li Xiucheng, Liang Hongyu, Guarding Jiangyin, Shang Yang's Reform, Storytelling Position, Love in the Western Regions, Bao Sanniang, Flowers in the Mountain Village, Alarm Bell, Love Begins Here, Three Satisfies, and Thinking for Love, have all become masterpieces. The actor team is also a combination of Gansu and Shaanxi, with a good metabolism. Backbone forces such as Liu Fangling, Zhang, Zhang, Zhao Guiling,,,, Duan Yonghua and Zou Li Anrui have emerged one after another. Since the new era, newcomers and rookies from all over the world have emerged one after another. With their artistic strength, young and middle-aged actors from Doudou, Yunnan, Yunnan and other counties in the province have become synonymous with Shaanxi opera in the eyes of Gansu audiences today, thus driving more young rookies to break through the ground. The succession of Gansu Shaanxi Opera artists means that Gansu Shaanxi Opera has greatly extended the future space, and also marks that Gansu Shaanxi Opera is more prosperous with a new look.

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