Hunan's Best — Masterpieces and Art Treasures (Part 4)
Shadow Puppetry More Precious Than Gold—Hunan Shadow Puppetry. With a long history and commonly known as shadow play, Hunan shadow puppetry is renowned for its steady and precise manipulation, delicate and expressive performance, and vivid, lifelike figures. Its fairy-tale and fable plays are especially unique and famous at home and abroad.
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Shadow Puppetry More Precious Than Gold—Hunan Shadow Puppetry
Hunan shadow puppetry has a long history and is commonly known as shadow play. It is famous throughout the world for its steady and accurate manipulation, delicate and expressive performance, exquisite and vivid modeling, and lifelike appearance. Its fairy-tale plays and fable plays in particular stand out uniquely in the world of shadow puppetry and are renowned both at home and abroad. It is a form of theater in which silhouettes of figures or animals are made from cardboard or animal hide, and performers hide behind the screen to manipulate them while light casts the images onto the curtain for the performance. It is an ancient traditional entertainment custom of China. In 1997, the shadow play "Three Mice" became the first shadow play in the country to win the "Wenhua Award." Hunan's puppet and shadow puppetry has long ranked among the best in the country. The French newspaper Le Figaro called our province's shadow puppetry "shadow puppetry more precious than gold."
China's Only Surviving Primitive Hand-Puppet Theater—Shaoyang Hand-Puppet Theater
Shaoyang hand-puppet theater is the only surviving primitive hand-puppet theater in China. People from Shaoyang affectionately call it beidai opera or beiwo opera. It originated in Yanwo Ridge, Baizhu Village, Jiugongqiao Town, Shaoyang County, and has been included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. Shaoyang hand-puppet theater integrates puppet techniques, dramatic form and performance skills, and has the characteristics of being mysterious, exquisite, novel and convenient. For more than 600 years, it has always maintained the performance techniques, performance style and performance form of its early period, possessing unique historical and cultural deposits and high aesthetic taste and value orientation. In September 1956, the artist Liu Henggui visited Czechoslovakia and performed the hand-puppet play "Three Defeats of the White Bone Demon" with great success. In August 2005, the opera channel of China Central Television broadcast a special program on Shaoyang hand-puppet theater, and its unique artistic value and cultural value attracted the attention and concern of relevant parties.
A Wonder of the Three Xiangs—Zhangjiajie Yangxi Opera
Zhangjiajie Yangxi Opera originated in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and has a history of more than 200 years. Experts praise it as "a wonder of the Three Xiangs and a rare flower of the Five Streams." The stage dialect of Zhangjiajie Yangxi Opera is based on the Zhangjiajie dialect. Its characteristics are clear distinctions between level and oblique tones, many erhua rhymes, and the presence of all five tones: yinping, yangping, shang, qu and ru. "Golden thread hanging a gourd" is the main difference between Zhangjiajie Yangxi Opera and other opera vocal styles. This is the most unique singing method by which Zhangjiajie Tujia people integrate mountain work songs into theater, with extremely penetrating tonal power, and it is one of the wonders of Chinese theater.
A Living Fossil of Chinese Theater—Dong Nuo Opera "Dongdongtui"
The "Dongdongtui" of the Dong people in Xinhuang, Hunan Province, was called a "living fossil of Chinese theater" by domestic and foreign experts and scholars as early as more than 20 years ago, and is an early product of Nuo culture. "Dongdongtui" is popular in Tianjing Village, Silu Village, Gongxi Township, Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County. It gets its name because during performance the actors leap and move to the sound of "dongdong" (drumbeats) and "tui" (the sound of a small gong with a raised center). "Dongdongtui" includes dances with simple plots, and some are Nuo plays with the rudiments of drama. When singing, all roles wear masks. The commonly used masks are called "jiaomu," and there are 36 in total. Its performance takes place within dance, and the actors' feet always keep to the "drum and gong beats," stepping in a triangle and constantly leaping.
Hunan's Most Primitive Opera Genre—Fenghuang Nuotang Opera
Fenghuang in western Hunan once belonged to the territory of Chu. The people of Chu believed in shamans and spirits and emphasized sacrifices, and ceremonies to repay the gods and fulfill vows were passed down from generation to generation. By the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, it began to evolve into "Nuoyuan deity" opera. After long-term evolution and development, by the late Ming and early Qing dynasties it was formally renamed "Nuotang Opera." The tunes and vocal styles of Nuotang Opera mainly consist of the popular Twelve Major Tunes (that is, the Twelve Major Modes). The Twelve Major Tunes are divided into Nuotang tunes and high-platform tunes. It is a dance expressing the driving away of epidemics, warding off evil, praying for blessings and seeking good fortune, an ancient and primitive god-worshiping drama, and the most primitive and ancient opera genre of Fenghuang. Nuotang Opera has a lively rhythm, smooth tunes, rich content and compact structure. It is sung in the local dialect, simple and natural, easy to understand, with beautiful and smooth melodies, and is deeply loved by the people.
Related Records
The World's First "Nüshu Dictionary"
Nüshu is an ancient and magical script used by Yao women in the Jiangyong and Dao County areas of Hunan Province. Its written content mostly consists of ballads expressing women's suffering and heartfelt feelings. As a rare historical and cultural relic, Nüshu has inestimable value for the study of ancient philology, linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, women's studies, ethnology, sociology, literature and philosophy.
To rescue the world's only female script—Nüshu—the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and the Yongzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture launched a cultural project to rescue Nüshu. On May 30, 2005, Yuelu Publishing House released the first global edition of the Nüshu Dictionary, with 5,000 sets, marking the success of the effort to rescue Nüshu.
The author of the Nüshu Dictionary is Zhou Shuoyi, a 77-year-old retiree from the Jiangyong County Bureau of Culture. He has studied Nüshu for over 50 years and is known as "the first man to transmit Nüshu."
The Nüshu Dictionary contains about 1,500 Nüshu characters, arranged in order of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Its pronunciation, meaning, form, and source are fully documented, and it includes pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and example sentences, making it an encyclopedia of Nüshu. This book plays a tool-like and foundational role in the inheritance and study of Nüshu culture. Its publication provides research materials for many scholars and ensures that this ancient and unique Chinese cultural heritage will not be lost.
Wei Yuan and the Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms
In modern Chinese history, there was a famous thinker who proposed a famous saying on how to resist foreign aggression and effectively strike at invaders—"Learn the advanced techniques of the barbarians to control them." In terms of opening one's eyes to the world, the patriot Wei Yuan wrote the famous work, the Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms.
Wei Yuan (1794-1857), originally named Yuanda, courtesy name Moshen, was a native of Jintan, Shaoyang, Hunan. Wei Yuan was a good friend of Lin Zexu and successively served as an aide to the Jiangsu Provincial Administration Commissioner and Governor. He was a famous literatus of the time who firmly advocated "opening one's eyes to see the world."
In 1840, the Opium War broke out. Wei Yuan was a member of the war faction and personally took part in this war. During the war, he once went to Ningbo to personally interrogate British prisoners of war, and based on what the prisoners said, he wrote a book called A Brief Account of England. Wei Yuan widely distributed this book, hoping that his countrymen could use it to understand England. The defeat in the Opium War made Wei Yuan extremely grief-stricken and indignant, and also made him realize that 'those who wish to control foreign barbarians must first understand the conditions of the barbarians.' More importantly, advanced foreign technology also opened his eyes and made him jump out of the small circle of Confucian statecraft. In June 1841, Lin Zexu, who had already been dismissed from office, met Wei Yuan in Zhenjiang. The two, 'with boundless feelings of desolation,' talked all night. Lin Zexu gave Wei Yuan materials such as the Sizhou Zhi, the Macao Monthly, and the Memorials from Eastern Guangdong, which he had organized people to translate, and asked him to compile the Haiguo Tuzhi, in order to awaken the people, broaden their horizons, understand world conditions, and save the nation from danger. Wei Yuan's book compilation efforts received support from enlightened individuals of the time, who believed that 'understanding the strength of the West and observing the weaknesses of the West is a means to aid and strengthen the nation,' and thus they all lent a hand. Some sent him copied relevant materials, and some mailed him maps of Britain drawn by captured British soldiers... To make the content more authentic, Wei Yuan also personally consulted people who had been overseas about conditions in various countries.
In 1842, Wei Yuan completed the 50-volume Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms. In 1843, the Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms was officially published, becoming the first monumental work compiled by a Chinese person introducing conditions in countries around the world. Wei Yuan wrote in the book that the purpose of compiling the Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms was "to learn the advanced techniques of the barbarians to control them."
In 1847, Wei Yuan expanded the Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms to 100 volumes. It cited 14 kinds of historical records from successive dynasties, more than 70 works by various authors ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, as well as more than ten memorials and some of Wei Yuan's personal experiences.
In the history of modern Chinese historiography, the Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms is the first relatively detailed and systematic work on world history and geography. The book cites nearly a hundred kinds of materials ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, and systematically introduces the geography, history, political conditions, and many advanced science and technologies of Western countries, such as the manufacture and use of new-style weapons like steamships and landmines. Its records of the climate, products, transportation and trade, customs, culture and education, foreign relations, religion, calendars, science and technology of various countries all surpassed previous books. Therefore, some praise the Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms as the "pioneering" work for Chinese people discussing world history and geography.
The Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms is an epoch-making work. Its proposition of "learning the advanced techniques of the barbarians to control them" broke the traditional cultural values of distinguishing Chinese from barbarians, abandoned the historical and geographical concepts of the Nine Provinces and Eight Wastes, a round sky and square earth, and China as the center of the world, established new world historical and geographical knowledge of the five continents and four oceans, and spread modern natural science knowledge as well as other cultural styles and social systems,
and local customs, broadened the horizons of the Chinese people, and opened up a new trend of the times for modern China to learn from the West.
An Overview of Hunan Local Opera
Hunan is not only beautiful in scenery but also has a long cultural tradition. Hunan local opera, with its exotic charm, stands tall in the Chinese art world. Nineteen Hunan local opera genres—Xiang Opera, Qi Opera, Chenhe Opera, Hengyang Xiang Opera, Wuling Opera, Jinghe Opera, Baling Opera, Xiangkun, Changsha Huagu Opera, Shaoyang Huagu Opera, Hengzhou Huagu Opera, Changde Huagu Opera, Yueyang Huagu Opera, Yongzhou Huagu Opera, Yang Opera, Huadeng Opera, Nuo Opera, Miao Opera, and Dong Opera—are like 19 exotic flowers of art blooming on the theatrical stage of the motherland. Hunan was the southern territory of Jingchu during the Zhou Dynasty and belonged to Chu during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. As a branch of Chu culture, Hunan local opera has a long artistic tradition and has undergone a long development and evolution.
As early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the splendid and magical Chu culture gave birth to the sprouts of Hunan's theatrical art. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, there appeared professional entertainers called You, who used song and dance performances and humorous buffoonery to amuse the ruling class. They could not only sing and dance well, but also play characters in satirical performances. By the Han Dynasty, folk songs of the Chu region were prevalent, and the famous Chufeng was valued by the imperial court. These folk songs laid the foundation for the scriptwriting, musical tunes, and performance style of Hunan local opera. In the Tang Dynasty, puppet shows were popular among the people of Hunan. In the Song Dynasty, song-and-dance and variety show performances were frequent in Hunan. After the Yuan Dynasty unified north and south China, Yuan zaju, the most mature form of Chinese opera, entered the lands of Hunan with the opening of water and land transportation. Xia Tingzhi of the Yuan Dynasty recorded in Qinglou Ji that some zaju performing artists at that time went to Hunan to perform and were well received. These historical materials show that during the Yuan Dynasty, Hunan not only had frequent opera performances, but also had opera performers who were deeply welcomed by audiences. Since the Ming Dynasty, important opera vocal styles such as Yiyang Qiang, Qingyang Qiang, and Kun Qiang were introduced to Hunan, greatly promoting the development of Hunan's local opera art. Yiyang Qiang entered Hunan through channels such as Jiangxi immigrants in the early Ming Dynasty and Jiangxi merchants inviting troupes to perform in Hunan, and combined with the languages, folk music, and certain religious music of various parts of Hunan to form Gao Qiang music with a unique artistic style. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Kunshan Qiang entered Hunan and blended with Hunan language and music, not only forming a local opera genre with Hunan folk characteristics—Xiangkun—but also combining with the vocal music of other local opera genres, becoming an important vocal form of Hunan local opera. The Qing Dynasty was a period of prosperity for Hunan's local opera art. Numerous opera vocal styles entered Hunan, enriching local operas in various regions and deepening the expressive power of music. In Hunan's rural areas, building on the already existing folk entertainment forms such as naohuadeng (lantern revelry), caicha singing, field songs, mountain songs, yangge, and boat songs, folk song and dance performance forms like dihuagu and huadeng, as well as some small folk opera genres, also took shape. These small folk operas mainly celebrated labor and love; artistically lively, healthy, and bright, they were welcomed by the broad masses of peasants and urban commoners.
Through the creative labor of the people and artists of successive generations, Hunan local opera art, having absorbed the life nutrients of the Chinese land and Hunan culture, and having gone through a long and difficult historical development, gradually formed 19 opera genres with different styles and characteristics. In the early 1960s, various opera genres in Hunan excavated 571 plays and 595 qupai, staged a number of creative plays such as Underground Flames, Ode to Mountain Flowers, and Delivering Grain, and adapted and staged many excellent traditional plays.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a large number of excellent traditional plays and created and adapted historical plays met audiences again. The creation and performance of modern opera plays flourished, and a number emerged, such as Miao Opera, Changde Han Opera, Huagu Opera, and spoken drama.
After 1985, Hunan drama became even more prosperous. Twelve large-scale plays were performed in Beijing, 11 scripts were published in the monthly Script (by 1989), and 5 scripts won national script awards (Ye Yiqing and Wu Aojun's Case of the Joyful Pulse, Chen Yaxian's Cao Cao and Yang Xiu, Feng Boming's Deep Palace, Boundless Sea). Under the guidance and support of the Provincial Department of Culture, the Guyu Drama Literature Society, with Chen Jianqiu as president, was established in October 1985, becoming the banner and core of scriptwriting in the province. In terms of theatrical performances, various performance exchange activities such as the provincial drama season and song and drama observation performances were held over several years. In particular, the first provincial "Autumn of Dongting" Art Festival held in Changsha in 1987 presented 10 projects including professional art and amateur drama, 28 performances, more than 180 plays and programs, and more than 2,800 people participated in performances and screenings, which can be called a great gathering and display of Hunan art in the 1980s.
In the late 1980s, outstanding theatrical works emerged, including Shangui (The Mountain Spirit), The Town Mayor Eats Rural Grain, Taohua Xun (Peach Blossom Flood), Pipa Ji (The Story of the Pipa), and Once Upon a Time There Was a Mountain. In 1990, the Publicity Department of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Department of Culture held the "Hunan Local Opera Grand Exhibition," which achieved excellent results. In the 1990s, Hunan's theatrical creation still maintained a relatively high level and occupied an important position nationwide. After 1993, due to the impact of the market economy and the squeeze from new entertainment culture, the quantity and quality of scriptwriting and performances were affected, but a group of theater workers remained devoted and held fast to their theatrical homeland. By the end of 1999, Hunan had a total of 21 plays that won the Cao Yu Drama Literature Award (including its predecessor, the National Script Award) and the Wenhua Play Award.