Liyuan Opera

Introduction

Quanzhou's eight-century living fossil of southern drama

Liyuan opera arose in Quanzhou in the Song and Yuan periods and is sung in the Quanzhou dialect; it is often called a living fossil of ancient nanxi southern drama. Its three schools, Xiao Liyuan (the seven-role troupe) and the Shanglu and Xianan branches of Da Liyuan, preserve nanxi plays such as Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie and Wang Kui, and a movement system built on eighteen basic steps. Its qupai-based music is accompanied by the horizontally held nanpa pipa, dongxiao flute, erxian fiddle and nangu drum. It is performed in Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Xiamen, the Chaoshan area, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Minnan-speaking communities in Southeast Asia.

Timeline

1. 1200OriginIn the Song-Yuan period Quanzhou troupes staged Southern Song plays and Liyuan opera took shape; with Zhejiang nanxi it was called the sound of Min and Zhe.
2. 1566EvolutionIn 1566 the Tale of the Lychee Mirror was printed in mixed Quanzhou and Chaozhou dialect; its story of Chen San and Wuniang remains a core Liyuan opera play.

Heritage Listings

1. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · IV-2 · nominated by Quanzhou · Fujian