Lü Opera (Lüju)

Introduction

A rural Shandong opera that began as qinshu storytelling put into costume

Lüju, first called 'seated yangqin' and 'costumed yangqin', developed from Shandong qinshu storytelling with added folk flower-drum songs and short tunes. Around 1900 qinshu performers led by Shi Dianyuan of Shijia village in Le'an (now Guangrao) staged the ballad Wang Xiao Drives the Donkey in costume, with a paper donkey as prop; locals called it 'donkey opera', and the homophone Lüju became its formal name in 1952. Centred on the 'three small' roles of young man, young woman and clown, it uses the banqiang system built on the siping and erban metres, accompanied by the zhuiqin, erhu and sanxian, and its plain colloquial language suits rural stories. It is performed across Shandong and parts of Jiangsu and Anhui; its repertoire includes Wang Xiao Drives the Donkey, The Sisters Swap Marriages and Second Sister-in-Law Li Remarries.

Timeline

1. 1901OriginShi Dianyuan and fellow qinshu performers in Shijia village stage Wang Xiao Drives the Donkey in costume
2. 1940EvolutionThe Bohai Daily in the Bohai base area prints the script Shuang Xunfu and the name Lüju spreads
3. 1952EvolutionThe name Lüju is formally adopted

Heritage Listings

1. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Chinasecond batch · traditional drama · Ⅳ-116 · Shandong Lü Opera Theatre · Jinan · Boxing County and Dongying District
2. 2011National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Chinathird batch extension · Ⅳ-116 · Binzhou · Shandong