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Yue Opera (Shaoxing Opera)

From a barrel-built stage to Shanghai

Introduction

A lyrical form that began as Shengxian storytelling and matured in Shanghai

Yue opera began around Shengxian (now Shengzhou) in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, where late-Qing 'ground-level' storytelling absorbed elements of Yuyao tanhuang and Shaoxing opera; in 1906 village performers in Dongwang built a stage from rice barrels and door planks for its first staged show, and early troupes were called xiaogeban or didu ban. It reached Shanghai in 1916 as 'Shaoxing civil drama', became an all-female form in the 1930s and took the name Yueju in 1938. From 1942 Yuan Xuefen and others drew on spoken drama and film and borrowed movement from Kunqu and Peking opera, creating a style that mixes suggestion and realism. Its melodies use the banqiang (metrical-variation) system and are soft and lyrical; it is performed in Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangsu and has spread across China.

Representative works

  1. Xianglin's WifeAdapted from Lu Xun's story The New Year's Sacrifice and first staged in Yue opera by Yuan Xuefen in 1946
  2. Questioning and Seeking the HusbandFrom the older play Ten Beauties: Yan Lanzhen questions her new husband Zeng Rong in a Yue opera favourite
  3. Butterfly Lovers Violin ConcertoHe Zhanhao and Chen Gang's violin concerto built on Yue opera tunes, first performed in Shanghai in 1959

Timeline

Late Qing to present
1906 · OriginPerformers in Dongwang village, Shengxian, stage the first show on rice barrels and door planks; xiaogeban begins1938 · EvolutionThe all-female Shaoxing civil drama in Shanghai takes the name Yueju1942 · EvolutionYuan Xuefen and others launch reforms, blending suggestion and realism
  1. 1906OriginPerformers in Dongwang village, Shengxian, stage the first show on rice barrels and door planks; xiaogeban begins
  2. 1938EvolutionThe all-female Shaoxing civil drama in Shanghai takes the name Yueju
  3. 1942EvolutionYuan Xuefen and others launch reforms, blending suggestion and realism

Heritage Listings

  1. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Chinafirst batch · traditional drama · Ⅳ-53