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Liyuan Opera

Song-Yuan southern drama, still on stage

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.

Representative works

  1. Chen San and WuniangLiyuan opera rooted in the Ming play The Lychee and the Mirror, taught anew by Cai Youben in 1952
  2. Cai BojieAn old Song–Yuan play of the Shanglu branch of Liyuan opera, keeping the early form of the Zhao the Chaste Woman story

Timeline

Song-Yuan to present
1200 · OriginIn 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.1566 · EvolutionIn 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.
  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.Literature › The Lychee and the Mirror

Heritage Listings

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