A Study Of The North Shanxi Local Opera

The North Shanxi Local Opera, one of Shanxi's"Four Big Local Operas", is alsocalled"the Yan Opera". Formed in early Qing Dynasty, it has been mainly popular innorth Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, north Shaanxi and northwest area of Hebei. Before thefounding of the nation, the natives called it"major drama","Bangzi Drama"or"Daizhou Bangzi". When compared with opera in mid-Shanxi, it was called"ShangluOpera". People in south Shanxi and mid-Shanxi called it"North Opera."Out ofShanxi province it was generally known as"the Shanxi-style Bangzi Opera", or"Daizhou Bangzi."In 1954, on the first conference of drama discussion and emulationin Shanxi province, the name of"the North Shanxi Local Opera"was first established.In its historical development process, the North Shanxi Local Opera has formedthree big schools:"Daizhou School"with the states of Xinzhou and Daizhou as it'scenter including the entire areas of south of the Great Wall (popularly named"SmallNorth School");"Yunzhou School"with Datong as it's center including the InnerMongolian area (popularly named"Big North school);"Yuzhou School"withYuzhou as it's center including original Chahar and northeast area of Hebei province(popularly named"East Accent"), which has vanished by now.The common traditions accomplished by the unique geography and thehumanities environment of North Shanxi have inevitably influenced the formation ofthe North Shanxi Local Opera. In late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasties, therewere many kinds of folk dramas being in vogue in north Shanxi, and this had providedthe rich artistic soil for the production of North Shanxi Local Opera. While the religious belief and the folk custom activities (mainly temple fairs) had also built thesocial atmosphere for the formation of it.The North Shanxi Local Opera is the result of the northernization of Shanxi andShaanxi Local Operas. This process completed not later than the year of Yongzheng toQianlong (1723-1795), that is the middle and later periods in the 18th century. As tothe way of the northernization of Shanxi and Shaanxi Local Opera there are manyformulations, such as"way by the immigrant","way by the major road","way by thearmed forces","way by the trade route"and so on, and"way by the trade route"hadthe most possibility.The North Shanxi Local Opera originated in Xinzhou and Daizhou areas in northShanxi, and it spread widely with the formation of the three schools. The historicaldevelopment of the drama, with"the Small North School"being the mainstream, couldbe divided into three historical stages: expansion, meridian and recovery. With the aidof the trade route the North Shanxi Local Opera spread in Inner Mongolia andZhangjiakou. Thus the development pattern of"the Small North School"being themainstream with the areas of Inner Mongolia and Zhangjiakou as the vice has beenestablished.The idea reflected in the North Shanxi Local Opera plays has close and subtlerelations with the local culture of north Shanxi. The ideological content reflected in thescripts may be basically divided into the following four kinds: praise for"the martialspirit"; the political ideal of"sagacious emperors and faithful officials, and the successof the faithful and the failure of disloyal";"the hero gaining fame and fortune"; andchanting of"loyalty, filial piety, moral courage and righteousness."The regular professional training was the important source of drama actors in oldtimes. The regular professional training of the North Shanxi Local Opera mainlyconcentrated in north Shanxi and the Inner Mongolia. The professional theatricaltroupes mainly performed in North Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Yuzhou. The flowingperformance of these theatrical troupes had led to the mutual exchange amongentertainers. This, of course, had promoted the development of the opera. The unprofessional theatrical troupe was also a sign for the development degree of NorthShanxi Local Opera.The performance system of the North Shanxi Local Opera is basically the same asother kinds of local operas. Role playing is the core method for the characterization inthe Chinese traditional play, with it's"spatial frame"characteristic providing thespecial space for the portrayal of the characters. The stage fine art is one of theessential integrant parts of the play. The two complement each other and make effortstogether to urge the play to transform from"the unreality"to"the reality". The NorthShanxi Local Opera also follows this principle.The reasons why it is called the local opera are its distinguished dialect and theunique music system construction. The drama tune of the North Shanxi Local Operaincludes five parts: language, melody, names of the tunes to which dramas arecomposed, beat and orchestra. The study of tune has highlighted the estheticscharacteristic of"this"North Shanxi Local Opera.The theatrical troupe is the main carrier of performance. There is natural andinseparable relation between the theatrical troupe and the kind of drama. The survivalcondition of theatrical troupes directly influences the existing of drama. There are onlythree national theatrical troupes for the North Shanxi Local Opera at present. And withthe other even privately operated theatrical troupes in Xinzhou fighting for the marketshare with them, the universal circumstances are not good at all. So, to evaluatetheatrical troupe's survival condition from the angle of outsider's view has strongpractical significance.The current culture organizational reform has already comprehensively launched.In Xinzhou and Datong organizational reform plan for the state-owned artistic groupshas been released in light of this, facing the fact that many difficulties are existing. Thepresent paper proposes seven suggestions and measures to protect the North ShanxiLocal Opera, and puts forward the thought that people should hold the sense ofhardship to the prospect of this kind of drama, grasp this rare development turningpoint, go out of the strange circle of"the general slump in drama"as soon as possibleand get rid of the misfortune of"the museum art".