Research On The Ancient Stages Existing In Ying County

Shanxi Province is famous for operas all over the country culturethere is prosperous, with rich heritage of opera. There are a widevariety of local operas and noted composers. The number of thetemple theatres is substantial. Until now, there still remains a greatdeal of ancient stages in Shanxi. The stage is not only simplestructure, is the place where the traditional Chinese opera isperformed, instead of a simple building. It carries the mission ofpromoting Shanxi opera, with profoundly historical and cultureconnotation, and it also witnesses the rise and fall of Shanxi operaculture during hundreds of years. We can say that it is an integral partof entertainment and leisure for people.Ying County is located in the northern region of Yanbei in Shanxi,with two stages from Ming dynasty, and forty-two from Qing dynasty,where the number of the local existing ancient stages is substantial,and there are profound historical and cultural details. Therestructures are distributed in twelve towns and townships such as thetown of Jincheng, Xiashe, Nanhezhong, Zhenziliang and the townships of Zangzhai, Xinzhai, Yijing, Nanquan, Dalinhe, Baimasi,Xiamayu. There existing ancient stages are for us to understand thetheatres and plays in some Yanbei areas during the Ming and Qingdynasties, and they also supplement the deficiency of the existingliterature for Opera. In addition, these practical data like the evolutionof the shape of stages, the folk entertainment of drama and thepolitical economic, cultural situations recorded on the stoneinscription, are all valuable. However, with the decline of traditionalopera culture, the ancient stages are abandoned, and these preciouscultural heritages, are damaged seriously, because of various naturaldisasters and human factors. Besides, many of them are stolen moreand more seriously. Therefore its protection work is imminent, whichis especially important for the research of ancient stages in YingCounty.This thesis focuses on the ancient stages in Ying County, anddescribes the local existing forty-four ancient stages one by one byconsulting the literature reviews and folk data, with clues ofadministrative division. It also investigates the constructiontechnology, decorative art, words, stage and inscriptions, to whichsome pictures are attached. The thesis is divided into three parts: thefirst part is the preface, introducing the previous researchachievements on ancient stages and their current situation in Ying County, and also points out the innovations of this paper. In the meantime, it involves the historical evolution of the county and thebackgrounds of the opera culture. Finally it expounds the reason whythe ancient stages in Ying County were chosen as the object. Thesecond part is the body, which is divided into11chapters just as theadministrative regions are classified. It describes the existing ancientstages in all the villages and towns in turn and their theatricalperformances. The last part comes to conclusion, analyzing thecharacteristics of the architectural structure of the existing stages inYing County and their regional distribution. Additionally, why they aredistributed like that will be also explained. After that, the thesissummarizes the historical status and cultural values of those stages,which enables people to get more knowledge of the ancient stages inYing County. Then these valuable cultural heritages will obtain moreprotection and be further proclaimed, leaving a lot of valuableinformation for human. They can be seen as the carrier to witnesshuman civilization and contribute a lot to our culture and history.