Folk-lore Teochew Opera Performance Study

Teochew opera folk performance is a cultural phenomenon of the combination of folk activity and opera performance.Based on historical documents and proceeding from a field investigation,this article takes vivid landscape of Chinese opera as the main content and Jinggang God Pageant Ceremony and its Dingxi performance,and Lorong Koo Chye Sheng Hong Temple in Singapore and its god birthday opera as specific examples,and studies the form and content of Teochew opera folk performance by unifying historical exposition and logical argumentation and mutually verifying overall observation and dissection of individual cases.Chapter one is “Teochew opera folk performance and folk belief”,which points out that god-worship activity and Teochew opera folk performance has a long history through an introduction to special partition of the Chao-Shan area and an overview of Chao-Shan culture,and surveys the inheritance of Singaporean Chinese culture and customs,and hence outlines Jinggang God Pageant Ceremony together with Dingxi performance and god birthday activity and Teochew opera of Lorong Koo Chye Sheng Hong Temple in Singapore.Chapter two “Field investigation of Teochew opera folk performance” studies the differences and similarities between Jinggang and Lorong Koo Chye in Teochew opera folk performance through a field investigation of the procedures of inviting opera,the content of routine opera and the ritual of sending God of Opera.For instance,in terms of the content of performance,the first part of route opera performed in Lorong Koo Chye Sheng Hong Temple in Singapore is different from that in China,as it is The Six Kingdoms Appointing One Prime Minister rather than The Ten Immortals Offering Birthday Congratulations.For another example,in the ritual of sending Taiziye off,in Jinggang,local organizations are responsible for “receiving Taiziye” and “sending Taiziye off”,but in Singapore,this ritual is presented to opera thankers as a reward for them.In Teochew opera folk performance,the ritual of sending Taiziye off is an intersection between Teochew opera performance and folk sacrificial activity in addition to route opera.“Taiziye” is considered as the only God of Opera in Teochew opera by young Teochew opera performers in the Chao-Shan area today,however,in various documentary records,the God of Opera of Teochew opera is Marshal Tian.Why and when the belief in God of Opera of Teochew opera changed from Marshal Tian to Taiziye?Therefore,in Chapter three “The change of the God of Opera of Teochew opera under the influence of folk performance”,the author inspects the relationship between the belief in Taiziye of Teochew opera and folk sacrifice,festive ritual activity by sorting out beliefs in Taiziye and Marshal Tian of Teochew opera,and argues that for many Teochew operatroupes living by local folk activity cultural space,the functionality of Taiziye,as an important tool for a troupe to participate in folk custom and a dual symbol of public empathy and carrier of long-cherished wishes in folk custom,way surpasses its holiness;but Marshal Tian in Teochew opera troupes is quite the opposite,as their holiness is far greater than its functionality,therefore,it was hard for them to survive in that special times,let alone the resurrection after the ideological trend.This may be the reason why the belief in God of Opera of Teochew opera changed.Chapter four “Cultural space of Teochew opera folk performance and prospects of the development of Teochew opera”further expounds on and analyzes the cultural space of Teochew opera folk performance by taking other folk activities in Jinggang God Pageant Ceremony as the examples.Then,it analyzes the prospects of Teochew opera folk performance with Teochew opera folk performance and cultural space in which it is rooted,and points out the current situation where fortune and misfortune are intertwined.The author believes that the greatest function of sacrifice and traditional Chinese opera in the folk activity is that they have constructed an identity,Jinggang God Pageant Ceremony and Dingxi performance have built young generation's identification with their clan and native land,while the ritual of thanking gods and opera performance of Lorong Koo Chye have exerted an influence on Chinese and imperceptibly constructed ethnic Chinese groups' identification with Chinese culture.The research methods and conclusions of this article are of referential value for the studies of opera performance and folk activity,belief in the God of Opera,cultural changes and even the opera in Southeast Asia.