The rhythm of a hundred years, the far-reaching aesthetics, the presentation of the unity of the musicians, and the roots embedded in the genes of Hunan people - Changsha Flower Drum Opera.
The play is the folk stories and cultural emotions of Changsha, a hot land, and there is a never-before-seen literary Changsha in the song.
Appreciating the peach blossoms, singing, sitting and playing, listening to babbling, sad and sad, looking at talented and beautiful women, parting from life and death, laughing and scolding, a hundred years of beauty.
In 2008, Flower Drum Opera was included in the list of representative items of national intangible cultural heritage. The unique tone of Changsha Flower Drum Opera sings the vivid breath of life and the strong local atmosphere, and the sound becomes a poem, a song, and a play, showing the distinctive local colors vividly and vividly, and playing the sound of Chinese opera.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater's "Playing the Gong".
How much do you know about Hunan Flower Drum Opera?
Or most young people's memories of Flower Drum Opera originate from the two sentences that teacher Li Guyi casually sang on the program "The More Strategy, the Hand Pulls the Bellows, Whirring".
A sentence of eight words, there are verbs, nouns and adjectives, the tune rises and falls, and the story is expressed in a Changsha dialect.
To this day, this melody still echoes in my mind, and it is the enlightenment of many post-80s/90s generations for flower drum opera.
◎ Source: New Hunan Li Guyi's "Mending the Pot" stills
I didn't understand the meaning of the song at first time, and even felt that the sharp tone was slightly noisy, and the time has passed, and then I heard the Changsha Flower Drum Opera, which can already be substituted by the ups and downs of the plot, and I turned the title page of the yellow with awe and entered a new world......
◎ Source: Stills from "Bangs and Chopping Wood".
About the origin: The "Liuyang County Chronicles" published in the 20th year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1818) talked about the situation of playing dragon lanterns during the Lantern Festival: "I sang in the children's costume of ugly Dan opera, and the golden drums were noisy, from the beginning to the night." It shows that once the flower drum opera sung by Yichou - the ground flower drum, it has been formed in the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty at the latest.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater's "Mending the Pot".
During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, the Lantern Festival in Liuyang County, Hunan Province is one of the most lively festivals of the year. The traditional custom of playing dragon lanterns is prevalent among the local folk, and the Lantern Festival at that time lasted from the beginning of the day to the night of the Lantern Festival.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater's "Delivery on the Road".
At that time, Hunan Flower Drum Opera had not yet been formed, but there was already a form of opera with Choudan Opera as the main form of performance.
Therefore, the situation of playing dragon lanterns during the Lantern Festival described in the "Liuyang County Chronicles" can be regarded as one of the epitomes of the early performance form of Hunan Flower Drum Opera.
Hunan Flower Drum Opera, as soon as you open your mouth, can produce the power of "resonating with heaven and earth", is a song in the hearts of working people, a small drama legend from the folk.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater "Shajiabang".
It is like an artistic flower born in the Qing Dynasty, and later bloomed with a unique brilliance in the land of central Hunan, eastern Hunan and Dongting Lake. The rich local color and profound life atmosphere are vividly displayed, as if people are in the old Hunan land and feel the unique local feelings.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater "Wild Duck Island".
The music and melody of the Flower Drum Opera, like the mountains and rivers of Hunan, are full of agility and change.
There are more than 200 Sichuan tunes, the warmth of gongs, the elegance of the brand, and the tenderness of minor tunes, each of which is like a painting, a painting depicting the life of the people of Hunan.
◎ Source: Hunan Flower Drum Theater Stills from "Bangs Chopping Wood".
Its traditional repertoire is mostly characterized by "two small" and "three small" plays, and the coquettishness of those Xiaodan, the humor of clowns, and the handsomeness of Xiaosheng are all moving.
With the passage of time, Hunan Changsha Flower Drum Opera has gradually formed five genres, including Liuyang, Ningxiang, Yiyang, West Lake, and Liling, each of which is like a stream, carrying its own unique artistic style, and gathering into the magnificent ocean of Flower Drum Opera art.
From 1947 to 1949, Hunan Flower Drum Opera Yiyang Class, Xiangtan Class, Liling Class, Ningxiang Class, Liuyang Class and other flower drum opera masters gathered in Changsha.
In the 50s of the 20th century, new literary and artistic workers sprung up, and they injected new vitality into Changsha Flower Drum Opera, making this art glow with unprecedented brilliance.
After rectification and enrichment, the Flower Drum Troupe, which was originally mainly based on rural performances, gradually settled down in 1955 and became a county-owned Flower Drum Troupe.
◎ Source: Hunan Flower Drum Theater "Bang Hai Drama Jin Toad" stills
In the 80s of the 20th century, among the many professional drama troupes in the province, there were 33 troupes specializing in singing Changsha Flower Drum Opera, which became the drama with the largest number of troupes in Hunan local opera.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater "Liu Duoxi Sedan Chair".
The popularity of Flower Drum Opera has gradually expanded from Changsha to Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, Loudi, Yiyang, Yueyang, Changde and other places, and even Huaihua Xinhuang County has set up a troupe specializing in singing Changsha Flower Drum Opera. On the other side of the Taiwan Strait, there are also f*cking Troupes and Zaixing Troupes that inherit this art.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater's "Eight Officials".
Nowadays, Changsha Flower Drum Opera has become a business card of Hunan culture, which uses its unique artistic style to tell the story of the Hunan people and convey the deep local feelings.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater's "Ximai Case".
These lively, light-hearted comedies and scolding, spicy and lively farces are very popular with the audience. It can be said that any subject matter can be turned into a "comedy" in the hands of Changsha flower drum drama writers and artists. This point has become an obvious advantage for Hunan Flower Drum Opera to enter the national drama scene.
◎ Source: Confucius Old Books Network
Changsha Flower Drum Opera is a treasure trove of 336 intoxicating plays.
Most of these plays are derived from the wisdom of working people and artists, who draw inspiration from folklore, mythological stories, popular scripts and social life, and vividly present the images of ordinary people such as fishing, woodcuttering, farming, and reading on the stage.
◎ Source: Hunan Flower Drum Drama Theater
The stories told in these plays are often reflections on feudal ethics and morality, the pursuit of freedom to marry, the desire for the emancipation of individuality, and the celebration of the virtues of simplicity and morality.
They distinguish between good and evil, criticizing the dark side of society and praising the good life and lofty ideals of the working people.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater "Peach Blossom Flood".
In the early small plays, such as "Little Chopping Wood" and "Bamboo Shoots", we can see the characteristics of an ugly one, singing and dancing in the Flower Drum Period, which makes people laugh.
Subsequently, some plays with more complete plots and richer characters, such as "Blue Bridge Club" and "Sanbao Youchun", began to emerge and make people shine.
◎ Source: Stills from "Qianlong's Judgment".
With the continuous development of the art of flower drum opera, some classics of large-scale repertoire have also been skillfully transplanted into flower drum opera, such as "Yutang Chun" and "The Story of Classmates".
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater's "Sheep's Horn and BP Machine".
While maintaining the original charm, these repertoire also incorporate the unique charm of the Flower Drum Opera, making the artistic treasure house of Changsha Flower Drum Opera more colorful and intoxicating, and people are reluctant to leave for a long time.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Drama Theater's "Seeking Resolution".
The development of Changsha Flower Drum Opera has not only witnessed the prosperity of art, but also experienced the baptism of change.
From the initial simplicity and simplicity, with simple musical instruments and performance forms, it conveys the warmth of the countryside and the truth of life, and later becomes rich and colorful, incorporating more artistic elements to make the performance more vivid and diverse.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater "Township Police".
However, the true essence of art often lies in returning, and this is no different for Changsha Flower Drum Opera. After a series of development and changes, it began to simplify from complexity, remove superfluous decorations, and return to the original innocence and simplicity.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater "Zheng Peiming".
The development process of Changsha Flower Drum Opera is also a vivid artistic epic, from simple to complex and from complex to simplified.
The actors on the stage sang the mountains and the water when they saw the water, integrating nature and humanity, and the audience in the audience also saw the mountains and rivers in the immersive performance, and used the most sincere side to complete the spiritual exchange.
◎ Source: Stills from Hunan Flower Drum Theater's "Anecdotes of Old Tables".
Whether it is an actor or a flower drum opera, it is all the adherence to the original intention of art, and it is also the inheritance and development of local culture, and finally completed the closed loop in the hot land of Changsha, forming this unique "Changsha Flower Drum Opera".
◎ Image source Stills from "New Bangs Chopping Wood".
Entering the contemporary society, Changsha Flower Drum Opera is also facing unprecedented challenges, as a whole drama, its advantages are obviously not as good as in the past...... But the good news is that art will eventually shine!
In recent years, Changsha Flower Drum Opera has gradually recovered among the people, and more and more citizens and peasant audiences have begun to embrace this art again, and a large number of folk professional troupes and drama students have also resolutely chosen to devote themselves to the art of Changsha Flower Drum Opera.
◎ Source: The new generation of flower drum opera actors put on makeup
Changsha Flower Drum Opera is innovative in the inheritance, and a good show that is more in line with the aesthetic preferences of contemporary people has been renovated and staged, attracting many flower drum opera lovers to respect it, and Changsha Flower Drum Opera still attracts people's attention with its unique charm!
◎ Source: The dance supervisor teacher guides the rehearsal
The Hunan Provincial Flower Drum Opera Protection and Inheritance Center has done a lot of work in innovation and development, and has vigorously cultivated flower drum opera talents.
Adhering to the idea of inheritance, innovation and development, we are moving forward. Inherit and carry forward traditional culture with one hand to meet the needs of serving popular culture. On the other hand, we should focus on the creation of high-quality products, continue to create original repertoire, and even "build a good building for the sake of making a good drama".
◎ Source: The groundbreaking ceremony of "New Bangs Chopping Wood".
Following "New Dragon Gate Inn", a good drama cooperated with Hunan Flower Drum Opera Protection and Inheritance Center and Hunan Radio and Television Golden Eagle 955, which lasted 2 years of careful planning, and renovated the 462-square-meter old space into a resident small theater for the purpose of "building a drama for the sake of making a drama", gathering senior production teams from 5 countries to escort the new drama.
◎ Source: "New Bangs Chopping Wood" theater construction drawing
After 300 performances of choreography and polishing, the professional new generation of flower drum opera actors also worked hard to bring the new national style immersive fantasy show "New Bangs Chopping Wood", and the three groups of actors took turns to sing the mythical love story of the land of Huxiang and the top of Wuling, showing the unique charm of flower drum opera.
◎ Image source "New Bangs Chopping Wood" group photo
Perhaps in the general perception of the public, opera is often regarded as the exclusive domain of the older generation, but when you step into the Hunan Flower Drum Opera Protection and Inheritance Center to see a performance of today's Flower Drum Opera, you will definitely be deeply shocked by the repertoire in front of you - those youthful faces are the new generation of descendants of Flower Drum Opera.
◎ Photo source Rehearsal of the new generation of flower drum opera actors
Offstage, the young actors are working day and night to choreograph and optimize the new drama "New Bangs Chopping Wood". They use the down-to-earth Changsha dialect to tell the mythical love stories that have been passed down through the ages, and they interpret every note sonorously and powerfully with the smooth and stretched flower drum opera tune.
◎ Image source Stills from "New Bangs Chopping Wood".
Although these young actors seem to be childish on the outside, once they open their mouths to sing, they seem to be reborn and amaze the four seats.
Their flower drum opera singing is full of penetration, every movement, every look is full of power, as if injecting the soul of the characters into it. They pursue detail and strive for perfection to bring each character to life and to the fullest.
◎ Image source Stills from "New Bangs Chopping Wood".
These "post-opera students" are full of awe of opera and love for the stage. They are well aware of the greatness and nobility of this cause, and they also understand the importance of passing on cultural heritage.
They water their ideals with sweat, ignite the stage with passion, and every time they dress up and take the stage, they have a beautiful vision and firm belief in the future of Flower Drum Opera.
◎ Image source Stills from "New Bangs Chopping Wood".
Thanks to their efforts, the classic art form of Flower Drum Opera has been revitalized and brilliant.
With their youth and enthusiasm, they have lit a beacon of hope for the future development of Flower Drum Opera, so that this excellent cultural heritage will continue to be inherited and shine in the new era!
◎ Image source Stills from "New Bangs Chopping Wood".
Shuttling through the corridor of the years, stepping through thousands of mountains and rivers, the melody of opera seems to sound in my ears again. That is the surging blood, and that is the voice that belongs to China alone. And Changsha Flower Drum Opera is the shining pearl of these sounds.
It is rooted in the deep soil of Huxiang culture, spread in the north and south of the river, integrated into the painstaking efforts and wisdom of generations, conceived in the embrace of nature, and bloomed in people's word of mouth.
◎ Image source Stills from "New Bangs Chopping Wood".
It is the Changsha Flower Drum Opera that awakens the "differences" that are submerged by the hustle and bustle of the city, and integrates the local customs and cultural characteristics into it, forming a unique scenery.
◎ Image source Stills from "New Bangs Chopping Wood".
Let's pick it up again
This precious Huxiang cultural DNA
Coming to April 12th, when Chun Nai speaks
The opening ceremony of the new national style immersive fantasy show "New Bangs Chopping Theater".
Help Flower Drum Opera in the new era
Bloom with more brilliant brilliance
Looking forward to it together
The above pictures and texts are reproduced in Changsha YUE, the local cultural affairs group
Source: YUE Changsha
Editor: Chen Meijuan (intern)
