Chinese Opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century AD. There are numerous regional branches of Chinese opera, of which the Beijing opera is one of the most famous.
Canjun opera of the Three Kingdoms Period was one of the first Chinese operatic forms. Chinese opera in a more organized form began in the Tang Dynasty with Emperor Xuanzong (712-755), who founded the “Pear Garden”, the first known opera troupe in China. The troupe mostly performed for the emperorsÕ personal pleasure. To this day operatic professionals are still referred to as “Disciples of the Pear Garden”.
Development of Chinese Opera in the Yuan Dynasty
In the Yuan Dynasty, forms like the Zaju (variety plays), which acts based on rhyming schemes plus the innovation of having specialized roles like Dan (female), Sheng (male), Hua (painted- face) and Chou (clown) were introduced into the opera. Although actors in theatrical performances of the Song Dynasty strictly adhered to speaking in Classical Chinese onstage, during the Yuan Dynasty actors speaking in the vernacular tongue gained precedent on stage.
The Rise of Kunqu and Other Opera Forms
The dominant form of the Ming and early Qing dynasties was Kunqu , which originated in the Wu cultural area. It later evolved into a longer form of play called Chuanqi , which became one of the 5 melodies that made up Sichuan opera. Currently Chinese operas continue to exist in 368 different forms, the best known being Beijing opera, which was extremely popular in the latter part of the Qing Dynasty.
Characteristics of Beijing Opera
In Beijing opera, traditional Chinese string and percussion instruments provide a strong rhythmic accompaniment to the acting. The acting is based on allusion: gestures, footwork, and other body movements express such actions as riding a horse, rowing a boat, or opening a door. Spoken dialogue is divided into recitative and Beijing colloquial speech, the former employed by serious characters and the latter by young females and clowns. Character roles are strictly defined. Elaborate make-up designs portray which character is acting.
The traditional repertoire of Beijing opera includes more than 1,000 works, mostly taken from historical novels about political and military struggles. Moreover, Chinese operas draw the themes for their performances from the popular folktales, myths and legends, such as Legend of the White Snake, Butterfly Lovers and The Cowherd and the Girl Weaver, etc., revolving around filial piety and everlasting love. Thus, Chinese opera which is presented in an entertainment format manages to bridge effectively the gap between popular entertainment and social education to inspire moral values and virtues of justice, righteousness and honor. For this reason, Chinese opera is more than an amazing show of acting, music and costumes. It is also a window into the Chinese traditions, customs and culture.
The Influence of Western Plays
In traditional Chinese theater, no plays were performed in vernacular Chinese or without singing. But at the turn of the 20th century, Chinese students returning from abroad began to experiment with Western plays. Following the May Fourth Movement of 1919, a number of Western plays were staged in China, and Chinese playwrights began to imitate this form. The most notable of the new- style playwrights was Cao Yu. His major works: Thunderstorm, Sunrise, Wilderness, and Peking Man were written between 1934 and 1940, and have been widely read in China.
In the early years of the People’s Republic of China, the development of Beijing opera was encouraged; many new operas on historical and modern themes were written, and earlier operas continued to be performed. During the Cultural Revolution, most opera troupes were disbanded, performers and scriptwriters were persecuted, and all operas except the eight “model operas” banned. After the fall of the Gang of Four in 1976, Beijing Opera enjoyed a revival and continued to be a very popular form of entertainment both in theaters and on television.
Following the Cultural Revolution, both older and new works reappeared. Revised and banned plays from China and abroad were reinstated in the national repertoire.
Philosophy of Chinese Music
The ancient Chinese belief that music is meant not to amuse but to purify one’s thoughts finds particular expression in the cult of the Qin , a 7-stringed long zither possessing a repertory calling for great subtlety and refinement in performance and still popular among a small circle of scholar-musicians.
Also, traditionally the Chinese have believed that sound influences the harmony of the universe. A result of this philosophical orientation was that until quite recently the Chinese theoretically opposed music performed solely for entertainment; accordingly, musical entertainers were relegated to an extremely low social status.
Melody and Tone Color
Melody and tone color are prominent expressive features of Chinese music, and great emphasis is given to the proper articulation and inflection of each musical tone. Most Chinese music is based on the five-tone, or pentatonic scale, but the seven- tone, or heptatonic scale, is also used, often as an expansion of a basically pentatonic core. The pentatonic scale was much used in older music. The heptatonic scale is often encountered in northern Chinese folk music.
Traditional Classification of Chinese Musical Instruments
Chinese musical instruments traditionally have been classified according to the materials used in their construction, namely, metal, stone, silk, bamboo, gourd, clay, skin, and wood. The older instruments include long zithers; flutes; panpipes (circular bamboo pipe); the Sheng (a reed pipe wind instrument); and percussion instruments, such as clappers, drums, and gongs. Of later origin are various lutes and fiddles, introduced to China from Central Asia.
Western Influence on Chinese Music
In the first half of the 20th century Chinese music was considerably influenced by the music of the West. Three major schools of thought arose in response to this influence. The first school aimed at reviving the old thousand-piece orchestras that once delighted ancient princes and sages and resisted the influence of Western music. The second school concerned itself almost exclusively with Western music. The last school of Chinese music took great pride in traditional Chinese musical culture but did not hesitate to apply it to Western techniques of composition and performance.
