Top Ten Chinese Traditional Operas
A brief intro with samples of the top ten Chinese operas, another dying cultural heritage in China.
Chinese operas are traditional forms of dramas and theatre musical performances with histories going back over 800 hundreds of years. There are different types of Chinese operas in different parts of China and their singing styles are closely related to their local dialects. And the total number of Chinese operas goes well over hundred. Just like the vanishing old heritages and countless traditional Chines culture customs, a lot of local Chinese operas are having less and less people to keep the traditional performances live. Comparing with the modern pop music and imported music, Chinese operas can mainly find their fans among the older generations.
During the 60th National holiday of the People’s Republic of China, CCTV (China Central Television Station) introduced the top ten traditional Chinese operas. Here I will have a brief introduction of them together with a sample podcast of them each.
Top One: Beijing Opera (Jing Ju 京剧)
(Beijing Opera – Zha Mei An 铡美案)
Face of Chou
Beijing Opera was originally developed from the local opera in An’hui, which entered Beijing around early 19th century and gradually formed into Beijing Opera. Beijing opera has four main categories of characters in the opera. They are Sheng (生), Dan (旦)， Jing (净), Chou (丑). Sheng is usually referring to male characters, while Dan is referring to female ones. Jing is usually heroic characters and have a more complicated and colourful face painting. And Chou is referring to comedy characters. Being the local opera of the capital, Beijing Opera has a symbolic position in Chinese operas and is the quintessence of them all, which is also the reason for being the top one in the list.
Top Two: Henan Opera (Yu Ju 豫剧)
(Henan Opera – Hua Mu Lan 花木兰)
Henan opera is a famous local opera in Henan province. The singing tones and style have a strong local accent and its music is often accompanies by slit drums.
Top Three: Ping Ju (评剧)
(Ping Ju – Xiao Er Hei’s Marriage 小二黑结婚)
Ping Ju is a popular musical performance in north and north-east of China. It was originally from a kind of performance practised by beggars, who will usually go up to people’s houses and beg for money and food. So the original contents of the singing usually are about story telling or good luck wishes. Until around 1919, there are official performance groups formed and Ping Ju started to get recognised as one form of theatre performances rather than just a begging trick. Over time Ping Ju’s singing styles, content and its music have improved greatly. With a strong grass-root among average people in China, it continuous to be one of the popular traditional Chinese opera today.
Top Four: Shaoxing Opera (Yue Ju 越剧)
(Shaoxing Opera – Sister Lin off the Heaven 天上掉下个林妹妹)
Shaoxing opera was first born in 1906 and is still a popular traditional opera around Zhejiang province. It usually has a fast and cheery beats and a smooth singing style.
Top Five: Kun Qu/Kun Ju (昆剧/昆曲)
Kun Ju, a.k.a. Kun Qu is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It has over 600 years of history and is also known as the ancestor of all Chinese operas for its great influence on them. Kunqu was listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2001. Its melody or tune is one of the Four Great Characteristic Melodies in Chinese opera. There are slightly varied Kun Ju exist in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Zhejiang.
Top Six: Qu Ju (曲剧)
(Qu Ju – Yang Naiwu and Xiao Bai Cai 杨乃武与小白菜)
Qu Ju usually refers to the local opera originated from Beijing. Don’t get mixed up with Beijing Opera, Qu Ju actually is the opera developed and formed in Beijing.
Top Sever: Huangmei Opera (黄梅戏)
(Huangmei Opera – The Fairy Match 天仙配)
Huangmei Opera is the symbolic opera type in An’hui province. It is probably the second most well known traditional opera in China just after Beijing opera.
Top Eight: Lv Opera (吕剧)
(Lv Opera – Aunt Li’s Second Marriage 李二嫂改嫁)
Lv Opera is a local opera in Shandong province. It is usually accompanied by playing a dulcimer.
Top Night: Yue Diao (越调)
(Yue Diao)
Yue Diao is another local traditional opera in Henan province. Besides dancing and singing performances, Yue Diao also has puppets or shadow puppets show in some of their performances. It is a very popular forms of entertainment among Henan village people.
Top Ten: Shanghai Opera (沪剧)
(Shanghai Opera – The Golden Bird 金丝鸟)
You can find quite a few traditional operas in Shanghai, however, Shanghai Opera is the local opera. All the singing are performed in a strong accent Shanghai dialect.
