Shijiazhuang Sixian

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Shijiazhuang Sixian

Applicant: Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province

Item No.: 184

Project No.: Ⅳ - 40

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Hebei Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province

Protection unit: Shijiazhuang Sixian opera company

Shijiazhuang Sixian

Applicant: Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province

Shijiazhuang Sixian opera, also known as Xianqiang, Xiansuo opera, Hexi tune, Xiaogu opera, Luoluo opera and daughter opera, is one of the unique ancient operas in Hebei Province and a rare local opera in China. It is popular in most areas of Hebei Province, Eastern Jinzhong Area and Yanbei area. Shijiazhuang Sixian has more than 500 traditional plays, such as empty printing box, white Luoshan, little second sister's dream, chasing son-in-law, jinlingji, Yang Jiajiang, huazhuhen, shengshengpai, Zongze and Yuefei.

Shijiazhuang Sixian evolved from the folk songs of Ming and Qing Dynasties. It has a unique singing style. It uses the true voice to sing words, and the melody jumps up and up. Then it uses the falsetto to drag the tune. The melody goes down, and it is more and more melodious and generous. There are more than 500 music scores and more than 100 accompaniment tunes, which are divided into official tunes and out of tune tunes. Most of the guandiao tunes are long and short sentences, represented by "shua'er"; most of the Yuediao tunes are dual sentences, represented by "san dao Qiang" and "Luo Luo". The instruments of the orchestra include Xiansuo, Yueqin, big Sanxian and small Sanxian. The instruments of the orchestra include bangu, big sieve Gong, big cymbal and dumb cymbal. Sixian's characters are divided into Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou. Her performance is warm and fiery, bold and unconstrained, and her action is exaggerated. Her portrayal of characters is delicate and vivid, with a strong earthy flavor.

Shijiazhuang Sixian is an outstanding representative of Yanzhao culture. It has a strong creativity and occupies a high position in Hebei local operas. It is said that "kungao Sixian does not separate families" and "one Kunqu, two Gaosan Sixian". In recent years, with the acceleration of the process of modernization, people's value orientation and aesthetic concepts have undergone tremendous changes, and the living space of opera is becoming increasingly narrow. Some of the silk string troupes affiliated to Shijiazhuang have stopped their activities, and only Shijiazhuang silk string troupe is still performing. However, they are also faced with many problems, such as shrinking performance market, sharp decline in audience, aging repertoire, shortage of funds, shortage of professionals and so on. It is urgent for the state to take measures to explore and rescue them.