Gezai Opera

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Gezai Opera

Applicant: Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Item No.: 208

Project No.: Ⅳ - 64

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Fujian Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Protection unit: Zhangzhou Gezai Opera (Xiang Opera) inheritance and Protection Center

About Gezai Opera:

Applicant: Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Gezai Opera is a kind of Minnan dialect opera, which is based on Gezai in Minnan and absorbs the nutrition of Liyuan opera, Beiguan opera, Gaojia opera, Chaozhou Opera and Beijing opera. In the early 20th century, Gezai Opera flourished on Taiwan Island, soon spread to Xiamen, and quickly spread to southern Fujian and Southeast Asia where overseas Chinese lived.

At the beginning, Gezai Opera was mainly composed of a man and a woman, and then developed into a mature drama with three elements of Sheng, Dan and Chou, and a combination of Ke, Qu and Bai. His life and behavior include Xiaosheng, Laosheng, Wensheng and wusheng, while his behavior includes Kudan and Zhengdan, and his ugly behavior includes Sanhua and his wife. All the characters sing with real voice, among which Kudan is the most distinctive. The content of Gezai Opera mainly focuses on singing folk stories. Its repertoire includes Chen sanwuniang, Liu Xiu's restoration of the country, Eight Immortals crossing the sea, biography of Ji Gong, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, etc. most of them emphasize loyalty, filial piety and righteousness. Generally, there is no fixed script. It is still performed in the way of "Mr. Xi" telling plays and assigning roles. In more than 100 kinds of traditional tunes, there are not only melodious and high pitched [seven character tune], [major tune] and [Beisi tune], but also folk narrative [Taiwan zanian tune], and melancholy and sad all kinds of crying tune. In addition, it also absorbed local folk songs and some opera music as a supplement. The main accompaniment instruments of Gezai Opera include YeHu, dajianxian, Jinghu, suona, single drum, Gong, cymbal, etc. according to the different performance forms and theater forms, Gezai Opera can be divided into floor sweeping Gezai array, Yetai Gezai Opera, Neitai Gezai Opera, etc. with the rise of mass media such as radio, film and television, radio Gezai Opera, Gezai Opera Film and TV Gezai Opera also emerge one after another.

Since its birth, opera troupes and artists on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been constantly exchanging performances. As a valuable art form jointly created and owned by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, opera has become an important link to maintain the spiritual culture of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The protection and development of Gezai Opera is of great significance to carry forward the traditional Chinese opera culture and promote the peaceful reunification of the motherland. However, with the progress of society, influenced by modern cultural and artistic forms and popular fashion, Gezai Opera is only popular among middle-aged and old people, and young people are no longer interested in it. This situation has greatly affected the survival and continuation of Gezai Opera, and measures need to be taken to protect it.