Tea Picking Opera (Southern Guangxi Tea Picking Opera)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Tea Picking Opera (South Guangxi Tea Picking Opera)

Applicant: Bobai County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

Item No.: 209

Project No.: Ⅳ - 65

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

Type: new item

Applicant: Bobai County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

Protection unit: Bobai County Cultural Center

Brief introduction of Tea Picking Opera (South Guangxi Tea Picking Opera)

Applicant: Bobai County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

Tea Picking Opera in southern Guangxi was introduced from southern Jiangxi to southern Guangxi in the middle of Qing Dynasty through northern Guangdong. It has a history of more than 400 years. According to the characteristics of its lining words, Tea Picking Opera is also known as "Xudu Ya". Tea Picking Opera in southern Guangxi is widely spread in Yulin counties in Southeast Guangxi and some counties in Qinzhou, Wuzhou and Nanning.

Tea Picking Opera in southern Guangxi is a kind of "three small operas", starring Xiaosheng, Xiaodan and clown, also known as "triangle class". At first, it was a song and dance singing with "picking tea in December" as its main content, and then on this basis, it added plots such as opening up wasteland, ordering tea, exploring tea, picking tea, frying tea and selling tea, forming a set of songs and dances reflecting tea farmers' labor and love life. During the performance, one person usually plays the role of Cha Gong and two play the role of Cha Niang. The singing of historical stories or folklore in the Tea Picking Opera in southern Guangxi is called "picking tea to string the ancient", which is mostly comedy and farce. In addition, there are some operas influenced by the color tone, such as selling red line, selling water powder, selling groceries, chopping firewood to get a wife, shaving the head to borrow a wife, pious marriage, etc. Later, due to the influence of the Guangdong troupe who took refuge in Guangxi after the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, some big plays appeared in the Tea Picking Opera in southern Guangxi, such as "douluan Yuanyang", "Gao Wenju" and "Chen Sanmo Jing". The overall style of the opera changed greatly, and it is no longer a small Tea Picking Opera in the early years. Gongs, drums, cymbals, wooden fish, suona, flute and erhu are the main accompaniment instruments of Tea Picking Opera in southern Guangxi. The props include ribbon, money whip, flower fan and handkerchief. The first is the tea tune, which is the original set of tea picking tunes; the second is the tea insert, which is based on the "Nanchang ditty" and "four seasons Lotus" and absorbs folk ditty from all over the world. The singing language is mainly Hakka dialect, supplemented by local dialect, and the chanting is mostly rhyme.

Tea Picking Opera in southern Guangxi is full of singing and dancing, lively and warm, with strong local characteristics. It is closely related to the local people's cultural life and aesthetic taste, and its artistic value and cultural value have been universally recognized.