Tibetan Opera (Xigaze jimba)

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

Applicant: Tibet Autonomous Region

Project No.: 224

Project No.: Ⅳ - 80

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Tibet Autonomous Region

Type: new item

Applicant: Tibet Autonomous Region

Protection unit: Department of culture of Tibet Autonomous Region

Introduction to Tibetan Opera (Xigaze jimba)

Applicant: Tibet Autonomous Region

Tibetan Opera is a very large system of operas. Due to the different natural conditions, customs, cultural traditions and dialects in different parts of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, it has many kinds of Arts and schools. Tibetan Opera is the mother of Tibetan opera art. It is spread to the Tibetan speaking areas of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces through monks and pilgrims who come to the Tibetan ancestral temple of Weizang. It forms the branches of Huangnan Tibetan Opera in Qinghai, Gannan Tibetan Opera in Gansu and Seda Tibetan Opera in Sichuan. In India, Bhutan, Sikkim and other countries, Tibetan Opera is also popular.

The Tibetan name of Tibetan Opera is ram, which means "Fairy". It is said that Tibetan opera was first performed by the seven sisters, and the contents of the repertoire are mostly mythological stories in Buddhist scriptures, so it gets its name. Tibetan opera originated from Tibetan religious art in the 8th century. In the 17th century, it was separated from the religious rituals of temples and gradually formed a life-style performance with singing as the main part and the basic programs of singing, reciting, dancing, expressionism, white and technique. Tibetan opera has a high pitched and powerful singing style, which is basically decided by people, and each singing style has its own voice. Tibetan opera was originally a square opera, with only one drum and one cymbal accompaniment and no other musical instruments. The performance is generally divided into three parts, the first part is "Dun", which is mainly for the opening performance of song and dance to worship gods; the second part is "Xiong", which is mainly for the performance of drama legend; the third part is called "Zhaxi", which means blessing Yingxiang. The traditional repertoire of Tibetan Opera is said to have "thirteen volumes", which are often performed as "eight Tibetan operas", namely "Princess Wencheng", "King norsanfa", "Lang sawen Beng", "zhuowa Sangmu", "Su jinima", "Baima Wenba", "dunyue Dunzhu" and "Zhimei gengdeng". In addition, there are "riqiongwa", "Prince Yuncheng", "jingbaqinbao" and "debaden" Ba, suibaiwangqu and other plays contain Buddhist content. There is only one set of Tibetan opera costumes from the beginning to the end. The actors do not make up, but mainly perform in masks. Tibetan opera can be divided into white mask opera and blue mask opera. In the process of spreading blue mask opera, due to different regions, it has formed four schools: juemulong Tibetan opera, jueba Tibetan opera, Xiangba Tibetan Opera and Jianggar Tibetan opera. Every year, the "sheaton Festival" is a day for Tibetan troupes to perform one after another, so the "sheaton Festival" is known as the "Tibetan Opera Festival".

After the peaceful liberation of Tibet, the government of Tibet Autonomous Region established the Tibetan Opera Troupe of Tibet Autonomous Region on the basis of the original juemulong Tibetan Opera Troupe, which took on the task of inheriting and developing Tibetan opera. It successively organized and performed some traditional operas such as "lang sa Wen Beng", "Princess Wencheng" and "Prince Nuosang", and also created and performed some modern theme operas. The troupe is maintaining the original square art of Tibetan opera On the basis of artistic features, the author has carried out the practice of theater stage art, so that Tibetan opera has stepped onto the stage from the square, with lighting, scenery and makeup, and began to use orchestral accompaniment. After the 1980s, Qinghai Tibetan Opera Troupe was founded in Huangnan. It created and performed such excellent plays as "Yile Fairy", "envoy of the Tibetan king" and "Golden Dawn", which had a great influence at home and abroad. The new repertoire has brought new vitality to Huangnan Tibetan opera. For example, the accompaniment of "Yile Fairy" includes traditional Tibetan musical instruments such as six strings, and large modern mixed band mainly composed of folk music. While forming the interlude atmosphere music, it can directly accompany the aria. This has changed the situation that Tibetan opera only uses one drum and one cymbal to rhythm dance and perform actions, and rarely accompanies the aria What's the matter. The improved Huangnan Tibetan opera set and stage art are magnificent, magical and elegant, refreshing.

Tibetan opera has a long history and meticulous performance program, which has an irreplaceable position in the Tibetan people's spiritual life. Restricted by strict religious rules, Tibetan Opera is less influenced by Han culture in the development process, and retains more original style from performance content to form, so it has high academic value in the field of drama genesis. At the same time, the script of Tibetan Opera is also a peak of Tibetan literature. It not only emphasizes the temperament, but also emphasizes the artistic conception. It uses a lot of Maxim, proverbs and idioms, and even intersperses allegory stories in the plot, retaining the essence of Tibetan ancient literature language. However, in recent years, Tibetan opera, like the mainland operas, has fallen into the competition with modern art and entertainment forms for audience and performance market. There are many problems, such as the lack of funds, the difficult survival of the troupe, the disconnection of artistic talents, the loss of traditional performing skills, and the weakness of theoretical research. The development of Tibetan Opera in various areas is facing crisis, so it is urgent to make plans to protect this ancient ethnic minority opera.

Juoba Tibetan Opera Troupe is one of the oldest and most outstanding representatives of Tibetan Drama in China. The blue mask Tibetan Opera is the typical representative of Tibetan Opera in China, and the blue mask Tibetan opera was first established from the juoba Tibetan troupe. It is said that Tang dongjiebu, the ancestor of Tibetan opera, built a Tiesuo bridge on the river in his hometown of riwuqi more than 600 years ago to benefit the people on both sides of the Yarlung Zangbo River. He raised money for this. Based on the previous form of Tibetan opera with white masks, he created the first blue mask Tibetan Opera class. The Tibetan Opera "dunyuedunzhu" was first welcomed by Lhasa citizens during the 13th Dalai Lama period. The traditional plays they performed include "zhimeigengden", "longsa girl" and "zhuowasham". For 34 years, he has been a dramatist of Tibetan Opera in juoba. Errenbagonga is an outstanding representative of the dramatist of Tibetan Opera in juoba.

The xieba Tibetan Opera inherits the very old tradition of the white mask Tibetan opera, and the Qilan mask Tibetan Opera spreads in the counties of ANGREN, Dingri, Razi and Ganzi in Sichuan. The performance and singing art of juoba Tibetan Opera enjoys a high reputation among the Tibetan people. Because of its distinctive style and excellent performance, it not only creates a new and gorgeous style of Tibetan opera with blue mask, but also maintains the most ancient voice method of the Tibetan people, as well as the combination of religious sacrifice and ancient acrobatics. Therefore, it was awarded gold earrings and gold emblems on the mask by the 13th Dalai Lama.