Dai opera

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

Applicant: Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Project No.: 230

Project No.: Ⅳ - 86

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Yunnan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Protection unit: Dehong Cultural Center

Introduction to Dai Opera:

Applicant: Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Dai opera is one of the unique ethnic minority operas in Yunnan Province. It is popular in Luxi, Yingjiang, Ruili, Longchuan, Lianghe counties of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and some Dai inhabited areas of Baoshan City.

Dai opera originated from Dai People's song and dance performances with certain plots and Buddhist scriptures. After absorbing the artistic nutrition of Dian opera and shadow play, it gradually formed a relatively complete form of opera. In the late Qing Dynasty, the chieftain's office of Ganya in Yingjiang organized the first Dai Opera Troupe in Dehong's history. Soon, Dai opera spread to other areas of Dehong. Ten Tusi Yamen in Dehong established Dai troupes and built theatrical buildings. At the same time, Dai opera spread from Tusi Yamen to the people, and a large number of folk Dai opera performance organizations emerged. After the founding of new China, Dai opera has a new development. In 1960, the first professional performance group, Luxi County Dai Opera Troupe, was established. In 1962, it was expanded into Dehong Prefecture Dai Opera Troupe.

At first, the female roles played by men in Dai opera were dressed in Dai women's clothes, and the male roles' dress and the action routines of male and female roles were similar to those of Dian opera and Beijing opera. During the performance, the actors go up three steps to sing or act, and then step back three steps to listen to the speaker's speech, accompanied by percussion music such as gongs and drums. Later, after the gradual development of the aria, two basic tunes were formed, i.e., "shouhun" (male tune) and "Shoulang" (female tune). The tunes of Dai folk songs were widely absorbed as aria and instrumental music. Dai costumes were used in the performance, and the gait of Dai Folk dance was integrated into the performance. Hulusi, erhu, elephant foot drum and other musical instruments were added to the accompaniment, which made the national style more rich.

Some of the traditional plays of Dai opera originate from Dai Folk Stories, narrative poems or Buddhist scriptures, such as Xiangmeng, Qianban Lianhua, langtuhan, etc.; some of the translations are transplanted from Han operas, such as Zhuangzi's wife test, Ganlu temple, female generals of Yangmen, etc. Since the 1960s, Dai opera has been reorganized, adapted and created, and performed a large number of plays, such as "e-bing and sang Luo", "Hai Han" and "deep love in bamboo house". In 1962, "e-bing and sang Luo" took part in the southwest minority drama performance, which caused a sensation and was known as "the Pearl of Southeast Asia". In addition to professional groups such as Dehong Dai Opera Troupe, almost all the larger Dai villages have amateur performing teams. At present, Dai opera is only loved by the elderly, and young people are not interested in it because they can't understand it. The difficulties in the inheritance of Dai opera have become increasingly prominent.