Nuo opera (Wu'an Nuo opera)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Nuo opera (Wu'an Nuo opera)

Applicant: Wu'an city, Hebei Province

Project No.: 233

Project No.: Ⅳ - 89

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Hebei Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Wu'an city, Hebei Province

Protection unit: Wu'an Cultural Center

Introduction to Nuo opera (Wu'an Nuo opera)

Applicant: Wu'an city, Hebei Province

Nuo opera, also known as Nuotang opera and Duangong opera, is a form of opera based on folk sacrificial rites, which is widely popular in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Hebei and other provinces. Nuo opera originated from ancient times. As early as in the pre Qin period, there were Nuo dances which entertained both gods and people. At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, all kinds of local opera flourished. Nuo dance absorbed the form of opera and developed into Nuotang opera and Duangong opera. Nuo opera was formed in Western Hunan during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. It entered the Yangtze River from Yuan River and developed rapidly all over the country, forming different schools and artistic styles. Nuotang opera in Hunan and Hubei absorbed the performing art of Huagu opera, Nuo opera in Sichuan and Guizhou absorbed the artistic elements of Huadeng opera, and Nuo opera in Jiangxi and Anhui absorbed the nourishment of Hui opera and Mulian opera.

The performance repertoire of Nuo opera includes Meng Jiangnu, Pang's daughter, Dragon King's daughter, Taoyuan cave God, Liangshan land, etc. in addition, there are some repertoires based on the stories of Mu Lian Zhuan, romance of the Three Kingdoms, and journey to the West. He is good at explaining events through large narrative lyrics, unfolding contradictions and shaping images. Singing in local dialect, except for the first type of repertoire with Duangong tune, the rest are familiar with the local people's Opera tune. Most Nuo operas only use percussion instruments such as gongs, drums and cymbals, except for a few areas in Hunan Province where suona is used at the end of the sentence. The roles of Nuo opera include Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou, and most of them are performed with masks. The mask is carved and painted with camphor wood, clove wood, poplar wood and other wood which is not easy to crack. According to the shape, it can be divided into whole face and half face. The whole face is carved with the hat and the whole face, while the half face is only carved above the nose, without mouth and chin. According to their identities, the characters can be divided into civil servants, military generals, old men, young women and immortals. The basic footwork of the performance is that the male role takes the right step, the vigorous step, the female role takes the broken step and the moving step. Because Nuo opera is performed with masks, it has a large range of movements and a simple and rough style.

Due to the different historical background and artistic influence, Nuo opera can be divided into Nuotang opera, Dixi opera and Yangxi opera. Dixi is a kind of Nuo opera performed by Tunpu, a descendant of the soldiers who left behind in Yunnan and Guizhou in the early Ming Dynasty. There are no folk life plays and gifted scholars and beauties plays. All of them are martial arts plays reflecting historical stories. Yang opera, on the other hand, was performed by master Duangong to the living after he finished the ritual. Therefore, it mainly performed small operas reflecting folk life, and its singing tune was mostly absorbed from folk operas such as Huagu and Huadeng.

Nuo opera is a combination of history, folk custom, folk religion and primitive drama, which contains rich cultural genes and has important research value. Nuo opera is mainly spread in the countryside. With the development of society, entertainment activities are constantly enriched, and the number of people willing to watch Nuo opera is decreasing, so it is difficult to inherit Nuo opera.

Wu'an city is located in the south of Hebei Province, 30 Li East of Handan city. Nuo opera in Wu'an has a long history. From the scale, lineup and role of Wu'an Nuo opera, it has the style of grand Nuo in Song Dynasty. Wu'an Nuo opera is rich in content, with various programs for entertaining gods and people, including team play, competition play, bamboo horse play, etc. The mask characters of Nuo opera are primitive and simple.

Nuo opera in Guyi village is a complex of traditional folk culture, which integrates sacrifice, team play, competition play and various folk art forms. The performance not only has the function of moralizing people's filial piety, but also shows people's good wishes for good weather, good harvest and social peace in the farming society.

The existence of Wu'an Nuo opera provides empirical data for the study of the occurrence and development of Chinese ritual drama, which has important research value. Zhangzhu, a special role in Wu'an Nuo opera, is the remains of zhuganzi, the leading actor of Song Jin Zaju opera. Nuo opera in Wu'an represents four forms in the development of Chinese ritual drama.