Nuo opera (Dong Nuo opera)

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

Applicant: Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province

Project No.: 233

Project No.: Ⅳ - 89

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Hunan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province

Protection unit: cultural center of Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County

Introduction to Nuo opera (Dong Nuo opera)

Applicant: Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan 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. the characters can be divided into literati, generals, old men, young women, immortals and so on. 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.

"Dong Dong Tui" is popular in Tianjing village, Silu village, Gongxi Township, Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province. It is named after the performance of "Dong Dong Tui" because it jumps in the sound of "Dong Dong Dong" (drum) and "Tui" (a small gong with a protruding sound in the middle).

The origin of "dongdongtui" is difficult to investigate. The earliest residents of Tianjing village were Dong people with the surname of long. They moved from Jingzhou in the 17th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty (1419). "Dong Dong Tui's head is in Jingzhou and its tail is in the patio," said a person surnamed long According to this inference, this kind of Nuo opera may have come from Jingzhou in Ming Dynasty.

In the old days of Tianjing village, there were Pangu temple and Feishan temple. During the Spring Festival, each temple took turns to offer sacrifices, and "Dong Dong Tui" was always performed. Every time natural disasters or pestilence, we should also sing "Dong Dong Tui". "Dong Dong Tui" is a dance with simple plot, and part of it is a Nuo opera with the embryonic form of drama. All the singing is in Dong language. Its repertoire includes "jumping on the land", "a leper stealing an ox" and "an old man pushing a cart", which reflect the life of the nation; there are also "Guan Gong catching Diao Chan" and "Gucheng Hui", which are three kingdoms dramas with Guan Gong as the protagonist. The music of "dongdongtui" is mostly developed from local folk songs and folk songs. The common tunes are "Liuliu tune", "Shiyin tune", "chanting tune", "Leige tune", etc. When "Dong Dong Tui" sings, all the characters wear masks. There are 36 masks commonly used, which are called "cross eyes".

The performance of "Dong Dong Tui" is carried out in the dance. The actor's feet are always in harmony with the "gongs and drums", stepping on the triangle and constantly beating. According to the old artist, the dance of stepping on a triangle is based on the body of the cow. The head and two front feet of the cow are a triangle, and the tail and two back feet of the cow are a triangle. It is Dong's farming culture that gives birth to "Dong Dong Tui".

In 1949, all the masks of "dongdongtui" were lost. After that, they used paper masks or make-up instead. In 1992, the local people redone the mask and restore the original appearance of "Dong Dong Tui". In recent years, "Dong Dong Tui" has attracted wide attention at home and abroad. Experts from Japan and South Korea have inspected it for many times, and all of them have given high praise.