Yao Opera

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

Applicant: Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province

Project No.: 709

Project No.: Ⅳ - 108

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province

Protection unit: Yuyao Yao opera protection and inheritance Center

About Yao Opera:

Applicant: Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province

Yao opera was born in Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province, the birthplace of "Yuyao tune", one of the "four Tunes" of Nanxi opera. It is popular in Yuyao, Cixi and the east of Cao'e River in Shangyu. Yao opera belongs to tanhuang type of Wu Opera. Its predecessor is "Yuyao tanhuang", also known as "Yingge opera" or "Yangge opera". It is developed from folk rap art such as quedongdong and vernacular folk in Yuyao, and folk songs and dances such as car lamp, dry boat and tea basket. Up to now, it has a history of more than 250 years.

Yao opera is rich in traditional repertoire and close to people's psychology. There are 72 kinds of Yao opera, such as "Da Chuang Lou" and "Qiu Xiang song Cha". Most of them are "duizi opera", "three small operas" and multi angle "one scene drama" reflecting common people's life and love between men and women. His performance is simple and natural, with a strong flavor of local life, free from the shackles of opera program, focusing on the characterization of characters and the embodiment of true feelings, singing, reciting and performing with humor. Yao opera adopted the form of male and female co performance earlier, with the birth and the Dan in the same palace and different tune. Its singing music is rich in folk art flavor, with bright rhythm, lively and fluent, mainly including "Pingsi" and "tight board" two kinds of basic harmony, dozens of auxiliary minor zaqu. The two basic tunes have both lyric and narrative functions, which can be used independently and can be converted to each other.

Yao opera has a deep mass foundation and is loved by the vast rural audience in eastern Zhejiang. In the long-term development process, it has deeply influenced Shaoxing tanhuang, Tongxiang Huagu opera, xiaogeban (the predecessor of Yue Opera) and other local operas, and strongly promoted the development of these operas.