Water town social drama

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: water town social drama

Applicant: Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province

Project No.: 1008

Project No.: Ⅹ - 101

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province

Protection units: Shaoxing cultural center, Shaoxing Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center

A brief introduction to water town social drama:

Applicant: Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province

As a folk activity with drama performance as the core in rural and urban areas of Zhejiang Province, Shuixiang community opera has the characteristics of combining sacrifice to gods and entertaining people, and is popular in Shaoxing area. Shaoxing's social drama can be roughly divided into niangui drama, temple fair drama, Ping'an drama and Xunyang drama, among which temple fair drama is the main type. The performance program of social drama is relatively fixed, and it is basically carried out in the order of "making a scene - colorful drama - protruding drama - grand drama - ending". Caitou opera and Tutou opera are usually performed in the daytime, while major opera, namely Zhengxi, starts in the evening. Major plays are usually dominated by historical plays and family plays, and the minor plays interspersed in the middle are relatively fixed.

The stage of social drama can be divided into temple stage, ancestral hall stage, river stage (water stage), street stage and grass stage. Among them, river stage (water stage) is the most characteristic, which is called "water stage". This is a kind of outstretched stage with the characteristics of water town. The backstage is on the shore and the front desk is in the water. It creates a condition for the audience to watch the performance on the water and on the shore at the same time.

Shaoxing Shuixiang community opera not only collects and reflects the performance styles of different operas, but also fully displays the local rich and colorful folk customs. For thousands of years, Shaoxing Shuixiang community opera not only undertakes the task of high platform education, but also plays the role of entertainment, which has gradually developed into the most solemn, active and widely participated festival celebration in Jiangnan. The water village social drama is deeply rooted in the folk and loved by the audience. It can still be seen in the cities and villages of Shaoxing.