Puxian Opera

The name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Puxian Opera

Applicant: Putian City, Fujian Province

Item No.: 147

Project No.: Ⅳ - 3

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Fujian Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Putian City, Fujian Province

Protection unit: Putian Art Research Institute

Introduction to Puxian Opera

Applicant: Putian City, Fujian Province

Puxian opera, formerly known as Xinghua opera, is one of the oldest existing operas in China. In the Southern Song Dynasty, under the influence of song zaju, Xinghua Zaju appeared in Putian and Xianyou, Fujian Province, which combined singing, dancing and reciting to perform stories. In the early Ming Dynasty, Xinghua opera absorbed the artistic factors of Kunshan, Yiyang, Yuyao, Haiyan and other tunes to form Xinghua tune, which was used to perform Xinghua opera. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this opera style had further development. In 1954, Xinghua opera was officially renamed Puxian opera. Puxian opera is mainly popular in Putian and Xianyou areas of Fujian Province, and also in Xinghua dialect areas of central and southern Fujian Province.

There are more than 5000 traditional operas in Puxian opera, among which Wang Kui, Zhang Xie Zhuangyuan, Liu Zhiyuan and CAI Bozhe retain the artistic style of Nanxi to a certain extent, and mulianxi, which has been performed for seven days, obviously retains the performance form of early Chinese opera.

In the performance system of Puxian opera, there are some procedural actions with distinctive local color, such as snake walking, bird jumping, floor sweeping skirt, snails touching, qixialiu, etc., and some actions leave traces of puppet opera performance. The singing structure of Puxian opera belongs to Qupai style, with more than 1000 music Qupai and more than 300 gongs and drums.

Puxian opera has a long history, broad and profound, rooted in the folk soil, accumulated a large number of dramatic art factors from Song Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, and transmitted rich information. It is a "living fossil" to study the art form of ancient Chinese opera. In addition, Puxian opera also has an impact on the folk customs, language, social psychology, living habits, culture and art of Putian and Xianyou areas.

Since the beginning of the new century, due to various reasons, the brain drain of Puxian opera is serious, and there is no successor. The traditional performing arts are on the verge of being lost. Facial makeup, costumes and musical tunes are being assimilated by foreign operas and other art forms, and the uniqueness of art is weakening. Puxian opera, an ancient type of opera, is in a state of self survival and self destruction. It is urgent to take effective measures to support and protect it.