Floral Lantern Opera was developed from folk songs and dances of lanterns, tea lights, ground flower drums and "tunes". It mainly consists of Western Hunan Flower Lantern Opera, Northern Hunan Flower Lantern Opera represented by Pingjiang Flower Lantern Opera and Southern Hunan Flower Lantern Opera represented by Jiahe Flower Lantern Opera. It is popular in western Hunan. Folk customary known as Mayang lanterns, Sangzhi lanterns, Baoding lanterns, etc., are with the Yang opera, Nuo opera combined with the development of lantern theater. Western Hunan lantern opera predecessor lanterns, because of the birth of the light festival race and named. Jishou called "tune lanterns", Sangzhi called "playing lanterns", Yongshun called "ground lanterns" and so on.
Flower lanterns in the formation of the form of song and dance, the artists after years of practice, the life of a variety of movements and folk martial arts to artistic processing, creating and developing a different style of cultural and martial arts lanterns. The cultural lanterns are beautiful and unrestrained, and the martial arts lanterns are robust and strong.
Xiangxi lantern theater initial formation, and first appeared in today's Phoenix, Mayang area, is in the Qing Xianfeng, Tongzhi years. At that time, Yang opera, Nuo Tang opera, Chenhe high oral cavity, Changde Hanban has been performed in some places in western Hunan, to the lanterns of a certain impact, so the song and dance singing lanterns in the content of the main new development, that is, folk stories and other plays adapted for lantern opera singing, such as "Xianglian break into the Palace", "Shanbo visit friends" and so on. The singing tunes of Xiangxi Lantern Opera are mostly derived from folk songs and ditties. Pairs of lanterns and lantern operas are mostly sung in lantern tunes, and the tunes maintain the structural characteristics of folk songs, with different degrees of operaization. Due to the continuous expansion of the subject matter, the line increased, singing tunes are widely adopted, melting Yang opera, Nuo opera, opera, opera, as well as other theater types of songs in a furnace and comprehensive development. That is, Xiangnan lantern theater, popular on both sides of the Chung Homeling River. Guiyang is called "Pair of Tunes", Chenxian is called "Ground Flower Drum", and Jiahe is called "Flower Lantern". There are more than 100 plays in Jiahe lantern plays, among which there are light and lively rural life plays, such as "Watching Flowers", "Playing Birds", etc., and more are whole plays reflecting family life and folk stories, such as "Bitter Tea Tale", "Golden Chuanhui", "Playing with Iron", "Liu Hai Playing with Toad" and so on.
Yunnan lantern opera originated from folk lantern songs and dances, is the formation of the late Qing Dynasty and early popular local opera in Yunnan. In the process of popularization due to the influence of local speech, folk songs and the formation of different singing and performing styles. Yunnan lantern opera has three branches: Kunming lantern opera, Yuxi lantern opera and Yaoan lantern opera. Among them, Kunming lantern opera retains the largest number of Ming and Qing songs and repertoire, and its accompanying instrument is mainly the huqin; Yaoan lantern opera has a strong coloring of folk songs, and it is mainly accompanied by flute and clapper; Yuxi lantern opera is the earliest in terms of innovation, and so it is known as the "New Lantern", whose repertoire and performance form are more influenced by Yunnan opera. Its repertoire and performance forms are greatly influenced by Dian Opera. Initially, the performances were small lantern plays with heavy singing and dancing components, and then under the influence of Dian Opera and other big operas, lantern play artists also absorbed the relevant tunes to change, expand and renovate them when they were improving the plays with more complicated twists and turns, and created new lantern plays. The new lantern tune adopts the arranging method of connecting tunes, which has some characteristics of plate music and is suitable for the performance of traditional opera. In addition to this, Yunnan lantern opera tunes have a variety of folk songs and ditties, which occupy an important position in the whole opera. Lantern Opera performance is very important to dance, Yunnan lantern dance is the basic characteristics of "wai", folk "no wai not light" said. "Fai step" are hand movements with the hands of the props and fan "in the hands of the flower" and "fan flower" of the various changes is its specific performance. The songs and dances in the lantern theater are conducive to highlighting the plot and enriching the characters.
The most prosperous period of Yunnan lantern opera was from the 1950s to the 1960s, when not only a number of famous lantern actors such as Shi Baofeng, Xiong Jiechen and Yuan Liu'an emerged, but also the repertoire of the Yunnan opera stage, such as "Exploring the Dry Sisters", "Ferry", "Liu Cheng looking at the vegetables" and "Three Visits to Relatives", etc., which have gained great reputation in Yunnan. Xiong Jiechen was one of the earliest artists to put the "dustpan lamp" performed in the rural sun field on the stage, and he was good at acting as a young man, famous for playing Liang Shanbo in "Shanbo Visits Friends" and Xu Xian in "The Legend of the White Snake", and his performances had a strong Yunnan Yuxi vernacular flavor.
Guizhou Lantern Opera is mainly popular in Dushan, Zunyi, Bijie, Anshun, Tongren and other places, with different titles. In the north and west of Guizhou, it is called Lantern Folder Opera, in the Dushan area it is called Tai Lantern, and in the Sinan and Yinjiang areas it is called Gao Tai Opera or Flower Lantern Opera. Roughly originated in the Tang and Song dynasties, popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Xujiaba, Wenjiadian, Dahuba, Dabafang, Tangtou and other lanterns are prevalent.
Sinan Tujia lanterns not only have a long history, but also a variety of forms of performance, initially a duo, which "Door Doo turn", "Eagle wings", "side of the fish in the water", "knee planted flowers" and "Su Qin Negative Sword" and other dance movements are very representative of the song and dance, very moving. The late Ming and early Qing dynasties developed to three people, or a man and two women, called the double phoenix sunrise, or two men and a woman called the double lion playing ball. There are also places where two men and two women called double lanterns. Danjiao also known as the youngest sister, men dressed as women, tied fake hair braids, wrapped in a turban, wearing a flower skirt, the right hand holding a silk flower folding fan, the left hand holding a colorful scarf. The clown, also known as Gan, wears a leather jacket, a belt, a melon skin hat on his head, and holds a large fan in his right hand. Dry brother around the youngest sister around, spinning each other singing and dancing, dry brother dance moves colorful, humorous and ridiculous.
Sinan Tujia lanterns to the end of the Qing Dynasty, due to the influence of foreign theater culture, has developed into a lantern play - Gao Tai opera, which is a big leap in the history of lanterns. During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, the Sinan Tujia lanterns were changed from indoor performances to short stage performances in courtyards and dams, which the Tujia people called short stage plays. In 18th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, Luo Fanglin, a native of Sinan, returned to his hometown from Yunnan, built a formal stage in his hometown, and moved the Tujia Short Stage Opera to a high stage. Gao Tai Opera thus got its name. Formation of high-tai opera with strong national characteristics, immediately shocked the county, and even across the county line, folk, regardless of red and white celebrations, New Year's festivals, are scrambling to invite the troupe out of the play.
After the founding of New China, the Sinan Tujia lanterns have been greatly developed, in 1956, the county people's government organized lantern performances; in 1958, in the enrichment, expanding on the basis of the lantern troupe was built. Sinan Tujia singing lanterns have never had a woman to participate in. 1956, the county lanterns will be performed, women are required to play the role of Dan, Tujia old artist Tian Yingxi mobilized everywhere, and finally the Xu family dam two 15-year-old girl Xu Chaozhen, Xu Yifu invited. Tian Yingxi also changed the ancient singing style of ugly and dan roles from husband and wife to brother and sister. This kind of singing style has been maintained until the 21st century. 1958, attending the province's cultural and artistic performances, Tian Yingxi and others created a large-scale song and dance "socialism is good" won the high praise of provincial leaders and experts. 1995, the lantern drama "happy to meet each other" and lantern song and dance "phoenix and dragon flower candles" to participate in the province's lantern performances, were awarded the outstanding program performance award and creative award. It was developed on the basis of local folk songs and dances in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. At first, the lanterns were called Cai Hua Lantern, only song and dance, and then in the song and dance to add a small play, and then later by the influence of foreign opera, the development of the performance of the play. Initially, the lantern theater performance form is simple, to perform folk drama, the subject matter of rural life and folk stories, there are "New Year's Eve", "Sisters to see the flowers", "three visits to relatives", "Liu Sanmei picking water", "cattle to stop his wife" and other plays. Its performance is characterized by "twisting", and the actors often use folding fans and handkerchiefs as props to express their emotions. The dance steps include two and a half steps, four-square steps, fast and slow three steps, pheasant steps, shuttle steps, broken rice steps, short pile steps, women's field steps, fast steps, etc.; the fan plays with a small flower fan, a large flower fan, a cross-fan, a cover fan, a poor fan, a butterfly fan, etc.; the body has a rhinoceros cow looking at the moon, planting flowers in the knee, a yellow dragon wrapped around the waist, the bottom of the sea to find the moon, the top of the snowflake, the eagle spreading its wings, etc.. Some of the tunes of Guizhou Lantern Opera are more dramatic than others, and some of them are derived from lyrical folk songs, among which "Embroidered Lotus Bags" is the most famous. In the course of its popularity, Guizhou Lantern Opera gradually broke away from the song and dance program of "lamp, fan, and pas", and the footwork was no longer limited to "two small" and "three small", but was divided into "pure", "last", "old", "colorful", etc. The opera was also divided into "colorful", "colorful", "colorful", "colorful", and "colorful". The music is also not limited to "two small" and "three small", but has the division of "pure", "last", "old" and "colored". The music tunes also expanded and changed on the basis of the original tunes, and gradually formed their own "plate accent" and "tune". Commonly used plate cadences are the introduction of the tone, trip tone, road tone, counting boards, scolding boards, crying boards, a word tone, out of the horse door, the Yin two spring, the hillside goat, the mourning son, the four flat tone, and so on. Commonly used tunes include "Four Little Scenes", "Four Seasons of Love", "Moon Tune", "Husband Sending Tune", "Combing and Dressing", "White Peony", "Bigu Tune", "Tea Sending Tune", "Flower Watching Tune", and "Snow Flower Drifting". In the performance of the plot and characterization, the board cavity and tunes are used in an integrated way, forming the silk-string and lantern tunes, the table lantern tunes and the gongs and drums tunes, which make the musical expression richer. Sinan Tujia Lantern Opera into the national Nuo opera and pendulum dance in some of the components, forming its own characteristics, its beautiful melodious singing, rich local flavor and light opera compatible with the unique national style reflecting the humanities of the Wujiang River Basin.