I. Historical origin of Xiushan lanterns
Xiushan lanterns, which originated in the Tang and Song dynasties, continued in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, and flourished in the Qing dynasty, is a kind of comprehensive performing art integrating songs, dances, dramas, and folk blowing and beating with song and dance performances.
Xiushan County is known as the "hometown of lanterns and songs and dances", and its lantern plays originated from the Han Dynasty's "Lantern Play", which was later integrated into the song and dance performance skills of the Tujia and Miao ethnic groups in Xiushan and developed into an art form with a novel style, moving songs and dances, and favored by the people of the Han Dynasty, the Tujia, and the Miao ethnic groups.
The Xiushan lantern is a simple, witty, lyrical and beautiful art that combines singing, dancing and rhyming, accompanied by percussion and string music. According to historical records, it originated in the Yuan Dynasty's "Jumping Tuan Tuan" (i.e., men and women singing and dancing on the square table, even with singing), and in the Ming Dynasty, it was integrated into some of the song and dance performance forms of the Cai Cha Opera, which was first known as "lanterns". Later, it was developed into a flower stage, lantern unilateral drama and modern lantern drama.
Xiushan lantern show every year from the beginning of the second day of the first month, to the end of the first month of the fifteenth, after sixteen called "thick-faced lights". The traditional performance of Xiushan lanterns, the site is not limited, dams, halls, streets and alleys, as long as there is a more than ten square meters of flat ground can be. Due to the performance form and performance style of lantern classes around the performance content needs, there is also a need for special venues. Such as the performance of "high table lanterns", you need the traditional old-fashioned wooden square table two to three, the performance of the duo in several tables overlap the height of the desktop lantern duo performance. Lantern small theater, need to "set up the stage", simple set, usually in the dam on the soil platform performance, or in the foot of the building performance. After hundreds of years of development, Xiushan lanterns gradually formed a unique style of folk art.
II. Artistic characteristics of Xiushan lanterns
1.Song arrangement
Initially, the performance was a small lantern play with heavy singing and dancing components, and then influenced by Dian Opera and other big operas, the lantern opera artists also absorbed the related tunes and changed, expanded and renovated them to create a new tune of the lantern opera when they were improving the more twisted and complicated plots of the play. 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, the tunes of Xiushan Hua Lantern Opera include various folk songs and ditties, which occupy an important position in the whole opera.
2. Rhythm
The performance of Hua Lantern Opera pays much attention to dance, and the basic rhythm of Hua Lantern Dance is "wai", and there is the saying that "no wai is not a lamp". The viewer to see the lantern dance is to see whether "wai to group", that is to say, waist, hips twisting amplitude is large, whether flexible and coordinated, natural posture. And especially focus on the natural posture, the foot shape is not taut, not hooked, naturally lifted, out; hand posture should be with the footsteps of the natural swing, like a willow dance, so the "wai step" hand style called "wind swinging willow".
Wai step is the foundation of lantern "dance step". In the "Fai", the twisting of the waist and hips should be matched with the bending and stretching of the knees, and the twisting of the hips should be bigger. In addition to this, there are other "Fai Steps" such as "Equal Point Steps", "Positive Fai", "Anti-Fai", "Ravishing Steps", "Slanting Steps to Send a Fan", "Snail Turning Back" and other Fai Steps. The dynamics of the waist in these movements should be emphasized. The various "wai steps" of lanterns often correspond to certain characters, such as the simplicity and generosity of "positive wai", the lyricism and relaxation of "female anti-wai", the arrogance and robustness of "big anti-wai", the brightness and vivaciousness of "male small anti-wai", and the suppleness and flexibility of "ravaged step". The "small Fai" is easy and lively, and the "big upside-down step" is lively and steady.
Flower lanterns in the "wai step" outside, dance body is also unique, which has a "turn step" and "jump step"." Turning step" has "wai tuck step turn", "cover fan anti-flower turn", "snowflake cover top turn", "small fish holding water", "rock eagle wings", "mandarin ducks draw legs", etc.; "jumping step" there is a "cross jump", "side stirrups jump", "toad jump", "back kick step jump", "jump paddle step", "carps through the river", "wulong stretching legs jump" and so on.
"Fai step" have hand movements with the props and fans in the hands of the "flower in the hands" and "fan flower" of the changes. Such as "in the hands of the flower" has "flat around the flower", "under the flower", "pick around the flower", "after the flower", "double around the flower", "side flinging towel", "small flinging towel", "back towel" and so on. Fan flower" is more, it is said that there are more than 70 kinds of changes, some names are also particularly poetic, such as "embrace the moon", "dragonfly water", "gold silk rolling embroidered ball", "snowflakes cover the top", "phoenix head nodding" and so on. These arrangements in the lantern opera added to the lantern opera song and dance color mood, flavor.
3. Music
Xiushan lanterns are popular for their melodious, fast-paced and unique songs, which have been widely circulated. The famous lantern songs, such as "Huang Yang Bian Tan" and "A handful of rapeseed", have made their way to the national hall of fame and are well-known both at home and abroad.
Xiushan lantern music, in addition to external musical components, but also a blend of local folk songs, songs, ditties, opera and other useful components, formed a local national style, flavor of the music form, melodious, novel transposition, structural norms, rhythmic distinctive, rich in dance, giving a person witty, fun, festive and joyful feeling.
4. Forms
After a long period of development and evolution, Xiushan lanterns are performed in the following forms: lantern duo (single lantern performed by two people), double lantern (double lantern performed by four people), lantern group dance (group lantern performed by more than one person), lantern theater (drama) and so on. The lyrics sung by the actors during the performance are called Hua Lantern Lyrics. The lantern words have a strong local flavor, state the content, express the plot, express emotions, and attract the audience. Among them, some lantern words absorbed some of the Han Chinese folk ditties to have the original lyrics of the tea ceremony, flower-drum opera and other landlord operas.
In addition to the lantern theater, the show only once a clown two roles, the role called the youngest sister, the ugly role called Lai Huazi or other names. When jumping, the youngest sister combed long, wearing a large skirt, the right hand holding a silk side of the flower folding fan, the left hand to take the flower colored scarf, straight waist, step Ding Ding step, singing and dancing, performing innocent and lively, witty, spicy role. Lai Huazi is the turban tied into the "half moon", wearing a lapel coat, red silk belt, a large fan in hand, stepping on a short pile step, with the "wind swinging willow" movement around the youngest sister, performing funny, witty characters, singing flexible sentence, can be long or short, both long songs, off-stage help, actors and audience communication, integration.
5. Performance Procedures
The performance of Xiushan lanterns has a complete set of procedures, including: setting up the lantern hall, starting the lanterns, jumping the lanterns, and quitting the lanterns.
In Xiushan lanterns, setting up the lantern hall is a performance activity with strong traditional rituals. Before the lanterns go out, they have to set up a lantern hall, enshrine the "Golden Flower Miss" and "Silver Flower Erniang" deities, and the lantern masters light incense and candles and burn paper money to honor the lantern gods, praying and blessing the lantern dancers to have a smooth journey and peace and good luck. After the worship ceremony, in the light of the hall and sing and dance. By the lamp master first lead singing "An bit", "singing bit", "open light", followed by singing "starting lamps tune", and will be performed to sing the tune again. After the lantern ceremony, the lantern class can go out to jump lanterns.
Dancing lanterns is the main performance activity of Xiushan lanterns. The lanterns are danced in the halls and courtyards of the people who receive the lanterns. First, they sing the tune of "Guandeng" and "Congratulations", and then sing "Thanks to the Lord" when they leave.
Resignation of lights, to the night of the first month of every year, lantern class in the riverside dam resignation ceremony, worship of the gods, singing "send lights tune", by the master of the palms of the lamps sang once during the Spring Festival all the singing of lanterns tunes (called the tune of the closing). Then the lanterns and the gods are burned, and the clothes of the lantern jumper are thrown over the fire to pray for a safe year for the lantern jumper.
Three. The main repertoire of Xiushan lanterns
Xiushan lanterns are mainly distributed in the area of Lanqiao, Solxi and Eresol in Xiushan, and the main repertoire includes: "Shepherd Boys Watching Cows", "Watching Cows Playing Chess", "Three Daughters-in-Law Honoring Longevity", "Barrel Maker", "Small Daughter-in-Law", "Plate of Flowers", "Cousin Plate of Flowers", "Companion Plate of Flowers", "Plate of Flowers in Three Bowls of Rice", "Flower Drunkenness", "Xu Teaching Her Children", "Xu Playing the Medium", "Jade Jar", "Down to Nanjing", "Jade Bottle", and "The Luck of the World". The Story of Selling Flowers, Five Cups of Wine, Three Bowls of Rice, Three Stars for a Son, Sisters of the Same Year Playing Caijing, Haunted Jiangzhou, Chen Gu Catching Pan, Four Seasons, Ten Thousand Flowers Pond, Bao'er Embracing Her Sister, The Tailor Stealing the Cloth, Brother Liu Beard Playing Chess, Fishing for Lives, Wang Damian Mending the Tank, Hundred Flowers Presenting the Sword, Anan Delivering the Rice, Delivering Newspaper Strips, and Haunted the Five Nights. There are more than 30 pieces in the program. Most of these small plays reflect the people's labor, love and daily life of the people, with lively and easy, funny and witty features, rich local flavor, although the content is monotonous and shallow, but for the people to enjoy.
Four. Inheritance value of Xiushan lanterns
In the long period of performance, Xiushan lanterns have formed the characteristics of dance, singing, drama, simulation, ethnicity, locality, program, mass and so on, which are loved by the general public. Rescuing and protecting Xiushan lanterns has important practical and academic value for enriching people's cultural life and promoting the study of Tujia folk music and dance art and its history.