Hunan Flower Drum Opera is a type of Han Chinese opera genre in Hunan Province. As a general term for flower-drum opera genres throughout Hunan. Due to the different popularity of the region there are Changsha Flower Drum Opera, Yueyang Flower Drum Opera, Henzhou Flower Drum Opera, Shaoyang Flower Drum Opera, Changde Flower Drum Opera, Yongzhou Flower Drum Opera and other six genres, which all have different artistic styles. Changsha Flower Drum Opera, with Changsha dialect as its stage language, is one of the more influential flower drum operas in Hunan. It is popular in Yiyang, Nanxian, Yuanjiang, Taojiang, Xihu (Dongting Lake was formerly divided into two districts, west and east), Changsha city, Ningxiang, Xiangyin, Wangcheng, Liuyang, Xiangtan, Zhuzhou and other places in Hunan Province. It was developed from rural labor songs, folk ditties and local flower drums (including beating flower drums, ground flower drums-flower drum lanterns) for more than 160 years.
In the stage of local flower drums, it is from "two little" (clown, little Dan) to "three little" (two little plus little Sheng), and then from "three little" to a variety of roles. However, the main role of "three little ones" is still an important feature of Changsha Flower Drum Opera.
In the traditional repertoire of Changsha Flower Drum Opera, there are a large number of small plays and folded plays, which are the most characteristic and representative of the repertoire. The small plays include the "pair play" and the "three small plays". Most of the small operas are developed on the basis of mountain songs, fishing songs, ditties, ground flower drums, bamboo horse lanterns and so on. Folding plays are often performed separately from the main plays, and they are the most popular plays in Changsha Flower Drum Opera. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the traditional repertoire of Changsha Flower Drum Opera was excavated and adapted, relying on the cooperation of veteran artists and literary workers. The focus of processing and organizing includes fifty plays such as Liu Hai Chopping Woodcutter, Lulin Meeting, Yin Yang Fan, Nan Zhuang Collecting Rent, Liu Hai Playing Golden Toad, and so on.
In the music, it belongs to the "tune plate linkage", the method of linkage is based on the need to shape the image and the requirement of maintaining the unity and coordination of the singing layout, linking multiple tunes in the same key to achieve the purpose of characterization and presentation of the plot. However, in terms of expression, it is supplemented by plate changes to make up for the shortcomings of the tunes.
The sound of Changsha Flower Drum Opera is divided into three main categories: "Chuan tune", "gong tune" and "minor tune". The first two categories are called the "main tunes", which have a fixed vocal format and melodic characteristics; the latter category of tunes has a large variation of melodies, rhythms, and modes, and basically maintains the original structure of the folk songs. The music of Changsha Flower Drum Opera is derived from folk songs and classical tunes.
Changsha Flower Drum Opera has developed the roles of Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou on the basis of the "three little ones". However, the clowns, small dans and small shengs still represent the unique artistic style of this opera. The clowns are divided into pleated clowns, short-bodied clowns, official-clothed clowns, rotten cloth clowns, and milk-sheng clowns.
The accompaniment band of Changsha Flower Drum Opera is divided into civil and military scenes. In the cultural scene, there are big tubes and suona. The big tube is the main instrument, shaped like an erhu, made of bamboo tube and snake skin, with a bright and thick tone, used to support the cavity and keep the tone when accompanying; the suona is divided into a big suona and a small suona, mainly used to play over the door. There are drums, gongs (Su gongs), banknotes (Han banknotes), small banknotes and small gongs in the martial arts field. The beat is "kozi" (i.e., rectangular clappers). Yueyang Flower Drum Opera is popular in Yueyang, Linxiang, and Tongcheng and Chongyang in Hubei. The Qing Dynasty Jiaqing "Baling County Records" has a record of the flourishing flower-drum opera in the rural areas around Baling.
From the music, Yueyang Flower Drum Opera's main voice is called "qin cavity". "Qin cavity" tunes are [single sentence], [clip sentence], [dream tune], [yin tune], [mournful tune], etc. Other folk songs and ditties, such as [the], [the], [the], [the], [the], [the], [the], [the], [the], [the]. Other folk songs, such as [Sifu tune], [Acacia tune], [Wubing], [Ten Embroideries], [Returning to the Door], [Ten Cups of Wine], and [Plum Blossom Leader], are often interspersed with it. The influence of the "qin cavity" by the Han tune is very obvious. Yueyang Flower Drum Opera has a lot of repertoire is also based on the "qin cavity".
Yueyang Flower Drum Opera "qin cavity" about the end of the Qing Dynasty to the southeast of Hubei Province, Tongcheng, Chongyang, etc., because of the music of the same origin, the language is similar, so by the local people's favorite. And into the local folk songs and folk music, flower cavity ditty. Gradually formed a new local theater, called "fiddle play".
The main repertoire of the opera includes "Thinking of My Husband", "Mending the Back Corset", "The Record of Lulin", "Double Harmony Lotus", "Double Selling of Wine", and "The Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden".
Whether it's the "qin" or the "chuan tune" strings, they are accompanied by strings such as flower drums and big tubes, and their pronunciation is rich and simple.
The second type of voice of Yueyang Flower Drum Opera and Changsha Flower Drum Opera is called "gong cavity". The "gong cavity" is also called "gong cavity", that is, singing accompanied by gongs and drums, without hosting strings and vocals to help the cavity. Before the liberation of Jingzhou flower-drum opera is also accompanied by gongs and drums, the human voice and help, only in the 1950s to join the cultural field accompaniment. Whether it is Yueyang or Changsha flower-drum opera in the local drums and gongs music such as [wooden skin tone], [Trojan horse tone], [resignation store tone], [four or six tone], [eight with the brand] on the basis of absorbing the Han tune of Pihuang certain plate music, the formation of [guide plate], [three streams], [rapid plate], [scattered boards] boards and other combinations of structure.
Yueyang Flower Drum Opera, Changsha Flower Drum Opera, the third voice called "ditty", for local folk music, with a strong local vernacular color. Folk songs such as [picking tea tune], [Wang Niang tune], [inverted plate tune], [four seasons green], [Cailian boat tune], [wash vegetable heart] and so on. But as the door, the music also used some of the gongs and drums of the Han tune, such as the [Ten Thousand Years of Happiness], [A Flower], [Puffing Moths], [Order of Victory], [Willow Shaking Gold], [Pong Makeup Table], and so on.
Yueyang Flower Drum Opera and Changsha Flower Drum Opera became independent opera types, and the earliest performances were "two small", i.e., once a lifetime, and "three small", i.e., once a lifetime, a clown's "three small".
Because of the low degree of minor operatic opera, it absorbed the music of the Han opera, which is adjacent to and closer to the language and voice, forming the later "qin cavity" or "Chuan tone" and some "gong cavity and some "gong" music. And in the process of long-term stage performance into the local music, according to the melodic characteristics of the relatively fixed vocal format. Flower Drum Opera refers to this as the "main tune". The formation of the "main tune" made up for the insufficiency of the minor tunes and the insufficiency of the song boards, so that Flower Drum Opera had the musical conditions to perform this opera. The Huadu Opera of Henzhou is a small folk drama popular in the southern Hunan province. The name of the opera varies from place to place, and it is called "Horse Lantern" in the area of Hengyang, Hennan, Leiyang, Changning, "Ground Flower Drum" in the area of Youxian, Chaling, "Flower Lantern" in the area of Anren, and "Flower Lantern" in the area of Yongxing, Jiangzuo, and "Flower Drum" in the area of Jiangzuo. Jiangzuo area is also called "lanterns", Jiangyue is called "singing". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was called Hengyu Opera, and in 1954, the Hunan Provincial Bureau of Culture named Hengyang Flower Drum Opera, which was named Henzhou Flower Drum Opera in 1983 when the Chinese Drama Journal - Hunan Volume was compiled.
Zhang Tingyu (1910-1966) was known by the stage name Xue Saezi. He was a performer of the Henzhou Flower Drum Opera. He was a native of Hengyang County. When he was six years old, his father died and his mother married, so he was left alone and without support, and was taken in by the sorcerer Tang Chengshu, who took pity on him and adopted him as his son. At the age of nine, he learned from Deng Jinsheng to sing the Henzhou Flower Drum Opera. He became famous in the countryside for his performance of "An An Sending Rice", and was very much loved by his teacher, who often carried him on his back to perform in various places. When he was a little older, he practiced the Dan line, and because of his inverted voice, he switched to learning the scene (musician). In the 19th year of the Republic of China (1930), Tingyu's voice gradually recovered, and Wang Chunhe, the master of the Descendants' class, persuaded him to learn the small student from Qu Rongqing. His first performance as Zhang Jinsheng in "The Meeting of the Golden Chushion" won him a standing ovation because of his handsome costume, big eyes, and delicate performance. From then on, "Xue Saeko" became famous in the flower-drum art world of Henzhou for more than thirty years. Zhang Tingyu was good at playing the poor scholar, with "Yang Chunlong" and "Zhu Baichen" as his masterpieces. He played Yang Chunlong, in the "East Pavilion meeting" a section (Sichuan crying skin), sang a lingering, tearful. His singing voice is very distinctive, powerful mouth, words into the ear, cavity with the word line, melodious. Yang Chunlong plays the fishing drums even better, exposing the despicable behavior of Liu Hongji, who loves the rich and the poor, in a playful manner, which is so enjoyable that one never tires of watching it. He played Zhu Baichen, in the "noisy marriage" scene, the naive contrast to Cui's savagery, Zhu Baichen's poor but not vulgar, naive but not stupid character performance is just right. Zhou Enlan, who played Cui's role, said, "When acting with Mr. Zhang, he can pull him into the play, and he can act well even if he doesn't know how to act". In 1955, Zhang Tingyu took part in the second Hunan Provincial Opera Observatory, playing Wei Kuiyuan in the opera "Water Runs Over the Blue Bridge". This was a one-act play for a young student, with equal emphasis on singing and acting. His acting skills are superb, especially when he acted to the water on the bridge, the character mood, the water level, the Chinese Opera Academy Luo Heru, Guo Hancheng, Hu Sha and other experts praise, won the first prize for actors. He has played a wide range of roles, including Zhang Tianshi in "Chasing Fish", the humorous and witty Big Sister in "Liu Hai Chopping Woodsmen", the sophisticated Huang Boshi in "The Card of Life and Death", and the dignified military political commissar in "The Red Sun of Ke Shan". His new cadences (Xihu Erliu), (Xihu Rolling Skin) and (Sanchuan Tune and Several Boards) have become the preserved cadences of the Flower Drum Opera of Hengyu. Zhang Tingyu was a member of the Chinese Dramatists Association, a director of the Hunan Dramatists Association, and a member of the Hengyang City Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He was the director of the Hengyang City Flower Drum Opera Troupe from 1950 until his death. (Source: Chinese Opera Journal - Hunan Volume)
Zhang Tingyu (1910-1966) was a famous minor actor of Hengyang Flower Drum Opera. He was a native of Zhang Xinya in Jiulidu, Hengyang County. At the age of six, his father died and his mother married, and his master, Mr. Tang Chengfu, took pity on him and adopted him as his son. Tang had apprentices Deng Jinsheng and Deng Mingshan who also practiced flower-drums, so he taught Zhang. At the age of nine, he joined the Desheng class with his master, and performed with his fellow apprentices in small plays such as "Grinding Tofu" and "Crossing the River". He played the role of An An in "An An Delivering Rice", and his performance of "Seeing Mother in the Nunnery" was so heartfelt that it was hard for mother and son to part, which brought tears to his eyes. When she was a little older, she worked as a dan, but when she lost her voice, she was despised and bullied, and then she switched to practicing as a musician and learned from her teacher, Dynasty Hei. In the nineteenth year of the Republic of China (1930), Wang Chunhe, the master of the Desheng class, sympathized with Tingyu's life and sufferings, and hired him with a full salary of ten paws and advised him to learn the role of the youngest student, teaching him several plays of the youngest student, such as "A Visit to a Friend - A Meeting of the Writers" and "Yang Chunlong Writes About Retreating from the Marriage". After that, his voice was restored, soft and rhythmic. In the same year, he performed in Hengyang "Yiyuan" as Zhang Jinsheng in "Jinchuanhui". Because of his Danxing skills, he was able to play the part of the play in which a man dressed up as a woman with great skill and delicacy, which made him famous for a long time. He did not think it was enough, and then worshipped the Ronghua class Qu Rongqing as a teacher, learning "anti-love", "Blue Bridge Club", "Daban Cave", "robbing the bride to lose her sister" and other traditional plays in the text of the military young, year-round performances in Hengyang, Leiyang, Changning, Chenzhou, Hengshan, etc., the work of the art of daily progress.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the government set up the Hengyang City Hengyu Opera Task Force, with Zhang Tingyu as its vice-captain. 1955, he took part in the second Hunan Provincial Opera Observatory, playing Wei Kui-Yuan in the opera "Blue Bridge Meeting", which was highly praised by the Chinese Opera Academy's Luo Hanru, Guo Hancheng and other specialists, and was awarded the first prize for the actor. 1956, he took part in a workshop for actors and actresses organized by the Ministry of Culture, and was honored by Mei Mei, who was the first to attend the workshop. In 1956, he attended a workshop for actors organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Central Committee, and was taught by Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu and other masters of the art. 1950, he was selected as the director of the Hengyang City Flower Drum Opera Troupe, and although he had a heavy administrative workload, he still participated in the performances, and no matter whether he played the leading role or the supporting roles, he was very conscientious and meticulous. He has played "Meng Lijun" in the Yuan Chengzong, "Liu Hai play Golden Toad" in the fox sister, "life and death card" in the Huang Boshi, "Golden Scales" in the Zhang Tianshi, raw, Dan, net, ugly, play to the character of the very different. She has a wide range of roles, both for insiders and outsiders. He is also very successful in playing roles in modern theater. He played a retired cadre in
Zhang Tingyu was not highly educated, but he was good at absorbing and innovative. In the early fifties, he learned from Changsha (Xihu tune), and after studying and improving it with musicians, he developed the plate style, replacing the southern and northern routes, and ending the history of flower-drum opera interspersed with Xiang opera's vocal cadence. When rehearsing the "Life and Death Plaque - Farewell Daughter", there was a long section of lyrics, and there was no applicable tune for a while. He created his own (Sanchuan tune) several boards, such as sobbing, very distinctive, has now become one of the preserved cadences of the flower-drum opera in Hengyu. Changde Flower Drum Opera is mainly popular in Changde, Taoyuan, Hanshou, Linli, Dayong and Cili. It originated from the folk "tea picking lamp" and "car lamp", and flowed into the city at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Changsha Daily News during the Xuantong period, Changde banned "lanterns * theater" records, because of this, forcing the later flower-drum opera class and Hanban co-starring in the co-starring directly by the influence of Changde Han opera. Before liberation, many flower-drum opera artists learn Han opera, into the Han class, the performance is often flower-drum, Han tune "two pots", locally known as this class for the "two whirling class". This situation has continued until after the liberation.
The music of Changde is also "Chuan tune", "playing gong cavity" and "small tune". The main repertoire includes "Lin Ying Guan Hua", "Jumping on the Powder Wall", "Picking Mushrooms", "Double Descending from the Mountain", and the post-liberation adaptation of "The Death of Sister You Erjie". The new modern opera "Village Veterinarian".
Hunan Flower Drum Opera, in addition to the vocal music, many traditional repertoires were moved from Han Opera, and it is said that there are several hundred of them, such as "Song Jiang Killing Xi", "Mei Long Playing Phoenix", "Guan Wang Temple Burning Fragrance", "Samuel Yin Delivering the Son", "Pavilion of Qingfeng", and "Catching Pan".