Yu Opera
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Yu Opera (Henan)
Yu Opera ceaselessly inherits and reforms the form of Henan Bangzi. The abbreviation of Henan was “YU” after the founding of the People's Republic of China. So, the Henan Opera got its name “Yu Opera”. The Yu Opera is called Bang Play in the north area of Anhui province and Bangzi Play in some parts of Shandong, Jiangxi. The Yu Opera is mainly popular in the area of Yellow River and Huaihe River. Being the maximal local play, the Yu Opera has its special Yu troupe spreading in Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Beijing, Shanxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Taiwan.
Henan Yu Opera
The history of Yu Opera traces to late Ming Dynasty or early Qing Dynasty (in mid 17th century's China). Originally, the opera was sung only by human voices without any musical accompaniment. It was easy to sing so that it had been very popular in central China. The origin of the Chinese opera genre was either from Qinqiang Drama in Shaanxi Province, or from northern folk songs. However, many Chinese believe that Yu Opera was developed from local ancient singing arts, because during late Ming Dynasty, Henan folk songs had been very popular.
History and Development of Yu Opera
There are many different versions to the story of the origin of Yu Opera but it is commonly agreed that the history of Yu Opera can be traced back to the mid-late Ming dynasty. It began as a kind of folk music that spread throughout the Henan province and it was during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) that Yu Opera became popular among the upper class. According to recollections of aged artists, in 1912 when they studied the art of Yu Opera, the most famous ten counties within Henan where the Yu Opera was popular were Xiangfu (nowadays Kaifeng), Qi, Chenliu(now a town of Kaifeng), Weishi, Zhongmou, Tongxu, Yifeng, Feng(now a town of Lankao), Fengqiu, Yangwu(now a town of Yuanyang) and eight famous sites in other provinces: Huaiyang, Xihua, Shuangshui, Xiangcheng, Shenqiu, Taikang, Fugou, Luyi. As the phenomenon spread, different styles of singing began to develop, such as the Fuxiang tone in the Kaifeng region, the East Yu tone in Shangqiu, the West tone in the Yang region and the Shahe tone in Luohe.
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 Henan Yu Opera Theatre was established in March 1956, with renowned Yu opera artist Chang Xiangyu as the Director and Zhou Qizhi as the Deputy Director.
2 Her book publications include Directing and Performing Arts of Yu Opera, Introduction to the Culture of Yu Opera, Yu Opera – Readings for Traditional Chinese Art, and Encyclopaedia of Cultures of Central China: Literature, Art and Dance.
3 Ms Tan Jingbo is a Chinese opera theorist specializing in the study of Yu opera.