*Huazhao Opera

56.*Huazhao Opera

Nominating Unit: Zijin County, City of Heyuan

Huazhao Play originated from the sacrifice ritual of “Shenchao” in the countryside of Zijin County. Performed in Hakka, it is popular in places where the Hakkas live in eastern Guangdong Province. Since the Ming and the Qing Dynasties, the singing and dancing at the ritual of “Shenchao”has been well received among the villagers. Afterwards, in order to entertain the audience, the performers would sing some songs which tell anecdotes after the ritual. Compared with the pious and solemn ritual, this kind of performance is more interesting and humorous. Thus it was better received in the audience and was called “Huazhao”. At the turn of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the artist organized a troupe named Ding Changchun to give performance tailored for “Huazhao”, which evolved into Huazhao Play later on. Cantonese Opera, Tea-leaf Picking Opera and Puppet Show were also performed at that time. Drawing nutrients from the plays, music tones and the performing art of those operas, the artists of Huazhao Play strengthened the artistic expressiveness of the play. At the prime time of Huazhao Play, there were 19 troupes and more than one hundred performers in Zijin County. The celebrated troupes such as Dingchangchun, Zihuachun, Qingxiangchun and Dinghuaxi gave performances in more than Hakka counties of eastern Guangdong Province.

Huazhao play has accumulated more than one hundred traditional plays during the process of its development. The typical plays are Qiuli Cai Hua, Mai Zahuo, Sanguan Jin Fang and Guodu. The monologue of the play is easy to understand. Slangs, two-part allegorical sayings and puns are often used in it. The music mainly constitutes “shenchao” voice and folk dittes, while sometimes Hakka folk songs are also applied. The roles include Hsiao sheng, xiao dan and xiao chou. The distinguished performing crafts consist of Shanhua, Shoupahua, Longgoujiao and Chuanxin. The performance combines singing and dancing together, with a style of fresh rusticity.(https://www.daowen.com)

After the founding of PRC, the Huazhao play troupe of Zijin County, as a professional troupe, has given performances of some traditional plays and created some modern plays such as Sudan, Ziyunying and Hongshiling. At the same time, the troupe has made some changes in several classical plays such as Liu Sanjie and Qiaoyinyuan. They have made great progress in the performing art. Better distinction for the roles’ playing has been carried out. At the same time, they have absorbed some performing crafts such as Shuixiu and Shenduan from other kinds of plays. Those famous performers admired by the audience such as Deng Guanyun, Liu Enfang, Chen Yexin and Chen Shujun were actively performing on the stage. Huazhao play was continuously performed in Zijin mountain area and nearby cities.

The traditional drama of Huazhao play was mostly derived from folk tales. Most of them advocated good deeds, patriotism and freedom of marriage. Those values recognized by the local people such as Confucianism, the tradition of studying and farming, valuing education are given full expression in Huazhao play. Therefore, Huazhao play is of great academic value for the study of folk literature, folk music, folk culture and local religion. Currently though the professional Huazhao play troupe is giving performances to the countryside regularly and at some significant holiday celebrating ceremonies as well as folk activities, the performance of Huazhao play is rarely seen. The audience is also decreasing.

Huazhao play was selected into the list of the first batch of state-level intangible cultural heritage in 2006.