In recent years, the debate over whether the origin of Huangmei Opera is Huangmei, Hubei, Anqing, Anhui, or Huangmei Mountain, Huaining, has become increasingly fierce, and there is no consensus. Here, the author will use detailed first-hand information to clear away the clouds and clear away the fog, and return to its true nature. At the same time, the topic surrounding Huangmei Opera and Susong is expanded to introduce more related situations between them.
In the history of its evolution and development, Susong, the first opera in the middle of the Qing Dynasty (1662-1821), began to perform Huangmei opera on the third day of March every year on Songmeiling Street. Tea-picking opera;
The first to write the Huangmei tune into Liaohe stage couplets during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty (around 1840);
The first to invite it from Kusano in 1853 The official county performance was 81 years earlier than the Huangmei County performance;
The first to organize a special class to perform Huangmei Opera in 1887 and performed non-stop for more than 60 years;
The first "Susong County Chronicle" in 1921 officially named the Huangmei tea-picking song that has been popular among the people for more than a thousand years as Huangmei Opera;
The first to make a national premiere in the 1950s The first Huangmei Opera play "Pig Weed";
The first to establish the national county-level Huangmei Opera Troupe in 1952;
The first to combine Huangmei Opera's twin opera - Wen The art of Southern poetry was brought to Zhongnanhai to perform for Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and other older generation revolutionaries;
The first to break through the ice of the Cultural Revolution in 1970 and recruit new students to learn to perform Huangmei Opera;
The first to integrate and establish the Huangmei Opera Theater in 1994;
The first to participate in various Huangmei Opera Art Festivals at the most times;
The first high school It has won numerous awards in various specifications and at multiple levels;
Conception and Birth
Huangmei Opera originated from the Huangmei tea-picking song that was popular in the early Tang Dynasty. It is a pure folk tune art form that the working people in Susong, Anhui and Huangmei, Hubei, sing at will during the long-term production labor and social life when picking tea leaves during the Huangmei season around Qingming and Guyu every year. After evolution and development in the Song and Yuan dynasties, unique local opera had formed in the Ming Dynasty. During these long years of more than 600 years, she has developed from a "one-actor opera" sung by a single person to a "two-actor opera" sung by a duo of niche students and dandan actors, and then expanded to a "multi-actor opera" that can be sung by everyone. It took more than 200 years to cross a first step, and more than 600 years to make a triple jump. What a difficult stumbling step!
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty (1662-1821), every year on the third day of the third lunar month, people would set up a stage to sing Huangmei tea-picking opera on Songmeiling Street in the Susongzuoba area adjacent to Huangmei, with hundreds of audiences. Once, the opera was being sung with great energy. Unexpectedly, God failed to cooperate and it started to rain. At that time, both the performers and the audience were in high spirits, and no one left. At this time, a scholar smugly recited a couplet: "The sun shines on the green pine trees, and the rain falls on the yellow plum blossoms." The couplet reached the ears of the artists on the stage. Show, the rain falls on the yellow plums and the old tune is new." The artist's aura and talent won the audience's cheers and applause. "Susong County Chronicles·Customs" in the twenty-fourth year of Kangxi's reign (1685) records: "After the beginning of winter in October...the farm work went to sleep, and competitions gradually became more popular. Sheng and drums were played, sometimes mixed with new sounds, and indulged in emotions. Zhi, the name is tea picking." It can be seen that tea-picking opera has been widely popular in Susong urban and rural areas since the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty and the period before. "Susong County Chronicle" also records: "The mountains in the northwest of the city are prolific in tea. When the leaves are first born, many men and women are recruited into the mountains to pick them." Most of these tea mountains are bordered by Huangmei, and the men and women picking tea in the two counties gather during the break. One chant responds to the other, forming a basic fixed tune. From this, we should know that this original tea-picking tune was obviously created by men and women who picked tea in Susong and Huangmei counties.
During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty (around 1821), Su Song, the leader of the Yuan Dynasty, and Zhao Shisia, wrote "Tianjia Ci" in "Dongyintang Poems": "I am afraid that the harvest season will be different, and my hands will be muddy. My feet are wet with flowers. I have no time to bend and stretch my waist, but I shout loudly and pick tea." There is also a saying in "Yangxingxuan Yincao" by Mr. Hu Xingcun of Dongdong Township, Yi, that "Xia Zheng is growing in the sound of cuckoo, and the field song is actually sung in a tea-picking tune." verse. From these poems, we can easily see that farmers at that time often sang yellow plum tea-picking songs to relieve fatigue and fatigue during the heavy work of dividing rice and planting fields.
Mr. Meng Jin, a retired cadre of the County Cultural Bureau and nearly eighty years old, learned from the "Tongsi Tang Zalu" written by the ancestor of the He family in Zifeng Township in the early 1980s that the book described the Qing Dynasty During the Daoguang period (around 1840), local gentleman Mr. He Zuoheng built the ancient stage for Liaohe during the Jiaqing period of the Ming Dynasty (1522-1563).
This is a couplet written by Huang Mei Diao Opera: "I frequently invite three or three sisters and dare to send a cup of fragrant tea from the Holy Academy. Why should I fall in love in the East Pavilion or be jealous in the West Pavilion? Visit friends one by one, swim deep into the spring forest, and leave a few new bamboo shoots, so as not to break the tiles in the bamboo mountain or run away from the wild shop." ("Selected Chinese Opera Couplets" edited by Yang Xuanxiang published by Times Literature and Art Publishing House in October 2003 This couplet is also included, author's note).
The couplet not only highlights "Sending Fragrant Tea", "Xi Lou Hui", "Leaving Bamboo Shoots", "Crossing the Boundary Ridge", "Wu Sanbao's Spring Outing", "Yu Laosi's love story", "Yu Laosi beating tiles" ", "Cai Mingfeng Cidian" and other Huangmei operas that are popular with the masses, and show the author's love for new things, his appreciation for Huangmei operas
and his pursuit of cultural life and freedom for young men and women The acquiescence of love.
In the first month of the third year of Xianfeng (1853), after the Taiping Army general Shi Dakai captured Susong County, the whole city performed a play for three days and three nights to celebrate the victory and welcome Hong Xiuquan into the city. We read from Zhang Jihe's "Chronicles of Fairyland" in the appendix of the "Susong County Chronicle" published in the 10th year of the Republic of China (1921), "Qing army Duolong'a and Bao Chao set up theaters in the city and performed flower drum opera (actually Huangmei tune), From the record of "inviting the captains of each battalion to gather all the literary officials to watch", it can be seen that Huangmei opera was not only very prosperous in the city at that time, but also officially accepted and appreciated it. Susong Huangmei Opera was performed in the city a full 81 years earlier than the "Huangmei County Chronicle" (Part 2) published by Zhonghua Book Company in December 1999 recorded that "Huangmei Opera was only performed in Huangmei County in 1934"! Since then, Huangmei opera has been sung everywhere in Susong's urban and rural areas; adults and children alike can hum Huangmei tune. The plot of "Pig Weed" comes from the Changxi Mountain (today's Liuping) area near Huangmei. At that time, a girl surnamed Tao entered the Jin family's bamboo forest and accidentally trampled on a bamboo shoot when she was hunting hogweed. After being noticed by the forest guard, Jin Yao, he wanted to twist Tao's daughter to go to the Jin family to apologize - a banquet for the Jin family members and a cannon to seal the mountain. Tao Nu begged Jin Yao not to make a fuss out of a molehill and hoped that he would be merciful and let her go. In the process of trampling and protecting the bamboo shoots, Jin Yao inadvertently trampled on Tao Nu's vegetable basket. During the discussion, Jin Yao fell in love with Tao Nu's shyness, gentleness and hard work, and Tao Nu also fell in love with Jin Yao's. Tolerant, generous, sensible and convinced. Then, the two parties fell in love and finally became free partners. What happened to Tao Nu and Jin Yao on the mountain was seen by a Qichun man who cut wood and spread the word. The good guys added fuel to the fire, and a short narrative drama - "Pig Weeding" was derived.
Fang Yuzhen, an artist from Matang, Dongxiang, Yijing, has organized a special Huangmei tune class to work with Huangmei, Guangji, Jiujiang, Pengze, Hukou, Xingzi, and Ruichang since the 13th year of Guangxu's reign (1887). Artists from Nanjing, Huaining, Anqing and other places performed the opera together, and it was later passed down by his apprentice Wang Zilin, which has lasted for more than 60 years without interruption. At that time, he mainly performed plays such as "Han Xiangzi Hua Zhai", "Shan Bo Visits Friends", "Wu Jin Ji" and so on. Every year he would perform in big cities such as Wuhan and Shanghai. In this regard, the "Susong County Chronicle" published in the 10th year of the Republic of China (1921) also recorded this: "Although there are not many people in the city who make a living from drama, they are called specialists and can perform their skills in various towns in Shanghai and Han. There are also singing and dancing venues."