Nuo opera, also known as Nuo dance, is one of the local opera types in China. It was developed from the ancient Nuo ritual around the Yuan and Ming dynasties. At first, stories were performed with songs and dances. When the image of Zhong Kui appeared in Nuo rituals, Nuo opera came into being.
Nuo opera is popular in Sichuan, Guizhou, Guichi and Qingyang in Anhui and in the mountainous areas of western Hubei. Actors wearing willow masks play the role of Nuo God, the legendary god who exorcises plague. They perform repetitive and large-scale procedural dance movements. They are mostly performed on fixed festivals and have a very original dance style.
Nuo opera is a dramatic form developed on the basis of Nuo dance. The main feature of Nuo opera performances is that the characters wear wooden masks, pretend to be ghosts and gods, sing and dance, and express the life stories of gods.
Due to different historical backgrounds and artistic influences, Nuo opera is divided into three types: Nuo Tang opera, Di opera and Yang opera. Di Opera is a Nuo opera performed by people in Tunpu, the descendants of the border guards who stayed in Yunnan and Guizhou in the early Ming Dynasty to worship their ancestors. There are no folk life dramas or dramas about talents and beauties. All performances reflect history. The martial arts drama of the story. Yang Opera is just the opposite. It was performed by Master Duangong for the living people after performing the ritual. Therefore, the performance is mainly based on small plays that reflect folk life, and the tunes sung are mostly borrowed from folk operas such as flower drums and lanterns.
There are still a large number of Nuo cultural relics in the northeastern region of Guizhou Province in southwest China, and Nuo operas are performed in many places. There are still more than 60 Nuo altars and hundreds of performers in Dejiang County. Dejiang Nuo opera is simple and extensive, retaining many of the original forms of Nuo opera culture, and has many ritual contents.
Guizhou Nuo opera masks are generally made of willow and poplar wood. In terms of mask shape, attention is paid to the portrayal of character. Based on this, Nuo masks can be divided into several categories: righteous gods, evil gods, secular masks, Harlequin mask, bull head and horse face. All righteous gods are upright and kind.
The repertoire of Nuo opera includes "Meng Jiangnu", "Pang's Daughter", "Dragon King's Daughter", "Taoyuan Cave God" and "Liangshan Land", etc. In addition, there are some materials based on "Mu Lian Zhuan" ”, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” and “Journey to the West”.