Foshan is the birthplace of Cantonese opera. Cantonese Opera, also known as Grand Opera or Guangdong Grand Opera, originated from Southern Opera and began to appear in Guangdong and Guangxi during Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty. It is a performing art that combines chorus, chanting, musicians' music, stage costumes and abstract forms. The language of the original performance was Zhongyuan phonology, also known as Opera House Mandarin. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, in order to publicize the revolution, cultural people changed their singing language to Cantonese, making it easier for Guangzhou people to understand. Cantonese opera was included in the first batch of 5 18 national intangible cultural heritage list published on May 20th, 2006. Cantonese opera is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan Province, Hongkong and Macau. Cantonese opera is performed in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Central and South America and other areas where overseas Chinese in Guangdong live in concentrated communities. Cantonese opera is one of the major operas in southern China, which combines Kunshan, Bangzi and other operas that have flowed into Guangdong since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and absorbs the folk music of the Pearl River Delta. Bangzi (Peking Opera is called Xipi) and Huanger are the main operas.
Cantonese Opera, also known as "Grand Drama" or "Guangdong Grand Drama", is a major drama in southern China, which combines Haiyan, Yiyang, Kunshan, Bangzi and other dramas that have flowed into Guangdong since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and absorbs folk music from the Pearl River Delta. Popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan Province, Hongkong and Macau. Cantonese opera is performed in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Central and South America and other areas where overseas Chinese in Guangdong live in concentrated communities. Cantonese opera was included in the first batch of 5 18 national intangible cultural heritage list published on May 20th, 2006. On June 2, 2009, 10, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao jointly declared that Cantonese Opera had successfully become a world intangible cultural heritage.
Cantonese opera originated from southern opera, and began to appear in Guangdong and Guangxi during Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty. It is a performing art of mixing chorus, musicians playing music, stage costumes and abstract forms.
Qionghua guild hall is the earliest theater guild hall in Cantonese opera. But when it arrived early, there is no official history to prove it, and there is no cultural relic to prove it. Generally speaking, it is quoted from A Brief History of Cantonese Opera written by Mai, which says: "When Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, the famous Beijing actress Zhang No.5 spread her hand ... fled to Guangdong and lived in Dajiwei, Foshan Town ... and sent Peking Opera and Kunqu opera to the children of Red Boat, which changed the organization and expanded the scale. Established Qionghua Club. " Later generations think that Qionghua Guild Hall was built in Yongzheng period, and the organization of local classes of Cantonese opera began in Tan Shouwu. Comrade Guo Moruo also said in the Seven Laws presented to Guangdong Cantonese Opera Troupe: "Once upon a time, there was a famous singer who stood with five hands and set up a troupe in Foshan Town." In fact, this greatly shortened the history of local classes of Cantonese opera, and Qionghua Guild Hall was not established in Yongzheng period [1].
Founded in the middle of Ming Dynasty, Foshan Qionghua Guild Hall is the earliest Cantonese opera industry organization. Up to now, there is still a saying that "there is no eight harmony, first auspicious celebration, then Qionghua". In the Ming Dynasty, folk performances flourished in Foshan, and local troupes appeared one after another. During Jiajing period (1522 ~ 1566), a troupe guild hall was established, located in Dajiwei, Foshan, also known as Qionghua Palace, for rehearsing and teaching local troupe artists. Set up a stone tablet near the wading head of the clubhouse and carve the words "Qionghua wading". Yiling fell into a theater box on the water and took a boat to perform everywhere. Qionghua Guild Hall, as a guild of Cantonese Opera, has a strict management system. There are eight halls in the hall, such as Shenhe, Zhao He, Qinghe, Fuhe, Xinhe, Yonghe, Dehe and Puhe, which are in charge of their respective congregations. The appearance of Qionghua Guild Hall shows that Foshan has become the center of the development of Cantonese opera at that time [1].
Although the name of Cantonese opera only appeared in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, its origin can be traced back to the middle of Ming Dynasty more than 400 years ago. Only when there are more local classes can Qionghua Guild Hall be established. The emergence of Qionghua Guild Hall is also a historical necessity for the prosperity of local classes. Therefore, the relationship between them is quite close. The study of Qionghua Guild Hall is short of cultural relics, so we might as well start with the local class of Cantonese Opera [1].
In the Ming Dynasty, Yiyang Opera, a southern drama, became popular in Guangdong, and Kunban Opera, Huizhou Opera and Jiangxi and Hunan Opera Troupe often performed in Guangdong. Influenced by foreign countries, Cantonese also learned to act, and then formed a troupe with local people as the main body, and transitioned to a troupe with local people as the whole. In order to distinguish the two, the former is called "Waijiang class" and the latter is called "local class". When clearing Daoguang, Mr. Yang thought: "Guangdong music department is divided into two categories: Waijiang class and local class." "Generally, foreign classes are close to Huizhou classes, and local classes are close to Western classes. The situation is very different. " Nevertheless, in the early days of the establishment of the local class (Ming Dynasty), the difference between the local class and the Waijiang class mainly meant that the class was composed of local people, not the difference of voice. In a narrow sense, it refers to a professional troupe composed of local artists; In a broad sense, it can also include temporary performance groups composed of farmers and craftsmen in seasonal performance activities [1].
When did Cantonese (locals) begin to participate in drama performances? Mr. Guo Bingzhen thinks that it was first written by Gui Youguang in the Ming Dynasty, which recorded an imperial edict given to the Wei school in the 16th year of the Ming Dynasty, including the content that "the sage should be worshipped as a servant, and the son should not be sent in vain", "You should not make up and sing obscene songs, play emperors of past dynasties, slander ancient and modern times, and offenders will be prosecuted". Mr. Guo Bingzhen believes that this is the earliest record of drama performance in Guangdong, and that it can be disproved by telling the people that there were local people participating in drama performance in Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty, that is, there were drama performances in Guangdong more than 400 years ago. This is undoubtedly an advanced discovery, but we found a disproof more advanced than the above in the "Taiyuan Huo Family Tree" in Shiwan, Foshan. In other words, during the two emperors, Zheng De and Chenghua, Foshan natives participated in the drama performances. The genealogy has the following records: "One year scenery, Lantern Festival, decoration on March 3, dragon boat on May 5, acting on July 7, secular, difficult to ban leather." ..... On March 3rd, decorations, nosy people, people who rent clothes and borrow jewelry, or get wet in the rain or cause damage, are useless, and compensation is useless. ..... July 7th action, well-bred children should not know. Although you learn to sing with others, you are a junior, but you have lost your mind ... future generations will follow my instructions. " This passage of Huo Qizu Weng was written in the seventeenth year of Chenghua in Ming Dynasty (namely, AD 148 1 year), which should be forty years earlier than the sixteenth year (in the article On Ancient and Modern Cantonese Opera, it was mistakenly called AD 15 12 years, but it should actually be AD/kloc- Moreover, from the genealogy, it can be said that as early as 148 1 year, that is, more than 500 years ago, Foshan people had already participated in drama performances [1].
In the 30 years before the founding of the People's Republic of China, Cantonese opera was basically divided into two factions: the provincial and port classes and the mountain-crossing classes (or the rural classes). Li, the "son of the king", is the only person in the history of world drama who became the leader of peasant uprising by an artist. Kuang Xinhua, the first head of the "Eight Harmony Hall" of Cantonese Opera, is not only a representative of "Tongzhi Zhongxing", but also a famous civil and military veteran. He has performed such famous repertoires as Shepherd in Su Wu, Taibai He Fan and Chen Qing in Li Mi. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, there were many famous actresses, such as Li Ju, Li Xiang Jr., Xiao Cong, Zhou Lingli and Li Xuefang, which were well-known at home and abroad. Maxima is known as "King of Hua Dan", while Li Xuefang is known as "Southern Snow and Northern Plum" by Kang Youwei, and is mentioned with Mei Lanfang. In the 1930s, in the history of Cantonese opera, it was called the era of "learning from horses for heroes". Xue Juexian, who is close to the style of Peking Opera and has comprehensive performance skills, has been dubbed "the all-round old man". However, Ma Shi won the Clown Award for his outstanding role as a minor and his representative works including Hu Bugui and other four tragedies. He exposed the ugliness of feudal rich capitalists in a group drama featuring "lonely and cold species" (miser), which was quite Moliere's style. Not only in Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia, but also in the United States for many years.