Nuo opera (Chenzhou Nuo opera in Yuanling)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Nuo opera (Yuanling Chenzhou Nuo opera)

Applicant: Yuanling County, Hunan Province

Project No.: 233

Project No.: Ⅳ - 89

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Hunan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Yuanling County, Hunan Province

Protection unit: Yuanling County Cultural Center

Introduction to Nuo opera (Chenzhou Nuo opera in Yuanling)

Applicant: Yuanling County, Hunan Province

Nuo opera, also known as Nuotang opera and Duangong opera, is a form of opera based on folk sacrificial rites, which is widely popular in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Hebei and other provinces. Nuo opera originated from ancient times. As early as in the pre Qin period, there were Nuo dances which entertained both gods and people. At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, all kinds of local opera flourished. Nuo dance absorbed the form of opera and developed into Nuotang opera and Duangong opera. Nuo opera was formed in Western Hunan during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. It entered the Yangtze River from Yuan River and developed rapidly all over the country, forming different schools and artistic styles. Nuotang opera in Hunan and Hubei absorbed the performing art of Huagu opera, Nuo opera in Sichuan and Guizhou absorbed the artistic elements of Huadeng opera, and Nuo opera in Jiangxi and Anhui absorbed the nourishment of Hui opera and Mulian opera.

The performance repertoire of Nuo opera includes Meng Jiangnu, Pang's daughter, Dragon King's daughter, Taoyuan cave God, Liangshan land, etc. in addition, there are some repertoires based on the stories of Mu Lian Zhuan, romance of the Three Kingdoms, and journey to the West. He is good at explaining events through large narrative lyrics, unfolding contradictions and shaping images. Singing in local dialect, except for the first type of repertoire with Duangong tune, the rest are familiar with the local people's Opera tune. Most Nuo operas only use percussion instruments such as gongs, drums and cymbals, except for a few areas in Hunan Province where suona is used at the end of the sentence. The roles of Nuo opera include Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou, and most of them are performed with masks. The mask is carved and painted with camphor wood, clove wood, poplar wood and other wood which is not easy to crack. According to the shape, it can be divided into whole face and half face. The whole face is carved with the hat and the whole face, while the half face is only carved above the nose, without mouth and chin. the characters can be divided into literati, generals, old men, young women, immortals and so on. The basic footwork of the performance is that the male role takes the right step, the vigorous step, the female role takes the broken step and the moving step. Because Nuo opera is performed with masks, it has a large range of movements and a simple and rough style.

Due to the different historical background and artistic influence, Nuo opera can be divided into Nuotang opera, Dixi opera and Yangxi opera. Dixi is a kind of Nuo opera performed by Tunpu, a descendant of the soldiers who left behind in Yunnan and Guizhou in the early Ming Dynasty. There are no folk life plays and gifted scholars and beauties plays. All of them are martial arts plays reflecting historical stories. Yang opera, on the other hand, was performed by master Duangong to the living after he finished the ritual. Therefore, it mainly performed small operas reflecting folk life, and its singing tune was mostly absorbed from folk operas such as Huagu and Huadeng.

Nuo opera is a combination of history, folk custom, folk religion and primitive drama, which contains rich cultural genes and has important research value. Nuo opera is mainly spread in the countryside. With the development of society, entertainment activities are constantly enriched, and the number of people willing to watch Nuo opera is decreasing, so it is difficult to inherit Nuo opera.

Nuo culture plays an important role in Wuxi culture. Wang Yi said in the preface to the nine songs in the songs of Chu: "in the past, the city of Nanying in the state of Chu, between Yuan and Xiang, believed in ghosts and worshipped them. They must be dedicated to singing and dancing to entertain the gods. " This ancient custom in Wuxi culture still exists in Yuanling, especially in qijiaping township.

Yuanling "Chenzhou Nuo" (also known as Tujia Nuo) has been seen in many historical books: Yuanling County annals in the 44th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1705) recorded: "Chen folk witches make God plays and reproduce the story of Meng Jiangnu. The amount of remuneration is divided into half of the whole, and the whole is performed for a few days. It's absurd, and it's common in China. " The influence of Nuo opera in Chenzhou is also recorded in Yongshun County annals in the tenth year of Qianlong reign of Qing Dynasty (1745): "Nuo opera will be performed by the witches in Chenzhou county if the custom is ever rewarded to the gods." At night, play Nuo opera. The gongs and drums are played on paper, one for each person: Meng Jiangnu is the one dressed as a woman; fan Qilang is the one dressed as a man. "

Chenzhou Nuo, which exists in qijiaping town of Yuanling County, has only 17 main descendants. Chenzhou Nuo originated in Jingchu, radiated in Bashu, Wuyue and Qin, and once influenced the Central Plains.

According to the content and form of Nuo opera, Nuo opera can be divided into main opera, small opera and big opera. The main opera is evolved from the master's invitation to God. The performance plot is simple. The small opera has the characteristics of small opera, and the big opera has a high degree of dramatization. The main plays include Meng Jiangnv, longwangnv, Qixiannv and Bao Sanniang Step on the plow, etc.

Chenzhou Nuo is not only a living fossil of drama, more importantly, it covers politics, history, nationality, religion, archaeology, literature, art and other aspects, which is a rare research text in these aspects of academic research.

Chinese PinYin : Nuo Xi Yuan Ling Chen Zhou Nuo Xi