Nuo opera (Nuotang opera in Dejiang)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Nuo opera (Dejiang Nuotang Opera)

Applicant: Dejiang County, Guizhou Province

Project No.: 233

Project No.: Ⅳ - 89

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region:

Type: new item

Applicant: Dejiang County, Guizhou Province

Protection unit: Dejiang Cultural Heritage Protection Center

Nuo opera (Nuotang opera in Dejiang)

Applicant: Dejiang County, Guizhou 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.

Dejiang County is located in the northeast of Guizhou Province. It was a place of Southern barbarians in ancient times. During the Warring States period, it belonged to Ba and Chu. After the Yuan Dynasty, there were shuitejiang and shuidejiang lawsuits. In 1605, it was changed to Anhua County and belonged to Sinan Fu. In 1882, the administrative office of Anhua County moved to Dabu, which is now Dejiang County. In 1913, Anhua County was renamed Dejiang County.

Since ancient times, Dejiang has been a place where Tujia and other ethnic minorities live together. Due to its special geographical location and historical evolution, Nuotang opera in Dejiang has a long history and is well preserved. It is known as "living fossil of Chinese drama" by experts and scholars.

Dejiang Nuotang opera, also known as Nuo opera and nuotan opera, is called "Gangshen" by Tujia people. It is not only a religious sacrificial drama performed with masks, but also an ancient folk custom and cultural activity. It originated from the ancient Nuo ceremony, is a kind of ancient Nuo. After the Han Dynasty, it gradually developed into a strong entertaining ritual.

Nuo opera is the main part of Nuotang opera, which can be divided into main opera and plug-in opera. There are more than 80 branches, including 16 main operas. In addition to Nuo opera, Nuo skills (Tujia's unique skill) performance is generally performed, and the project is agreed by the master and the altar class. Before the Nuo event, Tujia teachers should carefully arrange a Nuo altar (Nuo Hall), so Nuo opera is also called Nuo opera. The Nuo altar is exquisitely arranged, integrating the arts of weaving, paper cutting, dyeing, printing, painting, calligraphy and architecture.

Nuotang opera in Dejiang has multi-disciplinary academic research value in history, folklore, religion, drama and so on, which is of great significance to the enrichment and improvement of Chinese culture and world culture.