Zao Bang

Zao Bang

Zaobao, a local traditional drama in Heze City, Shandong Province, is one of the national intangible cultural heritage.

Zaobao is one of the traditional local operas in Shandong Province. It is mainly popular in Heze, Yuncheng, Liangshan, Juye, Juye, Juancheng and Dingtao. It developed under the influence of local language after Shangdang Bangzi flowed into Heze in Shanxi Province. Jujube Bang's singing music belongs to the board cavity. Its melody is fluent and expressive. It has abundant board style and music cards. It is both high-spirited and euphemistic. Its performance is bold and bold, which coincides with the regional characteristics of popular areas and the audience's appreciation habits.

On June 7, 2008, Jujube Bang was approved by the State Council of the People's Republic of China to be included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list, the heritage number IV-120.

historical origin

The original name of Jujube Bangkok is "local storage", which evolved gradually under the influence of local language after Shangdang Bangkok of Shanxi flowed into Heze. In the old days, Shanxi people were derogated as "Shanxi", so the Bangzi introduced from Shanxi was called "Confucian Bangzi". In 1960, the original sound was harmonized and the opera was named "Zaobang" because it was accompanied by the banging rhythm of jujube trees.

Shanxi people have been doing business in Shandong for a long time. From the steles erected in Daoguang 11 years (1831) in Heze Shanxi Guild Hall, we can see that Shanxi people "left their homeland" and "took bribes from Jia far away" in the southwest of Shandong long before the Jiachen day of Qianlong. At that time, Shanxi people in the local business, the inscriptions most noted is the "pawnshop" - pawnshop, other still have "salt shop", "tobacco shop", "dyeing shop", "gold and silver shop" and so on. Among these Shanxi businessmen, there are Shanxi opera singers who can teach the local people to sing in their spare time. The earliest singer was a silversmith in Jincheng, Shanxi Province, who taught and sang a "Zezhou tune". As more and more people learn to sing, they have the custom of singing "Weigu Opera".

In the early years of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1875), Shanxi suffered from famine, and local opera troupes mostly moved to other places to perform. A "100,000 class" once came to the southwest of Shandong Province and performed in Yuncheng, Heze and other places for more than a year before returning to Shanxi. Since the area of Yuncheng already had the foundation of "Zezhou Dialect" for Solo singing, and was familiar with the stage performance of "100,000 classes", and loved this kind of play more, it hired professional artists from Shanxi to teach and gradually became able to perform on the stage. As a result, "Zezhou Diao" left seeds in Yuncheng and other places, and gradually spread. The earliest artist to be hired as a teacher was Pan Chaoshu (artist name is "Big Girl" and Zaobao artist respectfully calls him "Master Pan". In Liukou Fanzhuang, Guotun, Yumiao, Zhangji, Fangmiao (formerly returned to Yuncheng, then to Liangshan County) and Nanwang (near the canal of Wenshang County, Jiaxiang County) where apprenticeship was received, Zaobao became the birthplace of Zaobao. The first group of jujube artists were Pearl curtain, Shiwenxiu, Fanwuza, Pang Shigui, Hou Fuqin and so on. In Yuncheng County, the first professional jujube opera troupe was formed, named Yisheng troupe, which brought "surround drum singing" to the stage. Later, "Yisheng Ban" was divided into high-level upgraded class and Yihe Ban, and performed in the southwestern Shandong cultural heritage from the book area.

In the four years of the Republic of China (1915), Hao Fengzhu (Qing Shi, Xiao Baer), an artist, first gathered in Longhu, Juye County, and then moved to Lugong Tang, Yuncheng County to set up a science class. He trained Wang Xinding (black face, golden dove), Mei Xinhe (Xiaosheng, Xiaoming), Bixinge, Li Xinsheng and so on. Later, classes on "Xiang", "Yong" and "Sheng" were held successively.

Around the fourteenth year of the Republic of China (1925), a group of Shangdang Bangzi actors came to join the class club in Daming, Hebei and other places, and brought a number of plays, such as Xu Longqizi, Bronze Flower Cup and Haitangguan, which enriched the performances of ZaoBang, improved the level of performing arts and promoted the development of ZaoBang operas. The performances of professional class clubs were welcomed by the masses. People who learned to sing "Zezhou Dialect" also expanded from Yuncheng to Liangshan, Juye, Juye, Heze and other places. In many places, the masses automatically recruit teachers to learn arts, organize science classes and play friends classes. The more famous ones are Juye Longguan Keban, Yuncheng Lugongtang Keban, Tangdian Keban, Juancheng Sulou Keban, Fanzhuang Keban and Yumiao Keban. These classes are based in the southwest of Shandong Province, and their radiation activities reach the areas of Henan, Anhui and Hebei.

During the Anti-Japanese War, Zaobang Opera was severely damaged and many theatre troupes were forced to disband. Some artists went home to work in agriculture, and some took part in anti-Japanese work. Nevertheless, Zaobao opera did not disappear because of this. Artists gathered apprentices in the countryside to pass on their art, nurtured many playmate classes and performed singing activities.

On January 1, 1946, a guerrilla theatre troupe was set up in Miaocun, Chenpo District, Yuncheng City, in Yuncheng County. The troupe was mainly composed of jujube singers, and was headed by the artist Yu Heng-chang (Dan, Wubei). The troupe compiled and performed such plays as Liu Million and Second-rate Shift, which played an active role in propaganda and performance in cooperation with the political movement. Later, some jujube artists participated in the cultural work group of the Second Regional Committee of the CPC Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region. In Hozhuang, Yuncheng, a training course for opera artists was held. At the same time, opera committees were set up to transform old operas and rehearse new ones. He has performed White Haired Girl, Changing Sky Account, Little Cattle, Wang Guixiang's Turn over, compiled in cooperation with the struggle for land reform, and Xidianzi, which exposed the evil of the Returning Hometown Regiment. Some of the traditional plays have been adapted and adapted to perform such dramas as "Fighting Town in Guanxi" and "Laodengzhou". Actor Zhou Shengli was bombed by enemy planes and sacrificed gloriously. On the basis of the training course, the "Workers'and Agricultural Opera Society" was established and renamed "People's Livelihood Opera Society of Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region", which was directly led by the CPC Hebei-Shandong-Henan Regional Committee and continued to perform in the base areas.

In 1950, the drama club handed over the leadership of Heze Special Administration and established two groups of Heze Special Administration People's Opera Club. After the opera reform, the ideological awareness and performance art level of the majority of actors have been continuously improved. In August 1954, Zaobao Opera Troupe participated in the Shandong Provincial Theatre Concert. It performed the traditional plays Xu Longxi Zi and Di Qing borrowing clothes. Liang Baoxing and Zhao Fenglai won prizes. In 1956, at the 2nd Shandong Opera Visiting and Performing Conference, Heze Special Administration had three professional jujube performing groups: Heze Special Administration People's Opera Club Group II, Yuncheng County Cultural and Recreational Opera Club and Liangshan County Popular Opera Troupe. In addition, there are many amateur theatre troupes in Yuncheng, Juye, Liangshan, Dongming and Fanxian County, Henan Province, which often perform in their leisure time.

In 1960, the Heze Prefectural Committee and the Heze Special Commission decided to merge the Jujube Opera Troupe of Yuncheng County and Chengguang Jujube Opera Troupe of Liangshan County to form the Jujube Opera Troupe of Heze Local Opera House, which gathered some excellent performers and music accompaniments from the three troupes with a well-organized lineup and strong strength. He has performed in Jinan such dramas as Daizhou Margin, Wife Seeking Shop, Xu Longxi Zi and Butterfly Cup, and won good reviews.

In 1964, the modern drama Peony Xiangyang Kai, compiled and performed at the Shandong local opera revolutionary modern theatre performance, and in Jinan, performed for leading comrades such as He Long, Luo Ruiqing, Peng Shaohui and Liu Yalou.

During the "Cultural Revolution", the only remaining Zaobang Opera Troupe was forced to change its name to Peking Opera Troupe in Hezhou, which became the so-called "Zaojing" and was on the verge of extinction. In October 1975, the Zaobang Opera Troupe was restored because of the strong demand of the masses.

After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1978, the veteran performers of Zaoba opera returned to the stage and glowed their artistic youth. Young and middle-aged actors are full of pride and talent. He has rehearsed the modern drama "Bachelor's Pleasure", "Chrysanthemum Soul" and "Father's and Daughter's Deep Love". He participated in regional performances and won awards. At the same time, the traditional operas Pearl Tower and Tianbo Tower were reorganized and adapted, and the operas such as Top Scholar and Beggars, Carmine and Dragon with Wind were transplanted and performed. In addition to Heze Zaobang Opera Troupe, there are many amateur Zaobang Opera Troupes in Yuncheng, Juye, Liangshan, Shandong and Ming counties which are active on the stage of rural opera, and then gradually abolished and disbanded.

Representational repertoire

There are more than eighty traditional Zaobao operas that have survived in 2012. Most of them are historical themes and are full of contents such as upholding integrity and promoting goodness, respecting the old and loving the young. The representative operas are "Eight Old Books", namely "Tianbo Tower", "Butterfly Cup", "Caixianqiao", "Eight Immortal Beauties", "Jinyu Lock", "Hongshiguan", "Daizhou Vow" and "Visiting Sichuan". 》 And "Tianshuiguan", "Eight Diagrams Array", "Golden Dao", "Double Hanging Print", "Cuiping Mountain", "Sitting in the North Building" and so on.

Distribution area

Zaobao is one of the local operas in Shandong Province. The epidemic areas are Heze, Yuncheng, Juye, Juancheng and Liangshan counties as the center, from Jiaxiang, Jining to Dingtao, Cao to Haotun to the north of Longhai Railway; from Changyuan, Lankao, Neihuang to Jincheng, Changzhi and Taiyuan to the west of Henan Province; from Pingyin, Changqing to Guancheng, Changyuan to the north of the Yellow River. Chaocheng, Fanxian and Puyang, Daming, Wuan, Shexian belt.

Inheritance and Protection

Inheritance value

Zaobao Opera is an ancient and rare opera in China. It has high academic value. It not only enriches and improves the history of Chinese drama, but also promotes the whole theatre circle. It will also provide information and evidence for the study of Chinese opera.

Heritage figures

Zhang Wenying, female, born in September 1942, was selected as the representative successor of the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects and declared in Heze City, Shandong Province.

Fang Linghe, male, born in September 1937, was selected as the representative successor of the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects and declared in Heze City, Shandong Province.

protective measures

In order to protect Zaobao Opera, Heze Municipal Committee and Municipal Government have given strong support, investing part of the funds every year, specializing in the artistic creation and production of Zaobao Opera.

In 2001, Heze Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government facilitated the cooperation between Heze Zaobao Opera Troupe and Heze Power Plant, solved the problem of difficulty in investing part of the funds of the troupe, and better developed and inherited Zaobao Opera.

In 2000, the Zaobao Opera Troupe of Heze Theater Academy recruited and trained more than 30 trainees (including actors and accompanists), and in 2006, more than 20 trainees were recruited, which solved the problem of the lack of professionals and trained successors for the Zaobao Opera Troupe.

social influence

Important performances

On October 11, 2018, Zaoba's modern drama "Master Grass Roots" was staged at Shijiazhuang Silk String Theater.

On June 30, 2019, Zaobang's classic play Pearl Tower was staged in the small theater on the third floor of the East Building of the Cultural and Tourism Bureau.

On July 1, 2019, Zaobang's classic opera "Sister Easy Marriage" was staged in the small theater on the third floor of the East Building of the Cultural and Tourism Bureau.

Honorary recognition

In 1992, Zaobang Modern Opera "Easy to Born and Difficult to Raise a Child" participated in the national "the first group in the world" excellent drama performance, won the Drama Award and three individual awards.

In 1998, Zaobang Modern Opera "Out of the Mountain" participated in the 6th Shandong Cultural and Art Festival and won the second prize and six individual prizes.

In 1999, Zaoba Modern Opera "Out of the Mountain" won the 5th Shandong Excellent Engineering Award.

In 2001, the Zaobang historical drama Bao Gong Selling Official participated in the 7th Shandong Cultural and Art Festival, and won the second prize and seven individual prizes for the play.