Chinese Opera, an Introduction and Classical History
Chinese opera in the Pre-20th Century World
Greetings,
Last Saturday afternoon, I had the chance to attend a delightful event. The local Chinese Community Center, an organization that offers events to Chinese American families, visiting scholars and such from China, and just people interested in China, has been offering Peking Opera lessons for children. And last Saturday was the day they put on an exhibition and show at one of the local public libraries. (For those of you who don’t know, in the USA we have a wonderful system of local public libraries and they do all kinds of things, generally completely free of charge!)
Having never heard of children’s Peking Opera classes, at least not in the USA, I decided I had to go, and it was really neat. There were about 6 kids in the show, and others hanging around. Four were racially Asian, one was White, and one appeared mixed race, and they all put on the elaborate face paint and the incredible costumes and put on a show. 1 There was also an educational presentation put on by the President of the Chinese Community Center.
So today’s topic is Chinese Opera, of which one sub-type is Peking Opera.
Let me say, one reason I like this topic is that I have been worried if my publication, Mostly Asian History, is too negative. At times I have worried that its topics make China and Chinese people look bad, and that is definitely not something I wish to do. Humans everywhere do both good and bad things, and while I like to think they do more good things than bad, its the bad things that usually get the bulk of the attention from journalists and historians, it seems. -but not always, and not here today. 2
In keeping with last week’s decision, this week’s offering is shorter than many have been in the past.
Also as many of you recall, last week, I experimented with a series of shorter pieces instead of a single long one. I hope to continue that this week or the next two or three weeks as well. Although this one got longer than I had expected, a third of it is links and bibliography. The actual piece itself is only about 2000 words, and it did not seem like a good idea to cut it in half.
Therefore this is one in what I will be a series, with some covering the art of Chinese opera itself and others aspects of its history. (Interestingly, I have learned that the first performance of Chinese Opera, specifically Cantonese Opera, occurred in San Francisco in 1853. It was quite popular and many Whites in the days of the “Old West” used to attend performances, and the entire subject appears to be well documented. I really look forward to exploring this.)
Thanks for stopping by and feel free to share. I expect that due to the heavy demands of my coursework and other life obligations, the next piece here will drop in about a week. Please stay tuned.
Peking Opera
When I write this each week, I try to keep in mind that few of my readers have advanced training in history and only some have a solid background in Asian or Chinese studies. Therefore, there are a few themes or concepts that I try to share and then repeat when the opportunity arises.
One of these is that China is a complex nation grounded and evolved from one of the oldest culturally continuous populations on the planet, and because of this it is a complex place with a complex and multilayered and very diverse intellectual culture. While there’s a lot of controversy over choosing an exact date for the question of “when did Chinese civilization start?” and a lot of these vary depending on the definition of “Chinese civilization,” a common starting point for Chinese civilization would be somewhere around 2,500 years ago or almost 500 B.C. As a point of comparison, that’s about 10 times as old as the United States of America and almost five times as old as the entire period of history since Columbus first sailed to the new world.
And since China is also a very crowded and diverse nation, a lot of people have done a lot of very interesting and creative things during those roughly 25 long centuries of human interaction. The result has been a lot of very interesting creative accomplishments.
And one of those areas of accomplishment has been Chinese Opera or as it is known in Mandarin Chinese as xìqǔ and in Cantonese as hei kuk ( 戲曲).
WHAT IS CHINESE OPERA?
Full of color, style, elaborate costumes, and literary, historical, and mythological allusions of all kinds, Chinese Opera is clearly a product of an old, variegated, and multi-layered civilization and culture.
Chinese Opera comes in many forms and styles, many of them regional. According to the Perspective documentary, “Mei Lanfang: How Peking Opera Shook The World | Century Masters,” a documentary that deals with the life of Mei Lanfang, an early 20th Century Chinese opera star (and ultimately someone who befriended Charlie Chaplin, the American silent film star) there are 360 distinct styles of Chinese opera. As the narrator, Bill Einreinhofer, points out if this is the case and if one watched a single opera from each of these distinct styles, it would take almost a year to make it through sampling one example of each of the many varieties of Chinese Opera.
HISTORY of PRE-20th Century Chinese Opera
According to Elizabeth Halson’s classic book, “Peking Opera,” from ancient times long before what most would consider the founding of classical Chinese civilization, from the earliest days of China and the Zhou dynasty ( 周 , also spelled “Chou” under the older Wade -Giles system) that lasted from 1046 B.C until 256 B.C., singing, dance performances, and drama existed as part of early religious ceremonies. ( p. 1) This would be expected as such things are what humans tend to do wherever they go.
As Chinese culture and civilization became more organized and its people accumulated more written literature, more mythological stories, and recorded historical records, be they accurate or not, people had a greater and greater set of shared cultural references to refer to and cull from when wishing to share stories that were familiar to other people around them.
But as for the start of what is generally called “Chinese Opera,” its origins in something recognizably close to modern form began during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 A.D.) ( 元, written as “Yuan,” the same way, -aside from an umlaut that is not here, the Wade-Giles system). The Yuan Dynasty was the Mongol Dynasty, the period of time when the Mongol horse nomads from the north overran, conquered, and ruled China. Once source refers to the Yuan Dynasty as “the golden age of classical opera.” (Alley, p. 35)
Like all things, the performers of the Yuan Dynasty built on the accomplishments and institutions of the past. During the previous Song Dynasty, (960-1279 A.D.) [i] ( 宋 , Sung dynasty in Wade Giles). During this period, there were changes in poetry that made it easier for poetry to be adapted to song, and singing of poetic verse became more common during performances. It also became more common and acceptable to take historical events and fictionalize them as entertainment, something that became common in later Chinese opera. ( Halson, p. 3)
During this period, earlier Song dynasty drama forms merged with some of the preferred forms of the Mongol conquerors, with part of that change being a new emphasis on “the great hero with a huge voice shouting his defiant song” instead of “choruses of sweeter and more rhythmic voices.” (Alley, p. 35)
Troupes of performers were officially attached to the Imperial Court during this period. ( Halson p. 3)
It was also during this time that traditional stories and legends, many of them the same stories that later became part of Chinese classical novels such as “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” ( 三國演義 , Sānguó Yǎnyì or Wade–Giles: San-kuo Yen-i) or “Outlaws of the Marsh” were used, in part of whole, as the basis of a performance. ( Alley, p. 35-36) 3
Two distinct styles of Chinese opera emerged. The Northern Style was more energetic, freer, and used colloquial speech. The Southern Style was quieter and more restrained, followed traditional rules and norms of Chinese theater more carefully, used more traditional and literary language, and was considered more sophisticated and refined by many. ( Halson, p. 3-4)
In the later Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 A.D., the Mongols were driven out and the Chinese were ruled by a Chinese imperial court. While the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, decided to try and end a great deal of Mongol cultural influence by not just forbidding the profession of acting in itself, but also by reportedly imposing the penalty of cutting out the tongues of people caught performing plays. [ii] Nevertheless, acting and Chinese Opera soon came back, continued, and flourished, more popular than before, although, as human institutions always do, with changes. A new style of opera called Kunju ( 崑曲 , K’un Ch’u in Wade-Giles ) emerged and became quite popular. (Halson, p. 4)
There were new styles as well as modifications and variations on the pre-existing styles under the Yuan, and many of these involved new music that was generally considered superior to the older music. ( Alley, p. 36)
During the Qing Dynasty, 1644- 1911 A.D., ( 清, Ch’ing in Wade-Giles), Chinese Opera, naturally, underwent further changes, adaptions, and passed through innovations and mutations of various kinds. The Qing Dynasty was a very interesting period of history that began when a rebellion and then civil war broke out during the Ming Dynasty and in the resulting chaos, the Manchus, a different group of horse nomads who lived in the north or north east swept down, conquered China, and established themselves as rulers of the court, maintaining this rule from the mid 17th Century to the early 20th Century.
This was a very important period of time during not just of Chinese but global history. As described in an earlier piece, European or “Western” Civilization became dominant around the globe bringing Colonialism and foreign domination, forced introduction of foreign ideas and cultural institutions, and often economic exploitation to most of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. [iii]
During this time, China’s population grew to such an extent that it disrupted society and economics in several ways. Problems during this time ranged from lack of food for the masses to lack of sufficient governmental job openings for the educated classes, widespread, intermittent rebellions, multiple foreign invasions, and erosion of traditional values and societal norms all from several causes.
SOURCE: Asia for Educators | Columbia University
During this time, Chinese Opera was one way that the artistic classes expressed their dissatisfaction with the ruling classes. This was often done through stories that while they did not openly criticize the Qing rulers, themes taken from Chinese history or literature that involved resistance to tyrants would often spread the desired message. The result of this was that in the year 1777 A.D., the same year coincidentally as the Battle of Saratoga, one of the key battles of the American Revolution, the Manchus established a commission of educated people familiar with traditional opera, and assigned them the task of removing historical and literary references that could be used to criticize their government from as many popular operas as possible. (Alley p. 36-37)
Nevertheless, the Qing Dynasty court was at times patrons of the art, including Chinese opera.
According to an essay by Ann Silverberg, Professor of Music at the University of Clarksville, Tennessee, entitled “A Brief Introduction to Beijing Opera” and published on the website of the Association of Asian Studies (URL below in the bibliography):
One of the most important figures of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736–1796) followed the lead of his mother in ordering opera performances for the imperial court. The year 1790 marked a watershed in the history of the art form. To celebrate the Qianlong emperor’s eightieth birthday, several opera troupes came from Anhui Province to perform in Beijing. The shows were highly successful, and the art began to attract patrons and audiences in the capital and evolved traits that eventually distinguished “opera of the capital” from other types.
This event marked the creation of the style of Chinese Opera now known as “Peking Opera.”
Among its other supporters was Cixi ( 慈禧 , Tzu-his in Wade-Giles ), aka Yehonala in Manchu, the Dowager Empress, the Machiavellian figure who was so important at the end of the dynasty, often found rehearsal and performance spaces for Chinese opera troupes. ( Halson, p 5-6 )
SOON, PROBABLY STARTING NEXT WEEK, SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHINESE OPERA, CHINESE OPERA IN THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES, AND CHINESE OPERA IN NORTH AMERICAN AND OUTSIDE OF CHINA
VIDEOS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
MORE VIDEO LINKS
Taken from https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/a-brief-introduction-to-beijing-opera/
Links to online Beijing/Peking Opera Videos
Peking Opera— http://bit.ly/p0rfCK
This UNESCO video provides a succinct nine-minute introduction to the art of Beijing opera with narration in English.
Peking Opera White Snake Girl—http://tiny.cc/o0bfbw
This very short video of a famous scene from The White Snake is captioned only in Chinese. A sheng (a man in a blue costume with a black hat) opens the scene, and then a dan in an“upper color” costume, elaborate headdress, and “water sleeves” sings an aria (solo song) in xipi mode (fast and lively).
Beijing Opera Performance—http://tiny.cc/jzbfbw
A seven-minute illustration of martial instrumental music (wuchang), played by drums, gongs, and a clapper, fitting for a battle scene. The scene features an elegantly stylized (danced) acrobatic battle between sheng and qing (painted face) characters wearing battle pennants on their backs.
Beijing Opera in Liyuan Theater—http://tiny.cc/2wbfbw
Actually an advertisement, this short video has captions in broken English and illustrates key points in recognizing types of makeup for qing roles. It shows scenes filmed at the Liyuan Theater in the Qianmen Jianguo Hotel, one of Beijing’s most popular tourist venues for sampling Beijing opera.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Alley, Rewi. Peking Opera. 1984. Beijing: New World Press.
Halson, Elizabeth. Peking Opera.1966, 1982. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
Maeda, Darryl Joji. Like Water, a Cultural History of Bruce Lee. 2022. New York University Press.
https://multimedia.scmp.com/infographics/culture/article/3036661/cantonese-opera/index.html
( THIS ONE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!)
https://academics.hamilton.edu/asian_studies/home/OpProg2.html
https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/a-brief-introduction-to-beijing-opera/
https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2017/08/inquiring-minds-chinese-opera-in-north-america/
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/arts/chinese-opera.htm
https://homepages.ecs.vuw.ac.nz/~ray/ChineseEssays/CHIN403Essay1.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunqu
[i] There was some overlap between the two dynasties as one was founded in one part of China, before the other was completely destroyed throughout the country.
[ii] This is the same man who, as covered in a previous piece here, see Linda Sun, the Chinese spy in NY who was paid partially with Nanjing Salted Ducks (substack.com) , who reportedly massacred large quantities of chickens as he found them noisy and thus leading to the creation of the gourmet dish, Nanjing Salted Duck. I have no idea if either story is true to be honest, and would like to find out, which is one reason why, as stated, studying Chinese history can easily turn into a series of running down endless rabbit holes if one’s curiosity holds up.
[iii] Just for context, the Manchus conquered China in 1644 A.D. In the Americas, the Spanish conquered the Aztecs in 1521 and the Incas in 1532, beginning the Spanish Empire in the New World. So this was approximately a hundred years after the start of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.
In North America, the Jamestown colony was established in Virginia in 1607. The Pilgrims and the Plymouth Colony were established in Massachusetts in 1620. In other words, establishment of permanent White settlement in what became the USA started just a generation or two before the Manchu Conquest.
In fact, I very carefully weighed the ethics and pros and cons of sharing the children’s pictures on the internet, before I decided that as they were basically, all wearing elaborate disguises, it was okay.
Speaking of negativity and making things look bad, it’s time for this week’s Alice Guo report and update:
Alice Guo Update
Alice Guo is currently being publicly grilled by Philipine official hoping that they can convince her to turn over evidence against other human traffickers and human exploitation and scam call centers operated out of the “POGOs” or “Overseas Gambling Centers”.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality has conducted an executive session with dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo to divulge details that she refused to disclose to the public.
It was Senator JV Ejercito who moved to conduct the closed door session with Guo, which was eventually approved and conducted by the Senate panel at the office of Majority Leader Francis Tolentino.
Ejercito said this as Guo maintained that she is not the "mastermind" in the POGO operations in Bamban, Tarlac as she described herself as "just a victim.""Hindi po ako guilty po...'Di naman po sa ginamit. If ever po, kung meron po akong naitulong, ano po akong tao, helpful akong tao. Kung meron man po, yun lang po. Sa mga activities po na ginawa or sa mga allegations po, wala po akong kinalaman," Guo said.
(I'm not guilty... It's not that I was used. If I ever helped anyone, I am a helpful person. That's all. But regarding the activities and the allegations, I don't have anything to do with them.)
"I think, sa tagal po ng investigation, alam na rin po ng committee po, especially chaired by our madam chairman po who's really at the back of everything po," she added.
(I think that with the length of the investigation, the committee, especially our madam chairman, has an idea on who's really at the back of everything.)
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/921493/alice-guo-to-name-most-guilty-senate-executive-session/story/
My response. Isn’t it nice that she is such a helpful person?
In a previous piece, I wrote about the Outlaws of the Marsh novel. See” Young Asian Men, alcohol, and dog eating, and the time I ate dog meat. Part 7 and last in a series.” (substack.com)