【During the same period】The eighth generation inheritor of Xiangfang opera Bai Aiming

I am a tiger, the most righteous, pressing the strong and helping the weak is my purpose. Whoever wants me to be angry, let him report to Hades.

【Commentary】A suitcase is placed with gongs, drums, Nanbang and other musical instruments, and Bai Aiming, the eighth generation inheritor of Xiangfang Opera, uses his hands and feet together, and one person forms a "band". With the shadow puppet performance, the classic play "Tiger Lady" is presented to the audience.

Recently, the reporter visited Bai Aiming's home in Taiyuan, Shanxi, as an unknown drama, after more than 80 years of "disappearance", Xiangfang opera has appeared in the public's field of vision.

【During the same period】The eighth generation inheritor of Xiangfang opera Bai Aiming

In ancient times, around the middle of the Qing Dynasty, during the Qianlong period, peasants farmed land, were relatively idle in winter, and took some musical instruments for entertainment. At this time, the four major fangs are generally prevalent in the countryside, and the four major fangs are tofu fang, flour fang, incense fang, and oil fang. Xiangfang is a little bigger, so I moved into it, and over time, people called it Xiangfang Play.

【Commentary】On November 1937, 11, the Japanese army occupied Taiyuan City, and the Xiangfang opera "disappeared" since then, and only the minor tune was retained and passed down orally among the people. In 8, 1966-year-old Bai Aiming went to the incense shop left by his ancestors to help his father make incense, and his father's senior brother Liu Tie was willing to accept Bai Aiming as an apprentice and taught the art of making incense and the art of incense opera.

【During the same period】The eighth generation inheritor of Xiangfang opera Bai Aiming

In 2015, I set up the first two-person theater troupe of the Taiyuan Municipal Bureau of Culture, and during an event, I accidentally found an old man humming my incense fang, I was very strange, and then after I found him, he turned out to be the inheritor of Taiyuan, and the family tree was also recorded. Having found roots, Taiyuan has also developed five or six teams in recent years.

【Commentary】In addition to sorting out Xiangfang's drama scripts and tunes, Bai Aiming also serves as a screenwriter, director, actor and orchestra conductor, and has collected more than a dozen tunes such as "Running Taiyuan" and sorted out scripts such as "Tiger Lady".

【During the same period】The eighth generation inheritor of Xiangfang opera Bai Aiming

The biggest feature of this drama is that it is grounded, in addition to local folk songs, it absorbs things from other genres, but it is not the original sentence. We also have to process traditional scripts, process some novel things, and then combine them with modern ones, so that the script is more perfect.

【Commentary】In 2020, 60-year-old Yuan Jinfeng came to Taiyuan, Shanxi from Jiangxi. As a lover of opera, she was deeply attracted by the singing voice and script of Xiangfang opera, so she studied with Bai Aiming and became a Xiangfang opera actress.

【Contemporaneous】Xiangfang opera actor Yuan Jinfeng

By chance last year, a friend of mine introduced me to Xiangfang Art Troupe in July. What attracted me the most was the singing aspect, and its script was very touching, all of which were folk stories. Of course, I still haven't learned enough and solid enough, and I hope I can stick to it for as long as I can.

【Commentary】In recent years, Bai Aiming has also added shadow puppets, puppets and other forms of expression to traditional performances, hoping to carry forward the "reborn" Xiangfang opera and pass on this precious heritage.

【During the same period】The eighth generation inheritor of Xiangfang opera Bai Aiming

For example, you don't have our shadow puppets and puppets, especially puppets, in Taiyuan. In the future, if we inherit it, we will do it from these aspects, let's carry forward this good research, this is the future of our Xiangfang opera.

Zhang Licheng reported from Taiyuan, Shanxi

Responsible Editor: [Luo Pan]