(New Year News) Fuling Town, Anhui: Children’s class on the old stage

　　China News Service, Hefei, February 13th, Title: Fuling Town, Anhui: Children's Class on the Old Stage

　　Author Chu Weiwei

　　In Fuling Village, Fuling Town, Jixi County, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, there is an old stage that is still in use today, witnessing the rise and fall of Fuling Hui opera culture for nearly a hundred years. On the fourth day of the first lunar month (February 13) of the Year of the Dragon in the Lunar Calendar, the first Anhui opera of the New Year in Fuling Town, "Ten Thousand Flowers Presenting Auspicious Presences", kicked off here.

　　"Every year in the first month of the year, we have to sing four nights in a row, three operas a night, and one singing session lasts three or four hours." Shao Xinxi, an 80-year-old inheritor of the provincial intangible cultural heritage of Hui opera, said, recalling the scenes of watching operas in the past. People all crowded in front of the stage, like a tide of people.

Data map: Actors from the Hui opera children's troupe perform on the stage in Fuling Town, Jixi County, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province. Photo by Zhang Yusheng

　　Hui opera has a history of more than 300 years and is one of the oldest operas in China. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were often touring Anhui opera troupes in Jixi. Some young people and literati in the village had the idea of ​​forming a group to perform amateur performances. In 1830, the Shaw family of Fuling built a stage in the village. In 1875, Shaw established a children's class to teach and perform Anhui opera. In 2008, Fuling Town was awarded the "Hometown of Chinese Folk Culture and Art (Hui Opera)" by the State Council.

　　Shao Xinxi was once a "little actor" on the first stage in Fuling. He said that in terms of performance skills, Hui Opera combines the euphemism and elegance of Kun Opera, the martial arts characteristics of Sichuan Opera, the stylized performances of Peking Opera and the unique artistic style of Hui Opera, and absorbs folk acrobatics, martial arts and other performance skills. , thus forming an integrated stylized, dance-based and musical performance system.

　　It is understood that the first stage in Fuling was in the Hui style, with a "veranda roof" on the top, which is a high-level form in ancient Chinese architecture. Due to its age, it could not be preserved. The Fuling Stage underwent reconstruction in 1941 and reconstruction in 1979.

　　Separated from the Fuling Stage by a wall is the Fuling Town Central Primary School. "The students of the children's class are selected from here, and there are currently 19 people." Shao Guangyu, the founder of the Huizhou Opera Children's Class, said that enrollment has never been interrupted since its establishment in 2002. Many veteran artists such as Shao Xinxi have been hired to teach, and hundreds of Huizhou opera students have been trained. "New seedlings". In 2008, the Hui Opera Children's Troupe was selected into the Anhui Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

Data map: Anhui opera children's troupe performs. Photo by Zhang Yusheng

　　Lang Liyan was once a member of the children's troupe of Hui opera, and the stage is where she has the most childhood memories. What she is most proud of is that the video of her performance in the Anhui opera "Seven Flooded Armies" when she was in elementary school was shown to the world at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo in China.

　　"There were rehearsals every week, even during winter and summer vacations." Lang Liyan said frankly that it was indeed very hard at that time, but her parents were very supportive, and the journey to and from practice was rain or shine. The stage experience gained from studying Anhui opera has made me more confident and more passionate about the culture of my hometown.

　　Now, Lang Liyan is a master's student majoring in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages ​​and is working as a Chinese teacher in a primary school in Pattaya, Thailand. "This Spring Festival, I plan to teach primary school students to cut paper and make Chinese knots." She said, hoping to have more opportunities to spread Anhui culture overseas.

　　"In schools, the singing of Hui opera can be combined with music, action kung fu with sports, and facial makeup with art. Students who have studied Hui opera have stronger character portrayal abilities when writing." Shao Guangyu said frankly that the inheritance of Fuling Hui opera is now Faced with the current shortage of jobs, many local students have gone to the county to study, and the county schools have also opened Huizhou opera classes.

　　Currently, Fuling Town is establishing a linkage inheritance and protection mechanism between towns and villages to create a characteristic town with "Huizhou flavor and Tao" in Fuling to retain talents for the inheritance of Huizhou opera. In addition, the village committee also built an Hui Opera Culture Museum based on the ancient ancestral hall, exhibiting Hui opera costumes and props, and providing Hui opera performances for tourists.

　　In the vast land of China, many cultural heritages such as Fuling Hui Opera exist among the people. "Culture is rooted in the people, passed down by the people, and naturally protected by the people." Shao Guangyu said. (over)