Bangkok, 3 March (ZXS) -- Question: Why did Chinese Teochew opera become localized in Thailand?

——Interview with Chuang Meilong, founder of Thai Youtai Opera

China News Agency reporter Wang Guoan

As an ancient local drama in China, Teochew opera (also known as Teochew opera) was active in Southeast Asia in the early years with the large number of Teochew people "Guofan", becoming one of the most influential Chinese local dramas overseas. In Thailand, over time, a Thai Teochew opera sung in Thai and mixed with Thai elements has been derived, which is known locally as "Youtai Opera", which is accepted and loved by the Thai people and even the royal family. Princess Sirindhorn has been present many times to see the performance.

Mr. Zhuang Meilong, founder of Thai Youtai Opera and a pioneer in promoting the localization of Teochew opera in Thailand, recently pointed out in an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East-West Question" that the spread, development and evolution of Chinese Teochew opera in Thailand reflect the integration and interconnection of Thai and Chinese drama culture.

The following is a summary of the interview:

China News Agency: How did Teochew opera spread to Thailand? As a local drama in China, why can it take root in Thailand?

Zhuang Meilong: Teochew opera has been introduced to Thailand with Chinese immigrants for hundreds of years. Immigrants from China's Chaoshan region built many Chinese-style temples in Thailand in the early years, and after temple fairs, temple festivals and other activities, they invited Chinese Teochew opera classes to come to Thailand to perform. After that, some opera classes stayed in Thailand to earn a living and eventually survive here.

The time when the Chaoshan people migrated to Thailand on a large scale was about the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, when more Teochew opera classes came to Thailand to develop.

In those days, people's entertainment was mainly watching theater. For example, in Bangkok, overseas Chinese (mostly Chaoshan immigrants) like to go to Chinatown to eat, shop and watch plays, and Teochew opera classes also come to Thailand with the local demand for entertainment and life. The root of Teochew opera in Thailand is not only the cultural and entertainment needs of local overseas Chinese, but also the spiritual needs of their connection with their homeland.

Teochew opera flourished in Thailand and took root, closely related to the customs and beliefs of the local overseas Chinese. Chinese temples are the place of spiritual sustenance of overseas Chinese, Chinese immigrants to Thailand, especially Chaoshan immigrants, pay great attention to maintaining traditional customs such as temple fairs and sacrifices, each temple will hold one or two temple fairs and temple festivals every year, each time 3 or 5 days, sometimes even up to 10 days, which requires a large number of theater classes. Since there are many temples, there are many theater classes needed, and watching the theater can attract more people to come to the temple to worship the Buddha. It can be said that Teochew opera is closely related to the temple festival culture and customs of overseas Chinese in Thailand.

On January 2020, 1, the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand, was lit up with a sea of people and joy. Photo by Wang Guoan

China News Agency: How did you first come into contact with and like Teochew Opera? Why make opera a profession?

Zhuang Meilong: My ancestral home is in the Chaoshan region of China, I am a third-generation Chinese born in Thailand, and I used to live close to Bangkok's Chinatown, and there are temples nearby, and temple fairs and Teochew opera performances are held every year. I remember that since I was 5 years old, my mother and grandmother often took me to the theater, and gradually became addicted to Teochew opera.

In 1957, when I was 16 years old, my father sent me to my ancestral hometown. After staying in China for seven or eight years, in addition to studying, I went to the theater to watch plays and go to the theater school to learn art. After getting acquainted with the teachers and staff of the local Teochew troupe, they knew that I was an overseas Chinese student and took good care of me, let me live in the dormitory of the troupe, and taught me how to choreograph, arrange scenes, write scripts and how to divide scenes. I learned a lot about Teochew opera there.

When I returned to Thailand, I didn't want to work in opera at first, and my father wanted me to do business. Later, a Teochew opera director learned that I had returned from China and learned a lot about opera, so he asked me to help compose music. At that time, the Thai Teochew opera music composition only had a ruler score, and there was no simple score, so I helped him improve the Teochew opera score, including the use of simple notation and the improvement of opera movements and melodies. After that, many Thai Teochew troupes asked me to be a choreographer, and I also began to promote the improvement of Teochew opera and promote the score to the troupe.

When I was younger, I became a star for playing the protagonist "Ming Popa" in a well-known commercial film in Thailand, and I participated in many movies and TV series, but I was most interested in Teochew drama. I also use my status as a film and television star to increase the attention of Youtai dramas.

Chuang Meilong participated in the Thai TV series "Sino-Thai Monkey King". Photo courtesy of interviewee

China News Agency: Why did you come up with the idea of changing Teochew opera to Thai singing?

Zhuang Meilong: In the 20s of the 60th century, I worked as a choreographer and composer in many Teochew opera classes in Thailand, as well as teaching drama and participating in performances. At that time, Teochew troupes often performed all over Thailand, and I found that Thais liked to watch plays, but most of them could not understand Teochew dialect. I gradually came up with the idea that in order for Chinese opera to take root in Thailand and for Thai audiences to understand Chinese opera, it is necessary to overcome the language barrier.

After about 1976, I started writing modern dramas, which are called "fashion dramas" in Thailand. I first wrote a fashion drama, "Fucheng Sister-in-law", about a Teochew woman who went to Thailand to find her husband. The language and lyrics of the characters in this play are still mainly Teochew dialect, but I consciously interspersed some Thai language in the plot. As a result, when the stage performance was performed, it was very popular with the audience. After that, whenever I had the right opportunity, I added some Thai language to the creation and directing of Teochew opera.

However, this process is not all smooth sailing, for example, at the beginning, many audiences thought that Teochew opera should be performed in Teochew dialect, and should not be mixed with Thai. Some Teochew troupe owners and actors are also reluctant to accept change, so they can only try slowly.

Zhuang Meilong flipped through the performance photos. Photo by Wang Guoan

China News Agency: From Teochew opera to Youtai drama, what kind of process has it undergone, and what innovation and development have been there?

Zhuang Meilong: In the 20s of the 80th century, I considered establishing the Thai-Chinese Theatre Art Society. The original idea was to support the establishment of a school through the association's platform, similar to Chinese opera schools, to train students' basic skills in opera, and I taught Teochew opera in Thai, and began to train Thai Teochew opera actors from school.

In 1982, when the association was officially approved, we established a Teochew Theatre Troupe called "Thai Zhong Chao Theatre Troupe". Soon after, the Thai Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Thai Chinese community held the 200th anniversary celebration of the founding of the capital of the Thai Chakri dynasty in Bangkok. The chairman of the celebration committee and the director of the performance committee invited our troupe to perform at the theater for 2 hours, and said that Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand would also come to see the play.

I've been envisioning Thai Teochew drama for a long time, but I haven't been able to realize it for many years, and this is an opportunity. I proposed that the princess could not understand Teochew dialect, and watching Teochew opera for 2 hours might feel boring, and it was better to act in Thai Teochew opera for an hour; Another hour to perform an authentic Teochew opera. This proposal was supported.

At that time, the TV series performing the story of "Bao Qingtian" was very popular in Thailand, so I chose two plays, "Bao Gong Gong Gong Nephew" and "Hundred Years Old Commander" (Yang Jia Jiang Story), of which "Bao Gong Gong Gong Nephew" was interpreted in Thai. We translated and rearranged in just one month. On the day of the performance, everyone was nervous, but they were also in high spirits, holding the belief of "fighting a battle against the water". During the performance, the actors began to chant in Thai, but the audience did not react for a while, and the audience was silent. After listening to a few words, Princess Sirindhorn applauded, and the audience applauded. The performance was a sensation.

After that, Thai Teochew dramas began to become popular in Thailand, and major media rushed to report them, attracting many young fans. Thai TV also continuously broadcasts the Thai Teochew drama "Bao Gong Gong Nephew", which Thai audiences call "Youtai drama". "You" refers to Chinese opera, and "Youtai Opera" means Chinese opera sung in Thai.

Since then, Teochew opera has set off a local upsurge in Thailand. Later, Princess Sirindhorn also watched Youtai drama performances many times.

Youtai Opera is a new opera style that integrates Teochew opera and Thai Chinese dialect and performs artistic choreography. It is born out of Teochew opera, while incorporating some local Thai singing voices. Youtai drama is also slowly developing and constantly absorbing the performance characteristics of other dramas. For example, we added rhythm and pitch change to the Teochew opera singing voice, and not only used Teochew gongs and drums in the performance, but also added some new gongs and drums, including Peking Opera gongs and drums. Therefore, Youtai drama is not only a Teochew opera sung in Thai, but an innovative and developed drama.

On January 2023, 1, at the Chinese Cultural Center in Bangkok, the actors of the Thai-Chinese Theatre Art Society performed the Thai Youtai drama "Peach Blossom Transition". Photo courtesy of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Bangkok

China News Agency: Traditional opera has had problems such as the continuous loss of audiences for many years, what is the current survival situation of Youtai opera in Thailand?

Zhuang Meilong: In Thailand, Youtai dramas have a certain audience base, and their survival state is okay. Thai audiences think that watching Chinese dramas in Thai is very fresh and interesting, and they will still be willing to watch it.

I have always believed that as long as the play is good, there will be people watching it, and if there is no good play and a good cast, then it is naturally not popular.

On January 2023, 1, at the Chinese Cultural Center in Bangkok, the actors and fans of Youtai Theater Troupe interacted live. Photo courtesy of the Chinese Cultural Center in Bangkok

China News Agency: How do you think about the inheritance and development of Thai Teochew drama or Youtai drama in Thailand?

Zhuang Meilong: Art needs to evolve and keep pace with the times. Traditional opera also needs to explore how to keep up with the trend of the times and retain the traditional elements.

Legacy needs to attract young people. I very much hope to set up a Chinese opera school to cultivate choreographers, directors, actors and other talents who are familiar with the Chinese and Thai languages and the history and culture of the two countries. Of course, this requires some financial support. The stage must be young, if it is all some old actors performing, it will not attract young audiences.

Thai Youtai drama or Teochew opera can not only participate in performances of worship and worship of Buddha, but should find ways to continuously improve the level of screenwriting and acting, and gradually realize box office on this basis, so that the audience is willing to spend money to watch the theater. In this process, it is first necessary to cultivate talents and nurture theater stars. Drama actors can act as well as film and television dramas, and should be versatile. By cultivating theater stars, audiences can be attracted to the theater, and the troupe can make money and achieve a virtuous circle.

In order to develop, Thai Youtai opera must also strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Chinese Teochew opera groups and schools, and Chinese Teochew opera groups and school teachers can be invited to teach and train, and Thai students can also be sent to China to study. Art can only be better developed through continuous learning and borrowing.

I am now in my 80s, and my biggest wish is to pass on Thai Youtai opera, contribute to the cultural exchange between Thai and Chinese drama, let China's excellent traditional opera carry forward overseas, and leave a new genre for Thailand. (End)

Respondent Profile:

Zhuang Meilong was interviewed by a reporter from China News Agency. Photo by Wang Guoan

Zhuang Meilong, stage name: Mang Boba (Mang.Bobla), Thai-Chinese, opera artist and film and television actor, is also a pioneer in promoting the localization of Teochew opera in Thailand and the founder of Thai Youtai Opera, currently the vice chairman and secretary general of the Thai-Chinese Theatre Art Society of Thailand, and the director of the Thai Chinese Opera Art Heritage and Development Center, has created, choreographed, directed and composed nearly 50 Teochew operas and more than 40 Youtai operas.