Huiyang Opera

Author: Zhu Wanshu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Hu culture, also known as Huizhou culture, is a comprehensive set of culturally universal and typical phenomena that emerged in the counties under the former Huizhou prefecture, including Shixian, Yi County, Xiuning, Qimen, Jixi, and Wuyuan. It was nurtured and formed during the Tang and Song dynasties, flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and has been passed down to the present, becoming a microcosm, specimen, and symbol of ancient Chinese culture, especially that of the Ming and Qing periods. The Complete Works of Huizhou Culture is the final outcome of the 1999 National Social Science Fund Project "Hu Culture Research" (Project Approval No.: 99BZS028). At the time, Lu Jiafeng, then Vice Governor of Anhui Province, served as the Director of the Editorial Committee. The Complete Works consists of 20 monographs and over a thousand color and black-and-white photographs (figures), with a total word count exceeding 6 million. The main content includes: The Land System of Huizhou, Hu Merchants, The Clan Society of Huizhou, Education in Huizhou, Architecture in Huizhou, Villages in Huizhou, Science and Technology in Huizhou, Folk Customs of Huizhou, Hu Dialect, Seal Carving in Huizhou, Woodblock Prints in Huizhou, Hu Classical Studies, Historical Archives of Huizhou, Book Publishing in Huizhou, Opera in Huizhou, Crafts in Huizhou, Hu Cuisine, Xin'an Philosophy, Xin'an Painting School, and Xin'an Medicine. The Complete Works comprehensively and systematically analyzes various Huizhou cultural phenomena from the perspective of historical and cultural studies, delves into the relationships between these phenomena and Huizhou's natural geography, socio-economy, politics, and the lives of its residents. It examines Huizhou culture within the broader context of national and even global culture and systematically reviews and summarizes the research achievements of domestic and international academia on Huizhou culture since the early 20th century. It is an encyclopedic work that systematically summarizes and showcases Huizhou culture and the lives of its people, marking a milestone in Hu studies research. This book explores the relationship between Huizhou as a region and the development of its culture and opera. Huizhou and opera are just one case study; what they illustrate is a new perspective for expanding the study of opera history and regional cultural history, namely the interactive relationship between regional culture and the development of opera. First, from the perspective of opera ecology, the region is the fundamental soil for the existence and development of opera art. Chinese opera has been passed down and developed in various regions, and numerous regions together constitute the soil and climate for the survival and development of "Chinese opera." In the Yuan Dynasty, Beijing, the northern capital Dadu, and Pingyang in the south, as well as Wenzhou and Hangzhou, were all fertile ground for the flourishing of opera. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Beijing, and Nanjing had become vibrant centers of opera art. Second, due to the diversity of regional culture, the opera art that blooms on the soil of different regional cultures also takes on a variety of forms. Third, the development of opera art is constrained by various factors, and the factors of different regional cultures often become one of the driving or restricting forces in the development of opera.