Complete Collection of Huizhou Culture -- Huizhou Opera

Author: Zhu Wanshu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Hu Culture, also known as Huizhou Culture, refers to the comprehensive set of culturally universal and typical phenomena that emerged in the counties under the former Huizhou Prefecture, including Shexian, Yixian, Qiuning, 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 Collection 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 Collection consists of 20 monographs and over a thousand color and black-and-white photographs (figures), with a total word count exceeding 6 million. Its main contents include: 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, Xiqu Opera in Huizhou, Crafts in Huizhou, Hu Cuisine, Xin'an Philosophy, Xin'an Painting School, and Xin'an Medicine. The Complete Collection 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 residents' lives. 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 merely a case study; what they reveal is a new perspective for expanding the research of opera history and regional cultural history—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, with numerous regions forming the soil and climate for the survival and growth of "Chinese opera." In the Yuan Dynasty, Beijing, the northern capital Dadu, and southern Wenzhou and Hangzhou were all fertile ground for the flourishing of opera; during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Beijing, and Nanjing were all 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 myriad of forms. Third, the development of opera art is constrained by various factors, with the elements of different regional cultures often serving as either driving or limiting forces in its development.