Cantonese opera and the growth and spread of citeseerx. As for hong kong, cantonese operas were performed at theatres and bamboo sheds on one hand. The sunbeams website is wholly in chinese and reaching someone in the theater who speaks english can be challenging. The percussion controls the overall rhythm and pace of the music, while the gaohu leads the orchestra. As many families usually encourage their kids to learn something more useful, cantonese opera tends to be neglected, even if the older generations still enjoy it. The themes of cantonese opera are mostly adapted from classic novels, legends, folk literature, and local anecdotes, even from foreign novels or operas, which creates a rich content in the plays, and makes people love it so much. Many troupes were forced to stage their performances under the cover of beijing opera troupes.
The winds and strings encompass erhu, gaohu, yueqin, yangqin, and dizi, while the percussion comprises many different drums and cymbals. An early form of chinese drama is the canjun opera, or adjutant play which originated from the later zhao dynasty 319351. Opera troupes toured regularly from china and hong kong, reaffirming and nourishing the cultural heritage of these communities. Booking directly with either of the theaters above can be tough.
Hong kongs cantonese opera video travel the guardian. The performance here was recorded in the late 1950s and sold as an album of three 33 records on the golden star label. Amazingly, the period also marked the dawn of a diaspora history whose geographical reach was unmatched by any other genres of traditional chinese opera. Cantonese operas tell stories about chinese history, traditions, culture, as well as philosophies. Cantonese opera costumes are colorful, intricate, and unique.
Developments of chinese opera, operas in different areas. There is evidence for opera as far back over a thousand years when emperor xuanzong created a troupe to perform in his pear garden, to this day opera performers are colloquially known as children of the pear garden. The remainder of this paper is organized into three broad historical periods con cerning the contribution of cantonese operas to the growth in use of written. This program was recorded by chicago access network can tv. Due to chinese operas long and rich history, there are still approximately 368 different types of chinese opera today.
Culture incluses lots of things, like food, entertainment, festivals, language, popular culture, television programmes, etc. Like all versions of chinese opera, it is a traditional chinese art form, involving music, singing, martial arts, acrobatics, and acting. Pages in category cantonese opera the following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total. In the early 20th century, the singing language of cantonese opera had gradually shifted from guilin mandarin to cantonese.
Cantonese opera has long been an important cultural touchstone for chinese canadians. Costumes and makeup of cantonese opera the costumes of cantonese opera are made of silks and satins in bright colors. Introduction no subject has been more romanticized among students of guangdongs martial arts and wing chun practitioners in particular than the red boat companies of the cantonese regional opera tradition. It is popular in guangdong, guangxi, hong kong, macau and among chinese communities in southeast asia.
C antonese opera one of four types of chinese opera has its roots in the canton region now know as guangzhou also referred to as the pearl river delta. Many important troupes moved from foshan to guangzhou. Cantonese opera, in its native language, is pronounced jyut6 kek6, or if using the general term chinese opera, the cantonese pronunciation is hei3 kuk1. The trail 1983 bd1080p x264 aac cantonese mandarin. This is a subtype of the sheng male role, and is specific to cantonese. In its early form, it was a simple comic drama involving only two performers, where a corrupt officer, canjun or the adjutant, was ridiculed by a jester named grey hawk. Late 19th and early 20th century martial arts folklore claimed that remnants of the southern shaolin temple including the abbot jee shin. The rise of cantonese opera hong kong university press.
Hong kong kids love cantonese opera, even if they dont. About the founder and the artistic director cantonese opera. Cantonese opera pieces are still favored by the elderly and even if they have been performed. One of the major styles of chinese opera, cantonese opera is a highly respected and muchloved art form that blends chinese legend, music and drama into a vibrant performance style thats rich with symbolic meaning. Cantonese opera has over 300 years of history and is a lifestyle that has penetrated into. There are numerous regional branches of chinese opera, of which the beijing opera jingju is one of the most notable. You dont need to understand cantonese or be familiar with the stories of chinese history and mythology from which these. Understanding the red boats of the cantonese opera. From then, cantonese opera started to develop in hong kong, macau and guangzhou separately. Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in chinese opera, originating in southern chinas guangdong province. Under the reign of emperor tongzhi 18621874, the ban was lifted and cantonese opera had experienced a significant renewal.
Yung on ng, the rise of cantonese opera hmusic hnet. What makes cantonese culture unique from other regions in. Ngs wellresearched study addresses the rise in popularity of cantonese opera in the early 20th century, tracing its origins in popular rural entertainment, the influence on it of peking opera, and its subsequent growth among the urban population. As early as the ming dynasty, chinas guangdong province had a local opera that blended existing theatrical styles, such as yiyang, bangzi, pihuang and kunqu, from other parts of china however, with the rise of the qing in the 18th century, the city of guangzhou, guangdongs capital, welcomed an influx of opera troupes from provinces to the north.
A performer chooses hisher costume depending on the choreography of the show or personal preference. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. Colorful personalities and legends abound in the early history of cantonese opera. Expand your home video library from a huge online selection of movies at. History cantonese opera was originally called narm hei, or nanxi southern opera in the jiajing period of the ming dynasty, and was popular in guangdong and guangxi at that time. For cantonese opera, the latter half of the nineteenth century witnessed an evolution toward a distinctive form of musical drama in its home region of the pearl river delta. It is widely regarded as one of the cultural treasures of china. Whilst many foreigners sometimes joke that it sounds like someone strangling a cat, this is most unfair as it is a highly developed art form that many simply do not understand. History cantonese opera was originally called narm hei, or nanxi southern opera in the jiajing period of the ming dynasty, and was. Consisting of a blend of operatic traditions from various parts of china, it first arose in the ming and qing dynasties and experienced its commercial heyday in the early twentieth century. Cantonese opera world intangible cultural heritage list. Learning cantonese, anyone know where i can find a torrent or some resources for self study online.
Im not a connoisseur in this matter, but some really famous cantonese operas that most chinese people would know are. The origins of cantonese opera city university of hong kong. She has since performed in principal female role in many cantonese opera repertoires. Another important influence on the cantonese form is a 16thcentury type of opera called kunqu which originated in suzhou and is often considered the mother of chinese operas. Combining music, singing, martial arts, acrobatics and acting, cantonese opera tells stories from chinese history and myth, reflecting virtues like love, loyalty and patriotism.
Cantonese opera, as the name suggests, is all in the cantonese language, and so, unfortunately, is much of the information surrounding the opera. Lee is the hong kongbased author of two books on cantonese musical vernacular and a third, an introduction to cantonese opera music, scheduled for release this fall. The back cover is available here as a highresolution image for those who read. Wing chung ng is an associate professor of history at the university of texas at san antonio and author of the chinese in vancouver, 194580. A thirdgeneration member of a macau literati family, he pursued university and postgraduate studies in hong kong in art, literature and education.
Traditional musical instruments used in cantonese opera include wind, strings and percussion. Cantonese opera made not much advancement during that time. During the 1880s in victoria, british columbia, three theatres were built for cantonese opera performances. Cantonese opera costumes provide sociohistorical contexts and are designed for symbolic and aesthetic effect. Beyond entertainment, the operas educate people about many facets and levels of the chinese language, belief system, society, arts and history. Its original style included the rich cultural features of suzhou but it incorporated features from other forms of chinese opera as it expanded into other regions. The chicago public librarys chinatown branch hosts a traditional cantonese opera performed by the zhaoqiu he quyi art cultural center. Cantonese opera was first performed during the reign of the ming dynasty jiajing emperor from 152 to 1567.
Wing chung ng charts cantonese operas confrontations with state power, nationalist discourses, and its challenge to the ascendancy of peking. The following types of roles are found in this collection. Chinese opera comes in many forms and each is notable for its own unique style. Learning cantonese, anyone know where i can find a torrent. Cantonese opera is not as well known in the englishspeaking world as its sister genres. What is unique about cantonese culture is that cantonese has its own opera called cantonese opera. Beijing and tianjin are respected as the base cities of beijing opera in the north while shanghai is the base in the south. Cantonese opera is a form of chinese opera that can trace its roots back to the 12th century. Her career as a cantonese opera artist started in 1993 and founded the vancouver cantonese opera company in 2000. Xiqu is not only a name foreign to potential nonethnic chinese tourists to hong kong, but also to the people who invented the very musical genre itself, and were the first. Rosa cheng is a talented cantonese opera performer who offers a versatility and diversity of styles in her singing and acting. Here is a brief descriptions of four types that are probably more wellknown in our region.
The province of shanxi was the initial center for this new artform. It is arguably one of the regions bestloved art forms among hong kong audiences. A history of traditional cantonese opera culture trip. Beijing opera or peking opera is a kind of chinese opera which arose in the mid19th century and was extremely popular in the qing dynasty court. Cantonese opera, a traditional theatre of chinas far south, is a distinctive form of drama found in hong kong and chinas guangdong region.
This is a special subtype falling between the main jing and chou male roles, and is specific to cantonese opera gong jiao. Each type of character has a variety of costumes to select from, so costuming is very flexible and up to the performer. Friend of mine says he saw a link to a torrent of cantonese torrent pack in this subreddit. While not as well known as the closely related beijing opera, cantonese opera is still a vibrant artform wherever cantonese speakers live. Cantonese opera, hong kong in pictures culture the. There is debate about the origins of cantonese opera, but it is generally accepted that opera was brought from the northern part of china. A temporary 800seat theatre made of bamboo has been built in hong kong for performances of cantonese opera, as part of a threeweek programme to celebrate the lunar new year.
885 383 1198 966 551 406 893 1606 225 850 814 913 1287 1561 348 40 1639 304 416 562 623 1562 705 1191 21 419 1470 618 281 789 981 500 1611 592 151 1326 1303 109 1084 1169 1305 57 1002 593