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During the Tongzhi Period of the Qing Dynasty, there appeared
a ballad singing art form in  Shengxian
rural area. The artists borrowed traditional melodies to tell
short stories. The art became popular rapidly and developed
its own new melodies for ballad singing. During the Spring Festival
of 1906, the 32nd year of the Guangxu Period of the Qing Dynasty,
six performers in Shengxian rural area first dressed up and
performed on a drama stage. As the performers sang to the accompaniment
of percussion instruments that marked rhythms, the art group
was locally known as ＾Didu Performing Group￣, named after the
sounds of the rhythm-marking instruments. Gradually, the ballad-singing
art grew into a local opera and became popular in Shaoxing and
Ningbo.
In the early years of the Republic of China, these singing groups
gravitated toward Shanghai. They called themselves as Literary
Drama from Shaoxing to distinguish themselves from Shaoxing
Daban. In 1921, the Literary Drama from Shaoxing changed its
name to Stringed Tones, starting to use stringed musical instruments
in accompaniment. After this significant change, Yue Opera experienced
its best days during the 1930s and 1940s. After the founding
of the People¨s Republic of China, Yue Opera became an opera
of national renown second only to Beijing Opera.
In the 1950s, following the proposal by late Premier Zhou Enlai,
Zhejiang Second Yue Opera Troupe and Shanghai Yue Opera Theater
and other opera troupes began to experiment on male and female
artists perform together. They reformed arias and melodies to
suit the co-performance. The male and female performance not
only created space for new stories and better expressions, but
also produced a batch of popular male performers. |
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 Shaoju
Opera, or Shaoxing Chaotic Melody, is popularly known as Shaoxing
Daban. Its lyrics are based on seven-character couplings. The
local opera has its own complete arias and melodies. The opera
was called Yue Opera in the 1930s and changed to Shao Opera
in 1950. The play is popular in Shaoxing, Ningbo, Hangzhou,
Jiaxing, Huzhou and Shanghai. |
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Lotus Flower Fall
Most local folk arts appeared in Shaoxing in the mid Qing Dynasty
(1644-1911). The most widespread and influential were Pinghu
Melody, Ci Melody, Lotus Flower Fall, Xuanjuan, etc. The repertoire,
arias and tunes, and performances of these popular entertaining
story-telling arts were borrowed from other folk arts and improved
by local artists. After such numerous changes, these folk arts
were branded with local features and became quite popular with
villagers and urban residents. After the founding of the People¨s
Republic of China, cultural departments attached importance
to rescuing and restoring these traditional arts. The singing
and performing heritages have been studied, preserved and developed.
The best plays are now more widespread and popular theses days.
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