Sichuan opera (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Cuan1ju4; ) is a type of Chinese opera originating in China's Sichuan province around 1700. Today's Sichuan opera is a relatively recent synthesis of 5 historic melodic styles. Regionally Chengdu remains to be the main home of Sichuan opera, while other influential locales include Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hubei and Taiwan. Sichuan Opera was listed in the first batch of 518 national intangible cultural heritage list announced on May 20, 2006.
Notable characteristics of Sichuan opera include quick changes of masks or personae (known as the face change) and the importance of the character of the fool.
History
Initially, there were 5 distinct opera styles. The history of each style varies greatly.
Before the Ming Dynasty
The origin of Sichuan Opera can be traced back to the pre-Qin period and even earlier, and the Jiaodian opera of the later Han Dynasty laid the foundation for the early Sichuan opera. "Song Yu Asks the King of Chu", a famous poem of the Warring States states that "they are Xialiba people, and there are thousands of people in the country who belong to harmony". The so-called "Xialiba people" is the name of Sichuan folk songs and dances or singers and dancers. According to the records of Taiping Guang Ji and Tares History Compilation, there was a play of Bullfighting since Li Bing, the governor of Shu County. In The Three Kingdoms Period, the first satirical comedy appeared in Sichuan, which can be regarded as the originator of Sichuan opera comedy.
From the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties, the popular drama of Sichuan reached its peak, and there appeared the situation of "Shu skills leading the world". Frequently performed plays in this period included Liu Bijimai, Maixiu Liangqi and Guankou God. And appeared the earliest troupe in the history of Chinese opera so far, namely Qian Manchuan, Bai Jia, Ye Si, Zhang Mei and Zhang Ao in "Youyang Zazu".
In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Southern opera and Szechuan Zaju were popular in Sichuan, and the famous song was "Jiu Se Cai Qi".
Ming and Qing Dynasties
Jin Guanger's class of "Sichuan Opera" in the Ming Dynasty once went to Jiangsu and caused a stir in Nanjing, forming a competitive situation with the Southern Opera.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the population of Sichuan dropped sharply, and immigrants from all over the country moved into Sichuan, which is known as Huguang-filling Sichuan. Immigrants brought a variety of operas from their hometown, which made a variety of operas of northern and southern dialects spread throughout Sichuan successively. In the long-term development and evolution, based on Sichuan Lantern Opera, Sichuan Opera has integrated with other dialects, such as Gaoqiang Opera, Kunqu Opera, Huqin, and Tanqiang Opera, and merged with Sichuan dialect, folk customs, folk music, and dance, gradually forming a formal form of Sichuan opera, which is a voice art with Sichuan characteristics.
Republic of China
Xuantong three years (1911), the 1911 revolution succeeded. In the revolutionary trend of thought, the lead singer Gaoqiang opera troupe banquet music, Changle, Binle, Cui Hua; Taihong, Shuyi, who mainly sings Kunqu opera, playing opera and Hu qin, voluntarily formed the "Sanqing Hui" after consultation, so that the five kinds of voice can be integrated into one. "Sanqinghui" has Kang Zilin, Xiao Kaicheng, Tang Guangti, Tang Deyi, Zhou Mingchao, Liu Zhimei, Lei Zhejiang, and other famous actors. It advocated the reform of opera. While inheriting and preserving the traditional Sichuan opera, it created fashion shows that cut to the heart of The Times, such as The Story of Qiu Jin, The Recovery of Wuchang, and the Queen of the West. The establishment of "Sanqing Hui" promoted the development of Sichuan opera from square art to theater art, and the artistic level and cultural taste of Sichuan opera rapidly improved, becoming the most influential local opera in southwest China.