![YisuQing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/YisuQing.jpg)
Qinqiang (秦腔,
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
: Qín qiāng, literally "Qin's tune") is a genre of folk
Chinese opera
Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...
originated in
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
Province of
Qing China
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu people, Manchu-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin (1616–1636), La ...
in 1807 and soon took over other genres to be the representative genre of the province.
Historically, there were two separate genres both referring themselves as Qinqiang, the one with a longer history was later renamed as
Handiao Erhuang (汉调二簧),
while the newer genre is the topic of this article.
The genre features ''bangzi'' (wooden clapper) as its accompanying instruments, from which it derives its other names, ''Bangzi opera'' and luàntán (
亂彈, literally "hit in chaos"). Bangzi tune is considered one of China's
Four Great Characteristic Melodies. Qinqiang is the representative of the Bangzi opera and the most important origin of other Bangzi operas. It plays a key role in Chinese traditional culture as its birth and development process is the result of the development of Chinese local opera since ancient times.
History
Terminology
Qinqiang originated in
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
Province (abbreviated as Qín) of
Qing China
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu people, Manchu-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin (1616–1636), La ...
in 1807 and soon took over other genres to be the representative genre of the province.
Historically, there were two separate genres both referring themselves as Qinqiang, the one with a longer history was later renamed as
Handiao Erhuang (汉调二簧). Earlier scholars lumped various genres in Shaanxi Province ("Qin"), including but not restricted to Handiao Erhuang, as Qinqiang; hence, mistakenly they traced such Qinqiang to
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
(221BC - 206 BC).
The epitome of this misconception was Wang Shaoyou (王绍猷)'s infamous claim in 1949 that Qinqiang "formed in
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
, refined in
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
, developed in
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, completed by
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
, reached maturity in
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, spread across China in
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
". Wang's theory was soon debunked in the academia by 程砚秋 and 枣文寿, but the local government and newspaper continued to push the outdated theory.
Scholars state that Qinqiang reflects on the personalities and experiences of the working people, as it was impacted by the war and the influence of Western culture and art.
It has been researched by people looking to study the historical and cultural connotations of the Qin dynasty and
Tan Dun
Tan Dun (, ; born 18 August 1957) is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music, he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences, a dichotomy which has shaped much of his life and ...
, the composer for the opera
The First Emperor
''The First Emperor'' is an opera in two acts with music by Tan Dun and a libretto written in English by Tan Dun and Ha Jin. The opera received its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center in New York City on 21 December 2006, co ...
, researched Qinqiang for the opera, in order to learn more about "ancient Chinese vocal styles".
Development
Music style
Qinqiang has four forms of performance: singing, narration, dance, and martial arts. During performances the combination of singing and narrative is used to express other scenes and characters, such as general combat or soldiers attacking enemies on the stage. Supporters of Qiniang state that this creates a unique charm and atmosphere.
Actors require a foundation of vocal music, as this is how the character of different humanities is expressed.
Characters
There are 13 kinds of characters in Qinqiang including four kinds of "
Sheng" (生, male)(老生、須生、小生、幼生), six kinds of "
Dan
Dan or DAN may refer to:
People
* Dan (name), including a list of people with the name
** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark
* Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa
**Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...
" (旦, female)(老旦、正旦、小旦、花旦、武旦、媒旦), two kinds of "
Jing" (淨, painted face male)(大淨、毛淨) and one kind of "
Chou" (丑, Clown), also knowns as " 13 Tou Wangzi" (十三頭網子).
Actors
*Wei Changsheng
Artist
Yang Wenying, a famous artist after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and his achievements in the study of Qinqiang Opera art. Yang Wenying is a famous director and actor. He adapted many music works of Qinqiang art to promote the development of modern Qinqiang art in China, such as the modern Qinqiang opera “Red coral”, “Red Lantern”, “Ports” and so on.
Musial work
In 1958, Zhao, Zhenxiao and Lu Rilong, professors of Xi'an Conservatory of Music, created the “Capriccio on a Qinqiang Theme”, which is inspired by Shaanxi Opera, in order to promote the development of national music. The “Capriccio on Qinqiang Theme” is a representative work of the Qingqiang style. This music work is written for
Erhu
The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-s ...
, which is called Chinese violin.
References
External links
China Qinqiang Website(Chinese)
{{Chinese opera
Culture in Shaanxi
Chinese opera
Culture in Xi'an