''Hát tuồng'' (,

Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters (''Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represented ...

: 咭從) or ''hát bội'' (,

: 咭佩) is a form of Vietnamese theatre. Hát tuồng is often referred to as classical "

Vietnamese opera Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

" influenced by

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 ...

. Tuồng is distinct from the older hát chèo genre of Vietnamese theatre which combines dance, song and poetry, and the more modern

cải lương ''Tuồng cải lương'' (, Hán-Nôm: 從改良) often referred to as cải lương (Chữ Hán: 改良), roughly "reformed theater") is a form of modern folk opera in Vietnam. It blends southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, '' hát ...

folk musical.

History

The origin of ''tuồng'' is still unclear. It is believed that it was imported from China around the 13th century when Vietnam was warring against the Mongol

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 ...

. A famous actor named Lý Nguyên Cát (李元吉) was imprisoned by the Vietnamese. The imperial court asked him to spread his knowledge of Chinese theatre to the children of the elite, thus explaining how tuồng had first had its beginnings in Vietnam in the royal court. Later on, it was adapted to travelling troupes who entertained commoners and peasants. However, the first one to lay the foundation for the art of tuồng in Vietnam is Dao Duy Tu. Under the

Nguyen dynasty Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this su ...

which he served for, tuồng reached its highest point and was favored by Nguyen kings. Many great playwrights including Đào Tấn were also in this time. Along with '' Hát chèo'', ''tuồng'' was one of the highly popular art forms for commoners until 20th century. With the arrival of

Cai Luong Cai or CAI may refer to: Places * Cai (state), a state in ancient China * Caí River, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Cái River, Vietnam * Cairo International Airport (IATA airport code) * Caithness, a historic county in Scotland (Chapman code) Org ...

and modern theatrics, tuong gradually lost its position.

Storylines

Stories in the opera tend to be ostensibly historical and frequently focus on the rules of social decorum, and can include legends from either the

history of China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Make-up

''Tuồng'' employs the use of

stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...

s who are recognizable from their make-up and costumes, which are typically very elaborate and extravagant. Usually, a character's personalities can be revealed through three features: the color of the face, the eyebrows, and the beard.

Color of the face

* Red: dignified, outspoken, and courageous characters. * White: characters with a beautiful look, usually calm and good-natured. * Blue: haughty characters - can be applied to both antagonists and protagonists. * Green: disloyal characters. * Golden/Metallic: immortals, fairies, supernatural characters. * Bone white/light pink/grey: adulators. * Peach cheeks: loyal characters. * Black and white striped: hot-tempered characters. * Striped lines with parts painted in red: devils and monsters.

Eyebrows

* White eyebrows: elders and fairies. * Soft, simple eyebrows: good-natured characters. * Long, curving eyebrows: haughty, arrogant characters. * Straight eyebrows: hot-tempered characters. * Short eyebrows: antagonists in general. * Scowling eyebrows: pessimistic and gloomy characters.

Beard

* Long, green/black beard: scholar-bureaucrats. * Long, white/grey beard: military generals. * Red beard: foreign generals. * Curly, black beard: hot-tempered characters. * Anchor beard: farmers, woodsmen, and supporting characters. * Painted beard: glamour boys.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hat Tuong Vietnamese traditional theatre Vietnamese music Dance in Vietnam