Abstract
Advocating the view that “the past is to serve the present”, this chapter is concerned with the dichotomy of tradition and modernity. In many contemporary societies where technology and new trends prevail, people ponder little how the historical past is of strong relevance to the present, and even future. As mentioned in Chap. 1, Hokkien theatre is part of a popular cultural phenomenon in the twentieth century and is still pushing its way through the current millennium. Despite its relative popularity, it is still an understudied area that deserves more scholarly attention, especially in the English medium. Its diversity and widespread dissemination today owed its origins back in southern Fujian, particularly Quanzhou, which once achieved international acclaim as a thriving port city. This maritime status promoted cultural intermingling that shaped political stance as well as socio-cultural developments, including the theatrical tradition that flourished in this coastal region.
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Notes
- 1.
John Guy, “Tamil Merchant Guild and the Quanzhou Trade”, The Overseas Trade of Quanzhou in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Leiden: The International Institute for Asian Studies, 1997, 4.
- 2.
John K. Fairbank, Edwin O. Reischauer et al., East Asia: Tradition and Transformation. Boston: Houghton Miffilin Co., 1989, 136.
- 3.
Hugh Clark, “Muslims and Hindus in the Culture and Morphology of Quanzhou from 10th to the 13th Century”, Journal of World History 16, No. 1 (1995), 53–54.
- 4.
Gustav Ecke and Paul Demieville, The Twin Pagodas of Zayton : A Study of Later Buddhist Sculptures in China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1935.
- 5.
The reference of Quanzhou as an ‘Emporium’ was given by Angela Schottenhammer that appeared in the eponymous book title. See Angela Schottenhammer, The Emporium of the World: Maritime Quanzhou. Brill, 2001.
- 6.
Ng Chin-keong, Trade and Society: The Amoy Network, 2 and Naosaku Uchida, The Overseas Chinese: a bibliographical essay based on the resources of the Hoover Institution, 31.
- 7.
Van der Loon, The Classical Theatre and Art Song of South Fukien, 1.
- 8.
In earlier accounts that used the Wade–Giles system, the Hokkien were referred as ‘South Fukienese ’. See, e.g., Ng Chin-Keong, Trade and Society: The Amoy Network. In his discussion of theatre in southern Fujian, Piet van der Loon also highlighted the problem with the term ‘Minnan ’, because in the linguistic sense Chaozhou would also be included. See Piet van der Loon, The Classical Theatre and Art Song of South Fukien: A Study of Three Ming Anthologies, Taipei: SMC Publishing, 1992, 1.
- 9.
For discussion on the Hokkien group in Singapore and Southeast Asia , see Philip A. Kuhn, Chinese Among Others: Emigration in Modern Times, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008, 33–38 and Phyllis Chew, A Sociolinguistic History of Early Identities in Singapore: From Colonialism to Nationalism, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, 43–44.
- 10.
Schottenhammer, Emporium of the World, 56.
- 11.
Schottenhammer, Emporium of the World, 60–61.
- 12.
So, Billy K.L. Prosperity, Region and Institutions in Maritime China, 101–105.
- 13.
The deity Wu Tao was believed to cover Emperor Gaozong in a mist when he was escaping from the Jin enemy. To express his gratitude for the deity, the Emperor ordered a temple to be built in Baijiao in 1150 CE. The following year (1151), Yan Shilu (1119–1193, attained jinshi in 1142, Chinese name not given here), Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and a native from the Qingjiao area, presented a request to the court for permission to build a second temple in Qingjiao. See Kenneth Dean, “Taoism and popular religion in Southeast China: History and revival”, Doctoral Dissertation, Stanford University, 1988, 94, 138–139.
- 14.
Wang Chen-shan, “Quanzhou Kaiyuan Monastery : Architecture, Iconography and Social Contexts”, 201.
- 15.
Dean, “Taoism and popular religion in Southeast China”, 138–139.
- 16.
Dean, “Taoism and popular religion in Southeast China: History and revival”, 41.
- 17.
Dean, “Taoism and popular religion in Southeast China: History and revival”, 99, 138–139.
- 18.
Tanaka, “The Social and Historical Context of Ming-Ching Local Drama”, 145.
- 19.
Wu Jieqiu, Liyuanxi yishu shilun (梨園戲藝術史論), Taibei Shi: Cai tuan fa ren Shi Hezheng min su wen hua ji jin hui, 1994, 11.
- 20.
Liu Nianzi, Nanxi xin zheng (南戲新證), Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1986, 21–24.
- 21.
Wu, Liyuanxi yishu shilun, 16.
- 22.
Wu, Liyuanxi yishu shilun, pp. 85–86. The origin of Nanguan or Nanyin emerged during the Tang dynasty. It was believed that during the reign of Emperor Xizong in 885 CE, two brothers Wang Chao and Wang Shenzhi led their army to Min and the ‘Big tunes’ (daqu 大曲) was brought over. Nanyin preserved some music of the Central Plain while assimilating with the local music in Min. See Chen Zhiping and Xu Hong, Minnan wenhua baike quanshu. Fuzhou: Fujian renmin chubanshe, 2009, 521.
- 23.
Wu, Liyuanxi yishu shilun, 88, 110.
- 24.
Sun Mei, “Nanxi: The earliest form of Xiqu”, 44.
- 25.
Jie Jin, Chinese Music, Cambridge University Press, 2011, 70–71; Marnix St. J. Wells, “Rhythm and Phrasing in Chinese Tune-Title Lyrics; Old Eight-Beat and Its 3-2-3 Meter”, Asian Music, Vol. 23, No. 1, Autumn 1991-Winter 1992, 120. The qupai system is used in many early dramatic forms like zaju, Nanxi, Kun opera, Peking (Beijing) opera as well as Puxian opera of the Henghua group. The structure of most qupai melodies usually has some degree of flexibility in that a composer can ‘fill the lyrics’ (tianci 填詞). However, the use of qupai in Chinese theatre may be more complex. There are regulations on the number of words used, rhyming and linguistic pitch-level. Each qupai has its own fixed melody and modal tone, which can be used as a song independently or combined with other melodies to form a suite in the opera. Also see Lau Wai Tong, “The Historical and Musical Frameworks for Developing a Curriculum to Teach Chinese Music Literacy , Doctoral Dissertation, Northwestern University, 2003, 110.
- 26.
Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 110.
- 27.
According to van der Loon, the Nanguan repertoire was transmitted via oral instruction and written form. The transmission of the latter was evident in the large number of extant manuscripts which indicates the musical notation and lyrics. Printed handbooks also existed. See van der Loon, Classical Theatre in Fukien, 46.
- 28.
Quan Tang Wen [The complete text of Tang], Volume 597. http://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=405739&remap=gb, accessed 30 June 2015.
- 29.
Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 6.
- 30.
Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 18.
- 31.
Van der Loon, The Classical Theatre and Art Song of South Fukien, 15.
- 32.
The term ‘Liyuan opera ’ was said to emerge only during the modern era. The ‘seven-child troupe ’ (qiziban) is an older and more commonly used term in the imperial era in referring to the old opera form in southern Fujian. See Liu, Nanxi xinzheng , 112. ‘Qiziban’ was also a term used in Taiwan when the theatrical form spread there, see the Taiwan’s section in Chapter Three.
- 33.
Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 2.
- 34.
Wu, Liyuanxi yishu shilun, 274–275.
- 35.
Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 14, 434. The definition of this method is cited from Vibeke Børdahl, The Eternal Storyteller: Oral literature in Modern China, 249.
- 36.
Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 14–15.
- 37.
Wu Jieqiu and Piet van der Loon had done remarkable studies on Liyuan opera , particularly on compiling the libretti of this genre. However, there is a common generalization that the repertoire was orally transmitted. On further examination, the actual scenario is more complex than generally assumed.
- 38.
Piet van der Loon, The Classical Theatre, 84; Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 260.
- 39.
Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 260–261.
- 40.
Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 434.
- 41.
For a more detailed description of Liyuan opera transcripts, see Wu, Liyuanxi yishu shilun, Vols. 1 and 2.
- 42.
Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 434 and 479 n13.
- 43.
For the role texts of Yuan zaju, see Wilt Idema “The Many Shapes of Medieval Chinese Plays: How Texts are Transformed to meet the needs of actors, spectators, censors, and readers”, Oral Tradition, 20/2, 2005, 324–325.
- 44.
Wu, Liyuanxi yi shu shi lun, 435–436.
- 45.
Piet van der Loon, The Classical Theatre, 44.
- 46.
According to Tsai Tsin Tsin, the reason for the demise of Liyuan opera was the use of light music and civil plays , which she sees as less suitable for celebratory occasions held at village temples . The reason proposed by Piet van der Loon was ‘the absence of fighting scenes and acrobatics’. See Tsai Tsin Tsin, “Gaojiaxi yuan yuan xingcheng yu yishu fazhan zhi kao su”, 2002 Liang an xiqu dazhan xueshu yan tao hui lunwen ji (Yilan Xian Wujie xiang: Guo li chuan tong yi shu zhong xin, 2003), 446 and van der Loon, Classical Theatre, 15–16.
- 47.
Wilt Idema and Stephen West, Chinese Theater, 1100–1450: A Sourcebook, Weisbaden: Steiner, 1982, 5–6.
- 48.
Robin Ruizendaal, “A Discovery in Fujian Province - Iron-stick Puppet Theatre”, CHIME: Newsletter of the European Foundation for Chinese Music Research, No. 2, Autumn 1990, 32; Børdahl, The Eternal Storyteller, 125.
- 49.
‘Song Jun Shou Zhu Zi Yu Suwen’ (宋郡守朱子諭文) in “Min Feng” (民風), Shen Dingjun and Wu Lianxun ed., Zhangzhou fu zhi, Taipei, Chengwen chu ban she, reprinted 1965.
- 50.
Mary Tuen Wai Yeung, “To Entertain and Renew: Operas, Puppet Plays and Ritual in South China, Doctoral Dissertation, The University of British Columbia , September 2007, 14.
- 51.
Kristofer Schipper, “Jester Gods”, http://xiguan.org/Schipper/003.htm, retrieved 16 December 2014.
- 52.
Huang Shaolong, Quanzhou ti xian mu’ouxi. Hangzhou Shi: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe, 2007, 32.
- 53.
Ruizendaal, Marionette theatre in Quanzhou , 153.
- 54.
Ruizendaal, Marionette theatre in Quanzhou, 162; Ye, 110–111.
- 55.
Xijun Huang, “Quanzhou kuilei ‘Mulian’ gai shu”, Fujian Nanxi ji Mulianxi lun wen ji , 140–141.
- 56.
Xijun Huang, “Quanzhou kuilei ‘Mulian’ gai shu”, 153.
- 57.
Mary Yeung quoted from the ‘History of the Yuan Dynasty’ (Yuanshi 元史) that in the Yuan dynasty led by the Mongols, puppet theatre was also restricted. It was an indication that puppet theatre flourished so well that it had raised the concern of the ruling elite such that an oppressive policy was executed by the Yuan court. See Mary Yeung, “To Entertain and Renew”, 51.
- 58.
Ruizendaal, Marionette theatre in Quanzhou , 25.
- 59.
Yongchun xian zhi bian ji wei yuan hui bian, Yongchun xian zhi. Beijing: Yuwen chuban she, 1990, 783.
- 60.
Dolby, “The Origins of Chinese Puppetry”, 113.
- 61.
Dolby, 115, cf. Fan Sheng Lu (Records of the Prosperous), 123–124 and Dong Jing Meng Huang Lu (The Eastern Capital: A Record of the Dream of Hua), Chapter 5, 137; Chapter 6, 173; and Chapter 7, 206.
- 62.
Shen Chi-sheng, Jinjiang Nanpai zhangzhong mu’ou tan gai, Fuzhou: Hai xia wen yi chu ban she, 1998, 8.
- 63.
Van der Loon, The Classical Theatre, 15–16.
- 64.
Bai Yonghua and Li Longpao, Gaojiaxi, 11–12; Cai Xin Xin (Tsai Hsin Hsin), “Gaojiaxi yuanyuan xingcheng yu yishu fazhan zhi kaoshu”, 2002 Liangan xiqu dazhan xueshu yantaohui lunwenji (Yilan Xian Wujie xiang: Guoli chuantong yishu zhongxin, 2003), 419–421.
- 65.
Jonathan Stock, ‘Learning “Huju” in Shanghai, 1900–1950: Apprenticeship and the Acquisition of Expertise in a Chinese Local Opera Tradition’, 2.
- 66.
The word ‘drama’ is used here for the Song Jiang and He Xing type of performances, both of which were believed to be the prototypes of Gaojia opera . The reason for this term is to denote its prototypic development that may not have complete musical accompaniment compared to opera. There are different theories to explain what led to the establishment of Song Jiang drama . I have chosen the ‘Song Jiang Battle array’ theory because it is best substantiated by sources (cited above) and factual evidence such as the threat of maritime ban faced by the Hokkien during the Ming era.
- 67.
Gaojiaxi yu shuihu wenhua yanjiu, 8–9; Tsai Hsin Hsin, “Gaojiaxi yuan yuan xing cheng yu yi shu fa zhan zhi kao shu”, 419.
- 68.
Gaojiaxi yu shuihu wenhua yanjiu, 14.
- 69.
Tsai Hsin Hsin, “Gaojiaxi yuanyuan xingcheng yu yishu fazhan zhi kaoshu”, 440–442.
- 70.
Graham Seal, Outlaw Heroes in Myth and History, 19.
- 71.
Chengan Chin et al, “The Evolution of Song-Jiang Battle Array and the Relationship between Song-Jiang Battle Array and the Rural Society of Southern Taiwan, Asian Culture and History, Vol. 2, No. 2, July 2010, 121.
- 72.
Hu Lihong, “Minnan diqu Song Jiang zhen xian Zhuang”, Masters’ Thesis, Wuhan Institute of Physical Education, 2007, 8.
- 73.
Fujian sheng difangzhi bianji weiyuanhui bian, Fujian sheng zhi, xi qu zhi, Beijing: Fangzhi chubanshe, 2000, 16.
- 74.
Bai Yonghua and Li Longpao, Gaojiaxi, 19.
- 75.
Tsai Hsin-Hsin, “Gaojiaxi yuan yuan xing cheng yu yi shu fa zhan zhi kao shu”, 421.
- 76.
Bai Yonghua, “Zhan zhuan dongnanya: Gaojiaxi hai wai bai nian (1840–1940)”, Fujian luntan, Renwen shehui kexueban, Vol. 8 (2011), 65.
- 77.
Tsai Hsin-Hsin, “Gaojiaxi yuanyuan xingcheng yu yishu fazhan zhi kaoshu”, 420.
- 78.
Bai and Li, Gaojiaxi, 20–21.
- 79.
Fujian sheng zhi, xi qu zhi, 33.
- 80.
The idea of the constant demand for new plays is cited from Idema, “The Many Shapes of Medieval Chinese Plays”, 324–325.
- 81.
Bai and Li, Gaojiaxi, 32–33.
- 82.
Bai, “Zhanzhuan dongnanya: Gaojiaxi haiwai bai nian (1840–1940)”, 64.
- 83.
Bai and Li, Gaojiaxi, 33.
- 84.
Bai and Li, Gaojiaxi, 36.
- 85.
Zhuang Changjiang, Quannan Xi Shi Gou Chen, 136.
- 86.
Fujian sheng zhi, xiqu zhi, 33.
- 87.
Ruizendaal, Marionette theatre in Quanzhou , 170.
- 88.
The late Gwee Bock Huat (b. 1923) was a third generation Gaojia opera performer in Malaya and Singapore. His grandfather and father were also Gaojia opera performers invited to perform in Malaya. His grandfather inherited the ‘Fu An Xing’ (福安興) troupe in 1910 which was later renamed as ‘Fu Yong Xing’ (福永興) by his father. Gwee Bock Huat also mentioned the high status of the clown in Gaojia opera. Interview of Gwee Bock Huat, National Archives of Singapore, Accession Number 002985/19/02, 39.
- 89.
After the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, the Japanese colonizers adopted a policy of imperialization ( komika in Japanese, huangminghua 皇民化) that affected the development of Taiwanese theatre, including Gezai opera . See Hsiao-Mei Hsieh, “Music from a Dying Nation: Taiwanese opera in China and Taiwan during World War II, Asian Theatre Journal, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Fall 2010), 278–279.
- 90.
Ding Kaipeng, Gaojiaxi yu shuihu wenhua yanjiu, Masters Dissertation, Xiamen University, May 2014, 7.
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Chia, C. (2019). In Search of the Origins. In: Hokkien Theatre Across The Seas. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1834-4_2
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