The Golden Phoenix

Chiling Village of Zhangpu county is a place in Zhangpu county resided mainly by the She minority group. Despite it's relatively unknown status as compared to other big cities in Zhangzhou, it has found itself in the limelight after an opera troupe from this village, Jin Feng Xiangju Opera Troupe, became the top touring Hokkien opera troupe in Malaysia (as described in my previous post). Troupe leader Lan Yajin has now started a second opera troupe, and is planning to conquer other overseas venues like Singapore as well. I certainly look forward to that day!

Malaysia's "Champion Touring Hokkien Opera Troupe"

For those who are avid Hokkien opera fans in Singapore would probably know that the "champion touring Hokkien opera troupe" (local ones excluded) in Singapore is Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe. Then how many know who's the Malaysian equivalent of the same honour? It's Jinfeng Xiangju Troupe from Zhangpu county, Zhangzhou. Other than geographical differences of their home base, Jinfeng Xiangju Opera Troupe is different from Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe too in the sense it is not a government-sponsored troupe. Can you image this: since the troupe's founding 4 years ago, it had performed 393 days in total! With such a glorious achievement, I really want to see how the troupe's like in action...

Hokkien Xiangju Opera "The Bridge of Mother and Son"

Showcasing here, are two clips from Hokkien Xiangju opera “The Bridge of Mother and Son”. Now some of you viewers, especially those from my opera troupe as well as those who had watched Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe’s show, might think how come these clips don’t seem familiar. The version featured here is performed by Zhangpu County Xiangju Opera Troupe, and is actually the original version before Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe revised the show and made it part of their repertoire.

Allow me to say a bit about the show. The script was written by the late Xiangju opera scriptwriter Tang Yinchang, who is renowned for his works like “The Tale of the Medicinal Stone” and “Protecting the Baby”. His masterpieces usually centred on family-orientated themes which touch the hearts of the common-folks. In this show, the plot is about an unfilial son Liu San, who forgot about his mother’s existence after he got married to Qi’niang. His mother, Madam Xu, got so upset that she was forced to attempt suicide but was saved by the magistrate. The magistrate was furious when he found out what happened and wanted to imprison the young couple, but was stopped by his wife. He then invited Liu San and Qi’niang over to hint them if they had lost anything valuable at home. The young couple counted everything they had at home, but missing out on Madam Xu. The magistrate finally lost his temper and wanted to throw them into jail. It was only at this juncture did Liu San finally recalled he had a mother whom he had not seen for a long time. After crying out to his mother, Madam Xu ran out to see her son, and both hugged together in tears. The magistrate allowed the young couple to bring Madam Xu home, but Liu San and Qi’niang were remorseful for their past actions, and suggested that they be locked up as a punishment. The magistrate agreed and arranged for them to stay for the night in the jail while Madam Xu became their invited guest for dinner.

In my opinion, Zhangpu County Xiang Opera Troupe’s performance standard is rather average, especially in terms of singing. Some of the actors actually sang rather badly. However, I think the troupe do score point in terms of their script, as I believe the late Master Tang was their anchor scriptwriter. Their music is also one of their strength too, and I particularly like their “Zasui” melody a lot.

With the demise of Master Tang, I’m not sure what the direction is for the troupe, and it has been quite a while since there was news from them. Hopefully the troupe will not fall apart just like that, for after all, they had produced quite a few well-received shows in the past.

Zhangpu Da Che Gu Opera

Other than being home to the Bamboo Horse Opera, Zhangpu county is also home to 1300 year-old Zhangpu Da Che Gu Opera (漳浦大车鼓). Zhangpu Da Che Gu is a sub-branch of Che Gu folk opera which was once popular throughout the whole of Southern Fujian province, Chaozhou districts in Guangdong province and also Taiwan. The other notable styles of Che Gu opera include Tong'an Che Gu (同安车鼓) and Taiwan Che Gu (台湾车鼓阵).

Zhangpu Che Gu opera, compared to other forms of Che Gu styles in the region, is more robust, as it was originally performed by male soldiers in ancient times. It was said that Chen Yuanguang, the founding pioneer of Zhangzhou, brought his troop into Zhangzhou after a victorious battle, and in celebration, the soilderis performed a dance accompanied with strong drums and percussions. This form of military dance formed the basis of Zhangpu Che Gu, and centuries later, singing was added to the dance to spice up this ancient art form.

"Zhaojun Leaves Her Hometown"