The Multiple Faces of Hokkien Gezi Opera: The “O-Pe-Ah” Style

Among all forms of Chinese opera genres, The Hokkien Gezi opera, also known as Xiangju in mainland China, is one of the most unique kind of all. Other than being the only opera form which was bored outside mainland China, there weren’t many opera genres which take on many different forms and styles, depending on geographical location and cultural differences. In Taiwan, there is even a style of Gezi opera called “O-Pe-Ah”, which is unheard of in other Chinese genres.

“O-Pe-Ah”, the Hokkien translation of the Japanese term “O-Pe-Ra”, which was in turn a loan word from the English word “opera”. “O-Pe-Ah” style of acting is very different from traditional Chinese opera in the sense that it is very heavily influenced by Japanese culture and contemporary music and theatre. Imagine this: the leading roles of the show (obviously ethnically Chinese) churns Taiwanese pop songs to the accompaniment of modern musical instruments, and at times walk around the stage in kimonos, wearing Japanese clogs and brandishing samurai swords. Sounds bizarre? Well this was partly a result of Taiwan’s troubled past.

In 1937, when the Sino-Japanese war broke out, Taiwan was annexed under Japanese territory, and under the influence of the Japanese imperialism laws at that time, the Taiwanese people were forced to abandon their traditions and assimilate into the Japanese culture. Taiwanese Gezi opera wasn’t spared either; opera troupes had to either adapt themselves to Japanese culture, or get banned from performing. There was this classic example whereby “The Case of the Leopard Cat” (狸猫换太子) was adapted into Japanese setting; actors wore Kimonos, the role of the Emperor became “General manager” while the role of Concubine Liu became “the Mistress” etc. This kind of acting styled carried on until the end of the Sino-Japanese war, and opera troupes were finally able to revert to the old ways of performances. However, due to the immense growth of performing arts shortly after the war ended, opera troupes had to find new ways to attract audience. One of the innovative ways then was to incorporate some of the essence of Japanese occupation period’s way of “renovated” Gezi opera performance into their shows, and this is how “O-Pe-Ah” style of Gezi opera came into existence.

“O-Pe-Ah” style of Gezi opera, being deviated from the traditional style of Chinese opera, has a completely different repertoire of shows as compared to other opera forms. As such, one will not see historical stories or classic Chinese folktales in “O-Pe-Ah” shows, but mostly swords-fighting or family-orientated (cross-generation feuds, love-triangles, etc.) stories which are not independent of time and era. By traditional opera’s point of view, the “O-Pe-Ah” style of Gezi opera may sound like an absurd form of opera, but if one were to treat it just like contemporary entertainment without too much seriousness, such forms of performance can be rather entertaining.

(Video footages taken from Xiao Fei Xia Gezi Opera Troupe’s performance at Lor Koo Chye Temple on 21 May 2007, titled “The Twenty-Year Feud”; apologies for the poor video and audio quality as it was recorded off a mobile phone’s camera)

Hokkien Dacheng Opera

Fujian province is one of the major Chinese opera districts in China as there're more than 30 different Chinese opera genres, both major (Liyuan opera, Puxian opera, Gaojia opera, Xiangju opera, Teochew opera) as well as minor (Zhuma opera, Dacheng opera, Siping opera, etc.)

Dacheng opera (打城戏), also known as the "Priests' opera" or "Monks' opera" (师公戏, 和尚戏), was originally a form of religious ritual performed during funerals or Hungry Gohst Festivals. The priests and monks would perform in front of a paper tower built in the form of a city tower, and hence got it's name. According to historical data, this form of opera was formed at the start of the last century, but it's origin dates back to as far as the Ming dynasty. It has the essence of Nanyin music as well as southern Shaolin martial stunts, truely one of the rarest form of opera still present.

Sad to say, due to various reasons, Dacheng opera now has got no professional nor government sponsored troupes, and it seemed that there was only one surviving amateur troupe left in the whole of China. However, all is not lost; earlier this year, the Dacheng opera performed "Mu Lian Saves His Mother" in a performing arts festival in India and clinched the highest award. This show, which had roots in India, was the hot topic during the festival, and news of the opera troupe were constantly being reported in the local papers and television. Well, it seemed like a light at the end of the tunnel of this opera genre!

Teochew Wire Puppetry

Teochew wire puppetry is one of the most unique form of puppetry in China, and it exists only in Chao'an county in Guangdong province. In this form of puppetry, the puppets are controlled by hard wires which are attached to the back of the body and arms. The way the puppets are operated is similar to shadow puppetry, and it is said that the shadow puppetry was the ancestor of this form of puppetry.

Here are two documentaries featuring Teochew wire puppetry, which includes some fair bit of the puppets in action.

Quanzhou Marionette Show: Excerpt from "The Fiery Mountain"

Quanzhou's string marionette show has been regarded as one of the best forms of puppetry in China. No only are the puppeteers able to make the marionettes mimic human actions, they're good at doing innovative stunts like "face changing" and martial stunts.

The video clips are taken from marionette show "The Fiery Mountain". This is a famous excerpt from "Journey to the West", telling the tale of how Monkey God Sun Wukong tried to borrow a banana leaf fan from Princess Iron Fan to fan out the flames from the Fiery Mountain, but was rejected as the latter was still sore at Sun Wukong caused her son, the Little Red Boy, to be captured away by the Goddess of Mercy. Note that although all the classic elements of Quanzhou puppetry, from puppet movements to music, are present in the show, the songs and dialogues are actually in Mandarin.

Wuxi Opera excerpt: "Yuanzai Acknowledges His Mother" from "The Jade Dragonfly"

"The Jade Dragonfly" is a very well-known folktale in the Jiangsu/ Zhejiang region and has been adapted into various opera genres, including Shaoxing Yue opera, Wuxi opera, Yangzhou opera and Fujian Minju opera.

The story goes like this: Scholar Shen Guisheng came from a humble background, and in order to secure a better future for his clan, his relatives had him engaged to Lady Zhang, the daughter of a high-ranking official. However, due to character differences, their marriage was not at all blissful, and they were always quarreling. One day, Shen Guisheng decided to leave his home for sightseeing, and chanced upon a beautiful nun called Zhizhen. Shen Guisheng kept proposing to Zhizhen, and unable to resist his love, they started an forbidden relationship. Lady Zhang got tipped off that Shen Guisheng had been seen visiting Zhizhen's Fahua Nunnery, and brought her maids to come in search for him. Shen Guisheng was not found, and Lady Zhang returned home heartbrokened. Shen Guisheng, however, died of fright that very day, leaving the already pregnant Zhizhen behind. After secretly given birth to Guisheng's only son, Zhizhen decided to send the baby away to Lady Zhang, as a form of apology for "stealing" her husband, and also because there was no way she could keep her son in the nunnery. The nunnery helper, who was asked to send the baby over, did not do her job, and instead abandoned him by the side of the road. Luckily for the baby, he was found by the Xu household, who adopted him as their own son and called him Xu Yuanzai. Years later, members of the Shen household saw Yuanzai by chance, and was surprised that he looked just that Shen Guisheng. Lady Zhang then decided to adopt him as a foster son. A few years later, after Yuanzai become a village scholar, both Xu and Shen family started to fight over who should be the rightful "guardian" of him. This was then Yuanzai knew that he was neither the son of Madam Xu or Lady Zhang. After much findings, he found out that his mother was in fact Zhizhen, and decided to go to Fahua Nunnery to acknowledge her. Mother and son finally got reunited, and Shen Guisheng's death, which had been a mystery to Lady Zhang for over a decade, finally came to light. She was initially furious over the whole incident, and even accused Zhizhen of breaking up her family. However, after much self-thought, she realised that Zhizhen's plight was much worse than her; although Lady Zhang has got a foster son to acompany her for the past 16 years, Zhizhen had been weeping night after night missing her lost son. She finally decided to let the past rest, and acknowledged Zhizhen as the rightful mother to her foster son.


This clip here was taken from the production by Wuxi City Wuxi Opera troupe. Taking on the role of Zhizhen is Xie Zhiying, while the role of Xu Yuanzai was assumed by Pan Jingqiong. Xie Zhiying is a veteran actress in the troupe specialising in Qingyi roles, although in "The Pearl Pagoda", her portrayal of the clownish Fang Duohua was equally good. Pan Jingqiong is one of the up and coming actors in the troupe, specialising in both xiaosheng and laosheng roles. However, do not be fooled by his looks; he's actually over 40 years old already! I don't quite know why he only come to this far now at this age, but I supposed previously he has been overshadowed by another actor Xiao-Wang Binbin (son of famous Wuxi opera actor Wang Binbin), who had been the leading male actor since the late 80s.

The Multiple Faces of Hokkien Gezi Opera (XiangJu): "The Egretta Garzetta Goddess"

The Hokkien Gezi Opera (Xiangju) is the only Chinese opera genre that is borned outside mainland China, in Taiwan. Being one of the youngest Chinese opera genres, it is a very versatile opera genre that is able to adapt to different performance style.

Produced by Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe in 2000, "The Egretta Garzetta Goddess" depicts a well-known legend of how Xiamen Island, also known as "Island of Egretta garzetta" was formed. Legend has it that the island was formerly an unknown island. A egretta garzetta fairy met and fell in love with a mortal who was known to be able to churn melodious music. A snake demoness got jealous of their love and tried to seperate them. The mortal was transformed into a rock while the egretta garzetta sacrificed her life to save her lover. This island was later known as "Island of Egretta Garzetta" in honour of this egretta garzetta fairy.

This show is unique in the sense that the show's music was accompanied mainly using symphonic orchestra and Chinese orchestra as supporting. In terms of performance style, it incorporated alot of western musical essence too.

Alternative "Butterfly Lovers" - Yueju Stars, Yueju-styled music but in not Yueju

This is what I had found on the net with regards to the "Butterfly Lovers", performed by Wang Zhiping and Zhao Zhigang. This is quite an unsual pairing, because this show in Yueju is usually performed by Fan-styled xiaosheng with Fu-styled or Yuan-styled huadan, and at times by Xu-styled xiaosheng with Wang-styled huadan; but having the role of Liang Shanbo being sang by an Yin-styled xiaosheng is not what I've ever heard of. Well, actually it made no difference, after watching this clip, since the actors themselves are not singing Yueju, but in Mandarin along with the Yueju-styled "Butterfly Lovers" violin concerto music.

How do you find it? To me, I may like Wang Zhiping, but then again this performance is not something I can really stomach. They sounded simply too odd in this clip!

Here is another clip, by Wang Zhiping again, but this time Huang Hui as Liang Shanbo. Still on the theme of using music from "Butterfloy Lovers" violin concerto, it sounded much better, since they're singing in their native Zhejiang dialect. However, there's completely no sense of any style of singing for the actors already. That is, Wang Zhiping totally don't sound Wang-styled, and Huang Hui no longer sounded like Lu-styled.

Pictures from Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe's "Legend of Wang Cuiqiao"

Introducing here, is Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe's latest masterpiece "Legend of Wang Cuiqiao"!

For those who had attended the troupe's performance at Lor Koo Chye Sheng Hong Temple during last year's Lunar New Year season would not be unfamiliar with this show, as this was the same show they performed for their finale.

"Legend of Wang Cuiqiao" tells the story of Wang Cuiqiao, an ill-fated maiden who lead an extraordinary life during the restive Jiajing period of the late Ming dynasty. Wang Cuiqiao was supposed to come from a well-to-do background, with a father serving the Emperor in the royal court. However, he was unfortunately being maligned by treacherous officials and thrown into the jail. Wang Cuiqiao, on the other hand, was being sold into the brothel. She was subsequently redeemed by a scholar Xu Wenchang, and were supposed to get married, but alas she was later abducted by some Japanese pirates, and due to unexpected twist of events, she became the wife of a bandit king named Xu Hai. Unlike other unfortunate women who landed in the hands of bandits, she did not suffer, as Xu Hai held her with high respects, and even treated her like a personal advisor. At this point of time, Marshal Hu Zongke was given the decree by the royal court to subdue the bandits terrorising the costal regions of southern China. Under the advise of Xu Wenchang, who happened to be his subordinate, he decided to send Xu Wenchang to Xu Hai's lair, hoping to persuade Xu Hai into surrendering his troops to serve the royal court. On seeing her lover again, Wang Cuiqiao was at conflict as to who should she follow, but as she was already Xu Hai's wife, she decided to let her love with Xu Wenchang become history. However, she was still trustful of Xu Wenchang, and she knew this would be a good opportunity for Xu Hai to turn over a new leaf and lead a normal peaceful life together with her. Xu Hai, of course, had no doubt in Wang Cuiqiao's foresight, and agreed instantly. However, neither of the trio knew that all these "peace talks" were just ploys of the Marshal to stem out the bandits. Not long after Xu Hai surrendered his 5000-men strong fleet to the imperial capital, Hu Zongke immediately accused Xu Hai of trying to stage a revolution by bringing his entire troop into the city, and had him and his subordinates killed. Wang Cuiqiao blamed herself for causing the death of her husband and his subordinates, and when the royal court decided to give Wang Cuiqiao an official title for doing a "righteous deed" by helping them eliminate the bandits, she made use of the opprtunity to ridicule the royal court for it's hypocrisy, and finally commited suicide as a form of apology to the deceased bandits.

Although this show had premiered in Singapore last year, it was however just a "sneak preview", and frankly speaking, this show was not meant to be performed in temple fairs due to the simplicity of the stage. This time round, having staged the show in full splendor at Fanghua Theatre (I believe this theatre is in Fuzhou) in late January this year, there was a vast improvement, in terms of scenogaphy, costume design and lighting design. Take a look at the pictures here!

Promoting Chinese Opera

I've read a post by a member of Thau Yong Musical Association in one of the local arts newgroups about recuiting new members yesterday. The contents of the post was rather sad, and although I don't know him, I felt I should help him a bit; afterall, we're all in the amateur performing arts scene here trying our bit to promote our own culture. Therefore I've decided to post the contents here:

Dear all,

this is Javier from Thau Yong Musical Association. I'm currentlycalling for new members to join in the society. I'm even willing tosponsor for your one year membership. For what reason, you say?

Because I'm close to dying (metaphorically and indirectly literally).I cannot be the only person, the only drop of new blood, pushing forthe survival of this 76 year old body.

I need help. I'm presently jammed in a situation where the society is 100% dependant on me alone. They are unable to propose for funding in English; they are unable to provide me with accounts in English; they are unable to think of new ideas to attract more new blood; they do not know how to use the computer to scan and protect the close to decomposing photos and music scores from long before the pre-war days;they only know the black vinyl disc player is going to die on us soon, and they will not be able to hear those tracks very soon.

If nobody come forth to help, and I collapse & or give up, thissociety will die, as the present members slowly wither into ashes.

The Han Music section members, their median age is 70.

The Teochew Music section members, we are the last complete group in Singapore and all of them have senior citizen concession passes.

The Teochew Opera section is more active, but the truth is not everybody has the gift for the stage.

Please do not be resistant of the idea because you say you do not understand the language. For your information, teochew opera isperformed in wen yan wen (similar to Shakespearean language) andproper Teochew (we speak in informal slang in Singapore, best e.g. Nang ker jiack lor ti. Lor ti or Roti is MALAY. Bread in proper Teochew is not even the characters we are familiar in Chinese - MianBao. The correct phrase is Mi Bao (or rice buns).

All those aunties and uncles who watch Teochew opera, do you thinkthey know wen yan wen? As a degree holder in Public Relations, I cannot even understand Shakesphere! But they watch and theyunderstand,because there is hand language and the music! The music is lovely... of the 300 Chinese operas in mainland China, it is the onlyopera that created their own drum genre of music out of opera. The teochew music is always so gently tragic, slowly seeping into thesouls... They appreciate and love it because this was their onlyentertainment when they were young, in short this is their culture.Where did they live when they were young, may I ask?

Singapore, my dears. This is our culture. Why do people say there is none?

But if everybody is ignoring me now, in my desperate plea, anotherpart of our history and culture will die. Because I cannot carry this burden of the hundreds who have lived and died for Thau Yong in herglorious 75 years by myself...

This is my own opinion and my own plea; the society did not ask me todo this or even know about this. If you want to laugh or gossip, please target it to me, because I can see what is going to happen, even though many are blissfully or maybe purposely ignorant ofthe dark pit they are encircling into, as they slowly step into their inevitable paths of no return...

Even if you cannot be bothered, please spare just 3 seconds to somebody, you think that may care.

Extremely burned-out
Javier
81617662

I agree fully with what Javier wrote about the classic language used in Chinese opera. Many people tend to use the lack of understanding of classic Chinese as an excuse to shun away from Chinese opera. To be honest, I've watched contemporary drama whereby the language used and directing sense is so abstract that after the show ended I was still trying to figure out what was going on throughout the show. And yet, most of these shows were almost fullhouse! So if these people can accept such shows, why not Chinese opera? Of course, I'm not saying that everyone should embrace Chinese opera wholeheartedly, but they shouldn't be too biased against it. Some people simply turn away from Chinese opera even without knowing what or how it looks like, probably not wanting their peers to ridicule them for having anything to do with an artform "for the old folks". I feel that's a pity; on one hand we are trying to promote our culture, and then our hard work are being put down by a small bunch of biased people.

Hence, I'd like to urge arts supporters out there to have a more "open" mind towards Chinese opera. It's fine if you don't seriously have no interest in Chinese opera, just don't treat it as some low form of entertainment solely for the elderly people and bored!

Shanghai Yue Opera Company to Stage Revised Edition of "Romance of the Carp Fairy"

Recently, Wang Zhiping and Zheng Guofeng had appeared in "Ming Jia Ming Duan Ren Ni Dian" TV programme in Shanghai talking about their latest show, "Romance of the Carp Fairy". This is yet again another remake of popular Yueju classics, alongside "Romance of the Red Mansion", "Butterfly Lovers" and "The Pearl Pagoda".

Wang Zhiping and Zheng Guofeng took the the lead roles of the Carp Fairy and scholar Zhang Zhen respectively. The story tells of a carp fairy who fell in love in poor scholar Zhang Zhen. She decided to impersonate the latter's fiancee Jin Mudan in order to get close to him, only to create havoc when 2 "Mudan" appeared at the same time in the Jins' residence. Jin Chong, father of Jin Mudan, hired Heavenly Priest Zhang to subdue the carp fairy, and under the help of Goddess of Mercy, the carp fairy escaped death, but was faced with a major decision: to either give up her love for the mortal scholar and seek to become an immortal, or to pluck out all the scales from her body to become a mortal being with Zhang Zhen. The carp fairy chose the second choice, and after enduring the pains of plucking out her scales, she was finally reunited with her loved one.

"Romance of the Carp Fairy" will be staged at Shanghai Yifu Stage on 26 - 28 February this month, ticket prices are between 60RMB to 300RMB available at http://www.tickets.com.cn.

Promotional flyer for "Romance of the Carp Fairy"

Yueju Crossover - Parody Version part 3

This is the last of the 3 Yueju crossover sketch, titled "The Arrogant Princess". The role of Li Junrui (Princess) was crossdressed by Peter, while Tao Hai acted as the Empress. Luu-style huadan actress Chen Shi took on the role of the Emperor while Huaiju (a major opera genre from Jiangsu province) Qingyi actress acted as Princess Consort Guo Ai.

Yueju Crossover - Parody Version part 2

This is the second Yueju sketch for the same series, which was recorded together with the rest for the New Year's celebration (I supposed it's for this year's). This second sketch is "The Pearl Pagoda". The leading roles of Fang Qing and Chen Cui'e were taken on by Jin Jing and Jin Hong respectively. Jin Jing is a popular Qi-style actress who is famous for her potrayal of pitiful female characters like Zhu Yingtai, Du Shiniang and Bai Suzhen (Madam White Snake). Jin Hong, if you can still recall in my previous posts, is a laosheng actress famous for her solemn-faced or sly characters on stage. In this performance, Jin Jing crossed over to act a xiaosheng while Jin Hong took on a huadan role. The roles of Chen Peide and Fang Duohua (Chen Cui'e's parents) were acted by Peter and Tao Hai.

In between various segments of the sketch, video clips of excerpts from various versions of "The Pearl Pagoda" (including Yueju version, Xiju version and Huajixi version) were also featured. One thing to note is that in one of the clips, "Prince of Yueju" Zhao Zhigang also did a crossover. Not in the sense that he acted as a huadan, but he actually sang Xiju, and I felt that his performance was not bad.

Yueju Crossover - Parody Version part 1

Remember my previous posts about a Yueju crossover performance by various Yueju celebrities? That performance is meant to showcase the other unseen sides of popular Yueju stars which one rarely got to see in regular performances. This time round, I'm going to show you another series of Yueju crossover performance, but this is unlike the previous one. This series of Yueju crossover performance is in a form of comedy sketch, which is part of a variety show in one of Shanghai's TV stations featuring Chinese opera music videos and interviews with Chinese opera celebrities.

Thie first sketch I'm going to present is "Romance of the Western Chamber". Taking on the role of Cui Yingying was Xu Biaoxin, one of the up-and-rising male Lu-style xiaosheng in the Yueju scene, and Zhang Jurui was acted by female Zhang-style laosheng Wu Qun. The roles of Hong-niang and Old Madam Cui were impersonated by Tao Hai and Peter respectively, who are popular TV hosts in Shanghai and are passionate about Yueju as well.

Elaborate "Dream of the Red Mansion"

Yesterday was an exciting night for me, as I finally managed to catch the elaborate version of "Dream of the Red Mansion" at the Esplanade after 6 long years of waiting.

The performance was performed by Shanghai Yue Opera Company, starring China's first-grade actresses Qian Huili and Shan Yangping as Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu respectively. When I first watched their VCD production of this same show in 2000, I was amazed by the elaborate stage set, big number of ensemble roles in various scenes as well as the rich sound produced by their grand musical team, which includes western orchestra instruments as well. However, the show they put up yesterday night wasn't really as good as the VCD version. First of all, the stage at Esplanade was actually not as big as the stage they performed in Shanghai, and hence the stage set had been slightly simplified. For example, in the original version, they actually had a full-sized bridge with many peach blossom trees on the stage for the garden scenes. In yesterday's version, the bridge was reduced to just a section, and the number of trees was greatly reduced too. The number of ensemble roles had been reduced too, but I supposed it would be too much of a cost if the opera company is to bring in as many actors as what they had back then, and hence they decided to do the cut.

Having said that, ther were still some rather nice parts. For example, in the scene where Daiyu was burying the wiltered peach blossoms, the flowers actually fell off from the tree branches by themselves (the tree props were actually electricity powered), adding more realism to the show. Also, in the scene where Daiyu burnt all her poems during her dying moments, the furnace glowed red when the poems where thrown in, with smoke coming out. I could hear some members of the audience wowing at this sight. In the original China production, they even had soot flying out of the furnace at the end of the burning, but too bad in this production, there isn't any.

In terms of acting and singing, there wasn't nothing much to really complain, other than Fang Yafen and Chen Ying, who couldn't reach some high notes in their songs last night. I guess they are down with flu due to the weather, or else it is almost impossible for them to show such sub-standard performance. As for the music, I feel it had improved quite a great deal since their 1999 production. For example, in the scene where Daiyu was buring her poems again, the music back then was too rush, and it didn't quite bring out the grievances of Lin Daiyu well in that scene. The tempo and feel of the music was better controlled this time round, and in some scenes, additional timpani rolls were inserted suitably to create higher climax.

A magnificant show, I should say, despite some lacking areas. However, I was a bit disappointed as well, as my favourite actress Wang Zhiping was not in the cast. Anyway, I now wonder if there is any chance Shanghai Yue opera company will bring in Wang Zhiping and Zheng Guofeng's version, or Fang Yafen and Zhao Zhigang's version in future...

Xiangju Introduction: Xiamen Min-nan Cultural Gezi Opera Troupe

Xiamen Min-nan Cultural Gezi Opera Troupe, if my gathered information is correct, was established only this year, making this troupe one of the youngest to the Hokkien opera arts scene. Not to be confused with Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe which is a government sponsored troupe, this troupe is a professional but self-funded one. The troupe consists of mainly young actors, and although they are based in Xiamen, many of the actors are actually speaking in Zhangzhou accent. In fact, their Zhangzhou accent are so strong that I was wondering if these actors are native Zhangzhou people and not Xiamen.



This clip here was taken from the show "Justice Bao Slays The Princess Consort". It tells the story of Pang Xiong, a poor scholar who was saved by a rich man, Chen Qichang, in a flood and was subsequently adopted as his godson. Pang seemed like a refined young man, but he was actually a wolf in sheep's clothing. He seduced Chen's daughter, Xiuying, into having an affair with him, and stole a priceless night-glowing pearl from Chen's son Shirong while he was asleep during their trip to sit for the imperial examinations. Pang topped the imperial examinations, and by chance saved the Princess from a curse with the night-glowing pearl, which was actually a celestial treasure with magical powers. Subsequently, he became the Princess Consort, and Xiuying, who was already pregnant with his child, was left forgotten. Xiuying escaped from home to search for Pang, but was thrown out by him. Afraid that his relationship with Xiuying would hinder his marriage and career, he decided to had Xiuying silenced. Fortunately, Pang failed in his attempt to kill Xiuying, and with the intervention from Justice Bao, the heartless man finally met his desserts and was executed.



Personally, I am not quite pleased with the storyline, for it was far too long-winded. The synopsis I had given earlier was just the essence of the whole show. In the original show, there were other sub-plots like a jade fox spirit trying to create havoc by flooding the Eastern City, Taishang Laojun gave Chen Qichang the magical night-glowing pearl as a protective charm, the Jade fox spirit put a curse on the Princess to make her go crazy, and so on. To be honest, I don't think all these sub-plots do not really contribute much to the main storyline, and can actually be cut down to make the story more streamlined. Another area which I'm not very pleased with the troupe is the standard of the musical ensemble. Though their music is not too bad, the musicians' poor playing skills pulled down the quality of the musical ensemble's standard. As for the cast, I feel that only the female lead was better, while te rest of the actors were just average. Their costumes, though traditional, sometimes can be a disaster too, when the actors fail to wear according to the role they are portraying. For example, the actors assuming the roles of celestial soldiers were wearing normal wusheng costumes, hence failing to differntitate themselves from mortal soldier roles. These roles might have been very minor roles in the show, but I believe this point should still be observed. The costume wore by the jade fox spirit was weird also, looking more like a cross between a foreign princess and Dou'E from "Snow in June".

Despite my many negative feedback about this troupe, I am still hoping to see more of this troupe. Perhaps I'm positively biased against them since I'm of Xiamen ancestry, and I'm giving leeways because they are still a very new troupe. However, if they fail to work on these weakness and improve themselves, I'd have to classify them together with the other lousy troupes that had utterly disappointed me.

Xiangju Introduction: Zhangzhou's Shaoquan Gezi Opera Troupe

Zhangzhou Shaoquan Gezi Opera Troupe was established in 1990 by Xiangju opera actor Zhuang Shaoquan. Although the troupe had got a relatively short history, it was nevertheless one of the more well-known one among the professional, non-government sponsored troupes. Not only were their scripts well written, their performances were of high standard. The troupe also have have young actors, many of which were either 3rd-graders or had won awards in opera competitions before.



This clip featured here is taken from their show "Qing Zhu Si", adapted from a popular folklore from Anxi region, Quanzhou. It tells the story of Xiauo Chunju, the wife of trader Wang Xiang, who had an affair with a local scholar ("Ju Ren"). After their extra-marital affair was discovered by Wang Xiang, Chunju and her lover tried to poison Wang Xiang by forcing a poisonous snake "Qing Zhu Si" down his throat. Anxi Magistrate Huang Tizhong wanted to solve the case, but could not find any visible evidence on Wang Xiang's body. One night, the Cheng Huang God appeared in Huang's dream, and tipped him off. With the clues given by Cheng Huang God, Huang finally crack the mystery, and had the real culprits nabbed.



When I first heard of this troupe, I wasn't very confident of the troupe. For one, the troupe is from Zhangzhou, and second, it's a non-goverment sponsored troupe. I've watched a few Zhangzhou troupes' performances before, and so far there were only one or two troupes which I can consider good. For those "blacklisted" troupes, either their costumes were a disaster, or the actors could not sing to save their lives, or that their scripts were simply non-exsistence. For Shaoquan Gezi Opera Troupe, fortunately all these negative points were not applicable. In terms of script, I find that it was well-written, without being too lengthy (as with many other similar troupes; a simple story can actually span into a 2-day show!). As for the music, I find it very soothing to the ears, especially their "zasui" tune. At times they sounded quite like the "duma" tune of the Taiwanese opera in the 60s, and I find it very nolstagic. Most importantly, when they combined traditional Xiangju tunes with Taiwanese opera tunes in their show, they are able to blend in with one another, instead of sounding weird. In terms of acting, I think the actors were competent in their respective roles, though I find that the actors who took on the roles of the local scholar and Wang Lanying (Wang Xiang's sister) just average. One thing I had to say is that the actress who acted as Xiao Chunju (featured in this clip above) acted and sang quite well. At lease she doesn't have the squeaky voice like many typical Zhangzhou dans. As for their costumes, their wardrobe had better looking costumes than some other Zhangzhou troupes. Some other troupes which I've seen tried to imitate the costumes worn in Taiwanese opera, but in the end turned out to be a fashion disaster.

In short, I find that this troupe has got a strong cast, music ensemble and production crew. This gave me more confidence in the standards of non-government sponsored Xiangju troupes in Zhangzhou.

Yueju Crossover part 4

Below are 2 clips of Qian Huili and Fang Yafen singing arias from "Romance of the Red Mansion" and "Lu You and Tang Huixian" respectively. Qian Huili was trained in Xiaosheng roles singing in Xu-style, whereas Fang Yafen was trained in Huadan roles singing in Yuan-style. The expressive Xu-style of singing is best known for frequent leaps into high notes, hence requires the singer to have a wide vocal range. The Yuan-style of singing was created by Yuan Xuefen, and it was her who paved ways to the creation of other singing styles by other Yue opera masters.




Qian Huili and Fang Yafen are famous Yue opera actresses from Shanghai Yue Opera Company. Their near perfect image on stage made them idols to many Yue opera lovers. However, in this next clip, they sacrificed their wholesome image to play the clownish roles of Third Aunt and Master Shi respectively. Zhang Hailing, a versatile actress from the same opera company who was able to switch between Laosheng and Laodan roles easily, took on a Huadan role in this clip singing Lyu-style instead.



My verdict:
This is the most enjoyable clip in this series, as Fang Yafen and Qian Huili's portayal of Third Aunt and Master Shi were really beyond my expectation. They were so comical that I just can't stop laughing. However, that doesn't make them any less serious. In fact, it was their seriousness in their role that make their renditions a success. Zhang Hailing, on the other hand, did not stand out as much as her role was more of a "serious" one. Her acting and singing were good, but her chubby size made her look a bit comical.

My ratings:
Qian Huili's singing

Qian Huili's acting

Qian Huili's entertainment value

Overall rating for Qian Huili


Fang Yafen's singing

Fang Yafen's acting

Fang Yafen's entertainment value

Overall rating for Fang Yafen


Zhang Hailing's singing

Zhang Hailing's acting

Zhang Hailing's entertainment value

Overall rating for Zhang Hailing

Yueju Crossover part 3

Wu Fenghua is a famous Fan-style Xiaosheng from Shaoxing Yue Opera Troupe while Chen Ying is Fu-style Huadan from Shanghai Yue Opera Company. Below are the clips of both actresses singing excerpts from "The Butterfly Lovers" in seperate renditions.




The Fu-style of singing was created by Fu Quanxiang, who has always been compared to the Coloratura sopranos in western operas, as her flowery singing style requires one to sing in a wide vocal range and usually accompanied by frequent leaps into high notes and pitch slides. In the next clip, they'd switch genders and act as the Princess and her consort respectively in "The Arrogant Princess". The role of the Princess is usually sung by a Lyu-style Huadan (also another of Coloratura-style) whereas the role of the consort is sung by, well, a Fan-style Xiaosheng.


My verdict:
Wu Fenghua's Xiaosheng roles were very good, but however, when she crossed over to the Huadan category, she paled in comparison as her "manliness" could still be found. Hence although she tried to be as gentle as she could, she still felt more like a authoritative Empress than an arrogant Princess. However, the part where she started crying like a little girl after being slapped by her consort made me feel sorry for her, and that managed to win back some points for her. There wasn't much to talk about in terms of her singing as I feel that it sounded close to what a Lyu-style singing should sound like. Overall, I feel that Wu Fenghua's portrayal of the Princess rather cute, as I can never imagine her to take on such roles. Chen Ying, however, was a bit of a disappointment. Her singing as a Fu-style Huadan was good, but not when she tried on the Fan-style. It made her sounded very amatuer, and was one of the poorest among the other actors. Her shen duan, however, was still within my expectation. I have not seen the original version of this show, so I don't really know how the consort actually hit the Princess, but in this version, the consort only gave his princess wife a light smack across the face, which I thought was very comical.

My ratings:

Wu Fenghua's singing

Wu Fenghua's acting

Wu Fenghua's entertainment value

Overall rating for Wu Fenghua


Chen Ying's singing

Chen Ying's acting

Chen Ying's entertainment value

Overall rating for Chen Ying

Yueju Crossover part 2

The following 2 clips features Shan Yangping and Huang Hui from Shanghai Yue Opera Company singing excerpts from "Romance of the Red Mansion" and "The Righteous Yan Lanzhen" respectively.




Shan Yangping is a Wang-style Huadan, it's signature characteristic being frequently sliding between low and high notes in the same song, and that sometimes at the end of each verse, the notes would be sung in a cadenza. Huang Hui, on the other hand, is a Lu-style Xiaosheng. This style of singing doesn't require one to sing in a wide vocal range, but is still able to captivate audience with it's simplicity and elegance. In this next clip from "Legend of He Wenxiu", Shan Yangping took on the lead role of "He Wenxiu", originally acted by Yin-style Xiaosheng and Huang Hui took on the role of Wang Lanying, originally acted by Yuan-style Huadan. Two other supporting roles were featured in this clip, Madam Yang impersonated by Bi-style Xiaosheng Ding Xiaowa and Yang Jinding impersonated by Xu-style Laosheng Jin Hong.



My verdict:
I have no doubts about Shang Yangping's rendition of a xiaosheng, since she had acted the role of Meng Lijun (who had to disguise herself as a male to save her husband-to-be) for over a 2 decades. I was pleasantly suprised that her acting as He Wenxiu was more "manly" compared to Meng Lijun. However, her singing was not within my expectation, as her voice was afterall, not "nasal" enough to sing the Yin-style. Huang Hui's rendition of Wang Lanying was not bad; her singing was close to Yuan-style, and her shen duan is good. However, her looks was a bit weird. I've seen her crossdressed as Laodan before in a crossdress rendition of "The Jade Hairpin", but she didn't look that strange at that time! I guess it could be her makeup, which spoilt her otherwise delicate looks. One thing I must comment is that Jin Hong's impersonation of Yang Jinding was out of my expectation. Jin Hong was known for her villian or strict-faced roles, but I could never imagine her to act as a cute and innocent girl like Yang Jinding.

My ratings:
Shan Yangping's singing

Shan Yangping's acting

Shan Yangping's entertainment value

Overall rating for Shan Yangping


Huang Hui's singing

Shan Yangping's acting

Shan Yangping's entertainment value

Overall rating for Shan Yangping

Yueju Crossover part 1

For those who love Yueju opera, it shouldn't take long to recall what shows and roles Wu Fenghua, Qian Huili or Fang Yafen featured in. However, are you able to visualise them "crossdressing", that is, switch over to act the opposite hang dang in which they were not specialised in?

The first two clips here features Xu Ming from Hangzhou City Yue Opera Troupe singing an excerpt from "The Butterfly Lovers" and Zhang Ruihong from Shanghai Yue Opera Company singing an excerpt from "Female Premier Meng Lijun".

They were trained as xiao sheng and specialised in the Fan-style of singing, which is famous for it's ornamented and prolonged ending notes for each line. However, in this next clip here, they took on the role of Madam Chen and Sun Gumei respectively from the show "The Annulment". The role of Madam Chen, a mix of was to be taken onLaodan and Caidan, was to be acted by a Caidan actress while the role of Sun Gumei, a Huadan, was to be acted by a Fu-style Huadan actress.



My verdict:
Xu Ming's rendition of Madan Chen was really comical, and it's hard to imagine that she was in fact a Xiaosheng if you had not known her before. Zhang Ruihong's initial appearance on stage made me laugh, because I thought she looked weird, but her imitation of Fu-style singing was quite close to how Fu Quanxiang (the founder of this style) sang. However, her shen duan was too stiff for a Huadan, and she seemed a bit hunchedback at times. These made her performance weaker in comparison to Xu Ming.

My ratings:
Xu Ming's singing

Xu Ming's acting

Xu Ming's entertainment value

Overall rating for Xu Ming


Zhang Ruihong's singing

Zhang Ruihong's acting

Zhang Ruihong's entertainment value

Overall rating for Zhang Ruihong