Han Opera and Hankou Social Life in the Republic of China?

Han Opera is one of the main operas in China, which originated from Xipi and Huanger, and was called "Chu Opera", "Chu Tune" and "Han Tune" in its early days. Ming and Qing Dynasties rose in Jingxiang, popular in the Yangtze River and Hanshui River basins in Hubei, and spread to parts of Henan, Hunan, Shaanxi, Guangdong and Fujian. 19 12 was called Han Opera. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, with the rapid development of urbanization and civil society in Hankou, Han opera developed rapidly with Hankou as the center, and reached its peak in the 1920s and 1930s, becoming the most important form of local mass entertainment. Its grand occasion can be seen everywhere in various newspapers and periodicals during the Republic of China. From the perspective of social and cultural history, it is undoubtedly an interesting topic to explore the evolution of Han opera and Hankou social life during the Republic of China and feel the vivid living conditions of people at that time. "The goods live in Hankou, and the drama is red in Hankou."

Hankou "originated in the middle of the Ming Dynasty", because it is adjacent to the Yangtze River and the Han River, "it is the heart of Kyushu and the channel in all directions" and "the convenience of waterway is incomparable to other ports". Hankou 186 1 was opened, and then the Beijing-Han Railway was connected, which brought great opportunities to the urban development of Hankou. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Mizuno Koichi, the Japanese Consul General in Hankou, once commented: "Hankou, which is separated from Wuchang and Hanyang, has an annual trade volume of 1.32 billion, surpassing Tianjin and bordering Guangdong. Now it is also located in the second important port of the Qing Dynasty, and will further become the base of Shanghai, making the inspector known as Chicago in the East. "

With the development of urban industry and commerce, Hankou has flooded into a large number of surrounding agricultural population and commercial immigrants inside and outside the province, and the population has increased sharply. According to the statistics of Hankou Xiaozhi, the population of Hankou was 800,000 in 19 13, which was more than five times higher than that in 1888. The prosperity of industry and commerce, the large-scale growth of population and the change of social structure contributed to the formation of modern Hankou citizen class, and also gave birth to new urban leisure and entertainment methods. Tea gardens, theaters, amusement parks and other places of entertainment came into being and developed rapidly. "After the completion of 19 19 Hankou New Market (hereinafter referred to as People's Paradise), it gained huge profits and attracted people's attention, so it followed suit and various theaters, stages and comprehensive entertainment venues were established one after another." (Wuhan Records and Cultural Records, Wuhan University Press, 1988 edition) In the 1920s, there were tens of thousands of people in Hankou amusement park on holidays, and there was almost no space in the playground. Some of them even sold 20,000 tickets. Among them, the prosperity of traditional Chinese opera is particularly striking. At that time, there were more than 90 temples, palaces, academies, ancestral halls and halls in Hankou, most of which had theatres for performing gods' rewards and making wishes, and some of them also had internal and external platforms. People love going to the theatre, which makes it a social fashion, and theatrical performances are extremely popular. Once a famous actress performed in Korea, and it was even more grand: "Cheng has been on stage for a long time, and when he walked to the gate of People's Paradise, I saw carriages, cars and chartered cars lined up. In five or six days, the balcony seats of the big stage have been fully booked by the customer, and he has to arrive first, as well as the special seat and the main seat. The people of Wuchang, who are separated from Hankou by a river, would rather rush to Hankou to see a drama (Hankou Herald1March 28, 947). " Especially in summer, it stays up all night, and there are constant performances. Therefore, there is a folk saying that "goods live in Hankou and play in Hankou", and Hankou has become a famous "drama pier" at that time.

Facial makeup of Han opera

Han Opera Leads Hankou Public Entertainment in the Republic of China

During the Republic of China, there were many kinds of dramas in Hankou, such as Han Opera, Pingju Opera, Chu Opera and New Drama. As Han Opera rose in Jingxiang, it was quite mature in the late Qing Dynasty and had a strong mass base in the local area. In the early years of the Republic of China, Peking Opera (Pingju) was not popular in Hankou, Chu Opera (Pingju) was not recognized in the city, and movies were not prosperous. Han opera can take the lead and become the leading genre of mass entertainment. At that time, the social drama of Hankou Hanggang and CCBA was "fully agreed by Han drama" and "other dramas are definitely not good."

As the leader of mass entertainment in the Han Dynasty, Han Opera entered the tea garden and theater from the temple in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and was deeply loved by the public. Hankou has a large number of tea gardens for acting: "Numerous teahouses are listed, and shops open early and close late. I don't blame others for arguing for poor food. Half is a string and half is a game. " (For Zhi Zhu's Ci in Hankou, see "Zhi Zhu's Ci in Wuhan" edited by Xu Mingting, Hubei People's Publishing House, 1999 edition), the early performance places of Han Opera were mainly temples and halls. , generally organized by guilds, clans, etc. The performance is determined according to traditional etiquette, and there is no charge for watching the play. Seats are arranged according to status, which is the nature of the church. After the performance of Han Opera was transferred to tea gardens and modern theaters, most of the organizers were businessmen. In order to pursue profits, performances are decided according to the audience's preferences, and seats are graded according to ticket prices. Anyone who spends money can buy a ticket to the theatre, sit in the best seat and enjoy the hot tea and towels provided by the teahouse. The performance of Han opera has become a commercial mass entertainment, and the tea garden theater has also become a public entertainment space.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Han Opera reached its peak in Hankou. At that time, Wuhan * * * "established 25 theaters and amusement parks, and Chinese dramas accounted for 20 theaters." The prosperity of Han opera has created a large number of Han opera artists. When the Han Opera Association 19 19 was first established, there were more than 7,000 registered members, and the professions and celebrities were very complete. People also selected "Sandingjia" actors in various professions. Its performance scale is also quite large, and the audience is huge. "Hankou Congtan" records that when Li Cuiguan, a famous opera singer in China, performed, "there are thousands of people in the audience, and there are no surprises." When the troupe organized by "Tian Chun" of Han class performed in Changle Theater, there were two performances day and night, and three performances on Sunday morning, noon and evening. There are 40 people in the teahouse alone, and more than a dozen teahouses choose from the money house every day. "The owners of the theater are also constantly investing in improving the viewing environment. Not only electric lights and electric fans are used in the theater, but also great efforts are made in the layout of props: Changle Theater is "fantastic in structure, and the cost of lighting and colorful scenery is about 2,000 yuan, with rich contents." (Drama World1934165438+1October 26th) Theater Park (China Opera Hubei Volume Culture and Art Publishing House 1993) also has a bakery, a canteen and a boiler room (power generation and lighting) to attract the audience.

The popularity of Chinese dramas has also been fueled by the media. During the Republic of China, various newspapers and periodicals in Hankou were full of advertisements, plays, introductions of artists, gossip and so on. In addition, there are special opera entertainment newspapers. Newspapers, literati's drama reviews, corner articles, and journalists' digging and speculation about the artists' lives have won the popularity of some Han opera artists, and also exposed the artists' lives to the public, becoming people's talk after dinner. 1933 A tabloid in Hankou published a report entitled "Rich People Love Peony Flowers", which reported the scandal between the mayor of Hankou and the Chinese opera actress Xiao Peony (), causing an uproar. Wu Guozhen, then mayor, filed a lawsuit in Hankou District Court, accusing the newspaper of libel. The newspaper lost the case because it could not produce evidence, and the publishing house was sentenced, which became a sensational news. Some newspapers also hold public voting activities from time to time to elect the Queen of China Opera. For example, in 1948, the People's Daily launched the "Selection Conference of Hannah Quinlivan, the Queen of Chinese Opera". "The venue is a fake Chinese theater on the third floor of the people. As a result, Liu Jinping won the Queen's throne with 2043 votes, and Liu Jine won 1508 votes. The venue was orderly and the last whip of life was lifted. " (Hankou Herald 65438+August 2 1, 0948)

The Hankou Herald reported on August 2 1 and 1948 about the campaign for the queen of Chinese drama.

Chinese opera fans, actors and fans.

With the popularity of Han opera, a large number of opera fans, actors and "Chinese tickets" appeared in Han opera, which became an eye-catching landscape in Hankou urban popular culture during the Republic of China.

China opera fans call it a "dead loyal minister". They not only like going to the theatre, but also like talking about plays and commenting on actors. There is a Chinese opera fan who sells roasted meat and falls in love with the famous actor Fan Sanyuan. The customer knows his hobby, and when he cuts the meat, he also praises the three yuan. When he heard that the meat was cut more and more, he waved and smiled happily and asked people to take it away. If someone belittles in the discussion, it is disgust and boredom. Listen more and talk less and cut less meat. Yu Hongyuan sings well and is praised by fans: "Yu Hongyuan, an old student, sings well, and the catwalk and figure are really garden!" The famous actor Huang Damao was once unable to perform because of illness. The audience roared like a flood and refused to leave. Finally, Huang Damao was helped out to thank him, and the audience left with satisfaction after seeing him.

Rich businessmen, well-known society, street vendors and ordinary people participate in the "wrestling" of Han opera, especially after the emergence of Kunjiao. Scholars praise the role through poetry and drama. However, in the eyes of musicians, "Su Dongpo's poems are not as good as shouting on the spot. If you fill in Qin Shaoyou's words, it is better to slap dozens of faces." "Famous actors took to the stage, and artists flocked to the stage to pay attention to the bodies, faces and eyes of famous actors. The famous actor smiled, and the singer caused the blind people to burst into laughter. Occasionally, the eyes of celebrities turned to the corner-holding group (recently, there was a slight progress, and everyone sat far away), and the applause from the audience rose together with the disgusting strange cries. " Actors can be divided into three categories: first, from sincere worship. For example, Hannah Quinlivan Chen Bohua of Han Opera performed in Naiyuan for half a year, and Li Yushan, a fruit seller, gave her a bag of fruit every day for half a year, and then gave it to her for free. The second kind is the boss or friend of the actor, who publicizes it to win it. For example, Yu Hongyuan, who first appeared in Jingzhou, "came to Han Liyuan Xin Dog Class. At that time, Xianning fellow villagers traded with ordinary gentry, cotton industry, seafood industry and other businessmen, making Yu Hongyuan popular in Hanshui. " (Robin Hood1September 7, 935) The third type is "ambitious people, buy Kun Traffic Spirit for them to play well". Most of these actors are Hannah Quinlivan, and they often spend a lot of money to "buy costumes and toys, or various utensils for actresses to use until the wine and meat are seized, every day."

The amateur oratorios of Han Opera began in the late Qing Dynasty, and some literati invited each other every autumn to enjoy chrysanthemums and drink and sing Han Opera to entertain themselves. The form of oratorio is sitting around a table with precious chrysanthemum varieties on it, and the participants sing loudly, so it was originally called "playing chrysanthemum" or "singing around drums". "Anyone who wants to be hired to perform on stage must write an invitation in regular script to entertain everyone, so only the invitees are allowed to go on stage, and everyone calls the invitation a ticket and the actor a ticket friend." So playing chrysanthemum is gradually called "playing with tickets". Ticket lovers think highly of themselves, thinking that playing tickets is nothing more than "getting on the stage for entertainment with elegance", which is a noble entertainment. During the Republic of China, Han opera flourished. "Amateurs set up ticket clubs, both singing and hanging clothes" and hired celebrities to teach. The performance is free, and the ticket club's expenses are funded by rich and idle ticket lovers. However, the ticket agent actually has the trend of "surging clouds": "The rise of Korean drama ticket agent in this city in recent years is like mushrooms after rain ... I heard that people who register to join the society are extremely yin." (Hankou Herald1947 65438+February 28th) There are many skilled fans, and even some "Korean drifters" have appeared. For example, Li Shiqing is a leader in Mabu, and he is addicted to Chinese dramas, which is said to be hereditary, because Li Jun's father is an old man, and now he is not only a Han Piao. Yi Zhu, a drama critic at that time, lamented the popularity of Chinese opera fans: "The kung fu education and organization of Chinese opera fans is really unexpected. Only Beijing opera fans have never heard of any organization ... I am deeply touched by the words of Beijing opera fans and hope that Beijing opera fans can organize the box office. " (Hankou Herald1June 7, 947)

(Zheng Guoying Weiwei Author: China Institute of Ideological and Cultural History, Hubei University)