How did Baizi Opera come about?

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the mighty rebel army in Fujian launched a unique life-and-death showdown with the Yuan Dynasty army. The fighting between the two sides caused huge damage to local production and life.

The local people saw that war was about to break out in their hometowns, so they dragged their families and luggage away from their hometowns and moved to the relatively stable Hailufeng area of ??Guangdong.

Among the panicked crowd was a burly man. He was constantly walking among the teams, helping those who had stopped due to various difficulties.

This man's surname is Liu. He is a martial arts student in the local opera troupe. His years of career as an artist have allowed him to develop good kung fu. The journey that seems difficult to others seems so easy to him.

Finally, with the help of Liu Wusheng, everyone in the village fled the battlefield and entered Guangdong. People were exhausted by this time, and since there was no threat of war, they all lay on the ground one by one, breathing heavily.

When Liu Wusheng saw this, he quickly said to everyone: "Folks, we have just entered Guangdong and have not reached a safe place yet. If the scattered soldiers catch up with us, the consequences will be disastrous. . Folks, listen to me, I will sing for you, and we will walk a little further until we reach a safe place before resting."

Because Liu Wusheng helped the villagers a lot along the way. , so people gritted their teeth and stood up even though they were exhausted. They listened and watched Liu Wusheng's opera while dragging their tired bodies and continued to move forward.

While walking, a City God's Temple appeared in front of them. More than 10 figures suddenly appeared from behind the City God's Temple. Liu Wusheng quickly stopped the team and was nervously on guard. When he saw the people coming, he immediately became happy. It turned out that the more than 10 people who came were known to Liu Wusheng, and they were a troupe led by his senior brothers.

Liu Wusheng hurriedly came to his brothers and told them the situation here. Everyone discussed that since the war had destroyed their homeland, they would not go back and simply go to Hailufeng with the villagers to escape. War.

So a complete troupe entered the Hailufeng area from the Chaoshan area. After they arrived in Hailufeng, they took a short break and quickly reopened, allowing Teochew opera to take root and spread in the Hailufeng area.

As soon as immigrants from southern Fujian entered the Hailufeng area, Teochew opera immediately became popular among the people. After their daily work, people often gather together to watch Teochew opera performances.

Gradually, as people’s understanding of Teochew opera deepens, some people begin to hope to localize and improve this foreign opera, using local dialects to perform the tunes originally belonging to Teochew opera. In this way, it will be more able to meet the needs of the people in Hailufeng and it will be more convenient for them to accept it.

So the artists in the Hailufeng area began to work separately. They joined the Teochew opera troupe one after another and studied hard in the troupe. They not only learn Teochew opera, but also Liyuan opera and bamboo horse opera.

As Hailufeng artists learned the advantages of other opera types, they gradually began to purposefully integrate these opera types to form a new opera type with Hailufeng's local characteristics.

As early as 1197, "drama" appeared in Zhangzhou. According to records

Collect money and goods from house to house, entertain people to perform plays or make puppets, and build tents in places where residents gather, extending in all directions on the outskirts, to gather spectators; Besides, he also strives for it without any scruples.

When Teochew opera spread to Hailufeng with immigrants, the bamboo horse opera commonly known as "Lao Bai Zi" appeared.

The Bamboo Horse Opera uses children to perform plays such as "Diaodu Nong" and "Shijiu Nong", singing and dancing, and ends with "Stepping on the Money Drum"; the influence of the early Baizi Opera can still be seen in the existing Bamboo Horse Opera and Qiangu Opera. trace. It expresses folk stories such as Chen Sanwuniang, etc., and the accompaniment music, gongs and drums are the same as Baizi Opera.

Although Baizi Opera has absorbed many repertoires from Zhengzi Opera, since it does not have Dapao Dajia Opera, its art tends to develop towards softness, forming a style of light singing and dancing.