This
essay draws on several sources, including: primary sources, secondary sources
by noted scholars, video tapes, personal interviews conducted by the author
[Albert Liu (Taipei), an opera performer; Professor Chen Chao (Shanghai),
a Cultural Revolution survivor; Chen Chao Hong (Shanghai), a retired opera
performer], photographs and slides taken by the author, Beijing opera recordings,
and Beijing operas attended by the author in Shanghai, People's Republic
of China (1994) and Taipei, Republic of China (1995).
There is far more to Asian theater than epic traditions, colorful shapes, stylized motions, and theatrical deconstruction of ritual.... it both embraces and rejects traditional Asian theater forms.Beijing opera (jing ju), also known as qing xi ("capital drama"), is fascinating. Its history and existence is a fusion of ancient tradition, colorful make-up, embroidered fabrics, bold music, skilled performers, and intricate themes. Changes in Beijing opera over the past two thousand years have been established at an astonishingly slow pace, except when subjugated to Communism, under the direct of Communist Party leader Mao Zedong and his political comrade and wife Jiang Qing. Of all changes incorpor ated into jing ju over time, none were pushed with such zealousness and force, none were so sweeping and overwhelming, as those introduced during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Ironically, it is these changes that did not stand the test of t ime, and are today almost wholly forgotten. Today, Beijing opera productions are almost identical to those performed by troupes prior to the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949.
Why? The answer may be found in an examination of the political policies of the Chinese Communist Party during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong's view of the role of art in a proletarian society, and Jiang Qing's development of Party policies aimed specifically at Beijing opera. What follows is an in-depth examination of the development of Beijing opera before and during the Cultural Revolution of mainland China.
Return to Beginning
Origins of Beijing Opera
reviews the early historical development of jing ju and Chinese opera in
general. This section discusses Beijing opera's roots in Song, Dance, Acting,
and Face Painting, as well as Foreign, Imperial, and Yuan dynasty influences.
The Tradition of Beijing Opera provides an overview of the art, including: Early performances, Morals Teaching, Types of Plays, Set and Props, Music, Performers and Their Roles, Mei Lan-Fang, Movement, Costumes, and Face Painting.
Mao Zedong, Art, and the Cultural Revolution examines the role and ideology of Mao Zedong as leader of the Chinese Communist Party and originator of the Cultural Revolution. This section discusses the political influence Mao Zedong exerted over art and literature as early as 1930, the Marxist-Lenin basis of Mao's theories, and Mao's speech of 1942, "Talks at the Yenan Forum on Art and Literature."
Jiang Qing, Beijing Opera, and Party Policy discusses the many policies developed and enforced by Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four during the Cultural Revolution. This section covers the general theories Jiang Qing applied to Beijing opera policy development, as well as specific changes made to Music, Movement, Characters, Education of Performers, and "Model Operas." This section also examines the impact the Festival on Modern Themes in Beijing Opera and the East China Drama Learning Festival had on political policy of the Cultural Revolution.
End of the 'Lost Decade' and Beijing Opera Today discusses the end of the Cultural Revolution, the state of Beijing opera after the Cultural Revolution, and Beijing opera in China today.
The Conclusion of this thesis examines why Communist Party changes forced onto Beijing opera during the Cultural Revolution did not last past 1976. The conclusion discusses the functions of art in society, and the relationship between art and reality.
The main text is followed by Appendixes
of Stage Props, Musical Instruments, Character Types, Movements, Costumes,
and the Chinese Dynasties.
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Beginning
Chinese drama has neither a definitely marked conception nor a conclusion for the early scribe to have noted, even in a country of remarkable literary antiquity and the habit of notation.Beijing opera is above all a performing art. As early as the first century, Chinese performances that embodied the telling of a story by acting were known as "Hundred Entertainments," or bai-xi. The name bai-xi suggests a form of entertainment combining many different aspects of performance: amusement, spirituality, feats of physical strength, dance, story telling, costume, and song. More than any other art form, it makes use of a variety of sign systems to communicate to its audience. Beijing opera utilizes gesture, musical, rhythmic, facial, acoustic, literary, and linguistic signs, interconnected into a united whole. It is this intricate union of purpose and skill that makes jing ju the exhilarating experience it is today.
"I think we ought to imitate what they do in poorer families," said Grandmother Jia. "Everyone subscribes something towards a common pool; then, when it's all been collected, you spend it all on some treat or other, depending on how much you have."During the Ming dynasty, special occasions called for voluntary contributions from families and neighborhood to pay for a Beijing opera performance. As described above from the famous Chinese novel The Story of The Stone, an opera performance was considered a community-oriented activity.
Chinese drama does not strive to be real in its physical presentation, since it is more to instruct than to amuse.Chinese theater differs fundamentally from most Western political theater practices, for it is process-oriented and does not focus on the performance as the sole purpose of theater. Beijing opera therefore has a higher mission than merely to entertain and amuse. It appeals not only to the senses, but seeks also through the avenue of thought and reflection to expound the meaning of life. The moral is one of the most important elements, as well as one of the most prominent features, of Chinese drama.
Life as reflected in works of literature and art can and ought to be on a higher plane, more intense, more concentrated, more typical, nearer the ideal, and therefore more universal than everyday life.While all operas performed during the Cultural Revolution were considered to be of a single group-art to serve the proletariat-the traditional jing ju repertoire can be divided into two groups, distinguished by subject matter and style of performance. Military plays (wu) are based on old stories and legends, and are akin to historical plays. They emphasize heroic action and intrigue, and the acrobatics and martial arts of their battle scenes are particularly spectacular [See Figure 4]. Civil plays (wen) are love stories, or concern daily social problems. Plays of this genre often explore social norms prevalent at the time of the play's writing, or those of the time the play takes place.
...it is the ideal, not the real, that is intended to be emphasized. The aim is to present the show as artistically as possible without heeding whether or not the details are true to life.Due to the emphasis on the idealized artistic aspect of Chinese opera, the stage setting is not a major concern. The traditional method of staging Chinese opera still observed today is on a platform stage backed by a stylized silk backdrop. The stage is bare of scenery and properties, except for a table, a beautifully embroidered curtain hung at the back of the stage, and two or more chairs. Covered with cloth, the table and chairs are placed to symbolize a throne, wall, well, mountain, or other locale. As discussed by retired Beijing opera actress Chen Chao Hong in a lecture attended by the author in Shanghai, a bridge for people to walk across is represented by a table with a chair on each side [See Figure 6]; a tower or throne is represented by a chair atop a table, covered with an embroidered cloth [See Figure 7].
So much noise, and so much confusion. Yet is it not true to life that when we think and reflect we have to lift our thoughts above the din of worldly noise?"Noise" may very well be the word used to describe the music of jing ju by one unfamiliar with the art. With the loud clanging of the gong, sharp rattle of the flat drum, dull clicking beat of the wooden castanets, and piercing sound of the Beijing violin, the music of Beijing opera is rightly described by author James R. Brandon as "strongly rhythmic, often of ear-splitting intensity." The music of Beijing opera is a complex and exciting composition of sounds to which no other music can be compared.
There is so much imagination and so little of reality. So many of the actions are symbolic and so few of the properties are real. All performers must undergo basic skills training. Without this training, we would not know how to stand, how to sit, or even how to move our hands. Your legs, hands, and face are all trained. [Chen Chao Hong, Shanghai, 1994]Throughout the world actions on stage are not supposed to be exactly the same as those in daily life, but in Chinese operas the difference is said to be more striking than in the plays of any other country. In Beijing opera, mime is used extensively to suggest a physical world beyond the person of the actor. Just as opera characters fall into separate and specific categories, so do the pantomimed movements of each character on stage. These movements are performed according to traditional formulas-there is little "interpretation" done by the performer. Every action must be done strictly according to the musical tempo.
Jing ju, you know, is an ancient Chinese tradition. Performers play ancient people, [and] wear clothes from the Qing dynasty. [Interview with Professor Chen Chao, Cultural Revolution survivor].What sets and props may lack in visual brilliance and shine, jing ju costumes more than compensate. The costumes of Beijing opera are bright in color, light-reflecting in material, and often catch the attention of the audience with the suspension of small, moving metal ornaments.
Faces are painted with red, black, white, green, and gold, and add their color characterization to the spectacle.Operatic face painting is traditionally used to portray supernatural beings, "crafty" people, and characters not easily identified due to their spiritual or changing nature. As mentioned earlier, face paints are said to have been used by a military leader to instill fear in his enemies as well.
Opera face painting serves not only the purpose
of enhancing the beauty of a performance, but symbolizes the nature of
characters: Simple, uncomplicated patterns indicate characters of high
position or strong nature, because such a person would have a serious and
imperturbable face. A "hot-headed" character or person of lower intellect
has less control over facial expressions, and is therefore portrayed with
a more complicated and uncomposed appearance.
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Beginning
The Cultural Revolution was many things at once, ideological, political, factional, and most certainly involved with "culture" even in its narrower English connotations.On April 19, 1966, the Cultural Revolution was formally announced in the People's Daily (Renmin Ribao) newspaper. What followed was a decade marked by social and political turmoil, often referred to by contemporary Chinese scholars as "the lost decade." The primary player in this revolution was Mao Zedong, a Chinese Communist Party official whose rise to power from the early 1930's until his death in 1976 had an immeasurable impact on the political and social development of the People's Republic of China.
As far back as 1905 Lenin pointed out emphatically that our literature and art should "serve the millions and tens of millions of working people." Of course, among the numerous people of culture, writers, artists and other literary and artistic workers engaged in a great struggle for liberation together with the Communist Party...In the ideological climate of China during the Cultural Revolution, the classical sources of Marxism- Leninism carried great weight in almost every sphere. Communist Party policy on the censorship and exploitation of traditional Chinese arts and literature were based on Mao's interpretations of the writings of famous Soviet Communist leaders Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. Particularly appealing to Mao was the flexibility with which Marxist theory addressed the arts. As author Ellen R. Judd suggests:
We must also have a cultural army, which is absolutely indispensable for uniting our own ranks and defeating the enemy.At the Yenan Conference on Art and Literature, Mao Zedong presented his view of the new role of art and literature in a series of "Talks." To secure the proper development of art and literature, Mao developed a multi-faceted plan of attack, which he revealed at the Yenan conference.
The new Communist drama is not a mirror of society but an intriguing picture of society-a picture of red banners waving everywhere, of heroic deeds by workers, peasants, and soldiers (especially women), all of whom are armed with Mao's tho ughts on art and literature....an extremely powerful force in the creation of the new Communist society.
Jiang Qing and her associates caused devastating damage to the theater not with their model plays nor with their drama theories; they did it by banning all other dramas deemed ideologically counter-revolutionary and by ruthless persecution of writers, playwrights and theater professionals.ARTISTIC STANDARDS
It is unfair to claim that the Party leadership had no interest in and made no effort to improve artistic standards in theater. Its efforts toward artistic improvement in theater, however, were frequently frustrated and interrupted by cea seless political and ideological campaigns.There was much concern expressed by Communist Party leaders for the artistic standards of the new proletariat art and literature. While artistic quality was discussed a great deal, it still took a back seat to political goals, as discussed by Mao Zedong in his "Talks" at Yenan:BEIJING OPERA FESTIVALS AND POLICY
I suggest that the Ministry of Culture compile and publish a collection of those articles in which the imperialists and modern revisionists lay their curses upon modern theme Beijing operas, and distribute it to everyone taking part in thi s festival. Let everyone have a chance to see them.At the onset of the Cultural Revolution, Party policy emphasized reform of contemporary themes in Beijing opera. This emphasis lead to the East China Drama Learning Festival held in Shanghai from December 25, 1963 to January 22, 1964. The Festival of B eijing Opera on Contemporary Themes, held in Beijing also took place in 1964.MODEL OPERAS
The reforms discussed by Jiang Qing eventually evolved into the complete banning of all but five Beijing operas by the Communist Party. The highly heterogeneous form of model operas was hand-picked by Jiang Qing as the most operative vehicle for the pro pagation of Communist ideology. These five productions were known as "model operas" (yangbanxi) or "revolutionary model operas" (geming yangbanxi): Taking the Bandit's Stronghold, On the Docks, Raid on the White Tiger Regiment [See Figure 31], Sparks Amid the Reeds, and The Red Lantern. Two revolutionary modern ballets and one symphony were also chosen to join Jiang Qing's group of "model" performance pieces.
In 1973 a move was made to reject the model opera The Red Lantern in favor of earlier versions.For five years there were only five model operas. In 1972 groups high in the Party leadership were campaigning for the revival of traditional operas. By late 1972, opera companies were again writing and producing their own new operas on contemporary st ruggles. Despite all the changes forced by Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four, the model operas slowly disappeared or returned to their traditional story lines, and new productions of the pre-Cultural Revolution classics emerged.
...if the goddess of these mountains is not deadAs violence and terror increased during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong and Jiang Qing publicly condemned the "ultra-leftist tendencies" of the People's Liberation Army, but to no avail; by 1967, Mao Zedong and the Gang of Four began to lose control of the Cultural Revolution to the People's Liberation Army and Zhou Enai, the Mao-appointed Premier of China. As Mao's health deteriorated and more political power fell into the hands of Zhou, Jiang Qing and the other Gang of Four members waged an ideolo gical attack on Zhou, as well as his successor, Hua Guofeng.she will marvel at the changed world.
"Swimming" June 1956
Mao Zedong
...there is a general belief that China's performing arts suffered a twenty-five year setback as a result of the Cultural Revolution.The Cultural Revolution decade (1966-1976), now referred to by many as "the lost decade," left China in deep economic and social ruin. Still, the death of Mao Zedong and the fall of the Gang of Four gave a sense of liberation to many of the nation's per formers, artists, and writers.
Many Beijing opera performers forced into "retirement" during the Cultural Revolution returned to the stage after Mao's death. Many of these performers and musicians had practiced their art in secret during the Cultural Revolution, allowing them to retu rn to the theater fully prepared once the revolution ended. One father and son couple continued their acrobatic training while tending sheep, doing back-flips in the fields of rural China; in secret, a flute player silently practiced his 200-song repert oire as Red Soldiers patrolled outside his home. It was people like these, devoted to their art, who brought traditional Beijing opera back to China, and who trained the next generation of traditional opera performers. At the time, the rescue of traditi onal theater before old performers such as these died was identified by the new art and literature leaders as the most urgent task.
As China switches over to a capitalist society
less dependent on agriculture and manual labor, its people have more leisure
time, and therefore have more interest in entertainment. Yet competition
from television programs and movies (from both China and abroad), as well
as a general increase in the availability of leisure activities (such as
bars and dance clubs),both observed by the author in 1994, have resulted
in a steady decrease in Beijing opera attendance since the early 1980's.
Return to
Beginning
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