Canton Opera

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Canton Opera in Hong Kong

The Canton Opera ( Chinese  粵劇  /  粤剧 , Pinyin Yuèjù , Jyutping Jyut 6 kek 6 , also 廣東 大戲  /  广东 大戏 , Guǎngdōng Dàxì , Jyutping Gwong 2 dung 1 Daai 6 hei 3 , Kant. 大戲  /  大戏 , Dàxì , Jyutping Daai 6 Hei 3 ) is one of the main forms of Chinese opera and the local opera of Guangdong Province . It is traditionally popular in Cantonese-speaking regions and widespread in the Guangdong, Guangxi , Hong Kong, and Macau regions .

In terms of music, the Canton Opera belongs to the sub-system to which the Anhui and Hubei operas and the Peking Opera also belong. As in the Peking Opera, their music is based on a beat indicated by wooden rattles.

The themes of the Canton Opera are usually taken from classic short stories, legends, folk literature and local anecdotes. Foreign novellas and opera pieces have also found their way into the Canton Opera.

Origin and development

Huadan (female role) as general of a Canton Opera

In the 12th century there was a form of theater called Namhei - Cantonese - or Nanxi - Standard Chinese / Standard Chinese - ( 南 戲  /  南 戏 , nánxì , Jyutping naam 4 hei 3  - "Southern Opera"), which was performed in the theaters of Hangzhou . After the Mongol invasion , the then Chinese emperor of the Song Dynasty fled to the southern province of Guangdong in 1276 with hundreds of thousands of followers. It is generally assumed that among the followers there were also Namhei artists / Nanxi artists from the north, who laid the foundation stone for what would later become the Canton Opera.

The Canton Opera itself was created in Foshan , between the reigns of the Qing emperors Yongzheng and Daoguang , that is, in the period from 1720 to around 1800. It found its final form after adapting elements from the operas of other provinces and some sequences from local operas and folk melodies.

Until the 20th century, women's roles were also traditionally played by men.

Web links

Commons : Canton Opera  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Discover Hong Kong - Chinese Opera. Retrieved June 10, 2015 .
  2. a b Peng Shouhui: The Canton Opera . In: China under construction . No. 6 , 1982, pp. 16-19 .