Model loper

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The term model lopers (Chinese 样板戏yàngbănxì ) describes the political Beijing operas , ballets, symphonies and piano pieces that were created during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) under the influence of the CCP .

history

Even before the Cultural Revolution, efforts had been made to reform traditional opera in favor of revolutionary pieces. However, these could not prevail because the traditional pieces enjoyed greater popularity.

With the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, according to Mao Zedong and his wife Jiang Qing, political opponents used traditional opera to criticize Mao's policies (see the case of Wu Han ). Under the influence of Jiang Qing, pieces with supernatural components were banned from the stage in 1962, followed shortly afterwards by pieces with historical content. In this way, the repertoire was regulated more and more from 1963 onwards, so that in the course of the cultural revolution the model lopers became the only officially tolerated art form and a monoculture of the model lopers developed.

Especially in the early years of the Cultural Revolution, the model lopers were popular and omnipresent. There were performances by specially selected actors, the arias of the model operas were sung at work in the fields and in the factories and played on the radio. From 1970 onwards, some of the model ladders were filmed and so conquered the cinema and television.

Jiang Qing Yu Huiyong , the then culture minister and the creative force behind some of the most important model operas, especially those from the second half of the Cultural Revolution, played an important role in the creation of the model operas .

Rating

Although the model lopers contain unmistakable political messages, they are of high artistic quality. Because of this, some of the model hotties are still very popular today. These popular pieces include the operas The legend of the red lantern , Shajiabang , Tigerberg conquered with tactical skill and the ballet piece Das Rote Frauenbataillon , which z. B. was performed in 1972 during the visit to China by US President Richard Nixon .

List of model oppressors

The eight “original” model ladders

Peking Opera

  • The legend of the red lantern (Chinese 红灯记Hóng dēng jì )
  • Shajiabang (Chinese 沙家浜)
  • Conquered the Tigerberg with tactical skill (Chinese 智取威虎山Zhiqu Weihushan )
  • Attack on the regiment of the White Tiger (chin. 奇袭白虎团Qixi baihutuan )
  • At the port (Chinese 海港Haigang )

Ballet pieces

  • The white-haired girl (chin. 白毛女Baimaonü )
  • The Red Women's Battalion (Chinese 红色 娘子军Hongse niangzijun )

Symphonies

  • Shajiabang

More model lopers until 1976

Peking Opera

  • Azalea Mountain (Chinese 杜鹃 山Dujuanshan )
  • Ode to the Dragon River (Chinese 龙江 颂Longjiang song )
  • Fight in the plain (Chinese 平原 作战Pingyuan zuozhan )
  • The rocky bay (Chinese 磐石 湾Panshi wan )
  • The Red Women's Battalion

Ballet pieces

  • Ode to the Yimeng Mountains (Chinese 沂蒙 颂Yimeng song )
  • Steppe children (chin. 草原 儿女Caoyuan ernü )

Symphonies

  • Conquer the Tigerberg with skill

Piano pieces

Regional adaptations

In addition to the official versions of the operas, there were numerous regional adaptations in which the model operas were adapted to regional dialects and, in some cases, regional musical elements. An example of this is Sagabong , the Cantonese adaptation of Shajiabang . The advantage of these regional adaptations was that a larger number of people could be reached. The disadvantages, however, were the difficult process of creating the adaptations and the loss of the regional musical identity that was previously expressed in the regional operas.

The creation process of the model oppressors

In general, the process of creating the pieces and especially the Peking operas was complicated. The pieces were rehearsed, rehearsed and repeatedly revised and rewritten until they were completed. Once this lengthy process was completed, the respective piece was performed in front of a specially selected audience and then revised again.

Content, stylistic devices and music

content

According to Mao Zedong, the stage before the Cultural Revolution was dominated by rulers, kings, generals, ministers, scholars, and noble ladies. These were now to be replaced by workers, peasants and soldiers. The basic task of the model lopers was the creation of proletarian heroes, images and characters for the proletarian masses. They should serve as a model for politically correct content and also for human behavior. In the pieces, the revolutionary everyday life since the founding of the People's Republic of China was to be dealt with with the addition of romantic elements. The original struggle of good against evil in traditional opera thus became a class struggle of workers, peasants and soldiers against landowners and other bourgeois enemies.

Stylistic devices

The model lopers make use of some stylistic devices from traditional Peking opera, such as: B. color symbolism, gestures, acrobatics and declamation. In addition, different lighting was used to create a mood or to underline the appearance of the positive and negative characters.

The principle of the three emphases

A special stylistic device of the model lopers is the principle of the three emphases (chin. 三 突出san tuchu ). The positive figures should be emphasized among all characters in a play, the heroes among the positive figures and the main hero among the heroes.

The five character types

The model oppressors knew five character types:

  • The main hero, the proletarian role model.
  • The changeable character, who is essentially a heroic character, but makes mistakes due to wrong influences and ideas and has to be converted by the main hero.
  • The heroic characters are comparable to the positive characters, but are more individually worked out.
  • The positive characters that represent the broad masses. They underline the portrayal of the main hero by emphasizing his good relationship with the people.
  • The negative characters who, in their wickedness, contrast with the virtue of the main hero.

This character model was later heavily criticized because the characters had no facets and conflicts only between good and bad, but never within a character.

music

The music of the model opposition combines western elements in the form of melodies and instruments with traditional Chinese melodies, rhythms, dances and revolutionary songs, western ballet and military music. From a musical point of view, the model lopers are therefore cultural hybrids.

See also

literature

  • Goldman, Merle: China's Intellectuals. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England. 1981
  • Yung, Bell: Model Opera as Model: From Shajiabang to Sagabong. In: McDougall, Bonnie S .: Popular Chinese Literature and Performing Arts in the People's Republic of China 1949 - 1979. University of California Press. 1984
  • Mittler, Barbara: Dangerous Tunes. Wiesbaden. 1997
  • Witke, Roxane: Comrade Chiang Tsching. Munich. 1977
  • Judd, Ellen R .: Prescriptive Dramatic Theory of the Cultural Revolution. In: Tung, Constantine: Drama in the People's Republic of China. State University Of New York Press. Albany, New York. 1987
  • Mittler, Barbara: Music and Identity: The Cultural Revolution and the "End of Chinese Culture". In: Lackner, Michael: Between self-determination and self-assertion: East Asian discourses of the 20th and 21st centuries. Baden-Baden. 2008
  • Clark, Paul: The Chinese Cultural Revolution: a history. Cambridge University Press. 2008
  • Clark, Paul: Chinese Cinema: Culture and Politics since 1949. Cambridge University Press. 1987
  • Platzdasch, Günter: From Yenan to Jena - standing crane in the women's battalion. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , September 5, 2017 ( online ).

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