Suzhou opera

Suzhou opera
Suzhou was one of the first batch of historical and cultural cities under special protection announced by the State Council. It was an ancient city with a history of more than 2,500 years. Suzhou not only created rich material wealth for the Chinese nation, but also wrote a brilliant chapter for the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation. Among them, Suzhou's opera art was particularly eye-catching and had an extremely important position in the history of the development of China opera.
Suzhou was the hometown of Kunqu opera and Suzhou opera. Kunqu opera, which was hailed as a treasure of opera, rose in Kunshan and Taicang during the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties. From the turn of the Longqing and Wanli Dynasties of the Ming Dynasty to the years of Kangxi and Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty, Kunqu opera flourished rapidly due to innovation. At that time, people in the towns and villages of Suzhou were obsessed with Kunqu opera to the point of drunkenness. They organized amateur clubs and held singing activities. The annual Tiger Hill Music Festival was almost "alluring" and "thousands of singers". In the heyday of Kunqu opera, with Suzhou as the center, its spread spread almost all over the country's major cities, dominating the opera industry for more than 200 years. The prosperity of Kunqu opera had produced a large number of excellent actors and a group of famous writers, leaving behind a large number of famous and legendary scripts for future generations.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Suzhou's opera industry entered a new stage of development under the guidance of the party's policy of "bringing forth the old and bringing forth the new" and "letting a hundred flowers bloom". In order to save and inherit Kunqu opera and develop Suzhou opera, as early as the early 1950s, the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal People's Government attached great importance to the work of Suzhou and Kunqu opera. The major Kunqu opera events in the country were also held in Suzhou, which greatly promoted the art of Suzhou's opera. The creation and performance of some new plays, such as the Kunqu opera Dou E Yuan, the Suzhou opera Drunken Return, and the opera Dou Gong Seeing Off His Child, the Peking opera Li Huiniang, and the funny play Satisfied but Not Satisfied, had a certain impact on the country. At the same time, a group of excellent actors and actresses were trained. In the past half century, the art of opera in Suzhou had made gratifying progress.
Suzhou opera has a long history. Throughout history, countless playwrights, musicians, and actors had made outstanding contributions to the development of opera, but there were very few records in local history. For example, many of the actors 'performances and artistic achievements had been lost, or only their names and some fragments of descriptions could be seen in some notes. Another example was the historical facts of the Kunqu opera study center in the modern era. Because it had happened a long time ago, even if the people involved recalled it, it was difficult to be consistent. Many of the stages where famous plays were performed in the past were difficult to find. It could be seen from this that the compilation of opera records had a certain degree of creativity and rescue.

Answer 1

Suzhou opera is a traditional opera art form in Suzhou area of Jiangsu Province. It belongs to the type of opera in Jiangnan water town, with distinctive local characteristics and cultural content. Suzhou opera mainly has Kunqu opera, Beijing opera, Wu opera, Yue opera, Bangzi opera and many other kinds of opera. Kunqu opera was the representative of Suzhou opera and was known as the "Pearl of Oriental Art".

Suzhou opera originated in the Ming Dynasty and developed in the Qing Dynasty. It has a history of more than 400 years. In Suzhou, Suzhou opera was not only loved by the locals but also by tourists. Suzhou opera's performance form was beautiful, music was beautiful, and dance was beautiful. It was known as the "treasure of Suzhou culture and art."