Auswahl der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zum Thema „National Beijing Opera Theatre of China“

Jingju (‘Beijing opera’) is China's most iconic traditional theatre, marketed as a global signifier of Chinese theatre and national identity. Although troupes from mainland China regularly tour Europe, audiences in the UK have also had access to Jingju via two indigenous organizations: the UK Beijing Opera Society (now defunct) and the London Jing Kun Opera Association (now in its ninth year). These organizations consist of Chinese, overseas Chinese and Western performers performing both Jingju and Kunju (‘Kun opera’). Where there is a mix of ethnicity, can ‘traditional Chinese theatre’ still be conceived of as ‘traditional’? How is Jingju mapped onto non-Chinese bodies? Can Jingju performances by ethnically white performers reflect diasporic identities? Drawing on the theories of Judith Butler and Homi Bhabha, this article argues that by highlighting the performativity of identity, the performance of Jingju by non-Chinese performers challenges the notion of Jingju as a global signifier of ‘authentic traditional Chinese theatre’.

Being internationally recognised and having received many state awards, the historical and heroic opera “Jiang Jie”, or “Sister Jiang”, is considered as one of the peaks of national Chinese music. The work is little studied in the Russian scientifi c literature. The music of the opera is based on Sichuan folk songs and their characteristic pentatonic mode, elements of Sichuan and other types of opera, including Beijing, Yu, Yue, Hang Tang, Yang Qin and others. The score includes spoken dialogue, mass and domestic scenes, as in folk Chinese drama, as well as vocal forms, choral and symphonic pieces, as in Western European opera, which gave “Sister Jiang” the features of the genre and style of modern Chinese opera in the Western European style. All this speaks of the development of the national musical theatre traditions in the conditions of a new musical language of the 20th century. The study of this process seems relevant in the context of the problem of preserving national identity in the musical art of China. The article presents the results of an analysis of the features of the genre and style of “Sister Jiang” as a historical and heroic opera in Chinese in the Western European style, which crowns one of the most fruitful periods in the development of modern Chinese musical drama.

The object of this research to one-man production “Lear is Here” based on W. Shakespeare's tragedy, “King Lear”. The theatrical director and actor of Beijing Opera Wu Xing Guo (born 1953, Taiwan) bravely edits the Shakespearian text and principles of the National Theatre of China. Since 1980’s, Wu Xing Guo uses the traditional Eastern scenic elements (line of roles, symbolic face painting, acrobatics) and Western European texts, forming a unique theatrical language. The peculiarities of his directing are examined within the Russian theatre studies for the first time. In accordance with the methodology of formal school, the article presents reconstruction of the play and analysis of scenic text from the perspective of Eastern theatre traditions, as well as the modern theatrical context. The author’s special contribution lies in the observation that in the spectacle “Lear is Hear”, Wu Xing Guo conceptually forgoes the narrative composition in order to reveal the playing nature of the theatre: his goal is not to tell the history of Lear or rendition of Shakespearian storyline. Playing ten different characters solely, and fusing in a complex role structure the Eastern and Western theatrical traditions, Wu Xing Guo exposes another storyline of “King Lear”– the pursuance of actor’s identity.

Звернення до опери Ши Гуаннаня («Жаль за минулим» («Regret for the Past» / 伤逝) є актуальним у контексті інтеграційних процесів, що характеризують сучасне музично-театральне мистецтво Європи та Китаю. Особливості лібрето опери, заснованого на оповіданні видатного китайського письменника і мислителя Лу Сіня (справжнє ім’я – Чжоу Шужень, 1881–1936) «Скорбота за минулим, або Записки Цзюаньшена» (1925), розглядаються крізь призму соціально-історичних процесів ХХ століття, що мали безпосередній вплив на сюжетну концепцію твору Лу Сіня та музичну драматургію опери Ши Гуаннаня. Розділені часовою дистанцією у понад п’ятдесят років, опера Ши Гуаннаня та оповідання Лу Сіня опинилися на піку хвилі своєї доби. У роботі вивчаються основні чинники, що визначили особливості світосприйняття та естетичні погляди Лу Сіня, досліджуються основні проблемні лінії творчості письменника, виявляються стрижневі етичні питання, висвітлені в оповіданні «Скорбота за минулим». Драматургія та система художніх образів літературного твору аналізуються з погляду актуальних проблем китайського суспільства першої чверті ХХ століття. Взаємини двох центральних персонажів твору, Цзюаньшена (тенор) та Цзицзюнь (сопрано), є центром драматургії опери Ши Гуаннаня «Жаль за минулим». Історія, розказана від першої особи, є драматичним каяттям головного героя. Цзюаньшен та Цзицзюнь належали до покоління, пробудженого хвилею нової культури. Їхня молодість збіглася із трагічними подіями «Руху 4 травня». Вони прагнули до демократії та науки, жадаючи вільного та безумовного кохання. Проте жорстоке суспільне засудження та соціальні перешкоди призвели до непереборних труднощів у житті закоханої пари. У статті висвітлюються явні та приховані мотиви, які спонукали Ши Гуаннаня по-новому осмислити давно відомий, проте далеко не типовий для Лу Сіня текст. Зосередження на внутрішньому світі героїв зумовлює всю музично-сценічну структуру опери Ши Гуаннаня «Жаль за минулим». Головною рисою опери є камерність. Прихильність Ши Гуаннаня до жанрової гілки європейської лірико-психологічної опери (Дж. Пуччіні, Ж. Массне, П. Чайковський) є очевидною. На матеріалі постановок «Regret for the Past» у 1981 (Beijing People’s Theater) та у 2018 (China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre) роках аналізується сучасна виконавсько-сценографічна практика. У статті виявляються композиційні та драматургічні особливості опери в аспекті взаємодії китайської та західноєвропейської традицій, розкривається технологія органічного поєднання в стилістиці опери національних кодів з академічною музичною мовою; визначається оригінальність творчого методу Ши Гуаннаня, зумовлена збереженням великої кількості традиційних культурних чинників.

Two diametrically different theatre projects of cross-cultural appropriation involving Shakespeare's Othello and Beijing opera—1983 production in China and a 1994 workshop at Tufts University—demonstrate the give-and-take and the complexities of intercultural appropriation.

Abstract: This paper explores how the theatre of a Chinese regional opera, as a memory site and an actor, enunciates stories, theatrical experiences, and imaginaries of xiqu (traditional Chinese theatre) communities. The material presences of theatres ensure the continuities of cultural activities of xiqu traditions in Chinese society today. The institutionalized opera activities that emerged in the 1950s national xiqu reform campaign have molded the Chinese xiqu theatres toward an “enduring site” for constantly revamping regional cultures into the rubrics of national culture coherently. However, to the regional xiqu communities, a particular theatrical form, such as lüju (Shandong opera), intertwines with stories and embodied meanings in their quotidian practices. Drawing on the ethnographic observations of the Lüju Baihua Theatre, this article illustrates that Chinese xiqu theatres traffic the shared past, multi-generational memories, and regional stories that are communicable to the community members who resonate with them. It problematizes the perception of Chinese opera theatres as “static or disembodied sites” by unfolding how theatre as cultural activity constantly facilitates embodied knowledge to carve the contours of the group identity and imaginaries of the xiqu communities in contemporary China .

The article is devoted to the cultural cooperation between the USSR and the People's Republic of China in the field of musical theater. The Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance between these two countries, signed in Moscow on February 14, 1950, became a starting point in the development of cultural contacts. The most productive period was from 1949 to early 1960s. An important marker of the development of Soviet-Chinese cultural relations was the tour of theater troupes from both countries to the Soviet Union and the Celestial Empire. The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Musical Theater team visited China in 1954, and later the artists of the Shaoxing Opera and the Shanghai Theater of Beijing Musical Drama demonstrated their art in Russian cities. The two countries' directors showed mutual interest in the classical opera art of their counterparts: in Beijing and Tianjin P. I. Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" and "The Queen of Spades" were performed by Chinese singers, while in Russian cities the traditional Chinese theatre plays "The Spilled Cup" and "The Grey-Haired Girl" were staged by Russian artists.

Background. The article discusses one of the most complex and controversial periods in the development of the Chinese orchestra of traditional instruments of the new type – the 1960–70s. Since 1966, with the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, all conservatories were closed, and Western instruments and teaching materials were destroyed. Chinese musicians, unable to play classical music, were forced to work with folk songs and folklore in remote provinces. The objective assessment of this historical phenomenon makes it possible to evaluate it not only as a dead end on China’s path to modern progress, but also as an era of constructive innovations and efforts to make a real change in China’s cultural heritage. The specifics of the creative activity of orchestras conducted by conductors Li Delun, Huang Yijun, Li Guoquan, Yang Jizhen is highlighted. Objectives. The purpose of the article is to identify the specifics of the development of the Chinese orchestra of traditional instruments in the 1960s – 1970s, to determine the role of prominent Chinese musicians in the process of modernizing the orchestra and creating a national repertoire during this period. Research methods are based on scientific approaches necessary for the disclosure of the topic. The methodology is based on an integrated approach that combines the principle of musical theoretical, musical historical and executive analysis. Results. As soon as the Cultural Revolution began, the music centers in Beijing and Shanghai came under attack. Composers were deprived of their creative freedom, since all the works had to correspond to the political situation of the time. At this time, collective creativity in the genre of opera and ballet, written according to certain pattern and corresponding to the ideas of Mao Zedong, is widely adopted. As standards of “new art”, official propaganda put forward “exemplary” revolutionary performances – Yanbanshee, almost entirely based on the material of the period of the liberation struggle. The Central and Shanghai orchestras were also persecuted. The chief conductor of the Central Symphony Orchestra, Li Delun was arrested. Since 1963, the programs of the Shanghai Orchestra of Chinese Instruments have begun to reflect the country’s transition to the Cultural Revolution. In the compositions appeared more pronounced revolutionary ideals, showing the need for government reform. Such content was, for example, the orchestral suite "Revolutionary Song", created by the musicians of the Shanghai orchestra. Due to the policy of the Cultural Revolution after 1964, the orchestra completely ceased to perform. In 1964, works performed at a concert in honor of the nation’s birthday included revolutionary pieces such as “Praise to the People”, “Spring Gong Enhances Performance”, “Battle in Shanghai”, and others. Shanghai Orchestra Conductor Juan Yijun, composer Luo Zhongrong, one of the authors of the revolutionary symphony “Shatszyaban” was persecuted and sent to the countryside for forced labor. In 1966, as a result of the repressions, outstanding conductors Li Guoquan and Yang Jazheng died. The widespread distribution of orchestras in China is a paradox. “Exemplary Performances” played an active role in the distribution of Chinese symphonic music. Many amateur orchestras significantly increased their professional level and could perform individual symphonic works. Major symphonic works on revolutionary themes were also created: Qu Wei’s “The Gray-Haired Girl” symphonic suite (created by his ballet), Tian Feng’s “Five Cantatas to lyrics by Mao Zedong”, “Pipa Concert for Orchestra” and “Steppe Sisters” Wu Zujiang, Liu Dehai, Wang Yanqiao. Another genre was music for ballets (“The Red Women’s Battalion”, “The Gray-Haired Girl”). Conclusions. In the period from the 1960s to the 1970s, Chinese orchestral music was enriched with new genres that influenced its subsequent development. In spite of the fact that the main models of Yangbanshee are the opera and ballet genres, major symphonic works were also created: the symphony “Shatszyaban” (Luo Zhongzhong, Yang Muyun, Deng Jiaan, Tan Jingming); Qu Wei’s symphonic suite “The Gray-Haired Girl”; Overture “Festival” Xu Yang Yang, Pipa Concert with Orchestra “Steppe Sisters” Wu Zuqiang, Liu Dehai, Wang Yanqiao. In these compositions combine the traditions of Chinese musical art and European orchestral art, embodied the creative search for Chinese composers and performers to create samples of the modern symphony genre in China. Collective creativity was widespread: on the one hand, the efforts of several people created largescale monumental compositions, on the other hand, the individual author’s principle was leveled, which made it possible to “depersonalize” music. However, an understanding of the cultural aspects of Yanbanshee and its features in a political context is of great importance for an objective study of the development processes of musical art in China. Starting around the 1990s, the political thaw allowed musical works from the time of the Cultural Revolution, gradually returning them to the mainstream of the achievements of Chinese society. Since then, the Yanbanshee has a strong tendency to revive, enjoying the support of the population and continuing to be very popular in the theater, on television, and in the form of commercial and private entertainment.

Background. The article discusses one of the most complex and controversial periods in the development of the Chinese orchestra of traditional instruments of the new type – the 1960–70s. Since 1966, with the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, all conservatories were closed, and Western instruments and teaching materials were destroyed. Chinese musicians, unable to play classical music, were forced to work with folk songs and folklore in remote provinces. The objective assessment of this historical phenomenon makes it possible to evaluate it not only as a dead end on China’s path to modern progress, but also as an era of constructive innovations and efforts to make a real change in China’s cultural heritage. The specifics of the creative activity of orchestras conducted by conductors Li Delun, Huang Yijun, Li Guoquan, Yang Jizhen is highlighted. Objectives. The purpose of the article is to identify the specifics of the development of the Chinese orchestra of traditional instruments in the 1960s – 1970s, to determine the role of prominent Chinese musicians in the process of modernizing the orchestra and creating a national repertoire during this period. Research methods are based on scientific approaches necessary for the disclosure of the topic. The methodology is based on an integrated approach that combines the principle of musical theoretical, musical historical and executive analysis. Results. As soon as the Cultural Revolution began, the music centers in Beijing and Shanghai came under attack. Composers were deprived of their creative freedom, since all the works had to correspond to the political situation of the time. At this time, collective creativity in the genre of opera and ballet, written according to certain pattern and corresponding to the ideas of Mao Zedong, is widely adopted. As standards of “new art”, official propaganda put forward “exemplary” revolutionary performances – Yanbanshee, almost entirely based on the material of the period of the liberation struggle. The Central and Shanghai orchestras were also persecuted. The chief conductor of the Central Symphony Orchestra, Li Delun was arrested. Since 1963, the programs of the Shanghai Orchestra of Chinese Instruments have begun to reflect the country’s transition to the Cultural Revolution. In the compositions appeared more pronounced revolutionary ideals, showing the need for government reform. Such content was, for example, the orchestral suite "Revolutionary Song", created by the musicians of the Shanghai orchestra. Due to the policy of the Cultural Revolution after 1964, the orchestra completely ceased to perform. In 1964, works performed at a concert in honor of the nation’s birthday included revolutionary pieces such as “Praise to the People”, “Spring Gong Enhances Performance”, “Battle in Shanghai”, and others. Shanghai Orchestra Conductor Juan Yijun, composer Luo Zhongrong, one of the authors of the revolutionary symphony “Shatszyaban” was persecuted and sent to the countryside for forced labor. In 1966, as a result of the repressions, outstanding conductors Li Guoquan and Yang Jazheng died. The widespread distribution of orchestras in China is a paradox. “Exemplary Performances” played an active role in the distribution of Chinese symphonic music. Many amateur orchestras significantly increased their professional level and could perform individual symphonic works. Major symphonic works on revolutionary themes were also created: Qu Wei’s “The Gray-Haired Girl” symphonic suite (created by his ballet), Tian Feng’s “Five Cantatas to lyrics by Mao Zedong”, “Pipa Concert for Orchestra” and “Steppe Sisters” Wu Zujiang, Liu Dehai, Wang Yanqiao. Another genre was music for ballets (“The Red Women’s Battalion”, “The Gray-Haired Girl”). Conclusions. In the period from the 1960s to the 1970s, Chinese orchestral music was enriched with new genres that influenced its subsequent development. In spite of the fact that the main models of Yangbanshee are the opera and ballet genres, major symphonic works were also created: the symphony “Shatszyaban” (Luo Zhongzhong, Yang Muyun, Deng Jiaan, Tan Jingming); Qu Wei’s symphonic suite “The Gray-Haired Girl”; Overture “Festival” Xu Yang Yang, Pipa Concert with Orchestra “Steppe Sisters” Wu Zuqiang, Liu Dehai, Wang Yanqiao. In these compositions combine the traditions of Chinese musical art and European orchestral art, embodied the creative search for Chinese composers and performers to create samples of the modern symphony genre in China. Collective creativity was widespread: on the one hand, the efforts of several people created largescale monumental compositions, on the other hand, the individual author’s principle was leveled, which made it possible to “depersonalize” music. However, an understanding of the cultural aspects of Yanbanshee and its features in a political context is of great importance for an objective study of the development processes of musical art in China. Starting around the 1990s, the political thaw allowed musical works from the time of the Cultural Revolution, gradually returning them to the mainstream of the achievements of Chinese society. Since then, the Yanbanshee has a strong tendency to revive, enjoying the support of the population and continuing to be very popular in the theater, on television, and in the form of commercial and private entertainment.

China's model works, the so-called `eight great model works' are rarely thought of as `literature', not only because they are of course, performance works, but because they are not thought of in the normative sense as a form of dramatic literature, but as a form of propaganda. This thesis investigates the relationship between propaganda and art by concentrating on the texts of these works and, in particular, by analysing the structure of a narrative type which is not just a blueprint for dramatic texts but a design for the Chinese revolutionary narrative, as embodied in Mao Zedong's key utterances on literature and art, and `told' or enacted, by the campaign to reform Beijing opera undertaken by his wife, Jiang Qing. In order to understand the precise nature of this narrative, and its relationship with theatre and the broader political arena of the Cultural Revolution, an analysis is undertaken of literary theory in both the Soviet Union and China, followed by an analysis of the aesthetic at work in the particular combinations of realism and romanticism which were discussed and implemented in each country. After a detailed examination of the way the campaign to reform Beijing opera was conducted, including the promulgation and `display' of key documents and speeches by Mao and Jiang Qing, sample texts are analysed according to a method which illustrates the design of the narrative. These texts, and the model works in general, are then considered in relation to some general observations about genres of mythology and their relationship with folklore. Finally, a particular `dramatic' relationship is suggested between the narrative design of the models, and the conduct of the Cultural Revolution itself. In the course of this, the notion of mythology is discussed in the context of its complex relationship with ideology and popular culture, as identified by Roland Barthes in particular, with his often enigmatic emphasis on the `semiology' of myth. The complex blend of cultural theories which may be brought to bear on this discussion is re-visited, with a view to understanding the model works as a genre of `proletarian' mythology which might yet survive the Cultural Revolution as a substantive dramatic genre. In conclusion, the relationship between theatre, narrative and semiotics is pursued, in attempting to establish a key difference between the aesthetic `method' employed in the model works and that of socialist realism. This difference, it is argued, is the product of a basic approach to mythic romanticism which preserves the essential traditions of Beijing opera, and makes the models legitimate heir to this tradition, in spite of the bitter memories of the Cultural Revolution and its tragic campaigns.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Asian and International Studies
Full Text

Abstract Throughout its history, the cinema of mainland China has displayed a particular affinity with Chinese opera in its different regional and national varieties. An overview of this intermedial history reveals how Chinese opera intermingled with film in myriad ways. This chapter suggests that an intermedial history of Chinese cinema, framed through the opera lens, blurs the divide between old and new media, socialist and postsocialist arts, theatrical and photographic ontology, foreign and national styles, operatic and realist modes, allowing for a more encompassing appreciation of what are, in effect, necessarily impure and hybrid artistic manifestations. The intermedial approach also encourages a reevaluation of Brecht’s misinterpretation of the antinaturalistic performances of Mei Lanfang and the Peking Opera as alienation effects. Instead, the intermedial relationship between cinema and opera purposely promotes spectatorial identification at both individual and collective levels. Ending with an analysis of Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine (霸王别姬 Bawang Bie Ji, 1993), the chapter traces some vectors for a future comprehensive study of Chinese cinema’s intermedial history, one that will find in operatic theatre, among other arts, hybrid elements capable of inspiring new, nonteleological, and nonbinary configurations and understandings of history.