Huaguxi (花é¼"戏, Pinyin: HuāgÇ"xì; literally "flower drum opera") is a form of Chinese opera originating in Hunan Province. It is known in China for its earthy quality, and is often referred to as the "spicy" form of Chinese opera. Huaguxi is known to have existed as early as 1695, during the Qing Dynasty.

History

Throughout much of its history, Huaguxi could not be performed legally because of the perception that it was an obscene form of opera. It was officially recognized by the People's Republic of China in 1952, but restrictions were placed on the type of material that could be performed.

After the founding of People's Republic of China, Huaguxi has undergone flourishing development. The most typical Hunan Huaguxi has been developed for over 200 years and now is provided with more than 300 types of melodies. Moreover, a large number of traditional repertoires such as Woodcutter Liuhai《刘海砍樵》and Liuhai Playing with Gold Hoptoad《刘海戏é‡'蟾》have been coordinated and adapted.

At the same time, numerous modern dramas such as the popular play Tinker Pans《补é"…》were created. The initial heroine of the play is the later famous soprano singer Li Guyi. As a playlet taking root in folk life, Huaguxi has been experiencing continuous improvement under the joint efforts of old and newly-arising artists.

Roles

Unlike other forms of Chinese opera, Huaguxi originally had only two roles. These including the xiao chou (小ä¸'), a small male clown, and the xiao dan (小旦), a vivacious young girl. The female role was played by men until women entered Chinese opera in the early 20th century. In the mid-18th century, a xiao sheng (小ç"Ÿ) role was added. This role refers to handsome young males.

Most Huaguxi plays were originally xiao xi (小戏), short plays lasting an hour or less. These plays often dealt with everyday rural life. With the rise of professional Huaguxi performers and performances in the capital city of Changsha, longer plays, da xi (大戏) began to be performed. These plays dealt with grander themes of social satire and class struggle.

Music and musical instruments

As Huaguxi takes rural life as the subject matter and its melody is stemmed from ballads, folk songs, hums, work songs and Taoist music, it is featured by lively melody, pithy plot and dialect-style singing. Featuring intense rustic traits, repertoires of Huaguxi mainly reflect laboring activities, love, family conflicts and other contents in folk life.

Like other forms of Chinese opera, Huaguxi is staged with very few props. Music accompanying Huaguxi reflects the Changsha dialect spoken in Hunan. It is played with instruments like the datong (fiddle), yueqin (moon lute), dizi (bamboo flute), and suona (oboe). Percussion instruments provide the basic tempo for the performance.

datong (fiddle)

yueqin (moon lute)

dizi (bamboo flute)

suona (oboe)