Jianhu Huai Opera, a traditional drama project in the fourth batch of representative projects of the city-level intangible cultural heritage of Yancheng. Historical evolution Jianhu is located in the northwest of Yancheng, commonly known as Yancheng Northwest Township. Since ancient times, this place has respected literature and etiquette, and the folk customs are simple and sociable. It has a deep accumulation of performing arts and cultural resources. It is the main birthplace of Huai Opera, the largest local opera in Jiangsu Province. The data says that Huai Opera originated in Yancheng. This is because Jianhu used to belong to Yancheng. When Huai Opera was born, Jianhu had not yet been established as a county. Some people also say that Huai Opera originated in the area of Yan and Fu. This is because Jianhu is located between Yancheng and Funing, and its location is in the middle, so it takes advantage of it. Huai Opera is a local opera developed by combining folk rap "Men Tan Ci" with "Xianghuo Opera" in northern Jiangsu, and absorbing the artistic essence of the "Hui Ban" in Lixiahe. It has been passed down to this day and has a history of more than 200 years. Men Tan Ci originated from farmers' calls and field songs. At first, it was sung by one person hitting the board, and then it was sung by two people. It is a rap form of singing from door to door. The incense show is a local folk performance for paying tribute to the gods. The joint performance of the two is commonly known as "Sankezi", and gradually formed the "Jiangbei Xiaoxi", which mainly performed some couplets and three small (small female, male, and clown) plays. Later, a large number of Anhui opera troupes entered the Lixiahe area, and Jiangbei Xiaoxi gradually performed on the same stage with the Anhui troupe, which was called "Hui Jiake". When performing with the Anhui troupe, it absorbed some artistic achievements in the script, instrumental music, singing, performance, etc. of the Anhui opera, and gradually developed and matured, so it was called "Jiangbei Daxi". Xiao Wenyan, a famous Huai opera performing artist, said: "Huai opera speaks in Jianhu dialect and sings in Jianhu accent. Most of the leading figures in each stage of Huai opera are from Jianhu. Jianhu is the hometown of our Huai opera people." Ma Lintong, an old Huai opera veteran and founder of the "Ma School" Laosheng, also said: "Although I am not from Jianhu, I learned my art in Jianhu. Jianhu is my second hometown and the mother's home of our Shanghai Huai opera troupe." Main characteristics Jianhu Huai opera takes Jianghuai Mandarin (Jianhu dialect) as the keynote, and takes into account the dialects of Huai'an, Yanfu and other places as the stage language. Jianhu Huai opera originated from Mentanci and Xianghuo Opera, so it still maintains its mother characteristics, mainly singing and is good at singing. In terms of music, in addition to the three main tunes, Jianhu Huai opera has also absorbed a large number of folk songs from northern Jiangsu to enrich itself. Huai opera gongs and drums have their own specific gongs and drums brands, which have both complete and rich musical vocabulary, and extremely rich expressiveness and strong local flavor. The accompaniment is mainly folk music, and Western music is occasionally added to set off the atmosphere. In 2008, Jianhu was named "Hometown of Chinese Folk Culture and Art (Huai Opera)" by the Ministry of Culture; in 2017, Jianhu was awarded the title of "Hometown of Chinese Huai Opera" by the China Dramatists Association; in 2018, Jianhu Huai Opera was included in the fourth batch of intangible cultural heritage protection list of Yancheng City.