Huangmei Opera (Huaiqiang)

Anhui
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Huaining is known as the "hometown of Huihuang and the holy land of opera". It is the birthplace of Hui Opera and Huangmei Opera. It has been named "the hometown of Chinese folk culture and art" by the Ministry of Culture three times. "Huai tune" is commonly known as "Fu tune" and "Huaining tune". It is a kind of opera tune created by Huaining. In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, when Huaining was planting in spring and harvesting in autumn, farmers used to sing folk songs to praise the harvest of their hard work. This kind of beautiful and lyrical folk song was called "Huaining tune" by people at that time. From the Qianlong to Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, Huaining tune was infiltrated with Qingyang tune, Hui tune, Kunqu opera, etc., each taking what they needed and blending with each other. After careful polishing by folk artists, a unique and mature tune was formed, which was called "Huai tune" at that time and was deeply loved by the general public. In the middle and late Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Cheng Fuxiang, a Shipai opera artist, established the first opera class in Huaining. The Cheng family class lasted for more than a hundred years and was enduring. People at that time called it "Huai tune class". By the early days of liberation, there were nearly 30 Huaiqiang folk troupes in Huaining. Now, Huaining County Xinsheng Troupe, Jinyi Troupe, and Meide Troupe still insist on touring Huaiqiang repertoires in the county and surrounding counties, cities, and villages, which are very popular among the people. After hundreds of years of development, Huaiqiang has a distinctive and unique style. Its singing is high-pitched and straight, with many choruses and complex sentences. The music is only accompanied by gongs and drums. It is deeply cared for and loved by the people. These performances and singing have laid a solid foundation for the formation of Huangmei Opera. Huaiqiang has always been called the mother art of Huangmei Opera and the "authentic tune system" of Huangmei Opera. The formation and development of Huaiqiang has extremely precious historical and humanistic value for studying the history of the development of Chinese opera culture, especially the formation and development of Anhui folk opera.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

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