"Four strings" is one of the local traditional operas in Xiajin County. It is a typical opera representative of the integration of canal culture and local culture during the period of prosperous canal transportation. It has a history of more than 200 years. Four strings began in the late Ming Dynasty and became popular in the Qing Dynasty. It is a form of self-entertainment performance for farmers in their spare time, mostly "setting up stalls" and "sitting on benches". Each class has three to five people, seven to eight people, equipped with gongs and drums and wooden clappers, accompanied by huqin, talking and singing, with singing as the main focus. After development, the stories told and the tunes sung gradually became systematic, and some small plays composed of several characters with folk legends and family life as the main content began to be performed. Later, influenced by Shandong Bangzi, Henan Bangzi, Shandong Liu and other operas, they began to perform on stage in makeup, gradually forming a unique opera genre. The four-string accompaniment instruments have also increased from the monotonous waist drum in the past to four strings, banhu, flute, erhu, sheng, and sanxian, and the martial arts accompaniment has added percussion instruments such as bangu, gongs, cymbals, and small spinners. Because the performance accompaniment is based on the unique four-string instrument, which is not found in other opera accompaniment instruments, this opera is naturally called "four strings". The double strings and double tones of "four strings" are different from traditional two-string instruments such as erhu and banhu, which are extremely rare in other operas. Its songs and music are intertwined and lingering. If you listen carefully, the string music is like a stepping song, which is distant and beautiful. The singing is full of emotion and has a strong local flavor. The plots are mostly family ethics and stories of persuading people to be kind. Farmers love to watch it, commonly known as "tying the wife with a hook". The roles of "four strings" are divided into four male characters, four female characters, and four painted faces, which later evolved into the current five major categories of male characters, female characters, clown characters, mo characters, and ugly characters. Its characteristics are that the singing words have no tune, like speaking and reciting; the singing has no words, and the accompaniment follows; the real voice is used as a pretext, and the false voice is used to support the tune. The ending tone of the singing is often turned up high. The singing style and musical characteristics are closely in line with the local dialect, which makes it pleasant to listen to and immersive to watch. Because of the different regions where it is spread, its name is also different. It is called "Hexi Bang" in Huimin area, "Yi Gou Gou" in Qihe and Yucheng area, "Si Gen Xian" in Xiajin, Wucheng, Linqing and Gaotang area, and "Er Jia Xian" in Shenxian, Dongming and Yuncheng area. This type of drama has basically the same singing melody as the Si Xian Opera 91 in Anyang, Henan; it also sounds somewhat similar to the Si Xian Opera in Xingtai, Handan and Shijiazhuang, Hebei. Si Gen Xian Opera is rooted in the fertile soil of people's lives, has a strong local flavor, and is popular in a wide range. It is spread to Hengshui in Hebei Province in the north, Bengbu in Anhui Province in the south, Pukou in Jiangsu Province, Jining in the east, and Handan in Hebei Province in the west. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, professional troupes developed rapidly. More than 10 professional performance groups were established, including the Four Strings Troupe in Heze, Shandong Province, the Four Strings Troupe in Bo County, Anhui Province, and the Four Strings Troupe in Kaifeng, Henan Province. County-level professional Four Strings (some called Erjiaxian) troupes and rural amateur Four Strings troupes are scattered all over the southwest of Shandong and the east of Henan. The Four Strings troupes in Zhangbao, Xiaozhangzhuang, Kongshi, and Qiantang Village, Xinshengdian Town, Tianzhuang Township, Xiajin County, have a history of more than 200 years. It is derived from folk art and has an artistic style of being short and concise, easy to understand, compact in story, and vivid in language. It uses long, delicate, profound and touching lyrics and imaginative folk vocabulary to express the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the play vividly, so it is very popular and enjoyable to watch. There are nearly a hundred traditional Four Strings repertoires. For example, "Big Curtain" is about Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai meeting behind a curtain, "Small Curtain" is about Wang Erjie and Zhang Tingxiu's reunion in "Jade Cup", "Holding the Sign" is about He Wenxiu's private visit, "The Loom" is the latter part of Qin Xuemei's mourning, "Jia Jinlian Turns the Horse" and "Taiyin Tablet" are relatively rare in other dramas. The accompanying instruments of Zhangbao Four Strings Troupe include: four strings, banhu (commonly known as gourd head), flute, big drum, small drum, big gong, small gong, cymbals, and later erhu, sanxian, etc. The board styles include: first board, second board, third board, an board, sharp board, guide board, throw board, eight boards, and later absorbed the singing tunes of other dramas in many aspects, innovated, and created new board styles such as "flowing board", "scattered board", "fast board" and "tight pull and slow singing". The main tunes include Shanpoyang, Waer Waer, Twisting, Praise, Cutting Head Peg, Crying Lost Child, etc. Its singing style is characterized by rich voice and emotion, and is easy to understand. The male voice is rough, bold, strong and powerful; the female voice is circuitous and graceful, beautiful and pleasant. The singing style is characterized by real voice, false voice and singing without voice, like saying or reading, singing without words, and accompaniment. That is, first send the words into the ear, then sing the tune, and the accompaniment is pleasant, achieving a harmonious and pleasant effect. The main accompaniment personnel: Zhang Meizhen, Han Fengkui, Zhang Shanlong (four strings), Zhang Shangui, Zhang Dianchun (banhu), Zhang Xiali (erhu), Zhang Xushi, Han Youmei (drum), Yu Zhide, Zhang Huaxian (flute), Wu Wencheng, Zhang Chengyin (big gong), Zhang Jinshi, Zhang Mingshi (small gong), Zhang Xiaoshi, Wang Chenglu (cymbals), etc. In particular, the banhu player Zhang Shangui combines the traditional four-string board style with the innovative board style, and uses it skillfully, which is pleasant to the ear and always wins constant applause. The traditional costume plays they have organized and preserved include "Lü Mengzheng's Fasting", "Changbanpo", "Wang Xiaoganjiao", "Wujiapo", "Shuangxi River", "Ertang's Son", "Shuangfenggao", "Dayin Palace", "Xiaoyin Palace", "Astronomy Records", "Beiping Prefecture", "Chen Yi Fighting the Tiger", "Wujiapo", "Whip the Velvet Flower", "Song Jiang Killing the Tower", "Jinduan Records", "Selling Miao Lang", etc. The newly rehearsed modern plays include "By the Arrow River", "Accountant Girl" and nearly 100 revolutionary model plays such as "Ode to the Dragon River", "Shajiabang", "Red Lantern Records", "Pingyuan Combat", "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy", etc. The "Four Strings" in Qiantang Village mainly include the first board, the second board, the third board, and the scattered board, as well as the auxiliary board such as the sharp board, the starting board, the throwing board, and the flat singing. In addition to the four strings, the accompaniment instruments include banhu, erhu, flute, sheng, and sanxian. The tunes include Shanpoyang and Wawaqiang. The main instrument has the same "four strings" structure as the erhu. The neck is slightly longer and thicker, with four axes and four strings. There are three types: large, medium and small. The neck is made of mahogany or ebony, 79-85 cm long and 1.9-2.4 cm in diameter. The upper axis is square column-shaped with a width of 2.4-2.6 cm. The head is flat and undecorated. The sound box is round or square. The copper round tube is 13.3-14 cm long and 6.8-9 cm in diameter. The mahogany octagonal tube is 13.2-13.8 cm long, with an outer diameter of 8-10 cm at the front. The front is covered with python skin, and the back is framed. The pegs are made of mahogany, and the top of the pegs is decorated with bone pieces. There are two types of strings: silk or steel. Strings 1 and 3 are silk strings and strings 2 and 4 are copper strings. The bow is 75 cm long. Two strands of horsetail are sandwiched between strings 1 and 3 and strings 2 and 4. Pulling two strings at the same time creates harmony. The big four-stringed hu is tuned to 5 and 1, with a range of g-g2, and the small four-stringed hu is tuned to 2 and 6, with a range of d1-d4. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)