Pingju Opera, originally known as "Beng Beng Opera" or "Luo Zi Opera", also called "Pingqiang Bangzi Opera", officially adopted the name "Pingju Opera" in 1935, with the implied meaning of "evaluating the past and discussing the present." It is popular in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and Northeast China, characterized by its vernacular dialogue and lyrics. It is very easy to understand, thus enjoying a wide popular base.
Around 1910, Beng Beng Opera performers, led by Cheng Zhaocai, combined the singing, music, and performance arts of Northeastern Errenzhuan, Pingju Opera, shadow puppetry, and drumming, with the local Lianhua Luo opera in the eastern part of Hebei Province. They also incorporated the complete set of Hebei Bangzi instruments as accompaniment and used their own vocal techniques in singing, forming the basic style of Pingju Opera. During the practicing process, the emerging art form of Pingju Opera constantly developed and improved, gradually maturing.
Cheng Zhaocai, the founder of Pingju Opera, was also the first playwright. His representative works, such as "The Widow Ma Opens a Shop", "Flowers as the Matchmaker" and "Yang Sanjie Files a Lawsuit" have become classic repertoires of Pingju Opera. Pingju Opera music belongs to the Banqiang style with various forms. Accompanying instruments are divided into three categories: plucked-string instruments, percussion instruments, and wind instruments. The singing style of Pingju Opera draws on the music of Peking Opera and Bangzi, including male and female roles.
Due to its relatively short history and limitations in repertoire themes, Pingju Opera is not well-suited to dealing with major content related to the lives, political struggles, and military conflicts of emperors, generals, and statesmen, as some other opera genres like Peking Opera and Bangzi do. It mainly reflects the lives of lower-level officials, urban citizens, and farmers. Therefore, the performance arts (vocal techniques and skills) of each role, especially the Lao Sheng (old male role), Jing (painted face male role), Daoma Dan (female role specializing in martial arts), and Wu Sheng (male role specializing in martial arts) still need continuous enrichment and development. In the early days, Pingju Opera only had male and female roles. Later, it gradually developed into three categories: Sheng (male role), Dan (female role), and Chou (clown role). Influenced by Bangzi and Peking Opera, more roles were added, such as Qingyi (virtuous female role), Hua Dan (young female role), Lao Dan (old female role), Xiao Sheng (young male role), Lao Sheng, and Xiao Chou (young clown). Eventually, it developed into a major opera genre with a complete range of roles, including Qingyi, Hua Dan, Lao Dan, Cai Dan, Xiao Sheng, Lao Sheng, Hualian (painted face), and Xiaohualian (young painted face), while still retaining the lively and free characteristics of folk operas and a strong sense of life. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, as an increasing number of historical drama plays were written, the performance arts of each role, especially the Xiao Sheng, Lao Sheng, and Jing roles, saw significant development.
The China Pingju Opera Theater, located at No. 19 Zhonglouwan Hutong, Dongcheng District, Beijing, was established in 1955. The guiding principle set by the Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Culture for its establishment was to be a "national-level exemplary theater mainly performing modern plays, while also staging newly written historical plays and well-organized excellent traditional plays." In recent years, in order to expand the range of creative themes, the theater has included the adaptations of foreign classics in its repertoires.
The China Pingju Opera Theater inherited the traditions of the Xilu Pingju Opera and the Donglu Pingju Opera, preserving many elements of traditional Beijing culture in its performances. At the same time, it inherited, developed, and formed artistic schools led by Bai Yusuang, Xin Fengxia, Wei Rongyuan, Sun Defu, Ma Tai, and others. Tianjin Pingju Opera Theatre also has strong capabilities, with good inheritance and development of the four major schools led by Li Jinshun, Liu Cuixia, Bai Yusuang, and Ailianjun.
Translator: ZHAO Huinan
Reviewer: LIU Yu
