Pingju Opera Introduction

Pingju Opera (评剧) is mainly popular in the northern part of China, and is one of the five traditional theatrical operas of the nation.

Background of Pingju

The northern China has always been a hub of the traditional Chinese operas, where we can find Beijing Opera the quintessence of the Chinese culture which is full of lingering charms and we are proud of, and the sonorous and forceful Hebei Bangzi opera in which the performer holds the iron plates and wears red teeth when singing, etc.

In addition to this, there is another very amazing genre. If we use peony in spring, and Hebei Bangzi Opera is the chrysanthemum which braves the frost and stands alone in autumn, then it is a morning glory quietly blooming. We compare it to morning glory, because it is as chaste as morning glory, and tells the simple and plain truth. It comes from the countryside and sings from the hearts of people.

Although it does not spread widely, it never declines. What it broadcasts is a simple truth, on which our lives are based. There is not any other genre that can replace it. It is Pingju Opera. Someone once ever said: "In China, Pingju Opera is the only genre that could be understood without subtitles."

In terms of the origin, Pingju Opera started with empty-hand and really developed from the impoverished ordinary civilians. It is the rough and bold atmosphere in northern China that fostered the chaste Pingju Opera. At each period of the Pingju Opera's development, it had different names such as "The Lotus Rhyme", "Ping Tune Bangzi Opera", "Tangshan Lotus Rhyme", "Ping Opera" and so on. it was not until 1935 that it was officially named as "Pingju Opera", which implied to comment the ancient and evaluate today, and its repertoire mostly contains the tenet to punish the evil and praise the good.

Characteristics of Pingju Opera

Pingju Opera may not be the most popular genre, but it is surely the most characteristic one.

1, Popularized Lyrics

 Pingju Opera is from the countryside and sung from the hearts of people, and it is as simple and plain as the morning glory. It comes from the mouths of civilians, and is popular literature or art. which does not appeal to the refined taste.

Hence, those who go to watch Pingju Opera are some civilians with a low cultural level. They are not arty-crafty but want to listen to the story, have fun...

They pass it down orally, go around spreading it, and light up the development path for Pingju Opera with sparks of fire so that Pingju Opera develops gradually with potential, and eventually becomes one of China's five major traditional operas. We can say that it was not those lofty talented literati who promoted the development of Pingju Opera, but rather the penniless civilians. Since Pingju Opera is a grass-roots culture, it is not difficult to understand why its lyrics trip off the tongue and contains the popularized characteristics.

The lyrics of Pingju Opera are simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. It uses the words of the civilians and tells the things of the ordinary people so that it is very easy for the common people to understand.

In the Pingju Opera The Flower as the Matchmaker, there is a classic act - Horseplay in the Bridal Chamber.

After seeing Li Yue'e. Zhang Wuke the role in the play sings a few words to describe her: "Carefully looking at the boudoir woman up and down. I see that her hair is so black, her dressing is so graceful, and her hair at both temples is fluffy and smooth. Does she use the osmanthus oil? She combs the hair topknot which is just in the right place like the fairy topknot and wears the glimmering pearls lined up with the silver thread at her temples, swaying when she walks along as if the golden rooster nods. Her face is like hibiscus, her eyebrows are as beautiful as the mountains afar, her almond eyes convey spirituality through, and her nose is high in contrast with a cherry mouth, white teeth, and red lips that are not thick or not thin..." When Zhang Wuke describes Li Yue'e, she does not use such elegant words as "Her skin is as white as cream, and her hands are as slender as catkin when describing her hair, she says that her hair is black as if she uses the bay oil; when describing her eyes, she says that her eyes are like almond, and full of spirituality; and when describing her mouth, she says that her mouth is like a cherry, not thick or thin. How can these popular librettos, which are full of life flavor, not impel the ordinary people to love Pingju Opera!

Different from the traditional Chinese theatrical libretto which stresses rhythms. Pingju Opera only requires the rhythm of the libretto to be neat and sprightly, and read smoothly and vulgarly. For example, in the opera Bao Zheng Apologizes, there are such lyrics: "I serve wholeheartedly down for the ordinary people and up to the emperor, and am impartial so as to leave good fame and not to betray the sister- in-law's teaching…”

These sentences do not emphasize syntactical structure, but rather speak the vernacular. In the Pingju Opera lyrics, people also like to use some decorative words and foil words, equivalent to exclamations, usually include "Yahoo" and "Yeah", that is "Well", "ah" and "hello" in our daily life. Some decorative words and foil words are inserted to make sentences look neat.

Why Pinjyu Opera is able to impress people is that it is close to the masses and uses the language of the masses to interpret the life of the masses.

2, Localized Aria

The aria of Pingju Opera is based on the ballad and the Lotus Rhyme in Tangshan area of China absorbs the merits of local traditional operas such as Beijing Opera, the Northeast Duet, and Hebei Bangzi Opera, and eventually form the features as being lyric, smooth and natural, and full of strong local flavors. Pingju Opera mainly performs the singing art of the singing and acting play, and speaking contains singing, singing contains speaking, and singing and speaking are mingled.

Regardless of singing or speaking, it needs to be concise, powerful, and close to the masses. During speaking, the language needs to be easy to understand: and when singing, the rhythm is melodious, and it is both excellent in voice and affection. For example, in The Flower as the Matchmaker, there is a music sentence: "The building is red as soon as the sun rises, and in the early morning the magpie alights on the branch of the tree." The actor sings such a simple sentence clearly and warmly and interprets it very naturally.

Different from the arias of Beijing Opera which are mostly high-pitched, loud and in high relief, Pingju Opera pursues a steady euphemism, just like our daily life which is dull, but occasionally has some small ups and downs; is ordinary, but has a unique warmth.

The aria is closely linked with the performer's singing skills. Only with solid singing skills can the performer control the aria to be beautiful and tactful. The outstanding Pingju Opera actor Bai Yushuang who was a major reformer of the Pingju Opera aria is well-known for her low voice. Similarly, the Pingju Opera actor Liu Cuixia is famous for her high-pitched singing. There are also some distinctive styles of singing, such as dragonflies' tune. Fanzi tune, and Songzi tune, which was created by Xin Fengxia and others.

As the times change, people's understanding of things has changed. In addition to maintaining its aria's features as being warm, natural, close to the masses and full of local characteristics, Pingju Opera keeps pace with the times and integrates some modern performance factors. In 2010，at the seventh session of China Tangshan Pingju Opera Art Festival, the modem Pingju Opera The Red Leaf, the gold award winner, perfectly integrated the vernacular Pingju Opera and modern factors.

When we listen to the song by the Chinese Pingju Opera composer Mr. Fan Jizhong. it seems that spring goes into our hearts. Mr. Fan began to use acoustic breathe to utter an "ah", which is low, tactfully, sentimental, and as free as the floating cloud and the flowing water. This soft singing not only sounds weeping and complaining, interprets smoothly, and appears more humane, but also makes the character more developed and more vivid. It can make you feel real, and at the same time touch the softest place of your inner heart. That is the charm of the Pingju Opera aria!

3, Life-like Style

For the ordinary people, they do not need luxury, because those are too expensive, and they simply can not afford it. Similarly, they either do not need too many "highbrow" things, because those are too far from their lives. Pingju Opera, just like the pickles and small bowls of congee, is plain and simple, but it is indispensable to ordinary people every day. It is its characteristics as being simple and natural that Pingju Opera has penetrated into the lives of the ordinary people and won a lot of love.

The overall style of Pingju Opera is life-like. It has abandoned the national interests of the generals and soldiers discarded the sentiments of the literati, but left the household affairs of the ordinary life and the affections between the young boys and girls as well as those indispensable daily life necessities.

The Pingju Opera The Flower as the Matchmaker tells about the affairs of three families. If we say it complexly, it may easily cause you confused, so it would be better to put it simply. In fact, there is a pair of young men and women who are fond of each other and want to get married, but his family opposes.

Nevertheless, one of them is "as pliable as the pampas-grass", and the other is Mas steady as the huge rock"，so they keep fighting. And finally, they not only have got their wishes but also have made a match for another couple to get married. Here, "as pliable as the pampas-grass" means that the plant fiber of the pampas is very tough and not easy to break, to describe the girl's affection as long and pliable as the fiber. "As steady as the huge rock" means that the rock is very steady and not to move even a little, to describe the boy's passion as heavy as the rock and not to move or retreat.

Don't you know that the affairs of the three families are no more than the small household affairs? And don't you think that the struggle by young man and woman for love is not the affection of the lovers?  However, it is these small household affairs and these affections of the lovers that enrich the ordinary people’s spiritual life at that time. If you give them a Picture of Patriotism, presumably they are not happy.

Qin Xianglian. the heroine in the opera Qin Xianglian with which the ordinary Chinese people are relatively familiar, is the embodiment of a lot of women in real life, while Chen Shimei is the embodiment of a lot of men in real life. The play moves the things and persons around us onto the stage after they are infinitely amplified, and is filled with the flavor of life to let people feel its truthfulness. Because it is true, the play would let people count it as their own experience and feeling, and experience the same happiness and sorrow with the characters in the play. Thus, people outside and inside of the drama and on and down the stage are commonly interpreting the love and hate.