Category: Chinese customs

Famous Han Tune Erhuang Opera

Han Tune Erhuang Opera(汉调二黄戏Hàndiào èrhuáng xì), also called Shaan Erhuang and Shan Erhuang, is the second important genre of opera in Shaanxi, and enjoys popularity in Ankang, Hanzhong, Shangluo and Xi'an of Shaanxi Province and some areas in Hubei and Gansu. Originating from mountain airs, eclogues and folksongs, it developed its own style with influence of the Shaanxi opera (qinqiang in Chinese) during the early Qing Dynasty, and by absorbing the tunes of Kunqu opera, Chuiqiang and Gaobozi, and using local dialects. At the very beginning, the opera was accompanied by two flutes which used bamboo as huang (reed), hence the name. To be distinguished with Peking Erhuang opera, it was also named Tu Erhuang. There are a great variety of plays in the Han Tune Erhuang Opera, over 1200 in Ankang alone. 420 complete series and 517 highlights have been explored and sorted out. Most of these plays have drawn materials from Romance of the States of Eastern Zhou, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Canonization((Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church) the act of admitting a deceased person into the canon of saints) of Gods and other folk legends and historical stories.

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Small Puppet

Life of a small puppet(小木偶xiăo mùŏu) is given by its performer. Being pulled up and down, the small puppet gets its expression and movements. Thereafter the story begins. At the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the small Quanzhou string puppets(泉州木偶Quánzhōu mùŏu) have drawn the attention of the whole world. Flying after the fingers of the performers, they have caught the breath of the audience by giving an incredible performance beyond space and time.

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Local music of Shanghai

The Traditional Shanghai music diversifies(when an organization or person diversifies into other things, or diversifies their range of something, they increase the variety of things that they do or make) in variety: based on an abundance of folk ballads(a long song or poem which tells a story in simple language) and operas, the music has blended in folk wisdoms, displaying a flourishing scene of "all flowers blossoming"(百花齐放băihuā-qífàng).

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Liangzhu Culture

It is a kind of Neolithic culture located in the northern Zhejiang province and the southern coastal areas of Jiangsu province. It is discovered first in the Liangzhu Township, Hangzhou, Zhejiang in 1931, therefore the similar discoveries afterwards near the site is all together called Liangzhu Culture. With the exquisitely made stone farming tools and the finely polished and regular pottery wares, the period witnessed a quite developed agriculture production. Two species of rice namely japonica rice and indica rice, horsebean and peanuts etc. can be found at that time.

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